Newark post., 1919-11-12
RAIN PREVENTS
ARMISTICE DAY
CELEBRATION
Leaders Deemed Indoor Meet
ing Unwsie and Abandon
ed All Plans

ing OIlWSIC dIlO TAOoAlOOii
ed All Plans
The weather man ar st. Martin
or somebody played scurvy trick
on the populace yesterday. With
plans all made for the biggest day
in her history, with every body
working hard to make the Armis-
tice Day celebration a grand sue
cess, and everything ready for the
parade which was to have started
at 2 o'clock, along comes a persist
ent, hateful drizzle that gave no
sign of abating. If the weather
man had sent a good healthy down
pour and let it go at that, the en-
thusiastic marchers would have
been willing to endure wet streets
and would have risked bit of dis
comfort in order to carry out the
well-laid plans-but the hopeless
ness of the situation was apparent
before 9 o'clock. Those whose
duties make it incumbent upon
them to arise in the cold, gray
dawn these mornings, read a
menace yesterday morning in the
glowing bars of red which adorned
the eastern sky, for the mariners
couplet, }
"Red sky in the morning
Is the sailors warning"
suggested itself Immediately.
Hope spring eternal" however,
and the common fallacy that "such
thing might happen to others but
surely not to u.s." quieted the fears
of the townsfolk until after break
fast anyway. Then the sky began
Ito assume that relentless, menac-
ing appearance that means rain all
, day and then some.
Chairman Eben B. Frazer and
chief marshall E. C. Wilson were
besieged all morning with calls
from those who hoped against hope
that something might be done-if
not parade then perhaps me-
mortal service in the Armory. This
latter plan was considered but in
the opinion of the leaders in the
G movement, it could not be made a
E satisfactory celebration and was
i abandoned. When it became evi.
J. dent that nothing short of the ori.
ginal celebration would satisfy
e the people, Mayor Frazer inform
! ed the committee that they woulc
: be called together within day OF
q two to determine whether or mo-
S it will be wise to have the parade
-. at some later date.
On Monday night, everybody
was optimistic. The day had beer
d profitably spent in preparing floats
l. putting the finishing touches OF
d costumes and doing the hundred
d and one things that are necessar,
O in order that the day might b
q given over to whole-hearted parti
!. cipation in the big event. Not 4
r. discordant note had been sounde
anywhere. The positions had bee
# assigned to the various orginza
II tions and industries and had bee
# cheerfully accepted. The town
o. three bands had been secured an
the cooperation of all had bee
pledged to make the celebration a
epoch making event.
The leaders in the Red Cros
campaign had planned to make tn
N celebration a means of securing
= full quota in their membershi
"a drive and Mayor Frazer had aske
g 20 young women in addition to tn
y regular solicitors to don the di:
j tinctive Red Cross costume and s.
u, cure from the assembled crowds q
many subscriptions as possibl
The change of plans took the win
out of the whirl-wind finish whic
of had been intended toclosethe men
~ bership campaign. With the cha
% acteristic adaptability of the lev
&C headed American however, tf
of town executed swift right abo1
of face, went to work Tuesday afte
y. noon more or less cheerfully al
~ ~ things settled back into the o
&C. &C. grind, leaving each with just
90 90 little better feeling perhaps t
~ ward the other fellow for h
~ ~ cheerful cooperation in the eel
" bration plans and his evident d
&C sire to do honor to those who
VI home and abroad made such
VI spirit possible.