Norwich bulletin., 1913-07-05
THE CHANGE IN FIFTY YEARS.

Dear Sisters and Friends of the So- clal Corner: Fifty years ago, whether the scene of the celebration was a large or small town. the programme of the festivities differed only in size and never in character. Independence day began with a salute fired by the local artillery company, or, if there wasn't such an institution in the community, by the valiant fire brigade, with a bod rOWed cannon, or pair of anvilS. There was a flag raising, of course, to accompany this daybreak salute and to witness the stirring ceremony the youthful element of the population was up with the early dawn. In a few places the frecrackers had already be- gun to find their way to the hands of the boys and girls. but as 8 general proposition their part in the hurrah was merely as on1ookers.
 Rather cheer1ess thing, the boy of since days, with his load of crackers, bonnbsticks, torpedees and other noise producers, would think; but the chil- dren Of that time managed to extract fhn out of it, else why up with the dawn to seurFy t6 the common fer a sighf of tine flag raising and the beleh~ ing of the big guns?
 Occasionally the 6WheF of & rifle ST pistol would greet the day by sending forth 8 personal ~sa1Hte, but this pfae- tiee was Ret entirely in geod ferna fer number of years. In fact, the 'indi- Yldual eefebfatieH among the masses did ast come inte recognized being un- til after the Civil war, when the flag had been raised and the salute duly fired, the noise of which not infre- quently brought complaints from many citizens who objected te such an un- seemly uproar>
 There was peace and quiet in a gen. eral way over the city, but not so at the armories of the militia and other 0P IS1f4 They had a part to play in the ceIe- bratton, and the hours of the morning were too short for their preparations, for no Fourth of July would have been complete fifty years ago without it's military parade, and the town which did not boast such a thing on the day was most vociferously denominated as lacking in patriotic impulses. It was always as showy as the town could make it. The most important feature of the day in naughty splendor headed by brass band of more or less mu- sical merit, the strutting militiamen would leave their armory shortly be- fore noon and march over a designated course to the yard or ground where the real celebration of the day was to occur. The old soldiers would gener- ally ride in carriage or on a dec orated wagon, a young woman attired as Columbia, and then would come the uniformed societies of the city to lend their quota to the patriotic display. Having arrived at their destination soldiers and citizens would indulge Tn a real celebration of our great anniver- sary, a celebration that was of a To- cal character usually, inasmuch as it was a sort of campaign meeting, picnic and barbecue in one.
 One thing that was never lacking from even the smallest celebration was the reading of the Declaration of In- dependence. Most everybody knows what a barbecue is. and these affairs of fifty years ago on the Fourth of July were no travesties on the name. They were of gigantic size, and the people extracted an immense amount of pleasure watching the slowly roasting with the savory odors in the nostrils,