The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1916-03-29
Over 5000 People Were in
Line and it Took Columns
% Minutes to Pass
Hotel Iowa.
DRUM CORPS AND BAND
Company L Was Cheered as it
Swung Along Streets and
DR.. Scoville Paid Tribute
to Boys.

to Boys.
With a platoon Of Keokuk police
leading the way. thirty piece band
: playing popular marches and with
drum corps interspersed throughout
the line Of march, more than 1000
men, women and children marched
through the business section of the
| city last night on their way to the
! Charles Reign Scoville tabernacle.
A crowd of persons estimated at
5000, watched the pageant pass along
Main street. The sidewalks were
black with spectators from Fourth
street to Twelfth. Hundreds Of heads
prOtruded from the windows of the
business blocks and apartment houses
along the streets through which the
paraders marched. Fully 5000 per-
sons, it Is estimated, were on the
streets between 7 o'clock and 8
o'clock
Following the band came Company
L, Of the Iowa National Guard, dress
ed in uniform. Then came the Boy
Scouts, the tabernacle ushers, the
chorus choir of 500 persons, beauti-
fully decorated autos filled with sing
ing boys and girls clad in immaculate
white clothes. the Y. M. G. A, Y. w.
c. A., the Western Union Telegraph
company, churches, Sunday sea )ois,
the Salvation Army, veterans of the
Spanish-American war and others
who extended the line for twenty
| blocks. 1t required twenty-five min
utes for the column to pass the Hotel
Iowa at Fourth and Main streets.
| The parade, according to. Guy S.
Williams, publicity agent for Scoville,
was one of the most successful ever
staged for the evangelist. The crowds
that surged into the tabernacle over
flowed the building and scores looked
on through the open doors of the
| shed.
| Revival songs were sung by the
| various delegations as they marched,
| He Surely Means Me" being the
favorite. TE-
Band and Soldiers cheered.
| The AL G. Field minstrel band was
playing at Sixth and Main streets
| when the parade band went by. The
troopers" seemed to catch the spirit
Of the occasion and furnished music
for the rest Of the line. China
town." Dixie and other favorites
were blasted out in true minstrel
style and the church folk smiled and
applauded their appreciation as they
filed by the band.
The national guards were cheered
by the spectators as they passed the
crowds. Traffic on Main street was
practically at a standstill during the
moments the column was In moving.
Street car motOrmen tried to ring
/ the crowds off the track, but their
attempts were futile and one car
stopped for several moments until it
could get into the clear"
Hundreds Of American flags waved
merily in the air, held high by enthus
iastic marchers. Several autos. be-
decked with festoons Of ribbon and
/ bouquets of flowers and laden to the
tenders with happy faced children,
were features Of the procession.
Salvation Army and Messengers.
The Salvation Army with its newt
able drum and the two large flags so
familiar to that organization, came in
for much Of the cheering and mes
senger boy carrying a banner upon
which were inscribed the words, 1--WE
are for Scoville, Western Union"
came In for his share of the applause.
The church folk of Keokuk met on
common ground last night. Rich men
of the business word locked arms
with their employees and with the
men from the factories and plodded
cheerfully along to the strains Of the
music of the band or to the rhythmic
beat Of the drums of the drum corps.
Beardsiey is Real Drummer.
Rev. Frank G. Beardsley, pastor Of
the First Congregational church, was
applauded enthusiastically as he made
his way along, heading his church
delegation with a snare drum. So
ciety women, factory girls, clerks,
stenographers, students, all marched
together singing, laughing and smil-
ing at the crowds along the sidewalks.
The narclers began gathering at
the intersection of Fifth and Blon-
deau streets at o'clock. At 6:45
o'clock not more than fifty persons
were on hand. Within thirty min
utes the streets for a block in four
directions were so contested with
people that it was impossible for
autos or buggies to pass, and, conse-
quently, the traffic was detoured by
way Of Fourth and Sixth streets.
Han1ilI is Marshal.
Major D. B. Hamill was the mar
shall of the day. He rode a beauti-
full bay charger and was in full con
troll of the procession all the time
The chairman of the parade commit
tee was the Rev. E. Leroy Steffey,
pastor of the Methodist Protestant
church, and to him, with the other
members of the committee and local
ministers, belongs most of the credit
for the success of the spectacle.
At o'clock a drum corps, in charge
of the Rev. Mr.. Beardsley-in fact, ii
consisted of the minister and a bass
drummer-began rolling off martial
tunes in front of the Y. NJ. =. A
building Within a few minutes the