Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1910-08-05
MONUMENT TO PILGRIMS
Was Dedicated Today at. Province,
town, Mass.-President Taft
the Chief Speaker.
tHerald Specially

t1tTdiu SpeCidi-J
Provincetown, Mass, Aug. Deco
rated with thousands of flags ant
streamers of bunting and filled witt
throng of visitors, this tip-end tow
of Cape Cod today witnessed the
most momentous event in the histor!
of it's people, the dedication of the
great monument to commemorate the
first landing of the Pilgrims, witt
President Taft as the guest of honor
and chief speaker.
Two thousand sailors and marines
from the ships of the North Atlantic
fleet anchored in Provincetown 'har
Dor took part in the parade and act
ed as police escort for the presiden
tial party, who came over from Bur.
CESS Point on the Mayflower-the
name of which vessel could not have
been more appropriate for the occa-
sion. The president was met at the
end of the railroad dock by the chair
man of the Board of Selectmen, who
delivered cordial greeting. Mean
while the sailors and marines formed
in two lines as police guard. Shortly
after the arrival of President Taft
came Governor Draper and his staff
of ten, together with a number of
other notables who were to take
part in the exercises of the day.
During the early hours of the fore
noon an immense crowd of visitors
poured into the town. A score of
steamboats, and number of special
trains, two from Boston, two from
New Bedford, and several from the
upper cape, in addition to the regular
railroad and steamboat service, ar
rived before o'clock and soon the
narrow, winding streets of pictures
que Provincetown were thronged as
never before in their history.
The president and other distinguish
ed guests, with the military and naval
escort, marched in procession to the
site of the monument upon Town
Hill. The speakers stand at the
base of the monument, and the presi-
dent, other orators, and as many of
-siAN- invited guests as it would hold, |
faced the crowd or-e~Gnty-five thou
sand massed on the hill
The exercises were opened with the |
reading of the scriptures and an in
vocation by the Rev. James DeNor-
mandie of Boston. Captain J. Henry |
Sears, president of the Pilgrim Memo
rial Association, delivered short |
speech, introducing Governor Draper,
who spoke briefly and in turn vel
coined and introduced the president.
President Taft spoke extempora-
neously and paid glowing tribute to
the memory of the Pilgrims who first
landed on Cape Cod soil and, while
the storm-stossed Mayflower rode in
temporary security in the harbor
overlooked by the memorial just COM
pleted, signed their famous compact,
which has been justly called "the fore
runner of the declaration of indie
pendence." The president frequently
was interrupted by applause.
In addition to President Taft the
speakers included former President
Charles W. Eliot of Harvard Univer
sity, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of
and Hon. James T.
McCleary of Minnesota. Band music
and singing interspersed the program.
The sounding of a trumpet marked
The end of the formal part of the ex
arcises, after which the guests of the
occasion adjourned to the town hall
where an informal reception was held.
The president was then escorted back
o the wharf and embarked on the
erly.
The monument dedicated today is a
most imposing structure. Situated on
he brow of Town HILL with Province
owns one long street and the harbor
1t its foot, it towers 252 feet into the
iir, more than $50 feet above the sea
evel The tower is constructed of
Maine granite and stands upon solid