Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-05
ALL Enjoy DISPLAY REFUTES BY RECORD
Fireworks on the ENpse At President Answers Objections
tractive to Thousands. to Reciprocity.
CHEERS AS ROCKETS FLY SPEECH AT INDiANAPOLl is
Set Thrill Audience Which Declares the
Shows Appreciation in Applause. the Treaty.
AWAIT COMING OF ATWOOD OUTLINES THE ADVANTAGES
Hundreds Gather Hill Proposed
Not Knowing Aviator Line view Ba
poned His Trip and Mckinley.
Fireworks on the EIIipse At
tractive to Thousands.
CHEERS AS ROCKETS FLY
Set Pieces Thrill Audience, Which
Shows Appreciation in Applause.
AWAIT COMING OF ATWOOD
Hundreds Gather on Monument Hill
Not Knowing Aviator Post
poned His Trip.

At the end OF a day Of heat and joy
and work for those for whom a holiday
means extra labor thousands of people
clad in summer white. focked through
the streets while asphalt sank softly un-
der their tread, and arriving at the ell
| lipse. took positions to await the begin
ming of the fireworks display. 1t was a
sight which Washington rarely sees
| Hardly a blade of grass was visible as
one approached the Monument from the
Notwithstanding but people crowds
upon crowdssof them. sitting upon the
velvet surface
Many of them arrived early. hoping to
get a glimpse of Harry Atwood the
aviator. whose announced trip to Wash
ington was postponed at the last minute
because of high winds Few persons
however. knew of the postponement. and
there was keen disappointnlnt when he
/ failed TO arrive. Many of those who sat
on Monument hill kept their eyes to the
northward. hoping to catch the first
1 glimpse of the airman who has jumped
into international fame within a week.
| Those who went for a sight of Harry
| Atwood and his long distance wings stay
ed for the fireworks, and were. of course
joined by many another thousand Never
| has there been SO immense crowd pack
| ed into the paths and byways and on the
| open grass upon the ellipse and its sur
| rounding lawns. Seemingly all the motor
cars in the District were there. banked
close. with lights shining and gasoline
| fumes ooZing out into the humidity. and
L dust that tho mortal foot wished
| he could live without breathing.
| II was fete night. and no mistake
| a bout II The apathy SO apparent in the
| collection of money for the fireworks was
| in no wise apparent in the crowd that
| went to watch them. Many people who
| have seen fireworks exhibitions i'm other
cities and other countries were surprised
at the novelties and the glories OF the
| exhibition.
Set Pieces Prove Attractive.
Set pieces which made people nudge
one another and declare The best ever
saw and rockets which did new tricks
for 1911, whstling fiery things which scat
tered noise and sparks and shot out SER
penis of flames: a Niagara Falls painted
| in the brightest of colored fire; George
Washington himself surrounded by pin
| wheels and flame and flower gardens
| from which sprang flowers with
bombs for petals, each petal bursting into
| a shower of golden rain-those and a
| hundred others.
Thrilled the Vast Audience.
| man who has seen the world on this
side and the other was watching the dis
| play of fireworks from across one q,
| the lakes south and east Of the Monu-
ment. When the lights of the rockets
and the electric shmmering of the Speed
ways illumination blended in the re-
| Election of the water he said:
This is more beautiful than Venice"
| Perhaps he was speaking a true word
| Washington seemed more beautiful than
| Venice. looking across the still black
water of those little lakes by the Speed
way. When the fireworks outlined their
wonders against an opaque sky and made
| a path of colored light down the water
| there seemed to be no greater wonder In
! the world. Why more people did not
watch the fireworks from that part Of
the city is hard 10 tell. Nearly 10000
| crowded close in upon the ellipse. SO as
| to see the set pieces, but the prettiest
picture was perhaps seen from across the
| little lakes and scarcely a hundred peo-
pie watched them from that point.
From that distance the mixture of lights
and darkness made 1t an enchanted night
| There was the blackness of the western
| sky, and the still. dark pools of broad
| water. with a gold half moon flirting out
| rageously with lady clouds which
| switched their filmy wells across his face
Surely there was n man in the moon last
night. for he cnquetted just like a man
| caught with the spell OF summer fete
night.
Natural and Artificial Glory.
The nights glory, both natural and
artificial. made the works OF the genii in
Arabian Nights a cheap show. A little
spark of light would go hurting up
| ward: suddenly it would spread into radi-
ance like a burst of fire from midnight
sum- or a great falling star. First it would
be gold of wonderful Sort glowing with
it's own light; then red, then green. then a
sprinkle of tWinkling blue, and streams of
fire would fall earthward. Then darkness
again, so that the flirting moon could peer
through the veil of cloud.
AS one sat upon the bank looking across
the water there would be a lane Of light
as each burning thing made it's enchant-
ment 1t would be a path upon the water
leading from ones very eyes straight
across to the low-lying trees upon the
horizon. The path would be little
brighter and little sharper than the one
which leads across water to a full moon.
Sometimes in the path there would float
a canoe with two persons In 1t. They
would be watching city en- fete, and
looked Tiny lnQeeO against the UldZe.
The lanes of light and the bursting fire
in the skies were not rare. They came
with only seconds between them, and. all
told, it lasted for nearly two hours. Thou
sands of people watched them from roof
tops, and from high points In the city.
and nearly 5000 watched them close
| packed upon the ellipse
Perhaps some one noticed the gray
white shaft Of the Monument last night
Those who rode around the speedway
| could have seen in that shaft as near
a thing to a picture of ghost as one
could wish. 1t changed its moods with
| the light and darkness. Its white sides
| would be bathed in the radiance Of arti-
fetal stars and suns; then they would
be tinged with the colors of falling
streams of fire; then they would be pale
and mysterious and distant in the dim
moonlight, and then as mysterious as a
ghost as a cloud yelled the moon. Like a
pillar Of mist or smoke, 1t would stand
| family against a black nothing until a
| splash Of fire made its white sides solid
| marble again.
Pennsylvania Avenue Aglow.
For nearly two hours these sights
| gripped a city. And then as the Good
night" set piece gowed and died away
Pennsylvania avenue turned suddenly into
one mile of red flame as the torches
on the sidewalks lighted up, and thou