Chapter VIII: Exhibitions, Entertainments, and Special Occasions (1)

=Type of story.= News stories in this division may be grouped in two classes: (1) those of display, such as exhibitions, shows, fairs, and parades, and (2) those of banquets, holiday celebrations, and other special occasions, such as college commencements. Although the subject matter covers a wide range, the method of handling the news is much the same.

=Purpose.= The aim in these stories is not only to portray attractively the events and scenes but to bring out the spirit of the occasion. There is generally a dominant note in all these events, and the effectiveness of the description can be greatly heightened by selecting those details that bring out this note. The selection and presentation of details from the point of view of their value as showing the mood of the occasion results in a story of much greater interest than does the mere recording of the different incidents. Accuracy in news stories of this kind, therefore, is not simply faithfulness to fact, but truth of sentiment. Untruthfulness lies in adding fictitious details in an effort to heighten the appeal, and in substituting sentimentality for true sentiment.

=Treatment.= The chief problem in writing these stories is to select picturesque and significant phases from the large mass of available material, and to reproduce the scenes and incidents with vividness. These events offer one of the few chances in news writing for pure description. In general the description is of the so-called dynamic type, in that all of the details are selected with the purpose of bringing out one impression rather than of giving a complete picture.

In descriptions of holiday celebrations an emotional appeal is possible because every festival and holiday has its own particular sentiment. Christmas is distinctly the children’s day and is characterized by generosity. Memorial day is marked by patriotic reverence for dead heroes, Fourth of July by patriotic jollification, and Thanksgiving day by the idea of feasting. For banquets and similar occasions in which the spirit of good fellowship is the dominant note the descriptive method in a lighter vein is particularly appropriate.

When speeches and toasts are delivered in connection with these events, they are treated like other speeches and are fitted into the story as incidents of the occasion, or, if they are of sufficient significance, they may be played up as the feature.

* * * * *

AUTOMOBILE SHOW TO OPEN

_New York Times_

The National Automobile Chamber of Commerce will
open its Fifteenth Annual National Automobile Show
in Grand Central Palace next Saturday, Jan. 2.
The Show Committee of the N. A. C. C., which has
the exhibition in charge, consists of Col. George
Pope, H. O. Smith, Wilfred C. Leland, and S. A.
Miles, manager. Instead of opening at night, the
doors will be unlocked at 2 P. M. Displays of goods
conservatively valued at more than $3,500,000 will
occupy the 150,000 square feet of floor space on
four floors of the building. About 50,000 more
square feet of floor space is available this year
than in previous seasons.

There is a total of 338 exhibits. Gasoline pleasure
cars will be shown by eighty-one manufacturers; six
companies will show electric cars, and thirteen
will display motor cycles. The remaining 238
exhibitors are makers of accessories. More than 400
complete cars will be shown. These will be found to
range in price from $295 to $7,500. No commercial
cars will be exhibited, but there will be a
special information bureau for commercial vehicle
manufacturers.

In order to make a beautiful setting for the cars
and show them to advantage, the interior of the
palace has been converted into a Persian palace.
The decoration color scheme is white, gold,
and crimson. The lobby of the building will be
decorated to resemble a California garden.

Following the custom of former years, Wednesday,
Jan. 6, has been set aside as Society Day, upon
which double admission will be charged. There will
also be a Theatrical Day, Monday, Jan. 4, upon
which representative players will be guests of the
management. The exposition will remain open for
one week, until Jan. 9. On the first day the doors
will open at 2 P. M., and on other days at 10 A.
M., with the exception of Sunday, when the building
will remain closed.

* * * * *

POULTRY SHOW

_New York Evening Post_

The twentieth annual exhibition of the New York
Poultry, Pigeon and Pet Stock Association was
opened several hours before daybreak this morning
with appropriate barnyard pomp and ceremony. One of
the 6,500 fowl assembled in Madison Square Garden,
with bold disregard for the conventions of city
life, started things at 3 A. M., and in an instant
the whole family was flapping its wings and crowing
sociably one to another.

Even though it was only the light from an arc lamp
outside, which the birds mistook for the rising
sun, they resolved to make the best of it, and at
noon all the inmates were in excellent voice.

The great arena, filled row upon row with every
variety of domestic fowl, resounded with echoes of
the farm.

It was one long, continuous cock-a-doodle-doo, that
gave the impression that all the barnyards of the
world had suddenly been combined in one.

A flock of white Wyandottes, looking very pompous,
supplied the baritone parts of the medley, while
occasionally a peevish falsetto cackle could be
discerned issuing from the bantam household.
Melodious squawks from several turkey gobblers,
who had escaped the axe this season, added to the
hoarse cackle of numerous ducks, helped to fill in
the gaps.

One change was noticeable to-day in the absence
of Canadian-bred birds. In former years, fowl
from across the border have been among the most
interesting in the exhibit, affording a basis for
comparison of the poultry of the two countries.

But, owing to the strict quarantine regulations
now in force, officers of the New York State
Association found it impossible to include this
feature in this year’s show. The fact that there
are no Canadian entries is accountable for the
smaller number of exhibits, some six hundred
Canadian specimens having been withheld by the
Canadian fanciers. The reason, it was stated, was
the prevalence of disease among cattle at the
present time. The Canadian inspectors had announced
that they would not allow consignments shipped to
the exhibition to reënter the country.

All States north of the Ohio and east of the
Mississippi have sent specimens to the exhibit,
while a number of Southern and Western States are
represented also.

On the main floor the entire space is devoted to
fowl, of every variety, displayed in steel cages.
The centre of the arena is occupied by a small
tank, used as a duck pond, and grouped around this
are several large cages, containing specially rare
specimens. The balcony, circling the enclosure, is
devoted to pigeons and pet stock, including guinea
pigs, rabbits, and white mice.

Along with the poultry display, there is the usual
accompaniment of farmyard devices, brooders,
incubators, and patent feeders, which occupy
booths in various parts of the main floor. John,
a fine white Wyandotte cock from Jersey, was on
hand to-day to do his share in exhibiting a device
for grinding bones. He was hitched to a miniature
mill, in which he had been trained for months to
make the circuit like a horse. But everything at
the Garden was so different, and so unlike life in
the peaceful Jersey farm, that the rooster had an
attack of stage-fright and couldn’t navigate the
turn. He crouched down in the traces and refused to
budge, while the demonstrator applied persuasion
and a horsewhip to coax him on.

But the trained hens, who were there to show how a
combination “feeder and exerciser” worked, lived up
to expectations, and gave an admirable performance.
They were caged in a shed with a miniature
turnstile in it, and every time they took a few
steps, the stile was sure to move, bringing down
upon their heads a shower of corn.

* * * * *

AGRICULTURAL FAIR

_Boston Herald_

SALEM, N. H., Aug. 21--Fair skies, weather of
ideal coolness, the grand circuit races, a horse
show of unusual excellence, pedigreed cattle
and blue-blooded poultry, fruit and vegetables
that made the onlooker hungry, in fact, all the
accessories of half a dozen county fairs rolled
into one--not forgetting the Looney Lane and its
leather-lunged ballyhoo men--lured to Rockingham
Park today a crowd variously estimated at between
60,000 and 80,000 persons.

Whatever the correct figures of attendance may have
been, it is certain that the grand stands were
jammed solid with cheering humanity, that men,
women and children of all ages and types swarmed
like a colony of ants through the various exhibits,
and that automobiles of every kind known to the
trade were paraded all over the parking space.

It was a happy, good-natured crowd, in which the
millionaire rubbed elbows with the farm boy,
and those who came by trolley had just as much
chance for enjoyment as those who came in the most
expensive touring car. To be sure, the horse is the
star performer at Rockingham fair, but that is no
reason why the other features should be overlooked,
and they were not.

This was Governor’s day on the program, but in
reality it might better have been described as
Everybody’s day. At least, that is the way it
looked to the visitor. Gov. Samuel D. Felker of New
Hampshire was on hand, of course, with Mrs. Felker
and members of his staff.

He was received fittingly with the customary brass
band accompaniment, was whisked across the track in
a miniature procession of automobiles and escorted
to the grandstand. There he made an appropriate
speech, or went through an animated pantomime, the
impression differing with the distance the listener
was from him. At any rate, the crowd judged him
by his good intentions and applauded heartily.
Gov. Foss was unable to be present, but was well
represented by Mrs. Foss and his two pretty
daughters.

“Something doing every minute” seems to have been
the motto of the fair management, and the motto
was well observed. Apart from the racing, the fair
has enough attractions to keep a visitor busy for
a couple of days at least, and then said visitor
would be better satisfied if he could possess
himself of an extra set of eyes.

The effect of the place is kaleidoscopic, or rather
that of a talking moving picture run wild. It is
a perfect jumble of color and sound. Bands are
playing, husky barkers are shouting, bulls are
bellowing, cows are lowing, sheep are baaing, hens
are cackling, auto horns are tooting--all off the
key but in a pleasant discordance.

And people--as an exhibit of the plain people and
of the varnished people, too, the place has few
rivals. There is the man from back in the hills,
whose bucolic chin whisker wags in rapture over
some particular breed of hogs, and there is the
landed proprietor, who is as interested as an
amateur in some particular strain of stock. You
see an overalled individual drawling casual orders
to a stolid yoke of oxen, and then, turning again,
you come upon Arthur Waldo in the pink of sartorial
neatness, sizing up a prize sheep.

There is contrast everywhere. If you are looking
for the latest in horsey fashion, stroll about
the grandstand, and if you want to see what the
agriculturist considers a good all-purpose costume,
run down to the sheds. Young America with his best
girl is much in evidence in the vicinity of the
ice-cream cone and lemonade stand, and Old America
is there, too, just as young as any of them.

Away over behind the grandstand are the cattle
sheds, where one may fill his eye with as many
different kinds of cows, bulls and oxen as he
ever imagined. There they are--the Jerseys, the
Guernseys, the Holsteins, the Ayrshires, and
whatever other kinds there be, all beautifully
groomed, with horns polished. Some are decked
with blue ribbons and some with red, and some
which have no ribbons at all appear about as good
as their rivals. Out in the field to the rear,
quiet men take technical notice of good points of
competitors, and make the awards without any fuss.

Judges are everywhere. They are busy with cattle
and they are busy with hens and with geese, with
hogs--there is a whole exhibit of blue ones--with
fish, with fruit, with vegetables, with embroidery
and with needlework. By the way, the housewife
should not be overlooked, for the skill of the
woman of the Rebeccas and the Granges, either with
the needle or the cook-stove, is not to be despised.

There is much to attract the serious-minded, and
for those who are not so serious there is the
Looney Lane. It is a long lane, a good half mile,
if not more. And there is to be found about every
side show that ingenuity has yet devised.

The streets of this midway are dense, and the
business flourishing. You can try your luck on a
“beautiful, blue-eyed baby-doll,” or a teddy-bear,
on umbrellas, on rings, on stickpins and a variety
of other useful commodities. You can visit strange
oriental houris, see the wild girl, or pay your
money for some allurement that is “for men only.”
Lady wrestlers, diving girls, freaks without
number, even the “original cigarette fiend” are all
to be viewed “for the trifling and inconsiderable
expenditure of one dime.” But what’s the use--they
are all there with “spielers” to match.

With the exception of the races, probably the most
interesting feature was the horse show. Yesterday’s
program was one of unusual excellence, and ran
through several of the most striking classes of
saddle horses and hunters and jumpers.

The Lawson cup, presented by Thomas W. Lawson, for
gig horses not under 15.1 or over 15.3 hands, went
to Sir James, Alfred G. Vanderbilt’s entry. Glen
Riddle’s The Virginian carried off the Copley-Plaza
cup in the Corinthian class, and Mr. Riddle was
again fortunate in capturing the Andrew Adie cup in
the class for hunt teams of three each.

One of the prettiest classes of the afternoon was
that for park four-in-hands with lady drivers,
which was won by Mrs. P. T. Roche of Leominster,
after a skillful exhibition. Another spectacular
number was the tandem race, a one-mile dash on the
race track, which was won by P. T. Roche.

* * * * *

OPENING OF MARKET

_New York Times_

Crowds of many thousands filled Washington Market
yesterday to celebrate the formal reopening of
the building since it has been reconstructed and
converted into a model market of glass, marble,
porcelain, enamel, and nickel flooded with light
from a series of large overhead windows.

The ceremonies began with the arrival of a
procession with a band at its head, city officials
in automobiles following and the forty exempt
firemen with their antiquated engines bringing
up the rear. The main floor and galleries were
thronged, and hundreds of persons had to be turned
away while the speechmaking was going on.

Mayor Mitchel said that the reopening of Washington
Market as a modern institution was only a step in
the plan to dot the city with model markets.

“The new Washington Market,” he said, “is a link
in a chain of retail markets which I hope that
the city will some time own and control. Such a
system of retail markets will be a part of a still
more comprehensive system of food distribution.
The entire plan will comprise wholesale terminal
markets which will receive supplies of all kinds
for distribution with the least possible handling
and waste and will have a marked effect in keeping
down the cost of living.

“We want to reduce the cost of bringing food
into the city, and this can be done by means of
better transit facilities with terminal markets to
increase the convenience of the people of this city
in buying at retail in some of the finest and most
sanitary markets in the world. The plans are only
now in the process of formation and I hope that the
people will support the city officials in bringing
them to completion.”

George McAneny, President of the Board of Aldermen,
briefly reviewed the history of the market and of
its reconstruction.

“This building was a disgrace to the city four
years ago,” he said. “But the new building is
offered as a promise that this in time shall be
the standard of all markets of the city. The start
toward the reconstruction of Washington Market
was made six years ago by the money saved through
other economies. We saved nearly $500,000 from the
$3,000,000 given to us to use and $43,000 of this
saving went toward the remodeled market.”

The history of Washington Market and a detailed
explanation of the great improvements that had been
made were given by Matthew Micolino, President
of the Washington Market Merchants’ Association.
Others on the speakers’ platform were Ralph Folks,
Commissioner of Public Works; Simon Steiner, one of
the oldest dealers in Washington Market, and Mrs.
Julian Heath, President of the National Housewives’
League.

Borough President Marcus M. Marks, Chairman
of the Market Committee, who called up on the
long-distance telephone from San Francisco when he
was at the exposition to settle some of the details
of the market and to decide on the date of its
opening, told yesterday of the visits paid to the
old market by Edward VII. when he was Prince of
Wales and by Presidents Grant, Garfield, Arthur,
and Cleveland. He added:

“Presidents bring honor, but residents bring
business. I wish you both--business and honor.
The oysterman, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was among
those who in early days helped to make the market
a success. In the old building the business had
been carried up to more than $5,000,000 a year,
and I prophesy that your business will run up to
$10,000,000 a year.”

Controller Prendergast said that the new market
ought to arouse the people of the city to the
possibilities of having a fine market system.

“We have been trying to solve the market problem
through three or four unrelated departments,” he
said, “but nothing can be accomplished without
central authority. Last Spring we asked the
Legislature for authority to amend our charter
to provide for a Department of Markets, but it
refused. I think this was a great mistake. We shall
make the same application again this Winter. If the
new Constitution goes through we will ask the Board
of Aldermen to pass a bill creating such a body.”

During the week the special exhibits will occupy
places in the galleries. Up in the gallery is a
woman suffrage booth, from which printed arguments
in favor of giving women the vote were distributed
yesterday, with oral arguments for those who stayed
to listen. In another corner of the gallery the
National Security League had an exhibition of
modern small arms and various charts showing the
low rank in military strength held by this country
in comparison with other powers. The National
Housewives’ League had a booth from which advice on
reducing the cost of living was issued and various
patent foods were advertised.

Today will be given over to an exposition of the
pure food principles for which the market stands.
The speakers will be Alfred W. McCann, Joseph
Hartigan, Commissioner of Weights and Measures;
John Boschen, Sidney H. Goodacre, and Frank H.
Hines. Tomorrow will be suffrage day and Thursday
the day of the National Housewives’ League. Friday
and Saturday will be market days, with reduced
prices on everything.

* * * * *

OPENING OF TUNNEL

_Chicago Record-Herald_

NEW YORK, Feb. 26, 2 a. m.--Just at midnight
an electric train, jammed to its capacity with
marveling passengers, slipped out of the Nineteenth
street station, darted down beneath the Hudson
River and, a few moments later, pulled into the
terminus at Hoboken, N. J.

This train was the first actual passenger train
to run through the new $60,000,000 tunnel and
submarine system which connects New York and New
Jersey, and which had been officially opened at
3:40 o’clock yesterday afternoon, by the pressure
of the presidential finger on a gold-mounted
telegraph key on President Roosevelt’s desk at the
White House.

At the instant the signal flashed over the wires
from Washington, the power was thrown into the
machinery and the first official train of the
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company, which
constructed the tunnel, started on its way.

Governor Hughes of New York, Governor Fort of
New Jersey, city officials and railroad men of
prominence, 800 altogether, were in the official
party.

The official train carried eight cars, all of them
filled to overflowing. Millionaires joined the
ranks of the straphangers on this occasion, E.
H. Harriman among the number, while further down
the same car Cornelius Vanderbilt was propped up
against a door jamb.

Under the bed of the river midway through the tube
the train hesitated for a moment where the boundary
line between New York and New Jersey was marked by
a chain of glittering incandescent lights. The two
governors arose and clasped hands, and then the
train dashed on and climbed out of the big hole
into the Hoboken depot of the Delaware, Lackawanna
and Western Railroad.

There a jollification meeting was held over the
successful accomplishment of a task which has been
repeatedly attempted, but without results until
William McAdoo took hold. Governors Hughes and
Fort were the chief speakers and there were short
addresses by representatives of the railroads and
of the cities interested. President Roosevelt sent
a personal letter to President McAdoo, which was
read.

The letter follows:

Feb. 17, 1908. My Dear Mr. McAdoo:--Now that a
beginning is to be made in opening for operation
the Hudson tunnel system, I write to express my
regret that I cannot be present in person, and my
high appreciation of what you have accomplished.
The tunneling of the Hudson River is indeed a
notable achievement--one of those achievements
of which all Americans are, as they should be,
justly proud. The tunnel itself and the great
buildings constructed in connection therewith
represent a work of extraordinary magnitude,
represent extraordinary difficulties successfully
overcome, while difficulty and magnitude are even
surpassed by the usefulness of the achievement.
The whole system is practically below tidal
water, and this makes it much the greatest
subaqueous tunnel in the world. It is a bigger
undertaking than any Alpine tunnel which has yet
been constructed, and the successful completion
represents the moving of New Jersey bodily three
miles nearer to New York in point of time and
immensely increases the ease of access from one
state to the other. You who have brought this
great achievement to a successful conclusion
ought to be most heartily congratulated. It is
the kind of business achievement which is in the
highest degree creditable to the American people,
and for which American people should feel and
publicly acknowledge their hearty gratitude.
Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

After the oratory, the guests were escorted through
the imposing system of underground terminals at the
New Jersey end of the tube, and then the official
party retraversed the tunnel to New York.

Last night, the celebration of the event, which is
believed to be the first step in a great system
of tunnels under the Hudson, was continued with a
banquet at Sherry’s. The regular service began with
the starting of the first train at midnight.

President Roosevelt pressed the button which
formally opened the tunnel at 3:40 o’clock eastern
time, yesterday afternoon, immediately following
the receipt of this telegram from President McAdoo:

The first official train of the Hudson and
Manhattan Railroad Company, under the Hudson River,
awaits your signal and pleasure.

* * * * *

UNVEILING OF STATUE

_New York Evening Post_

With the unveiling on Monday of the new statue
on Riverside Drive, Jeanne d’Arc takes her place
permanently in New York city. New York is not
the most natural of settings for Jeanne d’Arc,
burgerette of Domremy-sur-Meuse, warrior, woman
saint of France, but since she is to be here, the
Drive is a good place for her. There is an open
sweep of view there, and hills beyond. And, in
early mornings, and at twilight when the lights
on the river begin to show coral in the blue-gray
mist, something very like the spirit of the city is
made visible.

It is this same characteristic--the seeing of the
invisible, the touching of the intangible--which is
in the statue and makes it what it is. Anna Vaughn
Hyatt, its sculptor, sees only the spiritual in
Jeanne, and in her work she holds indefinitely for
us the moment after the finding of the consecrated
sword, which Jeanne holds high over her head as
she stands erect in her saddle, her head thrown
back in exaltation. The horse is all but prancing.
There is something of certainty and joyousness
about the whole which could be inspired by nothing
purely material or temporal. The upward gesture
of the sword is not without meaning--it is the
natural movement of a person who has had a great
revelation, a deep creative instinct. She is
holding the sword up to God.

The idea of the statue for this city, to celebrate
the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of
Jeanne in 1412, and to be made by an American woman
sculptor, is about six years old, and originated
with J. Sanford Saltus and George Frederick Kunz.
They are, respectively, the honorary president and
president of the Joan of Arc Statue Committee,
founded December 4, 1909, of which Gabriel Hanotaux
and Pierre Loti, membres de l’Institut Français,
are the honorary vice-presidents. The work has
taken time and it has been well done. Besides the
Committee of twenty-four members, and the sculptor
herself, there was an architect, Prof. John V.
Van Pelt, a landscape architect, Carl F. Pilat, a
consultant on armor, Bashford Dean, Ph.D., curator
of armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cass
Gilbert, adviser of architectural competition, a
jury on architectural competition, and a Committee
of the Municipal Art Commission on Whole Design.

The whole idea has been a combination of the
American with the French. Miss Hyatt herself is of
French descent and has studied largely in France.
The very foundation of the statue is made of stones
from the Tower of Rouen, in which Jeanne was
confined.

And the dedication at 2:30 on Monday afternoon,
at Riverside Drive and 93d Street, to which
twenty-one societies and institutes, both French
and American, will send delegations, bears out the
idea well. These delegations will come from the
American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society,
the Alliance Française de New York, the American
Numismatic Society, the Daughters of the American
Revolution, Daughters of the Revolution, Fédération
de l’Alliance Française aux Etats-Unis, Fine Arts
Federation, France-America Committee, Jeanne D’Arc
Home, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of French
Art, Institut Français aux Etats-Unis, National
Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, New
York Historical Society, Société des Architects
Diplomés par le Gouvernement, Société Nationale
des Professeurs Français, Society of Beaux Arts
Architects, Society of the United States Daughters
of 1812, Society of the War of 1812, Sons of the
American Revolution, Sons of the Revolution.

The service of dedication will open with the
American National Anthem played by the French
Band of the Lafayette Guards. The Very Rev.
Théophile Wucher, pastor of the French Church of
St. Vincent de Paul, will give the invocation,
Dr. Kunz the address of welcome, and J. Sanford
Saltus the address of presentation. The statue
will be unveiled by Mrs. Thomas A. Edison, one of
the Committee members, and the unveiling will be
followed by the French National Anthem and salute.
After the statue has been received in the name of
the city by Park Commissioner Cabot Ward, a letter
of congratulation from President Wilson will be
read and addresses will be made by J. J. Jusserand,
French Ambassador to the United States; Robert W.
de Forest, LL.D., president of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art; McDougall Hawkes, president of
the Museum of French Art, l’Institut Français aux
Etats-Unis; Professor Delamarre, secretary-general
of the Federation de l’Alliance Française aux
Etats-Unis, and J. Alden Weir, president of the
National Academy of Design. If the weather is not
fair on Monday, these exercises will be held in the
American Museum of Natural History.

President Wilson’s letter which will be placed in
the pedestal with letters from Governor Whitman and
leading city officials, says:

“My dear Dr. Kunz:

“I hope that on Monday, December the sixth, you
will convey to the Joan of Arc Statue Committee
my warmest congratulations upon the successful
completion of their work.

“Joan of Arc is one of those ideal historic figures
to whom the thought of patriotic people turns back
for inspiration. In her seems to have been embodied
the pure enthusiasm which makes for all that is
heroic and poetic.
“Cordially and sincerely yours,
“WOODROW WILSON.”

This statue is the fifteenth equestrian statue of
Jeanne d’Arc, but it is the first one made by a
woman. Thirteen of these are in France, and one in
Philadelphia. The figure of the Maid was modelled
after Clara Hunter Hyatt, the sculptor’s niece,
but the face is idealistic, giving Miss Hyatt’s
own conception of the way Jeanne looked. The
horse was modelled in Paris, but the final work
for the statue was done in Miss Hyatt’s Studio in
Annisquam, Massachusetts, where she worked almost
entirely outdoors. A model of this statue has been
placed in the Cathedral at Blois where Jeanne was
confirmed and a bronze copy will be placed in front
of the Cathedral as soon as the money can be raised.

Especially numerous are the statues and memorials
of Jeanne in and around Domremy, now called
Domremy-la-Pucelle in her honor. A statue of her
by E. Paul, erected in 1885, stands in front of
the village church and above the door is a mural
painting by Balze representing her as she listened
to the Voices. In the garden of the cottage where
she was born, near to the church, is a group by
Mercié showing her as she left her home led by the
Genius of France, and over the door are the royal
arms of France and those given to Jeanne and her
family. In a niche above is a kneeling figure of a
girl, made about 1456, and the cottage has become
almost a museum, filled with small belongings
of Jeanne herself. It is hard to come back from
Domremy-la-Pucelle to the corner of Riverside Drive
and 93d Street. But, even here, the Maid may feel
not entirely homeless. She brings her joy and her
certainty with her, and at twilight, if she glances
out over the river to the hills, she may find,
where the lights show coral through the mist, a
glimpse of things unseen.

* * * * *

Note--_The next two stories, which describe a
pageant parade, should be compared with reference
to style and tone._

AUTOMOBILE PAGEANT PARADE

(1)

_New York Herald_

More than three thousand automobiles, many of them
handsomely decorated and illuminated, helped to
impress upon throngs of spectators in the city
streets last night the fact that great strides have
been made in the development of both pleasure and
service vehicles. The pageant, which was a feature
of the Tercentenary celebration, also gave to
thousands an hour of brightness and pleasure.

The parade started in Harlem, and, after covering
the principal streets there, swept down town and
passed the reviewing stand in front of the New York
Public Library. Governor Glynn and Mayor Mitchel
reached the stand at the head of the column. They
were accompanied, the Governor by his staff, and
Mayor Mitchel by prominent citizens.

As both officials had other engagements, they
left before the second division arrived, but they
enjoyed seeing the motorcycles dash past, many in
grotesque decorations.

As one of the motorcycles sped down Fifth avenue
below Forty-second street it encountered a big
automobile. Policemen managed to draw them apart.

One of the amusing features of the division was the
musicians riding on motorcycles. They had on war
bonnets and were escorted by a band of Indians.

One young woman in white duck trousers, coat and
cap, her costume being the counterpart of that
of her male companion, attracted a good deal of
attention, as the two sped past the official stand.

The celerity with which this division went down
Fifth avenue led spectators who filled the three
stands--the Governor’s at the south, the Mayor’s
in the centre and a third at the north of the
block--as well as the thousands forming a solid
mass along the streets, to believe that the pageant
would move quickly. But a wait of almost half an
hour ensued after the passing of the “Indians.”

At last the intercepted line of decorated
automobiles began to appear, and for more than an
hour there was an unceasing flashing of brilliant
lights, massed flowers, bunting, pennants and
flags, all of which formed attractive decorations.

“Neutrality” was greeted with applause when an
automobile filled with young women dressed in the
national colors whizzed by the judges’ box. “He
Comes Up Smiling,” showing an unusually tall man
wearing bathroom attire, who frequently plunged
into the depths of a huge bathtub, brought forth
shouts.

The suffragists had four automobiles in one
division. These were decorated with “votes for
women” colors and pennants and big banners across
the tonneau with “Victory in 1915” in black letters
on yellow or blue.

Louis Annis Ames acted as grand marshal and William
G. Poertner was marshal. The judges of decorated
cars were George W. Breck, W. A. Boring, Alan R.
Hawley, William W. Knowles, Harry H. Good, E. A.
McCoy and William H. Page. The associate judges
of the automobile division were Alfred Reeves and
C. F. Clarkson; of the motorcycle division, F. V.
Clark and J. L. Sauer, and of the advertising, O.
J. Gude, William H. Jones, Russell Field, A. M. Van
Buren and George B. Van Cleve.

A reception to Governor Glynn and Mayor Mitchel was
held after the parade at the Automobile Club of
America, No. 247 West Fifty-fourth street.

* * * * *

(2)

_New York World_

Have you ever been in a smoking car when the man
in the seat ahead was trying to prove that forced
draught does not improve the natural perfume of a
rubber plant in a cigar make-up? If you have not
it will be impossible to bring to you from last
night the atmosphere of the automobile parade in
celebration of New York’s three hundredth business
birthday.

The fact that many of the automobiles were
charmingly decorated proved nothing except that one
can never tell by the band what sort of smoke it is
wrapped around.

Take a pretty light blue scarf of oil smudge
and weave it about festoons of parti-colored
incandescent globes suspended along the sidewalks,
and you have the scene at Fifth avenue and
Forty-second street last night, as the parade
snorted past the reviewing stand in front of the
public library.

The plan was to have Gov. Glynn and Mayor Mitchel
sit in the stand and watch the parade go by. But
the Governor and the Mayor had so many other
engagements last night that they started with the
parade, arrived half an hour before it, and got
away before the parade arrived at the reviewing
stand.

Fortunately, however, most persons in the
automobiles did not know that, and the men saluted
just as correctly, and the women bowed just as
sweetly, as if the rulers were on the job--so
nobody could see that it made much difference that
they were not.

Officials in charge said that the reason the
motorcycle portion of the parade arrived about
half an hour before the next section was that the
motorcycles could not stop or they would tip over.
The fact that there were several long gaps in the
parade was due to no fault of theirs, the officials
added.

The gaps gave spectators--when they weren’t
thinking how chilly it had got all of a sudden--a
chance to observe how neat and roomy the Fifth
avenue roadway looks when there is no traffic on
it. Many persons thought this the most remarkable
sight of the evening.

More than 2,000 automobiles and trucks and 1,000
motorcycles were in line. Prizes worth more than
$6,000 had been offered--$5,000 worth by the
Tercentenary Commission.

By way of proving that some persons will try
anything once to win a prize, women in some of
the most beautifully gotten up cars failed to put
on the same amount of clothes they would fail to
put on if they were going to the opera. Nobody
denied that this was a fetching idea in automobile
decorations--but it was cold enough last night to
wear at least a necklace, which, indeed, some of
those women did.

Among the floats was one advertising a make of
auto tire. Two gigantic human shaped figures, made
of tiring--or whatever they call the stuff they
make tires of--wobbled about on a big float. Then
there was a man who kept coming up smiling from
the depths of a big bathtub. When one saw him at a
distance one was thrilled, but on nearer view one
perceived that he was really wearing tights.

The Peace Float, the Santa Claus Ship (which
The World is going to send to Europe laden with
presents for the fatherless), The World’s own
float, showing the way New York got its news three
hundred years ago and the way it gets it to-day
(in The World, of course), the Woman Suffrage
automobiles, and private machines covered with
flowers, were among the entries which drew applause
from a quarter million persons who banked the line
of march from One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street
and Madison avenue through numerous other streets,
including Broadway and Fifth avenue to the point of
dispersal at Columbus Circle.

It might be mentioned that Ralph De Palma,
automobile racer, carrying officials in his car,
and under instructions to hustle from the tail
to the head of the parade, bumped into a touring
car at Fifty-seventh street and Fifth avenue. The
touring car lost a mudguard.

A reception for Gov. Glynn and Mayor Mitchel, who
are Honorary Presidents of the Commission, was held
in the Automobile Club of America after the parade.

* * * * *

MEMORIAL DAY PARADE

_New York Times_

Eight hundred white-haired veterans of the
civil war paraded yesterday under faded and
bullet-riddled flags in the Memorial Day procession
along Riverside Drive from Seventy-fourth Street
to Ninety-second Street. Because it was the
fiftieth anniversary of the end of their days on
the battlefield, because the Grand Army men had
felt the vibration of patriotic feeling in the
atmosphere, and because it was a perfect day, the
soldiers of the civil war, in spite of the waste
in their ranks which old age had made in recent
years, turned out yesterday in greater number than
they have at any Memorial Day procession in the
preceding three years.

The weather brought out great crowds along the
Drive and in other parts of the city where
Memorial Day exercises of one kind or another were
held. With the sky cloudless and the sun shining
brilliantly, breezes from the Hudson River kept the
marchers and the spectators cool and put life even
into flags which shells and time had almost reduced
to ribbons.

Probably more than 50,000 people had gathered
along the line of march. As the crowd was larger
it was also more enthusiastic than usual. The big
demonstrations were, of course, for the game old
men and the pathetic ruins of their colors. In
spite of the fact that the majority of them had
passed three score and ten and that many crippled
by old wounds and age had to carry canes, they
responded quickly to tactical orders from their
commanders and as a body moved with the precision
of a smooth-running war machine.

Receiving cheers and shouts of encouragement at
every block, they were kept busy smiling and
saluting. They passed thousands and thousands of
American flags, as a large proportion of those in
the crowd carried small ones. Flags were hung out
of windows all along the Drive.

The flag display throughout the city yesterday, as
well as along the line of march of the procession,
was the greatest the city has seen since Spanish
war days at least. Along many of the residence
streets flags hung in clusters. Along Broadway,
wherever there was a flagpole, there was a large
flag out, while small ones by thousands flapped
from windows and thousands of tiny ones stuck out
of buttonholes.

Special cheers along the line of march were given
for the twelve doughty old Zouaves who appeared in
faded red baggy trousers with the characteristic
jacket and tasseled fez. Also the crowds approved
noisily of occasional ranks of veterans who
appeared with swords drawn and the blades flashing
brightly.

One of the marchers who was cheered all the way
along the route was George Sebech of Reno Post,
No. 44, who carried medals for service both in the
Mexican and in the civil war. He marched sturdily,
and continually saluted and waved his hat at the
ovation he received. He said:

“I am 98 years old, but I’ll be marching here ten
years from now, when these Spanish war boys are
getting gray.”

A platoon of mounted police formed the head of the
column and was followed by a battalion of regular
troops of the Coast Artillery. Next came the First
Division of the National Guard, commanded by Major
Gen. John F. O’Ryan. Following were the survivors
of the Grand Army, headed by the Grand Marshal,
Commander Sherburne C. Van Tassel, who rode a
bay charger. The members of his staff were Adjt.
Gen. Joseph B. Lord, Past Grand Marshals William
E. Van Wyck, George M. Barry, Samuel Mildenburg,
Isidore Isaacs, George H. Stevens, George S. Drew,
Simpson Hamburger, and William Kirchner, Assistant
Adjutants M. B. Wood, John H. Wood, Charles W.
Brown, H. J. Kearney, Frank J. Schleder, Harry
B. Dennison, E. K. Fassett, William H. Elliott,
Captain Howard M. Graff, Chief Aid and Aids David
Loria, Hugh Fitzpatrick, Henry Holmes, Charles
Farmer, Daniel D. Lawlor, Theodore Joffe, and
George Blair.

The guard of honor to the Grand Marshal included
Farragut Naval Post, No. 516; Farragut Fleet, Port
of New York; the Monitor Association, Port of
Brooklyn; the Ella Bixby Tent, No. 18, Daughters of
Veterans, and Adams Goss Post, No. 330.

There were four divisions of Grand Army Posts,
and in the other divisions marched several
columns of Spanish War veterans in khaki and blue
flannel, numerous fife and drum corps, bands and
semi-military organizations.

In the reviewing stand at Eighty-ninth Street were
Rear Admirals C. D. Sigsbee, General N. W. Day,
General Anson G. McCook, Colonel George E. Dewey,
Colonel James E. March, General Horace Porter,
Colonel C. Blakewell, and Captain J. B. Greenhut,
besides many city officials and prominent men.

* * * * *

CHRISTMAS

_Washington Times_

Santa Claus, Inc., President of the Christmas Cheer
Corporation. Organized in the District of Columbia
under charter of December 24, 1915.

It had to come. The job was getting too big for one
jovial, rotund man, and he was afraid he would miss
some chimneys. So Santa, this year, is a captain of
industry, operating in every home in the District
of Columbia, and in institutions as well, and so
far the Sherman anti-trust law hasn’t got him.

Sleighs were too slow. Anyway there isn’t any snow.
Bells were too noisy.

The motor truck has taken the place of the sleigh.
And instead of depending upon his own efforts,
Santa has enlisted practically every organization,
every lodge, every society, every church, every
settlement house and every mission, and thousands
of individuals in his gigantic Christmas cheer
enterprise.

Like all great magnates, Santa is not seen by
his workers. But his spirit presides over the
entire project, and societies, clubs, groups and
individuals are working busily in his name.

Every church, for example, is planning its annual
Christmas celebration. An effort is being made this
year to have every church provide for the poor in
its territory, and, instead of the erstwhile custom
of giving gifts to its own members, many Sunday
schools have applied to the Associated Charities
for names of families to whom they might carry
Christmas dinners and other gifts.

For the homeless of the District the Salvation
Army, the Gospel Mission, and the Central Union
Mission are giving turkey dinners, to be followed
by Christmas trees for those children where the
home Christmas might not be as happy as it should
be.

At the Associated Charities volunteers are busily
working today arranging baskets to be taken to the
homes of families on that organization’s list,
and in every case the Christmas dinner will be
accompanied by some gift more lasting, such as a
quantity of coal or clothing. These gifts are paid
for from special contributions to the Christmas
fund, and they are in addition to the fourteen
“opportunities” by which the Associated Charities,
co-operating with the newspapers of the city, hopes
to make fourteen homes happy throughout the year.

At both the Central Union and the Gospel Missions
turkey dinners will be served, and at the Salvation
Army there will be a Christmas breakfast in
addition to the dinner.

In enlarging the scope of his work and his force of
helpers, Santa Claus has not forgotten that he is
primarily the patron saint of children. One of his
principal helpers is the Santa Claus girl, whose
home at 70 Seaton place is piled high with gifts
for those children whose names have been furnished
through charity organizations, or by friends, and
by letters written to Santa Claus.

Dolls, drums, engines, skates, sweaters, and
everything in which the child heart delights are
piled high at the headquarters of the Christ Child
Society, 929 G street, awaiting distribution among
poor children. This year there are 2,000 names on
the list to receive presents.

Miss Mary V. Merrick is in charge of this work, and
she has been assisted by Miss Charlotte Campbell,
Mrs. James Gowel, Miss Florence Roach and Miss A.
Ives. Scores of dolls were contributed by the doll
guild, of which Miss Leta Montgomery is director.
Sewing circles have given large quantities of
clothing and the American Security and Trust
Company has provided vans for the distribution of
the bundles.

Entire Government departments will celebrate
Christmas; other Government bureaus, business
houses, and military posts will have community
celebrations.

An unusual celebration will take place this evening
in the office of the chief clerk of the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing. All week the clerks have
been buying small gifts suitable for children.
Names of all the clerks who are “playing the game”
will be placed in a hat this evening, and then
drawings will be made for the presents. After the
gifts have been drawn, and the joke at the expense
of the recipients appreciated, all the toys will be
turned over to some institution, and any left over
will be sent to the home of the Santa Claus girl.
This plan was conceived by and carried out under
the direction of Miss Mary A. Carpenter.

Over at Fort Myer Uncle Sam’s soldiers will
decorate a Christmas tree in the gymnasium under
the direction of wives of officers at the post,
to be exhibited on Tuesday for the benefit of the
children of the retired soldiers and those of men
now on duty at the Philippines.

Not only the poor, but those who are away from
home, will have plenty of provision made for their
Christmas cheer. At the Y. M. C. A. the usual
visitation will be made to the rooms of all young
men, and during the day there will be Christmas
activities of various sorts by the clubs and
departments of the association.

The Young Women’s Christian Association has planned
a day which, it hopes, will drive homesickness from
the heart of any girl who is away from her home at
this season. The building at 619 Fourteenth street
will be open from 3 until 9 o’clock. A Christmas
party will be in progress during that time. Games
will be played, Christmas carols will be sung by
the Y. W. C. A. Choral Club, and a tree will yield
gifts for everyone. Refreshments will be served.

In addition to the distribution of baskets to be
made by the Salvation Army and the missions, Almas
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, is to give
away 500 Christmas baskets, Central Union Mission
will distribute between 400 and 500 baskets and
Gospel Mission will send about 500. Boy Scouts have
been enlisted in the work of distributing these
gifts.

The observance will spread to inmates of District
institutions. At the workhouse at Occoquan men will
be given a holiday and a special dinner, and they
will attend a special Christmas service tomorrow
afternoon. At the District jail a special dinner,
which includes turkey, will be served.

At the Petworth School playgrounds there will be
a community Christmas tree celebration tonight at
7 o’clock. A large tree will be decorated with
lights, and school children will form a chorus
to sing Christmas carols. This celebration will
be under the auspices of the Petworth Citizens’
Association.

This afternoon there will be a Christmas
entertainment at Washington Barracks, when Kris
Kringle will appear with a bag laden with toys and
good things for the children. The tree will be
on the platform of the post exchange building. A
musical program will be given by the post band.

At the Central Presbyterian Church, where the
President attends services, gift-bringing as well
as gift-giving was a feature of the Christmas
exercises. For that reason the services were held
on Monday, and gifts brought at that time are being
sent to the Lynchburg Orphanage, the Mountain
School, at Grundy, Va., and the Red Cross war
fund, to the city missions, and several charities
of the city.

At the Neighborhood House, Friendship House, and
Noel House, there will be Christmas trees, and
celebrations extending until New Year, with daily
features, such as entertainments, plays, musicales,
and other provisions for the children of those
neighborhoods.

Students from Washington who are attending colleges
and schools away from Washington began to pour into
the city to-day, and enlivened the crowds on F
street. Washington schools and colleges have closed
for the holidays. Many activities have been planned
for the holidays by students at George Washington
University. Teas, dances, suppers, banquets, and
theater parties are among the functions planned
by fraternities, student societies, and groups of
students.

* * * * *

CHRISTMAS IN CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

_Providence Journal_

“Hey, you, I got more Christmas presents ’n you
did. An’ I gotta pitcher taken thing with a snake
in it. Wot’dju git?”

“I gotta chu-chu, an’ a lotta other stuff and
things. An’, an’, I gotta dawg.”

This was the conversation, no, only a part of
the dialogue, which passed between Little Jimmie
Trupper and Mildred Conner at the Rhode Island
Hospital yesterday afternoon, after Santa Claus had
entered through the window and dispensed his good
cheer from a tree which stood in the centre of the
children’s ward.

Jimmie has been in a form for months, being treated
for spinal trouble. He could only move his hands,
roll his head and laugh. But, oh, how he did laugh,
and sing, too. And little Mildred, she was strapped
to a board. Mildred has not advanced far enough to
be taken off the board and put into a form; but
she, too, could move her hands and roll her head
and laugh and cuddle her “dawg” to her bosom.

The ward contains 39 children at present, suffering
from injuries and being treated for various
ailments. Perhaps some of them will never have
another Christmas. But if you had closed your eyes
and heard them laughing and singing, you would
never have thought you were in a hospital. Many of
them were able to sit up, and so that they could
all be in one room, two were put in some beds.
Those who could sit up had little red wrappers over
their nighties, and propped up around the sides of
the room, they looked for all the world like little
animated red holly berries.

Santa was delayed. He told them he had gotten as
far as the grounds, and then, having forgotten
one present, had to drive 5000 miles back to his
ice-covered palace. And then, when he returned,
Jerry, one of his reindeers, had fallen into the
pond in front of the hospital, and it had taken two
hours to fish him out; honest, it did.

But, oh, what a reception he received. Thirty-nine
little bed-ridden tots singing “Jingle Bells” when
he bounded in the window. Singing, did we say?
Could they sing? You should have heard them. Angels
never sang sweeter. They warbled and caroled, just
as if they were as free as the birds, instead of
being inmates of a hospital ward.