Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1919-07-11
FOURTH Was a BIG ! /! DAY y
INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRA
T1oN IN LITTLE FALLS WAS
* ~ BEST EVER.

Such an Independence 5Ddys y sC04oAUiSH{{
ton as was held III Little Falls Friday
has never before been witnessed in this
city. The weather was splendid
throughout the. day and thousands. OF
people were congregated here for the
occasion, some coming from many miles
away. Not only was the celebration a
hummer but everything wentso smooth,
" and this has been commented on
since by many. There were no signs OF
disorder, no accidents and but 4 one
small fire which destroyed one of the
awnings in front of the St. Paul store
This fire was started by a ire-cracker
The celebration began with the big
parade at 1920, which was pronounced
one of the best ever pulled off here
Warren Gibson, marshal Of the day, led
the parade and was followed by the
city band Then came the returned sol
dicrs, sailors and marines, of whom
there were goodly number. Their ap-
pearance in the parade stirred the spec
tators, who cheesed and applauded
them. Following the returned boys
were the home guards and the Boy
Scouts, then tho veterans of the Civil
and Spanish American wars, w. II. u,
Red Cross women, representatives OF
other war organizations and the floats.
The floats were beautiful and in many
cases a great deal of work had been
done on them. ...... - IN
Following the parade exercises were
held on the court house grounds, which
were very impressive. The program
was opened with a selection by the
band, followed by the reading of the
Declaration of Independence by Rev.
Philip E. Gregory. A mixed chorus led
by Miss Laura Brannen then sang
HMarch of the Men of Columbia. -
Hon. Andrew A. Bruce, law professor
at the state university and formerly
chief Justice of the North Dakota SUI
preme court, was the speaker Of the
day. He delivered splendid patriotic
address in which he spoke of the par
ticular significance of independence
Day this year. This program closed
with another song by the chorus and a
selection by the band.
In the afternoon the band gave a
concert at 1880 and then followed the
baseball game between Brainerd and
Little Falls, which was won by Little
Falls, s to l. An account of this game
is given in another column
EARLY in the. evening beautiful ex-
hibition of daylight fireworks was
given near the railroad tracks on the
East side. This was something new and
was very much enjoyed. The fireworks
included rockets, small balloons, in
shape Of elephants, etc., parachutes with
flags attached, fish, fowls, bears, ETC.,
and one from which an American flag
was unfurled, suspended from a para
chute.
The days program closed with .
grand Victory pageant in the evening,
under the direction of Miss Rosebud
Fortier, which was splendidly given. r
For those who enjoyed tripping the
light fantastic there was dancing in the
evening at the Harrison & Peterson
hall.
Prize-winners in the parade were as
follows:
Best Decorated Float.
Child welfare, first, $50.
Anderson.Levis, second, 500.
Red Cross, American Grocery Com
pany, third, $40.
Best Decorated Car.
Miss Marion Lewis, first, SIS.
Earl V. Wetzel, second, $40.
Battleship, third, $5:
Most Unique.
j. II. Van Loon, first. IS.
Hennepin Paper company, second, IS.
Vertin & Totten, third, IS.