The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-11-12
THOUSANDS SEE PARADE |OF TRIBUTE Armistice Column Moves Through Streets To
 Martial Music BOMBING AIRPLANES HERALD GREAT HOUR All Patriotic And Civic Organizations Of City
 Participate 1 AUDITORIUM FILLED AT SPEAKING EVENT Magnificent Ball By American Legion Terminates Festiv-
 ities Of Day
BOMBING AIRPLANES HERALD GREAT HOUR
AUDITORIUM FILLED
 AT SPEAKING EVENT

Arnistice Day-the sixth anniversary of the ending of the mightiest conflict in his ! Itory-brought to Birmingham ! new realization of the debt which it owes to those who died that humanity might be saved"
 But to 23 Gold Star moth- CTS, who viewed the largest parade ever held in the city, Armistice Day was one of sor- row. As the various units of the long procession passed their reviewing stand at the ,Tutwiler hotel, tears welled into their eyes-tears of ex- ultation, combining grief for those who sleep in the poppy fields of Flanders, yet withal tears of gladness that the sac rifice of their sons had not been in vain.
 The true spirit of the. day was centered into two minutes, when for that short !lenEth of time, all Birmingham, includ- ling the parade, stopped and stood at attention in honor of those whose lives were, cut short by Roche bullets. The two-minute silent period was ushered in by an aerial bomb at 3 o'clock from one of the aeroplanes which scared high above the city, while the parade was in progress.
 The first event in Birmingham's ob- seryance of the day came at Il o'clock Thursday morning-the exact hour of the armistice in France-when bombs were set off. It was a signal for the secession of business and shortly after that hour, Nineteenth and Twentieth streets started to fill with citizens seek ing vantage points from which to view the parade. A
 The parade-the main event in the city's celebration-started at promptly Q 80 o'clock. The seven units of the procession moved down Nineteenth street to First avenue to Twentieth street to Woodrow Wilson Park, the longest and most representative parade ever turned out by the city.
 Sidewalks damned
 And the throng of spectators which filled the sidewalks and occupied every office and store window along the line of march, stood still and silent for more than an hour out of true rever- ence for the spirit represented by the numerous flags, the Buddy" who hob bled along with his companions on crutches. the fast diminishing wearers of the Gray, who, too weak to march, rode in automobiles. Even the applause which greeted the Salvation Army float, representing a doughnut and cup of coffee, was muffled, as though the spectators could feel the very surcease from hunger and cold which the dough- nuts had furnished six years ago.
 The first unit in the parade consisted of the massed flags of all Birmingham patriotic societies, military detach- ment, a police detachment and the city commissioners. They were followed by the units of the National Guard and oth- CT Birmingham military outfits, and the Boy Scouts, the first time there has been complete mobilization of the or ganization.
 The third division of the procession consisted of veterans of the World war and Red Gross nurses. It was headed by a ''tin halted" platoon, followed by members of the American Legion and the Spanish War veterans. The Ameri- can Legion auxiliary and the nurses followed, exciting cheers all along the line of march.
 Next, in the fourth division, were the R. o. T. c. units of the Birming- ham schools and representative groups of each of the city's 32 public schools. 1p the fifth unit were the private schools, the Rotary club, the Elks and other civic and fraternal organizations.
 The Spanish-American war veterans and the discriminating wearers of the Gray, too old and too infirm to march, were driven along the line of march as the sixth unit.
 The final unit, consisting of negro veterans of the World war, left the main parade at First avenue and marched to the negro Masonic temple, where their Armistic Day program was given. Interspersed throughout the parade were bands, every band in the city being present, and all playing martial music.
 During the parade, aeroplanes from Roberts field, representing the aviation section of the United States forces, flew
 (COntinued on Page TwO.)