New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-05
Mayor Mitchell Leads 1000
Selected Soldiers Up
Fifth Avenue
5000 Parade in
Brooklyn and Bronx
New Troops, Without
Equipment, Present Fine
Appearance

SNhe VI INC OaHus were palaCln2 IN
the plsisances of Brooklyn, some me-
andering among the crazy quilt streets
OF The Bronx, some pumping their way
up Fifth Avenue, straight through the
heart of Manhattan. Miles separated
their courses, but the martial melody
they all kept harping on. so that never
once was it out OF the ears Of the
thousands who marched and the mill
IONS who watched, was the same.
"Over There!" crashed the brasses,
all but voicing the words Of the
Broadway-born war song that bids fair
to take rank as the American Upper
ary. "Over There! Over Therew echoed
the line captains, the wood winds.
Like subalterns passing on the COM
mand the big drums thumped home the
gist Of it, monotonously, insistently
pointing out the way-"There! Therel
There, There, There! o-o-o-oh.yer
ThereP
$4,000 in Three Parades
To those who followed in its wake
it was promise set 10 music. a clair
voyant thing that put desks and work
benches very far in the past and
crowded in out Of the future a subtle
suggestion of the sights and smells and
sensations Of war. And in its rhythm
was a magic that kept in step and held
in presentable alignment the $4,000
men who, marching yesterday for the
first time in their lives. strode out
as If they were soldiers already, with
their faces resolutely set toward what
is waiting Over There.
Some Of them were used 70 the sham.
bling gait which comes from travelling
along a rut. Others were habituated
to a slouch. More had walked through
life, erect enough, but as individuals
not concerned with the pace or the
swing or the carriage Of the next man.
Yet in the first parade Of the Ma
tional Army they all marched. To
achieve that much they needed neither
uniforms nor extended drilling. Il was
sufficient that it was THEN day-that
the eyes of their city were proudly
upon them, and that the cheers of their
city were lifting into the blue in proof
it appreciates that conscription is only
a word.
And their day il was. not only during
the period of the parades, but straight
on through the afternoon, when an
"N. A" brassard was as good as
rain check at the ball parks, and
through the evening, when all over the
city it was open house TO the IN. A."
boys.
Those who marched in The Brony
parade numbered 1000 In Brooklyn
5000 men were in line, and in Nanhat-
tan 1000 more. Altogether there were
considerably less than half the quota
of 3S,62l which the city is sending 70
make up the first increment Of the Ma
tional Army-but against that it must
be considered that the turnout was ar
ranged on short notice, and that it did
not reach many until too late.
Business Goes On as Usual
The spectators in, along and above
Fifth Avenue, too, may have been fewer
than those who saw the farewell pa
rade Of the National Guard last week.
For that the explanation was obvious,
rs the fact became apparent. The
banks had declared a holiday and the
department stores had closed down
while the Guardsmen were on the
march. Yesterday-and no less honor
to the National Army, for lost time
must be made up--it was business as
usual throughout the city.
Then again there was no drawing on
the big sister boroughs for recruits to
jam the sidewalks Of the avenue and
TO fill the windows which customarily
are for hire when spectacles are string
ing out below Their own parades kept
the people Of The Bronx and Brooklyn
contentedly at home.
Nevertheless. il was in the Manhat-
tan parade that interest centred. Ex-
ccpt, perhaps, IN the neignborhood Of
tbe gl..ls,and, in front OF the Astor
Library ~ Forty y-secoud Street and
IN Avenue, there were no such
crowds rs those Of Thursday But the
o.!ookers were IN sufficient number,
added 20 the 100000 Brooklynites who
turned ol., and The Bronx's 4O0, 900, 70
bring the total well over two millions.
SO, az any lat-, the police estimated
The throus gathered early, but as
there were bare patches on the side
walks 50 were theTe in the grsndstand
Here sections had been set aside for
the accommodation of friends and fam
lies Of the drafted men; but either this
was not generally understood or those
included in the general Invitation for
the most part preferred 70 keep their
feet on the ground.
IL was a dry-eyed crowd slow, some
might have thought, 70 grasp the sig.
nificance of the occasion, finding IL hard
10 realize that the river Of men rolling
easily up the avenue was driving
toward a Niagara. Certainly outbursts
Of sentiment were few and far between.
Certainly the crowd didn't wear its heart