USA > Michigan > Genesee County > Flint > The book of the golden jubilee of Flint, Michigan 1855-1905. Published under the auspices of the Executive committee of the golden jubilee and old homecoming reunion > Part 17
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"We lay this cornerstone at an interesting period in our national history ; at a time when we are at peace with the world and when there is harmony within our borders, and when our countrymen are engaged as never before in the pursuit of their gainful occupations. We observe no signs of danger about us. Everywhere there is a most abundant assurance of increasing strength and expanding power in all of the ways which make for a higher and better people. There are neither social nor economic disorders which will not find their sure antidote in the essential soundness and patriotism of the great body politic and the incorruptible virtue of the great masses of the best republic the world has ever known.
"Permit me to congratulate you on your Golden Jubilee. Fate has scattered many who claim this as home to other states and other communities. They have attained success and honors elsewhere, but this community possesses for them a peculiar interest, and they return today with affection and gratitude. The home of our youth is home in a very essential sense always.
"Marvelous changes have come in fifty years and greater changes still await you in the fifty years to come, if you but use well your opportunities and stand for those high ideals which have so prospered you in the past.
"I most heartily congratulate you upon the celebration of the completion of the half century of your growth as a munici- pality. You have just reason for pride in what you have so well accomplished. The name of Flint is widely celebrated. It stands for progress, for high commercial honor, for law and order, for education and good morals. Here the home is exalted above all else.
"You celebrate an important event under happy auspices. You have invited to share with you in your felicitations those whom the hand of fate has scattered among other states and
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THE HON. J. B. ANGELL, L. L. D., President of the University of Michigan.
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other communities. They return to the old roof tree with true filial affection and rejoice with you in what you have so splendidly achieved. May the half century upon which you enter with such promise, fulfill in full measure the prophecy of today."
The Vice-President was followed by the Hon. Samuel W. Smith, representative of the Sixth Congressional District, who had rendered the most valuable assistance to the city in secur- ing an appropriation for the building, and who extended his congratulations in a felicitious address which was cordially and heartily applauded.
The exercises at the Federal Building were followed in the afternoon by a battalion parade and exhibition drill at the fair grounds, which drew out a large and enthusiastic com- pany of spectators.
The elements of the parade were the two battalions of infantry, the Detroit Naval Reserves and the Detroit and Flint Commanderies of Knights Templar. After the march to the fair grounds there were a battalion parade by the First Bat- talion of the First Infantry, an artillery drill by the Naval Reserves, and an exhibition drill of their graceful and intri- cate evolutions by the Detroit Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar. No attempt can be made to describe all the march- ings and counter-marchings, except to say that the Naval Brigade found its work to include more elements of warfare than had been expected, as, owing to recent rains, parts of the fair grounds were little better than pools of water so that hauling cannon about by hand was anything but easy or tidy work, and not so very different from landing on a muddy shore.
After the drill came an inspection of Company A, of the Third Infantry, the march back to the fair grounds, and a
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concert by the First U. S. Infantry Band from Fort Wayne at the park.
Meanwhile another set of military exercises, less showy, but not less memorable, was taking place in front of the new court house, namely, the dedication of the memorial tablets to the soldiers and sailors of Genesee County in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The tablets were, of course, in the entrance hall and corridors of the court house, but in order to make room for the great crowd, the exercises were held on the lawn in front.
Escorted by the Fife and Drum Corps, the veterans marched from the Grand Army Hall to the court house, and there, after music, and bugle call and the "Assembly" by promi- nent Grand Army men, introductory remarks were made by M. C. Barney, chairman of the committee in charge of the work. A few words from his remarks are given here to help set forth the proud right that these men have that their names should be emblazoned in our Hall of Justice.
"This grand old Genesee County," said Captain Barney, "gave practically all her boys and men between the ages of 18 and 45 to help make the grand total of 2,556,563 that went to the front and saved this nation. Michigan gave 90,747, which was a greater number than was subject to draft, between the ages of 18 and 45, of this number 14,753 were killed in action.
"Very many Genesee County soldier boys are in unknown graves all over the southland, and their names will never be known, except as they appear on these walls. We are glad today that we can say to the people who lost friends on those bloody battlefields, and to the friends of those who lost their health on Cuban soil, that their names shall be placed on
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these walls, on that beautiful Tennessee marble, from southern battlefields."
Mayor Aitken then spoke words of welcome of more than unusual feeling and appropriateness, and was followed by Capt. E. M. Allen, of Portland, Mich., the memorial orator. A portion of his address follows :
"We meet today to indulge a chapter of the unwritten history of the Civil War, to count some of the unnumbered blessings wrought for us, and to pay a passing tribute to those men who made these blessings possible. I am very proud of Michigan, which has honored me by adoption; proud not only for the splendid civilization which is hers today, but especially proud of her patriotic devotion to the general government in the hour of common peril. In a night of extreme danger, General Kearney said, 'Put a Michigan regiment on guard,' and while the silent stars looked down in admiration, and the night wept dews of pity, the sleepless sons of Michigan kept watch and guard while the army slept to dream of home and friends around the fireside.
"More than ninety per cent of the men of military age in Michigan were at the front. No portion of this common- wealth was more patriotic than this splendid County of Gene- see. The record shows that ninety-three per cent of her men of military age left home, with all its endearments, to main- tain the honor of our flag, many, alas! to find on distant battle- fields a soldier's burial. Can we today realize what this per- centage meant to the people of your city forty years ago. Let me give you an object lesson. There are perhaps one hun- dred men in this audience between the ages of 18 and 45. The same rule applied today would take 93 of these and march them away keeping step to the music of the Union. Twenty boys in your high school over 18 years old. Call 18 of them out, put them in the livery of their country, and stand them
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up to brave the shot and shell of an implacable foe. Think of this, my young friends, and try to realize what it cost to be patriotic in those heroic years."
After paying tribute to the sons of Genesee County for the record they had made in the war, the speaker continued : "Our comrades sleep, some in Genesee, some in national ceme- teries, and some in unmarked graves beneath a sunnier sky. No marble marks the resting-place of those who slumber where they fell. No loving friend may adorn with flowers or moisten with affectionate tears, their tomb. But doubt not, despite their unbefitting burial, they are sincerely mourned, and their memory as fondly cherished as though in coffined urn they slept where the buried ashes of their kindred lie. Good deeds are immortal. The years will come and go. This gen- eration will be gathered to that eternal home of which we know so little and trust so much; strangers will tread these corridors and read these names with idle curiosity, the very marble will crumble under the touch of time, but the deeds that these men did, the government they saved, the splendid civilization they made possible, like the pyramids, will stand an enduring monument, when the buildings have been for- gotten."
Mr. C. C. Dewstoe, Postmaster at Cleveland, Ohio, had "Genesee County during the War" as his assignment and was most heartily received. The fact that he used to live in Gen- esee County and went from, here to the front placed him in close touch with his theme and with his audience, though he had been long absent from this city. He spoke of the services, not only of the men, but also of the women of the country, "to whom is due in a large degree the great measure of our final achievement." With a look forward and a final word of appreciation to the Grand Army the address was closed.
Then followed the Hon. R. A. Alger of the United States
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Senate in an appropriate and feeling address on "The Soldiers of Genesee County." after which, with more music and the sounding of "Taps," the memorial exercises were closed.
For most people the next exercise was supper, but the alumni of the University of Michigan took advantage of the interval to have a banquet at The Dryden for President Angell who was to be one of the speakers at the dedication of the library next day. Following the co-educational principle of the University, instead of a toast-master, there was a toast- mistress in the person of Miss M. Louise Wheeler of the High School. President Angell was in a reminiscent vein and charmed his hearers with a talk on the worth of the University illustrated by the careers of some of its graduates. Some of the more distinguished alumni from out of town were present, including Judge McAlvay and Judge Carpenter of the Michi- gan Supreme Court, and Mayor Codd and Ex-Mayor May- bury of Detroit, each of whom made short addresses.
The evening celebration had for its principal feature an Illuminated Parade of Vehicles and Floral Floats. These were the same which had appeared in the morning's proces- sion, but with an added interest from the glow of street-lights and torches. The streets were completely choked by the throngs of people who turned out to witness the parade, and for a good time generally. The crowd was like that of the night before, only more so, and much enlivened by uni- forms of National Guards and Naval Reserves. To quote a newspaper report, "They paraded, sang, whistled, yelled and generally let people know that they were in town." But with all the jollity and boisterousness there seemed to be nothing but good humor and essential good order everywhere. The illuminated fountain was again the center of a great deal of interest.
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At the same time with the out-of-door celebration, a gen- eral reception was held in the court house for all the dis- tinguished guests which was attended by almost the entire population of the city and the invited guests. A great many other social functions were held of a private and public char- acter, which continued long into the night. One of the most memorable and enjoyable of these was the re-union of the ex-members of the Flint Union Blues, at the armory. Ad- dresses were made by distinguished guests, and many former members enlivened the occasion with humorous reminiscences of the old days.
Let us close our account of the day with a further extract from the newspaper report just mentioned, slightly modified :
"Music was as free as air, and almost as plentiful. Bands played and blared from the parks, from verandas of the hotels, from the reviewing stand, and from the pavement. The Fife and Drum Corps shrieked and rattled, musical contrivances in stores sent plaintive notes to the street, and gramophones were heard at various corners. Even the blind man with the hand organ, the colored man with the guitar-they all helped, and Flint was musicked in most generous fashion.
"Until late at night there was a big crowd of Jubilee visi- tors on the streets; but with the midnight trains gone, the jam thinned out. Flint folks and their guests watched the illumina- tion of the fountain, the ceaseless shafts from the searchlights, heard the bands play the last time for the night, and went home to the sleep of the weary, and to do it all over again the next day."
It might be supposed that the doing it all over again next day must involve something of sameness and weariness, and so it would have been had Thursday's procession been of the same character as Wednesday's. But while the first proces- sion had to do with the present and the past, and was largely
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military, the second looked toward the future. It was made up principally of the schools of the city. Two thousand of all ages and sizes, from the little tots, too small to keep up with the procession if they kept step with the music, up to the graduating class of the high school, marched in line, each carrying a small American flag. Great crowds gathered to see them and cheered them no less heartily and enthusiastically than they had cheered the procession the day before. And in response came many a cheer, and many a waving of flags from the little folks in the procession. With peculiar appro- priateness, Dr. James B. Angell, the revered president of the State University, and so the top stone of our educational sys- tem, led the way, and with him other speakers and prominent guests and citizens, including, of course, the city Board of Education. Then, on foot, leading the schools came the high school faculty, with true dignity, each carrying a flag like their scholars. Next followed the high school cadets, in black coats and white duck trousers, rivaling the soldiers of the day before in the smartness with which they carried them- selves, and the precision of their drill. Following them came the other members of the school in the order of their classes, and then the Stevenson, Walker, Kearsley, Oak, Doyle, Clark and Hazelton schools with classes led by their teachers. So filled were the smaller children with the marching spirit, that even when forced to halt for a moment, their feet still kept time to the music of the band.
Then, all in white, came St. Michael's Parochial School, and after them, schools from the country in wagons. Most interesting perhaps of all, and certainly with the greatest appeal to the sympathies of the spectators, was the last school contingent, consisting of the State School for the Deaf, march- ing along with happy faces, apparently to the music of the band, though not a note reached their ears. Nor could they,
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hear the applause which greeted them all along the line, yet, it was not all in vain, for their eyes made up in some measure for their lack of hearing, and took in with delight the flutter- ing of flags and the waving of hands and handkerchiefs as they passed.
The procession was appropriately closed by a floral parade, in which gaily decked carriages and automobiles took part.
Instead of breaking up on Saginaw Street, as that of the previous day, the procession appropriately marched out on Kearsley Street, in front of the library before being dismissed, and thus made itself a great escort to the distinguished guests as they proceeded thither for the dedication of the beautiful building. Thither they were followed by as large a crowd as could come within range of the voices of the speakers. After an invocation by Father Murphy, of St. Michael's, Mr. George W. Cook, President of the Board of Education, intro- duced Dr. J. C. Willson as presiding officer, who made a few remarks in keeping with the occasion, and then gave place to Mayor Aitken, who once more gave an address of welcome. After the singing of "America" by a chorus of pupils of the public schools, President Angell then spoke. His address was quiet and scholarly, appropriate to the occasion, and in keep- ing with the quiet and dignified architecture of the building to be dedicated. It was received with close attention and with hearty applause. It was as follows :
"These are proud and glad days for the city of Flint. The fond memories of her past and the bright hopes for her future equally charm our hearts. Justly conspicuous among the cele- brations of the week for the permanence of interest which it awakens is the dedication of the new library building. As the years roll on, the recollections of the intellectual stimulus which will have been received in this home of letters by thou- sands of eager young minds will be among the dearest that
JUBILEE PARADE-VEHICLE WORKERS.
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bind them to this city. It is therefore eminently fitting that in the rejoicings of this festival we find opportunity to con- sider the significance of the opening of this house to its high uses and to express our thanks to the far-sighted women who, by their earnest efforts, laid the foundation of this library and to the generous donor of the beautiful building which we now dedicate.
"We seldom consider into what exalted companionship a library admits us. When an eminent man like Admiral Dewey or the President of the United States comes to our town, we esteem ourselves highly honored. The public press reports the visit with the fullest details. If it ever happens to us to be admitted into a royal presence, we regard the privilege as one of the notable events in our lives.
"But have you ever paused to think into what a society you will be introduced on crossing the threshold of your library when it is filled with books? Have you ever realized that there you may stand in the august presence of men of larger mould and loftier spirit than most of the illustrious warriors and sovereigns of the world? There Homer may await you with his imperishable song, and Plato with his vision of a seer, Aristotle with his political wisdom, and Demosthenes with his matchless eloquence. There the genial Horace may welcome you with his ancient verse so modern in its strain, and Virgil with his epic that charms the school boy of today almost as it did the court of Augustus, and Cicero with his melodious and resounding periods. Then follows the stately procession of mediaeval and modern poets, philosophers, his- torians, scientists, novelists, Dante, Petrarch, Grotius, Kant, Hegel, Rousseau, Goethe, Schiller, Shakespeare, Bacon, New- ton, Scott, Gibbon, Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, Haw- thorne, and all their illustrious compeers. There they all may be, waiting to receive us and give us their best thoughts and
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words. Suppose they were here in the flesh. The city could not contain the crowds, who would come hurrying from all parts of the world to your gates to look upon this elect com- pany, the choicest and noblest spirits of all history. But though it is not granted us to salute them in person, we have the precious heritage they have left to us of all that was highest and best in them. We may well stand with uncov- ered head and reverent awe as we enter those portals and comprehend the full import of the fact that there we are per- mitted to come into intimate communion with them, as they were in their hours of highest inspiration, and have them con- descend to speak to us as friend to friend, to instruct, to com- fort, to delight, to inspire us. What an unspeakable joy it will be to us to escape from the narrow dungeon of our igno- rance into the free air and light of this palace of wisdom, to flee at times from the irksome cares of our daily life to the sweet companionship of these noble men, to turn aside from the din of the street and the shop into the peace and quiet of our temple of learning, to be lifted from the depressions and disappointments which often overwhelm us to the exaltations and inspirations and hopes and enthusiasms which may be kindled by contact with these master spirits.
"Under that roof these great men of all the centuries will, as hosts, be ever ready with their work .to welcome us to their presence. Your generous and appreciative friend has here reared a palace for them worthy, by its beauty and dig- nity, and completeness of appointments to be their perma- nent home. There they will speak their words of wisdom and cheer to you and to your children and to your children's children. That will be the centre and in large degree the source of the intellectual life of this rapidly growing city.
"Now that your benefactor has so nobly done his part, it remains for the city to see that the library is maintained, and
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managed in an effective manner. It would not only be an act of ingratitude, but it would be a mockery if in such an edi- fice as that we should not find a good and growing and well administered library. There is no more important commis- sion in your city than the commission charged with the care of your library. Let us hope that they will always be chosen with special regard to their fitness for their official duty and without regard to their party affiliations. Especially is wis- dom needed in the selection of your books. It is not so difficult to choose books for the cultivated and scholarly readers. But in your library you must provide for all your population. Particular care should be had to procure books attractive and useful to your artisans and mechanics and com- mon laborers. They should be led to feel that this is the place where they can most profitably spend a spare hour and can find something to bring new brightness into their monotonous lives. The efforts which you have already initi- ated to make the library serviceable to the pupils in your schools must now be redoubled. The teachers and the library authorities must always contrive to co-operate heartily. The multiplication of libraries in this country has already elevated the work of the library, the influence which a competent librarian can wield in his guidance of the reading and studies of the young is seldom outweighed by that of the teacher or the preacher. In no manner can a generous appropriation of funds for the support of a library be more wisely expended than in securing a competent librarian.
"Judging by my own experience and by my observation of others I doubt whether the guide books which have been written to tell one what works to read have been of great service. The simple reason why they are not very helpful is that to advise one what to read, you should know something
!
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of his aptitudes and taste and something of his plans of life. General advice is a shot in the air. It may hit nothing.
"But a competent person may give helpful counsels to the young concerning useful methods of reading whatever one does read, and may indeed specify what are some of the best books on certain topics. A good librarian, if leisure enough is left him, may attract and help willing auditors by occa- sional lectures or informal talks on how to read a library. But personal suggestions, to meet particular needs, are the nost fruitful of good. And just here the school teachers, if competent to advise, can be of the utmost service. In no way can the library be made so valuable as by the hearty and systematic co-operation of the librarian and the teachers. It would be very useful if they could from time to time meet to confer upon the best method of securing harmonious action. For it is the generation now coming on to the stage who are chiefly to profit by the use of this library. It is through them that the city is to receive its chief benefit. To incite them to read, to train them to right habits of reading, to inspire them with high ideals of what one should seek and love in reading should be the aspiration of parents and teachers, if this library is to yield its largest harvest of good.
"Like all good things, this library may to some persons bring no good, it may even mean an instrument of harm. It may bring no good because it may be utterly neglected. No doubt there are many families who have never drawn a book from the shelves. It may bring no good, it may even cause intellectual, not to say moral injury, if it is misused. It is possible to choose from any great library such passages from works and to peruse them in such a spirit as to gratify and stimulate prurient desires, or if one does not descend to so unworthy and shameful an act, one may read in such a man- ner as to be guilty of intellectual dissipation. What we may
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call the desultory readers are exposed to this danger. They pick up whatever book or magazine comes first to hand, pro- vided they are sure that it makes no tax upon their mental powers. They spend their time dawdling over a chapter of this book, then over a chapter of that, as men of the town now join this gay companion for an hour and then another for the next hour for frivolous talk and profitless gossip, and so wander aimless through the day without any fruitage to show for their time. They lose the power, if they ever had it, of consecutive study and thought and discourse on any theme whatever.
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