Rock Island Argus., 1919-10-24


above the throng; his cOuntenance
depicting the deepest thanksgiving
for this hour of triumph for his lit
tie nation, Cardinal Desire Mercier,
the light. that did not fail through
four years of horrors perpetrated
by a ruthless enemy, won the heart
of the tri-cities yesterday after
noon in the space of few brief
hours.
All classes and creeds were rep
resented in that vast assemblage
that gathered in Moline TO welcome
him. And the emotions Of every
man, woman and child was stirred
TO the innermost part of his or her
being as the eyes of 5000 gazed
upon the man acclaimed by a
grateful universe. Pulses skipped
a beat or two as the heroic church
man was helped from his private
car into waiting automobile
His appearance on the platform
Of the car was the signal for the
bands to open with America" A
cheer broke here and there in the
vast crowd, and then followed an
awesome silence, greater tribute
than the widest ovation could have
been regarded
His smile depicted deepest graf
stude, a depth OF emotion that his
benign nature alone, perhaps, could
feel. Seated in the spacious ton
neau Of the automobile. he nodded
his head and waved his arm in
acknowledgement of his wonder
full appreciation. Hundreds press
ID Pnru~orI tn n
outstretched hand of the aged prel-
ate, extended to all in a manner at
once gracious and democratic.
Poses for Photographers.
Seemingly unable to comprehend
the meaning of 1t all. it was not
without some difficulty that the
cardinal capitulated to the impOr-
tunities of photographers and pos
ed in all the splendOr of his robes
Of office while the shutters clicked
their happy response.
knights Of Columbus of the three
cities and ladies of the Red Cross
united to form the guard OF honor.
In the procession to the site of the
new church structure were Notes
band of Moline and the East Mo
line Belgian band and a platoon Of
police Following came officers
from Rock Island arsenal in spick
and span government machines.
The official reception committee
followed in machines. in one Of
which rode the man of the hour,
accompanied by Bishop Dunno,
Rev. J. B. Culemans and Mayor c.
p. Skinner.
Along Line of March.
All along the line people stood
and waited for this prince of the
church to pass by. The cOlors of
the Belgian nation were draped
with those of America.
In their hearts, all who saw him
rejoiced. Each realized that the
name of this man passing before
them will go down in history along
with the greatest men OF all time.
Seeing him became something to
treasure and remember; to be told
to future generations when the
yOungster points out in his school
text the story of the man who
braved death that the world might
know the truth about German
atrocities and come to the rescue
Flags, thousands of hem, the
red, white and blue and the red,
yellow and black. stretched across
the street. on Sixteenth avenue,
Seventeenth avenue and the cross
streets within a radius of two
blocks of the scene of the ceremo-
nies, greeted the eyes of the pri-
mate as the place was reached.
From all sides came the tributes
of a grateful people, the great ma
jority of them of his own racial
blood.
Everyone sought to be near the
speakers stand and hear the few
words the cardinal might have to
say in his message. Women and
pushed and showed with
equal intent of purpose shown by
men. A conservative estimate of
the crowd that filled the streets,
wards and porches in the vicinity
teenth street would put it at 10000.
Flowers In Path.
AS Cardinal Mercier ascended to
the platform, he was preceded by
a group of little girls, attfred in
pure white satin, who strewed
flowers in his path. This was fol-
lowed by the presentation of bOu-
quet Of beautiful flowers to the
cardinal by three of the girls.
The cardinal took charge of the
dedication exercises for the new
Sacred Heart church, work on
which had been rushed to be II
raadi0acc for tho dictI0 ptfOu hi=
eminence accorded such an even.
All documents being carefully con
fined in the vault. workmen car
ried the cornerstone into place
The cardinal applied a slab of NOR