Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-28
Wrong About Fourth's Meaning.


John Adams was responsible for the
noise Of Independence day, but he in
tended that this celebration should be
held on the Cd and not the 4th of July.
for it was on the ID of July. 1716. that
the resolution of independence was really
adopted The next day, July 8, John
Adams, in a letter to his wife. wrote:
THE I'd of July will be the most MEN,
L am apt to believe that it will be cele-
brated by succeeding generations as the
great anniversary festival. 1t ought to
be commemorated as the day Of deliver
ance by solemn acts of devotion to God
Almighty. 1t ought TO be solemnized
with pomp and parade, with shows,
games. sports. guns, bells, bonfires and
illuminations, from one end of this CONT
nent to the other, from this time for
ward forever more"
But what really did happen on July (,
1I16? Each schoolboy ard schooiei
has been taught that the Declaration
Continental Congress, and there IL
Thomas Jefferson's word for it, But the
journal of that BODY shows that on the
original Fourth. Congress nnallN annDiel
the amended copy Of Jefferson's draft Of
the form Of announcing 10 the world the
fact that Independence had been de-
clared on the second. Jefferson is said
TO have writhed with disgust rs some
sentences were eliminated. July 10 Con
gresS ordered that the final form of tho
declaration be fairly engrossed on
parchment, and that the same. when
cngrossed, be signed by every member
of Congress" August >. 1875. this sa-
cred parchment was spread out unon
table in Independence Hall Philadelphia,
and signed by all Of the members. eX-
cept six absentees. who added their sig
natures later. This was the signing per-
petuated upon canvas by John Trumbull.
although the group is commonly repro
duced to illustrate the common run of
Fourth Of July stories. Thus independ-
ence was not declared nor WAS the
decla ration signed on the Fourth Of July.
the day We celebrate.
Liberty Bell Not Cracked on Fourth.
Nor was the Liberty Bell" cracked
on the original Fourth of July. but on
July S, 1875, when the declaration was
read To the citizens Of Philadelphia. 1t
then rung for two hours amid the
firing of cannon and the beating of
drums Upon the approach of the Brit
ish in 1lT il was buried for a while in
the Delaware river, and then taken to
Allentown. Pa. but in 1871 was returned
To Independence Hall. where il is now
admired by" all pilgrims TO that cradle
or liberty. The most impressive cele-
brations o. independence occur annually
within the shadow OF this hallowed
structure, one of the most notable hav-
Ing been recently addressed 10y MIR. Wa
Tlng-fang, envoy from the land which
gives the Yankee youth his firecrackers
Another popular fallacv is that the
declaration itself is on view in the State
department at Washington. \ large pro-
portion of the tourists who have seen
the sights Of the National capital with
in the past fourteen years will declare
that they have seen the old document
there, but as a matter of fact they have
Toasted eyes merely upon 4 fac-simile.
In ltS3 Congress turned over the orig
lnal parchment to the State Department,
and in lS4l il was placed in the patent
Office. where il was displayed GA: 80
where. until 1884 it wa on view. But
in that year il WAS hermeJirally sealed
III a frame and hidden away. along with
the original Constitution in a. drawer
OF another steel cabinet in the liDrary
of the State Department What is now
displayed in its original pace ~ a lac
similc made by order OF President Nom
roe IN 1923. Al that time HcouPsa meth
eds of harmlessly reproducing docu-
ments by Photographic processes were
unknown. ana while wet linen sheet
was spread over the sacred parchment
some one went over every l!pe IF toe ie
tiers with a stylus. which transferred
them 10 copper plate beneath. The
wetting thus given the document not
only partially dissolved the ink but
made the parchment brittle. Early in
the nineties the National ACADEMY.
called upon fer an opinion. decided that
il should forever he protected frorS hight
ami air In 1893 a committee OF the
academy when again called upon to ex-
airline it expressed the op:rion that with
in another century it would probably
be blank.
JO-JN EIFRETH wATKINS