New Britain herald., 1917-07-07
Town Topics

TWO wartime Fourths of July l July i, 1898, and July f, 1917. Con- 1 trast the latter and that which mem- 1 ory and reference to back files of
 the Herald, tells us of the former. l The Herald of July 5, 1898, states: l The glorious Fourth of July was celebrated in New Britain yesterday l as 1t was never celebrated before. | The heat was intense, and this, no ] doubt, prevented many organiza ations 1 from appearing in the line, but the 1 fire department turned out. and so 1 did the o. U. A. M the Turner so- 1 clety. the Teutonia Maennerchor, the Knights of the Golden Eagle and the 1 eN-mayors of the city all headed by the American band and a platoon of police, made a very satis- factory parade. The day was ush- cred in by the ringing of bells, the roar Of cannon, and the crack of many guns and pistols at midnight and the enthusiasm became more pronounced as the full meaning of Sampson's work at Santiago was realized Among the speakers on this occasion weer Mayor Webster, Prof R. G. Hubbard, Rev. Russell H. Taft, Philip J. Markley and Rev. J. d. fitzgerald, now pastor of the church of St. John the Evangelist The speech of each man was filed With phrases relative to patriotism and the Spanish war, but the closing paragraphs of Lawyer Markley's ad- dress were not unlike similar words 1 that are being uttered today in our 1 present war. He said, in referring l to the foreigners who came here and
 renounce allegiance to their native
 
 he claimed that "those who came here to foment disorder or spread dlssenslon among our people, should be banlshed from the United States" In conclusion, the story tells of the night fireworks at Walnut Hill park This year there were no night fire works, nor was there that ush ering in of July 4 with cannon and pistol. The afternoon parade and speeches has also been supDlanted with a con- cert and out door sports at Walnut Hill park. It is we'll within the memory of the most of us the time when the boisterous July 4th celebra- tion began to subside in favor of the safe and sane forth. Time there was when the fire department was run ming from one end of the city to the other all night long preceding the fourth in response to false alarms. Now such things are almost unheard of. It is only a comparatively few years ago when right here in New Britain it was the custom, with po- lice sanction, to start the fourth of July celebration on the night of the third and most of us can remember the hundreds of young men walking along Main street shooting off re- ,-,1,-
 Those were the days when pandemo- nium reigned supreme. But although those days have passed the observ- ance of July 4 Is no less sincere and the day Is held no less sacred to the American people,
 
 July 4, 1898, was in many respects in reference to war, even more fraught with excitement than was the one just jassed. On July 4, 1893, came the flash from the war zone concerning the Spanish fleet and the 1 fighting at Santiago. In that year July 4th came on a Monday and the | Herald published an extra edition | that evening, the front page of which l was emblazoned with the headlines l Spanish Fleet Is No More. Shafter | Gives the Spaniards in Santiago Until l Tomorrow Noon to Surrender The | American Troops Resting Prepara- tory to the Next Attack" Another l glaring headline tells of the arrival | of troops to support the late Admiral | George Dewey at Manila. The brief 1 bulletin concerning the battle of San tiago, sent the people wild with en- thusiasm when read. It stated: ",rhc fleet under my command offers the 1
 
 the destruction of the whole Ceveras' fleet. Not one escaped. It attempted l to escape at 9:30 a. m. and at ? D. 1 m. the last vessel, the Cristobal Colon, had run ashore sixty miles west of Santiago and has let down her colors. l The Marie Theresa, Oquendo and Viz 1 caya were forced ashore. burned and l blown up within twenty miles of San tiago. The Fulton and Furor were | destroyed within four miles of the l port. The American loss was one killed and two wounded. The enemys | loss will probably reach several hun dred from gun fire. explosion and drowning. Thirteen hundred Span iards, including Admiral Cevera, were captured. The American killed was George H. Ellis, chief yeoman of the i Brooklyn. (Signed) Sampson" For those too young to remember this | glorious victory for the American navy they can well ina zine the scenes of patriotic delight and celebratio l with which the city resounded on that | eventful day. May they soon be re- peated.
 Fathers and grown up brothers. | contrast the recent July to the good | old kid days when you and the rest 1 of the gang had a gas pipe cannon in i partnership and one time you thought , the fuse had gone out, but the blamed ! old thing went off anyway and after | the doctor had nicked the nnwdar o11t 1