The Montgomery monitor. (Mt. Vernon, Montgomery County, Ga.) 1886-current, June 24, 1920, Image 3

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■ "T" HAT shall we do with the
H i / Fourth of July?
(IHlniVlilX The continental congress,
111 IBlilS lf, in session in Philadelphia,
PiHrHl passed July 2, 1770, the resolu
tion presented in behalf of Vir
/ \l| I ginla by Richard Henry Lee
I that begins:
\ ©©s;.^©'''“Resolved, That these Uni
ted Colonies are and of right
W<L y<Mili ought to be free and independ
' " ent states; that they are ab
solved from all alllegiance to
the British crown, and that all political connection
between them and the state of Great Britain is
and ought to be totally dissolved.”
This of course is the real Declaration of Inde
pendence, the document now known as the Declara
tion being adopted two days later. Os the adop
tion of the Lee resolution John Adams wrote to
his wife the historic letter which says, among
other things;
“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most
remarkable epoch in the history of America. I
am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by
succeeding generations as the great anniversary
festival. It ought to be commemorated as the
day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to
God Almighty. It ought to be solmenized with
pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, bells,
bonfires and illumination from one end of this
continent to the other, from this time forward for
evermore.”
Time has proved that John Adams, though he
got his dates mixed, was a true prophet. Probably
the Fourth of July is our distinctively American
celebration. All the civilized world celebrates
New Year’s, Easter, Memorial day, Thanksgiving
and Christmas in one way or another. But Inde
pendence day is ours alone. To be sure, we have
Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday,
which are also ours alone but “the Fourth” in
cludes most if not all of what they stand for.
In short the Fourth of July comes mighty near
being our national day when the American Eagle
screams for everything from the Mayflower to the
Argonne—from 1620 to November 11, 1918.
Armistice day! That introduces the pertinent
point that another change must be made in the
long evolution of the celebration of the Fourth of
July. For if the Fourth of July stands for one
specific thing that one specific thing is just ex
actly what its original name—lndependence day—
signifies. And after Armistice day—and ali that
it stands so quite evident that the American
eagloi must be taught to coo instead of scream
when it goes to the John Bull part of its perform
ance.
For w r e have seen our old-time—two-time—enemy
fighting for his life and for our lives too against
a foe that would have destroyed all that we Eng
lish-speaking peoples in common hold dear. And
after a long while we crowded in alongside our
ancient enemy and got busy to mnke up for lost
time. Never mind who won the war. We have
gumption enough to know exactly what John Bull
did for Uncle Sam —and are grateful accordingly.
And it’s quite likely that Uncle Sam came near
enough to saving John Bull’s life to feel something
more than a friendly interest in him. So some
parts of our Fourth of July celebration will have
to be toned down from now on.
Moreover, it’s high time that the American peo
ple put their mind to fixing up the “day we cele
brate.” For the Fourth of July celebration right
now is betwixt nnd between. The old-fashioned
Fourth was done away with. The “Sane Fourth”
supplanted it. Now the "Sane Fourth” is in dan
ger of becoming merely a holiday. Holiday cele
brations, like men and nations, do not stand still.
And the Fourth of July is worth the closest at
tention and best effort of the American people.
The first Fourth of July celebration, which was
held in 1777 in Philadelphia, canot serve as a mod
el. Its principal feature was a banquet at which
many toasts were drank, each toast being follow
ed by the discharge of firearms and cannon. Cer
tainly too “wet” and possibly too noisy.
The peace era inaugurated by the coming of the
Monroe administration and continued during the
’twenties was unfavorable to a demonstrative cele-
fsdf
bratlon of Independence day. The enthusiasm of
our people for their country and flag can usually
be measured by the heat of the national pulse.
A typical celebration of the day is that of 1830 in
Buffalo, N. Y., which is described at some length
In the Buffalo Journal. That newspaper says:
“The return of our nntional jubilee was cele
brated in this village with more than ordinary
splendour and the day was duly honoured, ‘not in
the breach but the observance.’ ”
The procession formed at the Eagle—a famous
tavern located on Main street between Court and
Eagle streets —and consisted of veterans of the
Revolution citizens and strangers, escorted by the
Washington and Frontier guard and the cadets of
the Western Literary and Scientific academy, “the
whole enlivened by musick from the Buffalo band.”
The oration was pronounced by Sheldon Smith,
Esq., at the Baptist church and religious services
were conducted by Rev. Mr. Shelton of St. Paul’s.
From the church the procession marched to the
Buffalo House in Seneca street and there an “ex
cellent dinner was partaken of.” Dr. Powell was
landlord of the house at that time and the papers
recorded as something worthy of special mention
that there were no liquors on the table. But the
good lesson this statement was intended to convey
loses its moral in the very next line of the narra
tive : “After the cloth was removed wine was
served with the toasts, which were drank with the
utmost regularity.” It is hardly necessary to draw
on the imagination to any extent to picture the
final state of many in that noble company of 100
who drank the wine “with the utmost regularity.”
But that was before the days of temperance soci
eties and adulterated liquors.
The marshal of the day was Colonel, afterward
General, .Sylvester Mathews, a veteran of tlie war
of 1812 a hero of the Battle of Chippewa.
Apart from these proceedings w-as discourse by
Rev. Mr. Eaton of (he Presbyterian church on civil
and religious liberty. The festivities closed ac
cording to time honored custom with a ball in the
evening. No mention is made of any fireworks.
The celebrations of several succeeding years
seem to have been much like tills one, according
to the Journal's files. In 1849, however—pre
sumably because of the Mexican war—the celebra
tion was regarded by the Journal as noteworthy.
The Sixty-fifth regiment made its first appear
ance on this occasion. At 8 o’clock in the morning
a detachment marched to the Fillmore House and
fired some small arms in honor of the vice presi
dent. The line of march included Revolutionary
soldiers. Think how old they must have been
sixty-eight years after the surrender of Yorktown
and seventy-two years after the battle of Lexing
ton! There were also soldiers of the War of 1812
in the line, officers and soldiers of the army and of
the Mexican war. The Friendly Sons of St. Pat
rick, the Sons of Erin and the German Young
Men’s association —a sure sign that the city was
beginning to take on cosmopolitan form—were in
the line of march. The exercises were held at
Johnson’s park, the orator of the day being H. K.
Smith. Vice president Fillmore attended the ex
ercises and was lustily cheered.
The Sons of Temperance had charge of the
celebration in 1850, which was held “at the grove
near the workhouse.” John B. Gough, the leading
“temperance” speaker of the day, was orator.
With the breaking out of the Civil war Buffalo
broke loose on its celebration of 1861. The parade
THE MONTGOMERY MONITOR, MT. VERNON, GEORGIA.
_J
was the “most inspiring in the history of the city"
and occupied 58 minutes in passing. Even more
pretentious was the celebration following (he sur
render of General Lee. After 1805 Buffalo’s cele
bration of tlie Fourth of July was rather humdrum
and marked by no special features —just as in
most other American cities.
By 1910 tlie “powder disease” bad come to its
climax and those bent on reforming the observ
ance of the day called it the “national nuisance."
Moreover, tlie nation was alive to the tremendous
loss of life. Tables prepared by tlie Journal of
the American Medical Association, showed that the
number of the killed and Injured In the celebra
tion of 1909 was 5,307; for the seven years pre
ceding 1910 the total was 34,603.
Perhaps (lie first notable “safe and sane” cele
bration was tliut In Springfield, Mass., in 1909.
However, in 1910 most of tlie large cities of the
country presented an entirely new kind of celebra
tion, the basis being the parade and pageant. Fire
crackers were taboo; the displays of fireworks
were municipal affairs.
“I must confess that I always like to brag on
the Fourth of July,” wrote Chauncey M. Depew,
a good many years ago. “It Is the greatest day
in the American calendar. Nay, more, it gives
perfume to tlie whole air that encircles tills globe.
Every man, woman, or child who breathes it, no
matter where lie or she Is, feels the better for It.
There is not: a liberal sentiment where civilization
is known that is not quickened on tlie Fourth of
July. It reaches tlie hut of tlie peasant, and it
enters Into the tent of the conscript. The one
says: ‘There is for me and for my children some
thing better than tills lint.’ The other says:
‘Why should I fight to uphold thrones and cut
the throat of my brother to maintain caste and
privilege?’ The Fourth of July lifts the thought,
the aspirations, the prayers of the people of ail
countries to higher planes of living, thinking and
dying. Why it is a university, a college, a high
school, a common school. It Is a liberal educa
tion in patriotism and manhood.”
That’s the way a good many good Americans
feel about the Fourth of July even to this day,
even if there are those who hold that noise is vul
gar and “brag is our national vice.” Some of us
tmve an idea way down deep that the American
who will not brag on the Fourth of July is hardly
worthy of his birthright.
Still, It Is a self-evident fact that the old Fourth
of July Is gone, never to come back. Os course
we must keep the day and celebrate it. It is too
Important a day to be slighted. It must be cele
brated right.
But let nobody make the mistake of trying to
refine all the fight out of it. Our ancestors handed
down to us freedom and the love of freedom and
and that still more precious thing—the readiness
to fight for freedom. And that’s got to stick out
of any proper observance of the Fourth of July
in the United States of America.
PF. - Rl|-NA
Mr. McKinley’s letter Jbdhhhmbhi
brings cheer to all who
tnay be sufferers as he ii?' : •',?
was. Read it: fr
"I ran honestly say that T imp * M, K^^oSH
Bty life to Peruna. After some of f ’ y ,
the best doctors in the country m *
gave me up and told me I could (’.....J filial
not live another month. Prrnnn I^llrCQ
saved me. Travelling from town ' /ul fff'fcraHKtllPrl
to town, throughout the country _ w -1
a J« having to go into all kinds If
or badly heated stores and build- |¥|A IBMlwm&wrJSMl
jngs. sometimes standing up for Av*^
hours at a time while plying my iSr afi
trade as auctioneer, it is only
natural that I had eolda fre-
Oiuentlyi so when this would
occur I paid little attention to It Mr. Samuel McKinley, 2504 E.
until last December when I con- 22nd St., Kansas City, Mo.. Mem
traded a severe case, which, her of the Society of U. S. Jewelry
through neglect on my part Auctioneers,
settled on my lungs. When al- __________________
most too late* I began doctoring,
hlltp without avail, until 1 heard Sold Everywhere*
®f Peruna. It cured me* so I _ ~ .
|_Cannot praise It too highly," Tablet or Liquid Form
jjfjßf ' ®l|A We Must Guard
JBI Pli i bli Our Girls
On the threshold of womanhood
IgirgjU -• Jj comes the crisis which means
health or invalidism. Throe gen
/ erations ago an old southern doc-
Wf I/ /T ills of women, which has become I
known to fame as ‘ Stella Vitae;"
has been the right thing at the
young girls, down to the present I
i Savfvl An day. Try it for YOUR daugh- ■
HOdveu ftn ter. Money refunded if FIRST I
I Operation BOTTLE doos not benelit. I
1 MK. W. P. NELSON, a merchant At our drUff store jg
I Ilixon, Tonn., says: That the daughter
lof one of his neighbors, Mr. James £
■ Roberts, was in such a condition with c
female trouble that an operation was
advised, and the young lady was sent to
Chattanooga for its performance. She
droadod the operation, and STELLA
VITAE having been recommondod, uj 1 jw RS
decided to try that first. She has taken H H Elf fijk
six bottles and is happily on the road JSI 15 I i f »
to recovery. She is ablo to do her usual
work and is in better health than for MMB ? * jL Jff wvsßmH4"'
years before, but continues to use it. Jj fj W * mjM'v
Sho writes: ‘‘STELLA VITAE will do iRCTgL. TJfifiSF
all you claim.” Her father says “She
began to improve at once, after taking
THACHER MEDICINE CO.
. n SOLD FOR 60 YEARS
ml ®nLLT®Mnc ss'sS
SOLD BT ALL DRUG STORES-
The Prime Requisite.
“That portrait of Mrs. Gaddy is a
speaking likeness.” “It wouldn’t be
like her any other way.”
Cuticura for Pimply Faces.
To remove pimples and blackheads
smear them with Cuticura Ointment.
Wash off in five minutes with Cuti
cura Soup and hot water. Once clear
keep your skin clear by using them for
daily toilet purposes. Don’t fall to In
clude Cuticura Talcum. —Adv.
JUST ACTING LIKE A MAN
Simple Explanation of Wife’s Action
When She Suspected Burglar
Was Downstairs.
After starting for his work the
other morning Taylor happened to
think of something he had forgotten
and returned to (lie house to get It.
While walking about the kitchen he
heard a great racket upstairs. Consid
erably alarmed he called:
“What In the world Is the matter,
Mary? lias anything happened?”
There was a moment’s silence, then
his wife replied :
“Oh, is that you?”
“Yes, who did you Ihlnk it was?”
“I heard some one walking about
down there and I thought it was a
burglar.”
“But the noise—”
“I was making a lot of noise so that
he would think there was a man in
the house.”
Mere Talk.
“Where did you say the Blitherbys
were planning to spend the summer?”
“With relatives in the country.”
“But I thought—”
“Regardless of the fact that their
breezy conversation with friends and
acquaintances would lead you to think
that the largest hotel at America’s
most fashionable resort would soon
house them.”—Birmingham Age-Her
ald.
This time of year
it’s a iood idea
to combine fresh
fruit or berries
with your morn
ing dish of
Grape Nuts
The blend of flavor proves
delightful and is m tune
with June.
“There's a Reason*
In the Blood.
Willis —Bump says lie comes of colo
• nlal stock. Says his ancestors used to
duck the witches.
Gillis—And their descendant ducks
Ihe collectors. —Judge.
i 1
Qr&nulated Kyelldn, Sties, inflamed Eye.
, ' r*lleve<l overnight by Itomttn Kye Balaam.
< >n” trial proves it* merit Adv.
DIDN’T WAIT TO BE ASKED
j Elsie’s Little Scheme to Test Sweet
heart's Fidelity Could Hardly Be
Called a Success.
Elsie, about to he married, decided
at the last moment to test her sweet
heart; so, going to her friend, Maude,
the prettiest girl she knew, she said
to her, although she knew it was u
great risk:
“I’ll arrange for Fred to take yon
out tonight—a walk on the beach In
the moonlight, supper, and all that
sort of thing—and I want you. In or
der lo [Hit his fidelity to the proof, to
ask him for a kiss.”
Maude laughed, blushed, and as
sented. The plot was carried out.
The next day Elsie visited her friend,
and said, anxiously:
“Well, Maude, did you ask him?”
“No, Elsie, dear."
“No! Why not?”
“I didn’t get a chance; he asked me
first.”
John Smith Named New England.
The name of New - England was
coined by Cupt. John Smith of Poca
hontas fame, one of the founders of
‘he Virginia colony. In 1014 he ex
plored and mapped Ihc northern coast,
then called North Virginia, and re
named It New England. The charter
granted the Mayflower Pilgrims adopt
ed the name used In Smith’s map sev
eral years before.
Another love affair Is the best ce
ment for a broken heart.