Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1909-05-12
HUDSON-FULTON FETE
Discovery of the Great River t
Be Brilliantly Celebrated
AFFAIR TO LAST TWO WEEKS

Thousands of Visitors Expected at
New York--Facsimile of the Clermont
to Travel Under Her Own Steam.
The committee Of prominent men III
charge of the arrangements for the
Hudson-F Fulton celebration announced
the other day that the details for the
great festival had all been worked out
and that little was left in the way CT
planning except to smooth out the
minor matters of the program.
The celebration is but few months
off 1t will begin on Saturday, Sept
%. in New York city and will end two
weeks later in Troy. 1t is expected
to land a million persons In New York
in week :. 1t will take hundreds OF
thousands up the Hudson, following
in the wake of the Half Moon and the
Clermont 1t will make. 1t is hoped
the name of Henry Hudson. the Eng
ishman who discovered New York s
great river in a Dutch ship. and the
name of Robert Fulton. who first ap
piled steam to the navigation of that
river. well known to the children Of
the public schools. 1t is expected TO
bring 10 New York harbor and the
waters of the upper Hudson ships of
many nations and representatives Of
most of the foreign governments.
While the time for preparation was
short. much has been done. AS a
member of the committee said the other
day at the headquarters of the celebra-
ton commission, nothing remained to
do but to handle the details and stir
up the enthusiasm"
Never mind about the enthusiasm. :"
another observed 'New York city
never gets enthusiastic until week
before the event. while the forty-six
cities along the Hudson. which share
directly in the celebration. are almost
ready now to throw their hats into the
air."
The celebration will not be a great
exposition or anything like it. No
great effort will be made by the com
mission to get crowds to New York
from every part of the country. They
will be invited. but no advertising
campaigns as are usual in the case Of
expositions will he attempted. But the
people will attend from the outside: the
commission is assured Of that. On the
other hand, every possible effort will
be made, is being made. to interest the
people of New York state and tempt
them to New York.
The celebration is New Jerseys af.
fair also. and her citizens are repre-
scented in the commission.
All nations will also be invited to
send representatives and to participate
in the celebration. Invitations have
already been sent to the state depart
ment at Washington to be transmitted
through the diplomatic staff TO all gov
ernmentS of the world. Maritime coun-
tries are invited to send ships as we'll
as representatives of the government
A source of satisfaction to the com
mission is the interest which the gov
eminent of Holland has manifested in
the affair. The reproduction of the
historic Half Moon is being made un
der the immediate supervision of the
queens aid-de-camp, Vice Admiral e
q. Ellis. Progress with the work has
been rapid, the commission hears. and
the quaint little ship will be ready to
enter the Narrows on the day set. 1t
will be manned by crew in the cos
tunes of the period of Henry Hudson.
Work has already been begun on the
reproduction of the Clermont, Fulton's
steamboat. which 200 years later
steamed up the Hudson. Secretary
Hall said that the Clermont would GER
tainly proceed up the stream under her
own steam. driven by an engine sim
liar to Fulton's.
The Hudson-Fulton celebration will
be first of all educational. The first
two days of the celebration, Saturday
md Sunday, Sept % and &c, will be
devoted to religious service. the COM
mission declaring that it is unwilling
that the people should overlook the
"Divine guidance in the two great
events to be commemorated, one Of
which opened up our state to modern
civilization and led to the founding Of
New York city and the other of which
laid the foundation for the vast COM
Inerce upon which the prosperity Of
the city and state SO largely depends"
The secular observance will begin on
Monday. Sept. 81, with the city and
harbor a-1utter with bunting and the
flags of all nations-city. state and ma
tional. The city will be gayly deco
rated. including thousands of private
dwellings not only in New York city,
but in every hamlet from Tottenville to
the head of the river Early features Of
the day will be a rendezvous of Amer
lean and foreign vessels in the harbor
and the entrance at the Narrows of
the facsimile of Hudson's Half Moon.
which will at once take her place in
the line. Exhibits of paintings. prints.
books, models and relics will be open
ed that day by the Metropolitan Mu-
scum of Art the American Museum Of
Natural History the Historic museum
and other institutions of similar char