Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-26
MANY THOUSANDS
VIEW BIG DISPLAY
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in the noise Of welcome until the fleet
| was passing between the home sections OF
both sides Of the river.
No one can estimate the crowds which
saw the review. Some place the figures
| in millions. Every vantage point. from
the entrance of the barber on both sides
Of the bay, clear up to the northern part
| OF the city was damned with people. Great
crowds also lined the Jersey shores and
the palisades. Hundreds of water craft
| of all descriptions carried other thousands.
The review was over about o'clock.
and the crowds rushed to their homes
| and restaurants for dinner, prior to view
ing the Nominations at night.
No Serious Accidents.
One of the greatest fete days In the his
tory of this country ended without sim
| gle serious accident on sea or land. and
one Of the largest crowds that the old
town has ever held then dispersed with
| out single fragrant case Of disorder. The
days record is without an equal in police
annals.
Federal control Of the floating popula-
order maintained in the naval parade.
Hundreds of inspectors and deputy In
spectors kept watch over the boats. pre-
| venting overcrowding or violation OF any
safety Of passengers.
To the New York police is due in a
large measure the credit for a success
| full handling Of the crowd on land. But
! the policemen were assisted to no incon-
siderable extent by the orderliness and
good nature of the spectators.
There were many minor accidents. many
| marrow escapes" and several instances
where the quick judgment and prompt
action of a policeman Or cool-headed
| spectator averted what might have prov
| ed serious incidents.
Crush In Subway.
Railroads, subways, elevated lines and
street cars were taxed all day far be-
yond their intended capacity. The SUBJ
way crush was the most overwhelming
ever known, and many of the stations
| were so damned that the police closed
| the entrances for a half hour or more at
| time, until the trains could take care
| of the crowds which packed the plat
| forms.
Despite the attractions Of the river
pageant. the city's museums and sight
places had their share of the crowds. The
attendance at the aquarium, the Museum
of Art. the Natural History Museum and
Grants tomb gave unchallenged indica-
ton that the crowd in New York today
was the largest ever known here. At the
aquarium. for example, the turnstile reg
istered 64.075 visitors, nearly 10000 more
| than ever before for single day. The
largest attendance heretofore, 1890. was
1898.
The chief social function of the day
was an official reception given at the
Waldorf-Astoria in the morning for the
fleets and the diplomatic delegates to the
Hudson-Fulton celebration. The recep-
| ton was given by official representatives
Of the nation. state and. city.
l. Night Parade Abandoned.
AS time wore on the crowd grew i'm
| patient for the night parade, only to
learn with disappointment later that it
would be abandoned. Ships were still
| coming down stream at sunset. and the
prospects Of further delays, complicated
| by the confusion Of darkness in the
! lower harbOr, was too formidable to
| face. But more millions fiocked to see
the illuminations. Battleships that by
day had been gray. sullen and menac-
| from their mastheads, were transform
| ed by the touch Of the electricians
wand into creatures Of airy fantasy,
| incandescent of outline. but seemingly
Of milk. The elevated battery of search
lights. aggregating two-billion candle
power. wove symphonies Of color above
and around them. while other concealed
white marble Of Grants tomb and the
Soldiers and Sailors monument.
Has Theatrical Effect.
AS well behaved lights in a theater
should do. the sun faded away back over
the Jersey hills promptly tonight and the
audience settled itself then to enjoy the
night show of Examinations and fireworks.
with Manhattan and the North river as
the parquet of the theater, the palisades
and the Staten Island hills as the first
balcony, and the far submits Of the
Ramapo and the ranges and the hills Of
Westchester and Long Island as the top
gallery.
| There was a moon looking down upon
Manhattan when the town fared up in
all its night glory for the first time dur
| ing the celebration, but the moon looked
| as II she were heartily ashamed of her
| SELF and she should have been. too She
made 4 special effort by throwing one
| of these big rings around herself that she
sometimes sports but even then she
looked at times like patch Of shadow
by comparison.
The big ships outlined in fire out in the
| river swung about proudly as O'Clock
drew nearer. They twisted and fused
| like little girl before a mirror. and
when they were sure they were showing
themselves to- their very best advantage
they cinched their positions with their
mudhooks and just rested there showing
Connecticut Flashes Signal.
About ten minutes before o'clock the
Connecticut's electrician flashed the sig
nal to illuminate, and good imitation of
the crack of doom accompanied the light
ing up of the fleet. Every siren for miles
was tied down. The hoarse call Of the
battleships the liners and other boats
sent the biggest noise shoreward, but the
hoarseness of the big girls Of the river
could not quite obliterate the shrill piping
of the smaller craft, and even the little
launches parked ostentatiously enough to
make themselves heard. In q moment all
| the noise seemed to get together and set
tied down to one steady roar.
The Jets of light from the clustered
searchlights far up the river, which had
been radiating. like the sticks of a lady's
fan, in individual rays. were brought
closer together. still spreading out In in
dividual shafts Of light, but making q
lesser and therefore brighter number of
| rays. And then up and down the river
the Jersey shore broke loose with the
fireworks.
The Disappointed Folk.
Some folks were a bit disappointed
with those fireworks when the last of
them had burst above the river. The dis
appointment was due. not to a lack OF
quality, but Of quantity. Seventy-1ve dis
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