Evening star., 1943-04-25
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

Fifty years ago the Nation was in
mood OF anticipation. The great Chicago
Worlds Fair the Colum-
ANTICIPATING bian Exposition, was due
the Fair to open in week. The
Star of April 26, 1893,
said: Except for few details, every
thing is settled for the opening exercises
of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago
next Monday MAY u. The people will
be massed in front of the administration
building and lodged on the bridges of
the lagoons when the President presses
the button which will put the vast ma
Chinery in motion. Then, also thousands
of flags of every nation will be thrown
to the breeze all over the grounds and
the fountains in the basin will begin to
play =. A salute of guns will be fired
when the President reaches the grounds
and another when the machinery starts"
In preliminary ceremony a bronze
statue of Columbus was unveiled. Ac-
cording to The Star of
Columbus April 25, 1898: The
in Bronze bronze monument to
Christopher Columbus,
erected by the Worlds Columbian EX-
position on the lake front at the foot of
Congress street, was unveiled at o'clock
this afternoon with appropriate cere-
monies The height of the statue,
which is of heroic size, is 20 feet. It's
pedestal, of Maine granite, is 80 feet,
making a total altitude of so feet. The
figure has had the approval of many
artists and critics and is said to be the
largest bronze statue in the United
States After the exposition it was to
be removed.
Even more famous was another exhibit
sent to the fair-the Liberty Bell In
dispatch from
Liberty Bell Philadelphia, The
Tokes q Journey Star of April "a,
1898, reported: "A
national hero, clothed in flesh and blood,
could not be rendered higher honors nor
receive warmer expressions of patriotic
devotion than were showered upon old
Liberty Bell this afternoon when the
first move was made on her journey to
Chicago. Extensive preparations had
been made v for transporting the
Nations relic to the fair and it was
escorted to the station with the the
pomp and ceremony of a hero" A
parade was held, and at Harrisburg,
Indianapolis and other points along the
four-day run to Chicago special rites
occurred as the bell train arrived.
The warship review in New York Har-
Dor was under way. The Star of April
26 1893 explained: THE
NovoI phantom ships which sailed
Review In out of the mists of the
sea yesterday were bright
and majestic realities in the glorious
sunshine this morning. = - In the sharp
clear light of the early morning every
distinctive feature of the great warships
stood out in bold relief Anchored in
two great columns stretched over the
whole surface Of the bay, the vessels of
each of the 10 nationalities represented
could be distinguished at a glance"
The distinguished actor, Edwin Booth,
son Of another great actor, Junius Brutus
Booth, was near death
An Actor in New York. The Star
Near Deoth of April "a, 1893 re-
lated: There was no
perceptible change in Edwin Booths
condition this morning. DR.. Smith said
that the case is not necessarily fatal
one, but that if Booth has another Of
the attacks he cannot possibly live
through it." Booth fingered for few
weeks longer; the end came on June 7.
X
A telegram from Panama "a city then
in Colombia) indicating trouble in Hon.
duras was received by The
Trouble in Star on April 25, 1893:
Honduras "As result Of the assist
ance given by Nicaragua
to the revolutionary leader, Policorpo
Benilia, war may be declared between
that republic and Honduras at any
moment" For the next 10 years, how
ever, there were a succession of civil wars
In Honduras instead of . declaration
against Nicaragua.