The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-03-17
HAILOF GRANTEE
MISSES PARADE
FOR ST. PATRICK
Stone From Spire Causes
Panic. Breaking Wrist of
Thomas +. Smith.
oOO WEAR ANCIENT kits
1000 in Line, Half Women,
and Service Flags Tell Of
Irishmen ut Front.

rhs, rare bird upon earth consensus
~ Irish opinion gave all the credit to
s. Patrick himself yesterday (and !
agreed, OF course, that the masons were !
70 blame) when bit OF a stone weigh |
,,r all of zoo pounds detached itself |
from the north spire of the cathedral
that bears his name, split on granite
coming as It reached the roof and
dropped to ground level In two for |
uidable pieces. Half OF 1t, piercing the
,,of like paper, came to rest in the !
t.ye Just under the overhang Of the
choir loft The other half. again divided |
Is I. fell. was strewn in email pieces
over the Cathedral steps and Fifth ave-
ne.
The stone made a mighty crash as II
came tearing down. and the impact Of
tia, part Of It which struck and went
,,roush the roof shook the building suf-
f.ien,ly TO send a vibration out into the
street. As the cry went up that the
tpire Itself was topping rain Of small
,eces OF granite spattered upon the
t,srs and sidewalk.
Luckily the space Immediately In front
o. the building had been kept clear by
tie police and the reviewing stand had
been set up at the corner Of FIftieth
street Those standing across the ave-
| rue could see what vas wrong and kept
their heads, but for a few minutes there
vas a lively panic among those who had
PAGES in the reviewing stand.
Congressman's Wrist Broken.
Cardinal Farley and Mayor Hylan.
Who were to review the parade. had
rot as yet taken their places, but In
,he front row awaiting them were Rep
resen,atiye Thomas F. Smith and JUS
,ice bowling Of the Supreme Court. In
The nomentary scramble to get clear Of
The stand the two men were pushed
through the front rail to the sidewalk
ind Mr.. Smith struck the pavement with
both hands and knees. The fall broke
Ais right wrist and after the excitement
had died down he drove to Bellevue
hospital and had II set. Justice Dowling
sss thoroush shaken. but suffered no
PARTICULAR injuries. He remained until
tie parade had passed.
The stone ultimately was identified a.
. quatrefoil Of four leaved embellish-
msnt common to Gothic architecture. 1t
| cane from a few feet below the apex
Of the spire and is supposed to have
worked itself loose through having been
a; some time used as an anchor stone
70. one Of the four halyards by which
the American colors are displayed be-
tween the spires. In the high winds Of
recent weeks the strain on the aag hal
yards has been especially heavy.
Cardinal Farley. after the parade, ex-
pressed himself as grateful that the
stone had not chosen this morning at
high mass az its moment for dropping
ba n
have caused a panic in the crowded
church and undoubtedly loss Of life.
TIE spire was inspected Immediately
after the parade and will receive a still
more thorough inspection this morning.
Il any other stone is found to be un-
stable the Cathedral will be closed until
al. danger has been averted.
Novel Features in Parade.
The parade was a wide departure
rom any other ST. Patrick's parade
which New York can remember. In the
first place it lacked the principal Jewel
II lis tiara, the Sixty-ninth Regiment.
nov hghting in France. In the second,
It's ranks contained as many women as
Men In the third. the golden harp on
the green field was absent, replaced by
ne green. white and orange Of united
Ireland, and in the fourth. 1t wore a
scottish aspect in that some 200 OF its
men and boys marched In kits to the
II Of pipes.
\ word here by the Rev. Joseph
Powers, rector Of the Church Of the
sacred Heart:
The Scotch have no historical right
% the kits and pipes The Irish lent
hem to tho Scotch. who never gave them
'acH' Early Gaelic history records the
'ac' In Tesuming the kilt and the piIL,;
ne Irish have simply revived a national
e'ess and custom and will keep them"
ne parade had. too. an aspect of sim
p'"''y which was almost severity, and
was It's reflection OF the fact that thou
@nds Of boys Of Irish blood are wear
ing The khaki and blue OF Uncle Sans
"sAtng forces. The Irish Volunteers.
"no OK old have paraded In full ranks OF
wv, with their place In the line OF
.aFlh Immediately behind that of the
famous Sixty ninth. turned out 49, I. N
!,Ne'oay The rest are all In the SER
,.-e somewhere. the great majority on
vac Honi line with Pershing. And ~ was
rVVceabe that the thin line OF the Irish
oIdh'eers yesterday was made up Of
"'" ~ their late 30s and 40s.
service FlsGs in Profusion.
indeed the same absence Of the young
a.a nj was observed In every platoon
y. We parade All the Irish county or.
;;,""'Id'ions. the Kerry Men, the Leitrim
He"' the Clare Fcrmanagh and Roscom-
h moh Men and the men OF all the other
'" 'y'iour counties. were made up Of
m"Fchers who had long passed their
"s' maturity and on the lapel or in the
| 'a ot nearly every man there was
.'''' N" service flag. Also the cSsani-
""'hs were present In far less than
eL accustomed numbers, and at the
'i o' each was an organization ser-
" nag, carried with the standard and
W." naNp!ed with the stars representing
=, T men who had left its actual member
''-9 20 90 overseas
IAe 0!d open barouchc OF gayer days
' ''hSpicuously absent as well, and
pa'" Of the long lines OF them that
rlinh,ed up Fifth avenue on the
ms day. there we're solemn com
"f women and children. They
~ carried their service hags by the
.o.e s..d were for the most part aus
ny !r"ssod A few groups OF them
Iright IN national costume or In
"tNs representing America and its
i,,NlHnS, Most ~ the boys were In
ar garb and formation and car
arms az Il to show that they, too
Continued on Tenth Poge.