Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-06-25
PLUMED KNIGHTS
Continued from Page one)

PLUMED KNIGHTS
Continued from Page one)
the Crusades. not only accomplished
their conquest of the Queen City, but
captured the hearts Of thousands from
all over Maine who assembled to wit
ness this mammoth gathering of
marching men In Respondent uniform.
Venl' vidi, vici." quoth j. Caesar
1ooo years ago. "Venimus, vidimus,
vicimus," said the Maine Templars to-
gay paraphrasing the language Of
the great Romans.
For the Templars came, they saw
and they conquered with a resultant
100 per cent victory that no Crusader
or Caesar could hope to achieve.
From the town of Houlton, from
the rocky slopes of Vinal Haven, from
the Forest City, the greatest in
Maine; from Lewiston, Augusta, and
Waterville. from Calais and Eastport;
from everywhere came these Templars,
4O00 of them. representing member
ship in "a communicates in Maine.
Even the baby of them all, that at
Sanford, which was only born last
month, made the long trip to Bangor
with a band to bring up tho rear of
the procession, for, it should be borne
in mind, all the Communicates, ex-
cept ST. Johns, the hosts of the day,
marched in the order Of their organ
ization. So 1t was that Sanford COM
mandery brought up the rear.
Then there were the men from
Pennington with their band, all mem
bers of the Knights Templar. the
only one in the projects This in
itself was an inspiring sight.
All too often has st. Johns day
been hot. AS many Templars remem-
Der, the oath of June. 1924, was one
of the hottest days of the year. The
same was true of the year before that.
1t would seem as If Old Sol had re-
served his hottest rays for this men,
orable feast day.
But today. all was as 1t should be
and the members Of st. Johns Com
mandery of Bangor, who were the
hosts of every other commandery in
the State, felt glad that it was so,
for the right weather was all that
was needed to make the day the big
event to which all Templar Masons
have been looking for the past five
years.
From out Of the northwest came
wind that yachtsmen would call a
spanking breeze. 1t tempered the air
and for all the sun was bright the
oppressiveness of other st. Johns
days was gratefully absent.
The advance guard of the Templars
reached Bangor, Tuesday night. The
balance came in this morning, mostly
by train. Many-came to the Queen
City in their automobiles and Joined
their companions who had travelled
by rail. Delays in starting the big
parade were unavoidable, but at noon.
the procession was formed and from
the Maine Central depot to Maplewood
park where were to be the festivities
Of the day, the line Of march was
taken up.
ST. Johns Commandery led. The
others followed in numerical order.
With few exceptions, every command
cry had it's own band for the occasion.
Bangor people were keenly ap-
preciative of the great event and the
honor that was theirs In having
every commandery Of the State IN
the city. Business houses and pri-
vate residences were gaily decorat-
ed. Work for the day was virtually
suspended during the parade and
throughout the nearly three miles
of the route the crowd Of sight
seers was so great that it seemed as
If no more people could be cared for
on the sidewalks. While approxi-
mately 1000 Templars marched
there were nearly as many others
who did not march.
The formation was open-order
column of threes and by actual
timing it took the procession, ex-
elusive of rests, full hour to pass
a given point.
knight Templar uniforms are OF
a sameness in appearance, but they
seemed to take on added color to-
day because of the beautiful weather
and the greatness of the gathering.
Perhaps ostrich plumed chapeaux
were borne a little more jauntily,
smiles were a little happier. steps
were a bit livelier-all because the
Templars knew this was the day Tor
which they had been waiting and SO
they literally put their best foot
forward for the great parade.
How many people viewed the
procession it would be impossible to
saw. How many automobiles there
were in Bangor today would be
equally fruitless to estimate. AS an
indication of the number, however,
it may be remarked that from the
Bangor House clear to Maplewood
park, on both sides of the thorough
fare, cars were closely parked SO
that they formed continuance line.
A conservative estimate OF the
money represented by these auto
mobiles in this one stretch alone
would be over a million dollars.