The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-07-05
oCALA's FOURTH

The concensus of opinion is that
Ocala had the most successful fourth
OF its history Friday. For a wonder,
the weather was clear all day, and
the occasion was as devoid of un-
pleasant events as the sky was of
storms. Tt is true that late in the
afternoon big, black cloud lowered
around awhile, but really helped in
shutting OF for awhile the too fervid
rays of the sun.
eherS- was very large crowd in
town, and it was a crowd of good
quality. The square was not so pack
ed as on former occasions, but
much larger proportion of the crowd
was white, and a great number of
autos and carriages bespoke the
prosperity of the visitors and the far
reaching interest in the event. Many
people came from outside the coun-
~; beside the big delegation from
Gainesville, there were numerous
cars from Citrus and Sumter coun-
ties, and some from Lake, tho that
county had quite celebration of its
own.
The auto parade was excellent in
quality, but somewhat abbreviated.
in quantity. There were too many
people each one of whom thought
the absence of their cars would not
be missed. There should have been
at least a hundred cars in the line,
and 1t would have been a splendid
advertisement for the city. HoweV-
er, the parade, what there was of it,
was good.
At 1880, Judge VIM. NJ. Gober
spoke from the bandstand, welcoming
the people to the city. The Judge is
an excellent speaker, and his address,
tho brief, was all that could be de-
sired.
The judges address will be found
on the first page.
Congressman Clark, the orator of
the day, then addressed the gather
ing. His address has already been
published in both Ocala papers. The
congressman was, as always eloquent,
but his voice was hoarse and strain
ed, and as the hot sun kept all but a
comparative few at distance from
the bandstand, If it wasn't FOR the
assistance of the typsABSnot many
would have had the pleasure of
--leaowfng what ne said.
The days program was mostly
carried out, some things as usual be-
ing omitted and some other things
interpolated.
The greatest fun caused by any
event all day was probably that of
the water fight, under Fire Chief
Chambers direction. A barrel was
swung in the middle of long, strong
wire, on the east side of the court
house square, and two opposing
teams of two men each, each equip
ped with fire hose coupled to n.y.
drants, tried to see which could drive
the barrel back to the other side. The
fight was won by the two fire boys,
Ce"il Mcleod and Tom Bryant, who
divided the prize, s25 in gold, be-
tween them. They not only drove
the barrel back on their opponents,
but made them drop their hose, the
water from which drenched scores of
people before it could be cut off.
1t was a record-breaking fourth
~~of July crowd IN good behavior.
There was very little disorder and
but few arrests. Intoxicated men
were scarce, and the very few who
were in evidence kept quiet.
The members of the 4th of July
committee worked steadily and faith
fully and kept things moving with
out a hitch. There was nothing Sec
rotary Rooney couldn't take a hand
at; he nailed up more bunting for
the decorations than any one else
and from that little job to making a
speech, he was johnny on the spot
Rooney puts heart and soul into ev-
erything he tries to do, and if he
loses out he only smiles and goes al
the next thing. Marshal Ditto per-
formed his duties in his usual quiet
: ly efficient manner; you might not
know Frank was anywhere around
unless something began to go wrong
then he would be there in an instant
to make it go right. Chief of Police
Brlgance was happier than for many
a day; the ex-cayalryman was al
home in the saddle, and the only
thing he missed was the tapping of a
scabbard against his left heel.
The stores did a pretty good bust
ness; the people were in town mostly
for fun, but they were good spend
ers, and had more money than in
lone years; so all in all, in business
ana, pleasure, OcaIa's fourth was all
to the good.
Many colored people from all
over the county were in town, but
they showed a greater disposition
than ever to keep to their OWL
crowd and their own amusements.
great many visited the big, fine build
ing of the Metropolitan Co. on South
Magnolia street, and showed the
greatest interest in that praiseworthy
institution.
In the game between the colOred