The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1911-07-06
THE GLORIOUS FOURTH
PROPERLY CELEBRATED

/
From the east they came, from the
west they came. from the north and
south came they; all Of them, every
mothers son and fathers daughter of
them and their hound. Ere the misty
grey of the east became suffused with
the roseate hues of early morn, the viii
lage folk and cousins from the country
side bestirred themselves to joyous ac-
claim in greeting to the dawn of anOth-
birthday of the nation. Anon they
grouped on every step, on every lane
and by-path, upon the village green;
here and there and everywhere, from
waiting just without the tavern door TO
resting quietly upon the steps of the viii
lage church. Mirth was theirs, as nois-
lily they munched the sandwiches that
ma had made the day before. 1t was
some crowd, All the best people from
the best county in the best state con-
gregated In the best city for safe and
sane celebration and such they made it.
II you would know the greatness, the
jollity. the orderliness of that crowd,
you may get fair illustration II you
will inject me where fifth avenue meets
broadway" GU some election night. I'm
der the myriads Of streamers of red,
white and blue, always beneath the
waving inspiration of Old Glory, float
ing high and low in every breeze that
blew, the lads and lasses OF the old vii
lage once more rejoiced that when the
heroes long gone asked for liberty or
death, it was liberty that came.
And then came the parade. The fife
and drum corps with their touching old
tune-so old that it is always new; the
stalwart soldier boys; the brass-throated
musicians marking the steps of the pass
ing throng-and then the floats. Many
years have passed since more artistic
beauty has been displayed in the floral
decorations of carriages. Even the pa
tient steeds seemed to feel the grandeur
of the occasion. In white, In red, in
lavender, in all the bending and harmo-
NOUS colors, the chariots passed by,
bearing their precious burdens of the
city's beauty; no, not the city's, the ma
tion's beauty. Then the automobiles,
someone said they were automobiles;
we couldn't see anything but gigantic boz
quets, baskets and other things of beau
ty, with dreams of fair women instead
Of roses. Then the business floats; well
decorated, characteristic representa-
tions of the business interests of the
city. The Salvation Army wagon filled
with little souls, under the motto: "Just
az We End Them deserved first, Sec
ond and third prizes, without even look
ingRat the others. We do not mean that
the others were not good, not for an in
slant, bnt the perfectly appropriate sem
timent, the knowledge of the good work
of this band, make it almost impossible
for a sordid business concern to COM
pete with it.
Then the horseback riders. You
don't have to go away from home to find
graceful and easy riding; none better in
the nation. 1t is treat equaled only !
by witnessing professional eqnestrians,
to see the ladies OF this city on horse
back. The horse doer not carry the RI |
der, the lady rides the horse, and he
seems to know it.
That doll parade H. something new;
and it was as good as it is new. Two
dozen of the little dears marched before
the judges, pushing their dainty car
risges in which rode dollies as dear to
them as babies to any mother. True,
many thought 1t was little departure |
from the program to award prizes TO |
''great big girls" who pushed carriages
containing real babies, instead of to the
little girls with dolls. Maybe so; but
everything passed of nicely, and was of !
snch high order, that we will not spoil |
Il by making any criticism. The officers
OF that Roosevelt Club" or ROOSEVELT
Ians" as they are delighted to term
themselves, wish to announce that the |
parade did not represent near all that
they could have done. The threatening
weather probably made it inadvisable
to risk bringing out their children I'M
der certain age. Acknowledgement
Cy H. Lyle and Major e. Il. Ellsworth
and Colonel--Dicky and Captain j. E.
Brading proudly assert that they alone
could have furnished many more chill
dren than appeared in the entire pa
rade, but then, they charitably permit |
ted other families In town to participate |
in the honors, without making the pa
rade too long.
The free concert on special stage |
erected on Main street was an unusual
attraction, and furthermore was unu-
sually good. Seven OF the funniest |
comedians and best musicians you ever
laid eyes on, gave short, snappy, in
teresting 'oncert In the early morning,
just before the parade; and In the af-
there was hardly room in the
street for vehicles to pass By, on -ac-
count of the crowd watching the per-
Torrance. Everybody was Interested
in the program, amused at the costumes
and jokes, and liked the music. The
imperial aviation megaphone male quar-
tette was an attractive feature. And