Omaha daily bee., 1918-09-14

Celebrate Victory.
Never before was such a birthday
celebration held in Omaha. Partic-
ularly enthusiastic were the people in
honoring the states most prominent
citizen because of the news from
France which indicated that the gen.
eral and his brave boys were having
a little celebration of the event there
with the addition of unlimited fire
works" and hrecrackers," and some
10000 German guests" who had been
brought in to the celebration-after
being deprived of their arms.
--o The, Omaha streets were crowded
with people long before the parade
started. A great number OF automo-
biles were lined up at vantage points
even before o'clock. Boy scouts
acted as patrols. They also distrib-
uted many thousands of leaflets con-
tanning patriotic songs and the crowds
sang these while waiting for the pa
rade.
=, Huge Birthday Cake.
The feature of the parade was the
Pershing birthday rake float, the hand
iwork of Gus Rene, famed Ak-Sar-
Ben artihcer. On this was chef at
work at a table and an enormous
birthday cake with So candles on it
and, at the rear, big picture OF Cen
eral Pershing, draped with flags: The
whole float was brilliantly illuminated
Il :..s-Jaeoark 1;nhfs
1t was drawn by Is Omaha Elks.
Fifteen more Elks held rope at the
back OF the float, acting as a brake
going down hill.
The order of march Of the parade
was as follows: <oo
Soldiers from Fort Omaha, 6OO
strong.
Home Guards.
Ks Soldiers mothers.
Red Cross and other women's war
organizations in uniform.
Omaha Elks.
The cake on an illuminated Hoat.
Salvation Army.
High School cadets.
Municipal Guards. y
The six bands which participated
in the parade are: the Midwest
band, formerly called the Postoffice
band. composed of postoffce em-
pIoyes; the Omaha Musicians as
sociation band, the Bohemian and
Dan Desdunes' band, the Union Pacl-
&c band. composed of Union Pacific
employees. and the Boy Scouts drum
corps. ',x,.
The court house square was crowd
ed TO the limit when the parade was
done. A choir of 200 girls directed
by Frances L. Range, over the main
entrance, led in the singing OF pa
triotic songs.
The appearance of the float was
greeted with a great cheer from the
crowd at the court house. 4
Charles R. Docherty, exalted ruler
of the Elks. was master OF ceremonies
and introduced Capt. {. +. Adams,
commander chief OF the grand
Army of the Republic, who made the
patriotic address.
He only spoke 10 minutes because
the crowd was so solidly jammed all
around the platform that people could
not get out and the ceremonies were
hurried as much as possible:
Captain Adams declared that Gen.
eral Pershing is "the central tgure OF
Americas hopes at the present time.
He gave a brief history Of the gen
erars life and his rapid promotion
following upon military services bril-
liantly performed. And he declared
that a still greater celebration even
than this one will take place some
time in the future when Pershing
comes home crowned with victory
over the enemies who have sought
to threaten the liberty of the peoples
of the world.
Then came the event which the
great audience had been awaiting
the cutting Of the cake.
Forward stepped M. Gerard Cos
ette in the full white uniform of a
pastry cook, a French pastry cook, a
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