USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Gloucester > Memorial of the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Gloucester, Mass. August, 1892 > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
By the breezes and billows with jubilant song They are welcomed once more to Cape Ann.
Oh, dear sea-blown city, thy praises to-day With tenderest voices we sing, With the wish that the seasons to follow still may To thee Peace and Prosperity bring. And we pray that as long as her granite shall last And the blue sky the headland shall span, While her cliffs brave the billows or smile at the blast, God's blessing shall rest on Cape Ann.
The benediction was then given by Rev. Francis Parker of East Haddam, Conn., also a son of Gloucester. The program was of artistic design bearing on its front cover a fine half-tone view of the city. The Committee on Literary Exercises were : Messrs. George H. Procter, Chairman ; Daniel O. Marshall, Secretary ; William H. Rider, Benjamin H. Corliss, Charles P. Thompson, Allan Rogers, David I. Robinson, John J. Flaherty, Nathan H. Phillips, John C. Pierce, John K. Dustin, Jr. The Committee on Music were Messrs. William A. Homans, Jr.,
Henry C. L. Haskell, Odist. Rev. Francis Parker, Benediction.
LITERARY EXERCISES.
James Davis, Odist,
Osborne W. Lane, Music Composer. Rev. James C. Parsons, Invocation.
I43
OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
Chairman ; D. Somes Watson, Walter G. Tyzzer, William H. Pomeroy, Austin A. Spaulding, Fred. S. Thompson, S. Oliver Saville, Arthur H. Wonson, Albert Center, Charles H. M. Hazel, Osborne W. Lane, Willard F. Collins, Mrs. Preston Friend, Mrs. George Douglass, Mrs. Freeman Putney, Mrs. George H. Newell. The director of the chorus was Prof. Austin A. Spaulding. The orchestra was Baldwin's Boston Cadet Band, of twenty-five pieces, J. Thomas Baldwin, leader. The ushers were twenty-five high school cadets under command of Colonel Harvey Mansfield.
The exercises throughout were listened to with rapt attention by the large audience present. They were of a high order of literary merit. The oration was a masterpiece of historic research and will prove of great value in the years to come, adding much to and supplementing the work of Babson and Pringle, Gloucester's local historians. The poem was a delightful piece of composition, beautifully sweet and simple. It seemed to breathe the very atmosphere of Gloucester and her wild roses. Of the chorus work, the stirring odes, and the orches- tral music, too much praise cannot be given. Certainly every one had reason to be proud of these exercises and of the pace that had been thus set for the events which were to follow.
ATHLETIC EVENTS.
T THE athletic games were held under the auspices of the Gloucester Athletic Club, at their grounds on Bridge Street, Wednesday after- noon, at 2.30 o'clock, and were a great success in every way. Liberal prizes had been offered, and as they were open, a large number of prominent athletes from all over the State competed. The meeting consisted of ten events, two specials, and an exhibition, all within two hours. As a result, the crowd was not tired out and was ready to come again.
The Gloucester Athletic Club had a deserved reputation in this regard, one striking reward of which was a splendid crowd of specta- tors. The grand stand was packed. Over three thousand men and women were kept on the qui vive throughout, the fairer sex outdoing the men in vociferous enthusiasm. The weather was perfect, and the track, under recent rolling and caretaking, was smooth and hard, though hardly elastic enough for the best results.
The sport was fast and exciting, nevertheless, and a worthy con-
144
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETHI ANNIVERSARY
tribution to the general round of festivities in which the old town was giddily whirling.
The team race was the opening and one of the best features of the day. Only the Worcester and Suffolk teams appeared, both some- what reconstructed. Fuller, of Worcester, was under the weather, and McLaughlin, one of their long-distance men, took his place. Elmer White was the eleventh hour candidate of the Suffolk Club.
Wright and Donahue began the mile, and the little Worcester man rapidly pulled away from Wright on the first lap. On the second round, Wright was able to hold him, and at the end of the quarter was within five yards of the leader, when White and Allison took up the running. This was a most timely meeting of two old rivals, and the crowd stood up to cheer on the pair of milers. White caught Allison handily, but in the last hundred yards of the quarter lost four yards. Drumm and Mclaughlin took the third quarter of the mile, and the Suffolk man was far too good for Mac. The race was a nervy one, but Drumm led at the change of flags by half a yard.
The final quarter brought out the cracks of the two teams, Mowry and Rowe. The former is not counted a formidable quarter-miler, but showed a gilt-edged grade of the game. Rowe held his half yard for one lap, but Mowry got in his sprinter practice on the concluding round, making the Suffolk man hustle. The finish was one of the closest contests of the year, Mowry leading by half a yard, and Rowe hanging on like a bulldog. The length of the run told on Mowry, who faltered in the last ten yards. Rowe made a magnificent spurt, but missed by a foot. The mile was done in three minutes thirty-eight and two fifths seconds, an average for each quarter of fifty-four and one half seconds.
The mile run was another clinking race. A field of twelve started, led by Morrill of the Suffolks at the limit, and with White at scratch. The first three of the eight laps went by without incident, the boys. waiting for second wind. On the fourth lap, "Sigourney " Hodgkins made a fine spurt, rapidly pulling down his leaders and heading the procession at the beginning of the second half. . -
Clark and Pettee of the Dorchesters, Kelly, Revere Boat Club, and M. V. Daily, closed up on him at the beginning of the sixth lap, and from that out the race was practically a scratch event between the quintet. White dropped out, having used up his ankle in the team race. Clark showed a wonderful improvement in form, going around the field on one of the 'stretches in the seventh lap, like a ghost, taking the lead. It was a toss-up for a lap between the runners, but the spurt
145
OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
had pumped out "Sigourney," and he gave up the battle. Daily made a strong bid for a slice of the race, momentarily leading, but Clark was not to be denied in that way. Kelly and Pettee were hardly less enter- prising, keeping within a yard of the unconquerable Clark throughout the final struggle.
At the last turn all four, for Wiggin had joined the party, made a final jump to get by the leader, but were not quite good enough. Clark won, with ten good yards to spare. Pettee was second, and Kelly had third in hand, but carelessly let up, allowing Wiggin to steal in.
The two-mile walk elicited the most enthusiasm of any event, through the fact of the scratch man being Marston, the local and the New England champion. The first mile was a weeding-out race, relieved by but few spurts, and giving no hint of the ultimate result. Shannon, one of the newcomers in the walks, aroused a storm of good- natured raillery by his stiff-jointed, automatic kind of gait. He dropped out after six laps, followed by Wass, of Worcester, on the seventh, and Pettis on the tenth. The latter's withdrawal left only Beaudette, Doyle, and Marston.
Then the race began to be exciting. Beaudette had caught Pettis on the ninth lap after a close walk for two laps that carried the latter off his feet. Doyle, who seems to have lost some of his stride, trudged along fifty yards behind the Worcester man, having gained but little since the start. Marston was going like a house afire. "Would he catch Beaudette ?" was the universal query. The crowd cheered their favorite, encouraging him along with local catchwords and pathetic appeals to beat him.
Doyle had to give up finally, sinking contentedly into third place, and Marston began a stern chase for the little Worcester man. The latter was now going like a piece of machinery, with not a flaw in his gait. Marston slowly wore down his lead, and at the beginning of the last lap was within twenty yards of Beaudette. Both let on a full head of steam, the crowd yelling meanwhile at Marston to get an old-time move on. He did nobly, but lacked three yards of beating Beaudette as the latter breasted the tape. The Gloucester man had done his two miles in fifteen minutes twenty-three seconds.
The final heat in the quarter mile was a scorching contest between Rowe and Moakley. Their relative merits are a friendly bone of con- tention between the Suffolk and the Dorchester clubs, to which they respectively belong. Beside them, Lord, B. A. A., O'Hare and Archi- bald, T. A. C., and Maguire, had survived the preliminaries. Rowe
146
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETHI ANNIVERSARY
and Moakley pulled them all down from scratch, the latter having four yards on Rowe. The last one hundred yards was where the pinch came. Rowe had caught Moakley, and the latter made a gritty try for the race, but Rowe seemed to be nerved for anybody even after his scrap with Mowry in the team race, and went away from as good a man as Moakley as if the latter was tied. Rowe won in a dog trot, the Dor- chester man giving up twenty yards from the worsted.
The time in the one hundred-yard dash was fast all through, with one exception, when Hurd had a practical walkover. Mowry of Worcester, who was picked as a likely winner, had used up his ankle on one of the turns in the team race, but he pushed out the event winner in ten and one half seconds. There were three ten and two fifth seconds heats, which would have been faster with a better finish, the runners having to bump against a stiff board fence at the worsted. Drumm won the final easily in ten and one quarter seconds from the six-yard mark.
Phil Stingel won the hurdle race under somewhat trying circum- stances. The event came off while the high jump was in progress, and he was kept busy running out his heats in the hurdles and keeping up his end from the scratch in the jump. He had a little to spare in the hurdle race, but could not land the jump prize, a sleeper turning up in Pearson of Lowell.
Two special events provoked a burst of laughter, and proved to be good races after all. One, a quarter-mile walking race between C. Haley and William P. Clark, two Gloucester boys of twelve, was a race for blood. Both showed traces of Marston's training. Haley had the pole, and led till within fifty yards of home, when he succumbed to the mighty Clark, who won by five yards. The winner, who is small even for a twelve-year old, gravely shook hands with every one he knew. He got a big medal.
The other special was a one hundred-yard race between F. S. Orchard of the Gloucester Athletic Club and E. J. Thomas of the Suf- folks. Both are heavy-weights of the heaviest kind, and this line of sport is an entirely new venture, and the contest is the result of a casual jest. Orchard is the heaviest, and once he got going his momentum was enough to land him a winner by a foot in thirteen seconds.
An exhibition tug-of-war contest between the Gloucester and Dorchester teams was won by the former.
The field events were begun early and closed quickly, but were without especial incident.
147
OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
SUMMARIES.
One hundred yards dash - Trial winners, T. Eaton, W. H. S. A. A. (four yards), ten and two fifths seconds ; J. C. Freeman, W. A. C. (four yards), ten and two fifths seconds ; J. T. Drumm, S. A. C. (six yards), ten and one half seconds ; G. W. Wright, S. A. C. (four and one half yards), ten and three quarters seconds ; B. Hurd, Jr., B. A. A. (three and one half yards), eleven and one quarter seconds ; R. H. Callahan, G. A. C. (five yards), ten and two fifths seconds. Semi-finals, won by J. T. Drumm, S. A. C. (six yards), ten and one half seconds ; B. Hurd, Jr., B. A. A. (three and one half yards), ten and two fifths seconds; Freeman and Wright, second men. Final, won by J. T. Drumm; J. C. Freeman, second ; G. W. Wright, third. Time, ten and one quarter seconds.
Two hundred and twenty yards hurdle race (hurdles two feet six inches high) - Winners in trials, P. C. Stingel, Mel. A. C. (five yards), thirty and one half seconds ; G. A. Harvey, S. A. C. (seven yards), thirty and three fifths seconds; J. Connor, D. A C. (four yards), and T. Eaton, W. H. S. A. A. (three yards), second man. Final, won by Stingel ; J. Connor, second ; Harvey, third. Time, twenty-nine and one quarter seconds.
Team race - Won by Worcester A. C. (J. J. Donahue, W. Allison, James McLaughlin, V. Mowry) ; Suffolk A. C., second (G. W. Wright, E. L. White, James T. Drumm, Frank Rowe). Time, three minutes thirty-eight and two fifths seconds.
One mile run - Won by W. F. Clark, D. A. C. (forty yards) ; E. F. Pettee, D. A. C. (twenty yards), second ; E. E. Wiggin, R. B. C. (thirty- five yards), third. Time, four minutes forty and two fifths seconds.
Two mile walk - Won by W. A. Beaudette, W. A. C. (twenty sec- onds) ; W. F. Marston, G. A. C. (scratch), second ; M. J. Doyle, S. A. C. (fifteen seconds), third. Time, sixteen minutes fifteen and three quarters seconds.
Four hundred and forty yard run - Winners in trials, F. Rowe, S. A. C. (scratch), fifty-seven seconds; T. F. Moakley, D. A. C. (four yards), fifty-six and one quarter seconds ; F. W. Lord, B. A. A. (eight yards) ; H. O'Hare, T. A. C. (twenty-two yards) ; W. Archibald, T. A. C. (twenty-two yards) ; P. H. Maguire (ten yards). Second and third men allowed in the final. Final, won by Rowe; Moakley, second; Archibald, third. Time, fifty-six seconds.
Running high jump- Won by G. W. Pearson, L. C. A. A. (four inches), five feet eight inches, including handicap; I. F. Keefe, W. H. S. A. A. (three inches), second, five feet seven and three quarter inches.
Throwing sixteen-pound hammer - Won by C. H. Hart, G. A. C. (twenty feet), one hundred and ten feet nine and one half inches, including handicap; F. S. Orchard, G. A. C. (scratch), second, one hundred and one feet; J. Connor, D. A. C. (fifteen feet), third, one hundred feet seven and one half inches.
Putting the sixteen-pound shot - Won by E. J. Thomas, S. A. C.
148
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
(three feet six inches), thirty-seven feet two inches, including handicap; L. A. Carpenter, S. A. C. (three feet six inches), thirty-seven feet one inch; M. Roche, Colonel, A. A. (two feet), thirty-six feet six inches.
Pole vault - Won by N. Doucette, G. A. C. (two inches), seven feet six inches, actual ; L. A. Carpenter, W. H. S. A. A., second.
The following table shows the points won, five for first, three for second, and one for third : -
CLUBS.
Firsts.
Seconds.
Thirds.
Total.
Suffolk
3
2
3
24
Gloucester .
3
2
Dorchester
I
4
O
17
Worcester
2
I
O
13
Worcester High School .
O
2
O
6
Melrose
I
O
O
5
Lowell Catholic
0
O
I
I
Trimount
0
O
I
I
Riverside
O
O
I
I
Mr. Eugene Buckley of the Boston Athletic Club was referee and Mr. John J. Flaherty of the Gloucester Club was clerk.
The committee on sports, to whom, as well as to the Gloucester Club, a great deal of praise and credit is due, were Wilmot A. Reed, Chairman, Fred. A. Pearce, Patrick J. Foley, Nathaniel Maddix, Jr., Conrad Hanson, Charles E. Lane, Frank H. Shute, Charles A. Jacobs, Almon B. Cook, Addison P. Burnham, Walter F. Osborne, Edward G. Hotchkiss, Benjamin F. Ellery, Edward S. Griffin, Andrew Leighton, James W. Thomas, Finley A. Dockety, Archie J. Moore, Clarence E. Wright, George E. McDonald, Alfred Thurston, Gardner W. Tarr, George H. Newell, Edward S. Currier, Arthur L. Millett, William G. Procter, Winslow W. McMillan.
149
OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
ANNIVERSARY BANQUET.
A FTER the literary exercises in the large tent at Stage Fort, and as a fitting close to the first day's observance, came the ban- quet at the City Hall, Dale Avenue. A large number of the citizens had gathered early at the hall to give cordial greeting to the distinguished guests who had come to do Gloucester honor on her festal days. Pre- vious to the banquet a brief reception was held in the Mayor's office. The hall had been magnificently decorated for the occasion. Around the long tables with their snowy linen, fine china, cut glass, and beau- tiful bouquets of choice flowers, gathered some three hundred people, both gentlemen and ladies, including prominent citizens and honored guests. In the balcony were large numbers of others who could not be accommodated below. Promptly at 7.30 o'clock Hon. William W. French, chairman of the Banquet Committee, called the company to order, and the divine blessing was asked by Rev. Jeremiah J. Healey, the venerable and much beloved pastor of St. Anne's Catholic Church, as follows : -
" May the blessing of God descend upon you all and remain with you forever, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Amen.
After the dinner had been served, Rev. William H. Rider was introduced as toastmaster. Mr. Rider was particularly happy in the introduction of the speakers, men prominent in State and nation, and who paid eloquent tribute to Gloucester and her history.
THE FIRST TOAST was : -
" This day's inheritance charges us that after what we owe to God, nothing should be more sacred than the love we owe our country : loyal to this ancestral command, Gloucester has ever honored THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."
Responded to by First Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Hon. James R. Soley, of Washington, D. C.
ADDRESS OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, JAMES R. SOLEY.
Mr. President and Fellow Citizens : To my mind there is no secular ceremony more solemn, or one to be performed with greater reverence than this in which we have just united, in honor of the Chief Executive of this country. It is the outward sign and symbol of the deep respect we feel for
150
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
that august office, and I may well say herc, and I believe all will agree with me, for the high character and lofty purpose of the statesman who now fills it. But its meaning goes further than this. It is the united cxpression of all those who are gathered here to-night as the guests of this old and famous municipality, of their common allegiance to a common country. It is the cxpression of that noble sentiment of patriotism, the solemn recognition of our union in a common nationality ; and each man of us herc to-night, with a full heart and swelling brcast, responds to it in these words, felt if not spoken : " Thank God, I am an American citizen."
Of course, the purpose and meaning of this celebration are to give utter- ance to that sentiment of local attachment which in cvery man clings about the place he knows as home. It is, as it were, a great family reunion. For us, sons of Massachusetts, who, though reared in other parts of the State, have been invited to partake of this feast, it is a pleasure and a privilege to join with you, citizens of Gloucester, in thus happily celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the town. To us as well as to you, Gloucester is always a source of especial delight and pride. It is dear to us as one of the most ancient and representative cities of our dear old Commonwealth. It is dear to us as the home of all those generations of mariners who made the fishing fleets and the merchant fleets of New England famous throughout the world. And it is still more dear to us from having given to the service of the nation, in ships of war and privations, so many of those bold and rugged men who fought our battles and won our victories in the Revolution and the War of 1812.
In some sense I, myself, may claim to share in your home feeling. To me, personally, Gloucester has many dcar associations, from pleasant summer days passed here in years long since gone by, when in my small excursions in these waters, it was my boyish pride to think myself, for the time at least, a Gloucester fisherman. To my mind, then, filled with the stories of those perilous voyages to the Banks, of hardships bravely endured, and dangers of storm and sea bravely met and overcome, the Gloucester fisherman was one of the noblest of God's creatures. And I am free to say, with all that I have learned since of men and their doings, I am of the same opinion still. The recollections of those early days, vivid in all their first freshness, outlast the fainter impressions of later life, and to this day there is no picture of the past that rises to my mind with greater brightness and beauty than that of this fair bay on a summer morning, the early mists lifting and parting under the rays of the new-risen sun, showing the clear-cut coast from Eastern Point around to Magnolia, and the long line of stately schooners, their great white sails emerging from the wreaths of fog, making their way, like a squadron in sailing order, to the sparkling sea beyond.
But it is not of personal association that I would speak to you to-night. Nor do I purpose, though it might seem fitting in responding to this toast, to dwell upon the successes of the present federal administration. Its record speaks for itself. But I may be pardoned in making one brief reference to that department of the government with which I have the honor to be con- nected. No branch of the public service is held in greater pride and honor
Mr. John Corliss, " 'The Old Town."
Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, " Essex County."
BANQUET SPEAKERS. Admiral Bancroft Gherardi, " The Navy." Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, " The Army." Hon. William Cogswell, " Our Law Makers."
Hon. James R. Soley, " The President."
Hon. William E. Russell, "Massachusetts."
151
OF THE TOWN OF GLOUCESTER, MASS.
by every true American, and especially, I take leave to say, in this community of seafaring men. For its officers and men, you know what they have been in the past, for you have sent your own contingent to their ranks, and never was there a contingent more valued than yours. As to the present, they are with you now, and you can see them for yourselves, and I hope you will hear from some of them who are present here to-night. But I will say just this, and in saying it, I am sure that their commander-in-chief, if he were present, would say the same, - that no state in the Old World which showers upon its public servants rewards and titles and decorations can boast of a body of naval officers more zealous, more loyal, more earnest in their devotion to duty, or abler in its performance, than those of this American republic ; and it may be said with truth, and no higher praise can be given them, that they are the true and worthy successors of Hull and Decatur and Bainbridge, Lawrence and Porter, Perry and McDonough, - all that constellation of heroes who created for this country the glorious naval traditions of 1812.
And here let me make an announcement which I think will be of special interest to you. More than a year ago, the Legislature of Massachusetts asked the Navy Department for the assignment, under the act of Congress providing therefor, of a vessel of the navy for a nautical training school. It is the earnest desire of the Navy Department that the name and fame which this New England coast has always borne as a nursery of good seamen may continue to stand in the future as it has stood in the past. Up to this time no vessel has been available; but I now take pleasure in saying - and I trust the Governor will pardon this extra-official announcement - that the depart- ment has assigned the United States Steamer " Enterprise " as a nautical train- ing school for this Commonwealth, and that she will be turned over to the State immediately for this purpose.
But it is not in the fostering of good seamen alone that the Federal administration, and especially the Navy Department, aids the merchant marine. The depression of the shipping industry, particularly in the foreign trade, is well known to you. In 1830, ninety per cent of our exports and imports were carried in American vessels, while in 1890 they carried about thirteen per cent. The foreign carrying trade of the United States has been reduced almost to annihilation. What is the cause of this depression ? It is commonly supposed to have been due to the Civil War, and this is largely true ; but the war hastened an already downward movement. In 1860 our proportion of the carrying trade had decreased from ninety to sixty-six per cent, and the war, by the loss or transfer of nine hundred thousand tons of shipping, put the finishing stroke to what had been already begun.
Apart from the effect of the war, it was the iron steamer that killed the foreign trade of American shipping. During ten years before the war, it was rapidly displacing the sailing clipper, but our people refused to believe it, and kept on building their old model. We had at that time neither the skill nor the materials to build the vessels required, even if our shipowners had had the disposition to buy them. There are those who believe that free ships would have been a remedy for these evils. I am not one of them. I believe
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.