USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > Semi-centennial of the city of Manchester, New Hampshire, 1896 > Part 10
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But fifty years have now gone by, and let us suppose for a moment this same stranger were to revisit once more our city during these days of her Semi-Centennial celebration. What a wonderful change between his first and last coming would he not observe! He could now direct his steps through long, spacious, neat, and shadowy streets; rest his eyes on green and flowery parks and commons, then gaze at princely residences, massive blocks, richly fitted and furnished stores of all kinds, elegant church edifices, large, commodious and costly schools that would do honor to, and reflect credit upon, any city in these United States; railways to all points north, south, and the sea coast; trolley conveyances to any part of the city, and even outside its limits to the beautiful Massabesic; hundreds of electric lights to guide his way in the evening, and to give him the illusion that night has been changed into day. All this, together with other beauties and achievements too long to enumerate, he would con- template with amazement and delight. Fifty years, my dear young friends, fifty years, and from a small village Manchester has developed into a magnificent city of over fifty thousand inhabitants. It has become the metropolis of the state of New Hampshire, the queen among her sister cities, and is destined to be the Manchester of America.
Gladly, therefore, should you, and do you, celebrate this Semi-Centennial, which brings home to your minds and hearts in so forcible a manner the great works that have been accomplished through the earnest efforts, the loyal devotion and self-sacrifice of your fathers, under the protecting and helping hand of the Almighty. God, indeed, has blessed their work. Your fathers have labored, it is true, yet their labor could have been without fruit; they might have planted and watered all in vain, had not God given the increase. For you must here recall the words of the Psalmist: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord keepeth the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it."
No, there is not, I am sure, one child here present, small though he be, who fails to realize and appreciate and enjoy the benefits that have been instored during these fifty years, and that are now bestowed upon him by the loving "Giver of all good gifts." For heaven, you know, wills that success should tread on the heels of resolute, diligent, and upright men, and as your fathers lost no opportunity of improving whatever talents and resources God placed at their command, therefore has the city grown day by day, and reached the high degree of prosperity it now enjoys.
But your fathers are men, "and to dust they will return." Each one, sooner or later, must take "his chamber in the silent halls of death." And when they depart, to
FIRST BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE. ERECTED 1841,
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THE STRAW SCHOOL.
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ADDRESS OF REV. B. W. LOCKHART.
whom shall they bequeath the inheritance of this city but to you, their belovel and cherished sons? The fate of this city, in the near future, will therefore be intrusted to you, and rest with you. Now tell me who will secure the happiness, the well-being. the progress of the city then? Will it be the idle man? Will it be the thriftless man? Will it be the ignorant man? "Why, no!" you answer, "The industrious man, the provident man, the sober and enlightened man." That you can and will all be. For, once more, the worth and strength of this city will not depend solely upon its increase in business facilities, nor upon the large sums of gold and silver that may be stored within its banks, but chiefly upon the character of its men.
Therefore, let every one of you, each in his own home and in his own school, do his very best to develop both his intellect and his heart: his intellect to know what is required of him, and his heart to love and do whatever heaven shall indicate. Look always for what is higher, purer, and nobler than you have yet attained. for the more educated the men the more polished the city, and the better the men the better the city.
Finally, my dear young friends, would you reach the standard which is expected of you, be true to your God, to your country, to your city, to yourselves, and let your motto ever be: "Aim high; work hard!"
The children then sang "Hail Columbia." Rev. B. W. Lockhart, D. D., pastor of the Franklin-street church, was then introduced.
ADDRESS OF REV. B. W. LOCKHART.
If we had visited Athens in her most splendid days, we should have seen noble build- ings of a public character, theaters, baths, temples of worship and of victory, but we should have seen no public school buildings. When the traveler comes to Manchester he will discover that our finest and costliest structures are publie schools. Our present High school building is a more massive and noble looking structure than any church in the city. This means that the modern city makes the education of the children its greatest civic duty. This one fact marks the vast difference between our Christian civil- ization and that splendid pagan one of the ancient world.
The procession that moved through our streets Monday was picturesque and striking. The military companies, the various fraternities and societies in uniform and regalia looked very imposing. But a procession of the schools, scholars and teachers, with the symbols of art, science, and literature would have been still more deeply affecting and significant of the city's higher life.
And now I would say this one word to you, young friends. The city builds for you these beautiful homes of culture, for your growth in intellectual and spiritual manhood, for your happiness and usefulness. It does this at expense of much labor, thought, and even pain. What can you do in return? You can take pride in the schools of the city. You can be zealous for the reputation of the educational institutions to which you belong. You can strive to make Manchester second to no city in New England in the excellence of the schools. You can be manful coworkers with your teachers in the noblest creative work of the world, and the most arduous. And if you do this the schools of Manchester will become so well known that to be able to say, "I was educated in her schools" will predispose men in your favor and open business possibilities to you which otherwise would be closed.
The exercises were closed by the entire audience joining in the singing of "America." Following the program the children were entertained for an hour with a magical performance.
DAVID P. PERKINS. FIRST MALE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER.
THE MCDONALD PAROCHIAL SCHOOL.
PARADE OF FIREMEN AND MERCHANTS.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9.
On Wednesday, September 9, at 2 o'clock, occurred the parade of the Manchester Fire Department and the trades display. Col. Henry B. Fairbanks was chief marshal, Capt. John Gannon, Jr., chief of staff, and Frank Preston, Scott W. Lane, James G. Lake, and Frank X. Chenette marshals of divisions. The parade was headed by a platoon of police, and the First Regiment Band, Drum Major F. H. Pike. The first division comprised the entire fire department, in command of Chief Engineer Thomas W. Lane, with all the apparatus. Following were carriages containing members of the city government, the judges of the parade, Col. F. E. Kaley of Milford, Col. Charles C. Danforth of Concord, and Col. William II. Stinson of Dunbarton, Andrew Bunton, chairman of the parade committee, city officials, and guests. The display of trade teams comprised four divisions, many handsome floats, exhibits of trades at work, comical features, driving teams and decorated wagons being in line.
The route of procession was the same as on Monday, the judges reviewing the parade at Tremont square. The following prize awards were made:
Best general display, $50, Kimball Carriage Company; second best general display, $25, Forsaith Machine Company and Manchester Beef Company, to be equally divided; best mechanical trade at work, $50, N. J. Whalen; second best trade at work, $25, Phoenix market; largest number of horses on one team, $10, Robie Con- crete Company; most comical display, $20, "John Rogers's family going West," Indus- trial School boys; second best comical display, $10, "Billy Bryan's march to White House," Joseph French; best two-horse team, driven by lady, $10, Mrs. Thomas Crocker; best two-horse team driven by gentleman, $10, B. Frank Welch; best pony, $5, Master Leo Cavanaugh; best team matched horses, $5, L. P. Labonte; best historical float, $50, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; second best float, $25, Head & Dowst Company.
At the conclusion of the parade, Chief Marshal Fairbanks and Chairman Andrew Bunton, of the parade committee, tendered a banquet to the staff officers, marshals, aids, police officers, and guests at Battery hall. Colonel Fairbanks presided, and con- gratulatory speeches were made by Chief of Police Healy, Deputy Sheriff Cassidy, John C. Bickford, Chairman Bunton, Colonel Danforth, Secretary Herbert W. Eastman, Frank P. Parshley, Capt. S. S. Piper, and A. J. Bennett. On motion of the latter, three rousing cheers were given for Chief Marshal Fairbanks. The police department was heartily commended for the excellent order maintained during the celebration.
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HERMAN F. RODELSPERGER. PRESIDENT GERMAN COMMITTEE.
THOMAS W. LANE. CHIEF OF FIRE DEPARTMENT.
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THE WESTON, HILL & FITTS AND CILLEY BUILDINGS.
ATHLETIC SPORTS.
The series of athletic sports held on Merrimack square on Tuesday and Wednes- day, under the direction of Alderman Richard J. Barry and Dana M. Evans, attracted an immense crowd. The judges were Perry H. Dow, Alexander II. Olzen- dam, Ed. H. Chadbourne, Garrett W. Cotter, Charles W. Eager, and T. A. Sullivan; clerks, Frank E. Martin, Fred Allen, John Cavanaugh, Lewis W. Crockett, Edward C. Smith, Walter S. Noyes. Alderman C. L. Wolf, Herman F. Rodelsperger, Carl Foerster, and Martin Hecker had charge of the sports under auspices of the German societies. Mayor Clarke formally opened the program of the day. From 9 to 10 on Tuesday the German societies and their guests from Lawrence gave interesting gymnastic exercises. They then adjourned to the driving park and enjoyed field- day sports.
The officials in charge of the German festivities were: President, Herman F. Rodelsperger; vice-president, Reinhardt Hecker; secretary, Henry Lein; assistant secretary, Emil Scheffel; chairman of finance committee, Emil Scheffel; parade, R. Hecker; amusement, Robert Werner; decorations, Mrs. Charles Bete; music, Theodore Becker; gymnastics, Henry Lein. ' The organizations represented were the Turner Society, Glee Club Mannerchor, Barbarossa Lodge, Workingmen's Relief Society, Germania Turner Society, Glee Club Beethoven Mannerchor, Bavarian Relief Society, Harugari Club, Glee Club Fortuna, and Ladies' Club of Turner Society.
The other sports took place Tuesday, from 10 A. M. to 4 P. M., and included boxing, pole vaulting, broad jumping, throwing hammer, putting the shot, three- legged races, hurdle races, 100-yard and half-mile dashes, fat men's races, greased pigs, wheelbarrow and sack races. All winners were presented medals, money, or other prizes. A tug-of-war between the Lafayette Guards team of Manchester and the Sacred Heart League of Nashua, for a purse of $50, was won by the Lafayettes.
At 9 A. M., on Wednesday, several aquatic events took place above Amoskeag Falls, in charge of Charles W. Eager and Murdock A. Weathers. They included swimming matches, greased pole contests, flat-bottom and four-oared boat races. Several bicycle races, under various auspices, also took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Manchester Central Labor Union, after participating in the grand parade on Monday, Labor Day, held a field-day at the driving park, where a series of sports, band concerts, and fireworks took place, under the general direction of Edward E. Stockbridge, Robert A. Edwards, and James Damory.
At Massabesic lake, on the evenings of the celebration, a series of set-piece fireworks was displayed. They were entitled: "Welcome to Our City," "Amoskeag Falls," "Amoskeag Fire Engine," "Cotton Loom," "Manchester, 1846-1896," "Uncle Sam," "Star Spangled Banner," "Washington," "Adieu."
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LAFAYETTE GUARDS TUG-OF-WAR TEAM.
BEST GENERAL DISPLAY, TRADE PARADE. .
G. A. R. CAMPFIRE.
The big tent on the Straw grounds was the scene, on Tuesday evening, of the largest Grand Army campfire ever held in New Hampshire. It was under the auspices of Louis Bell Post No. 3 and Capt. Joseph Freschl Post No. 90. Headed by the First Regiment Band, the Posts, 350 strong, marched to the tent, which was filled with an enthusiastic audience. Commander Andrew J. Bennett of Louis Bell Post welcomed the veterans and their friends, and presented Col. John J. Dillon as pres- ident of the evening.
David L. Perkins, Esq., who was located in Washington during the civil war, read a valuable and interesting address entitled, "Out of Darkness into Light; a Birds'-eye View of the Civil War."
ADDRESS OF DAVID L. PERKINS, ESQ.
Veterans of the Grand Army :- The rising generation has no adequate impression of the gloom that shrouded the country April 12, 1861, when the rebellious attack was made on Fort Sumter, or of the grievous burdens of war that afflicted us for more than four long years. After Fort Sumter, and on the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, a Baltimore mob made a vicious attack upon the Sixth Massachusetts infantry, then on its way to the relief of Washington. Very few of us then realized that slavery and freedom could not abide peacefully togetlier in a free republic, and that of the two slavery must die. It seems strange now that this axiomatic, self-evident truth could ever have been in doubt, and stranger still that a brave and chivalrous people could have taken the institution of human slavery as their shibboleth in a death grapple with the Republic of the Ages, of which they were an important part. Yet such is history.
In the height of the war, in the summer of 1862, President Lincoln, in an open letter to Horace Greeley, made use of the now startling statement that his "paramount object . . was to save the Union, and was not either to save or to destroy slavery." Indeed, it is probable that slavery could have been saved to plague mankind indefinitely if the Confederates had consented to lay down their arms and resume their places in the Federal Union. But that was not the way of Providence, and in the light of subsequent events fatuity could have gone no farther. The first overt act of rebellion was received at the North in sullen silence. There was a feeling of astonishmnt, of suppressed
indignation. There was an hour of patient waiting. We were slower than the South. The northern spirit did not flare out instantly upon the surrounding darkness, but when the flame was once ignited it burned with wonderful vigor. By these auguries the South misjudged us. The slaveholders were aggressive. They claimed protection for their peculiar institution, and they were prepared to fight for it, but the North had made no preparation to fight for liberty. They were defiant and cultivated a martial spirit. They threatened when they should have remembered that the soldiers of New England and of South Carolina fought side by side with equal valor on the plains of Mexico. We could hardly believe that the impetuous southern leaders were serious in their
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COL. JOHN J. DILLON. CHAIRMAN.
ANDREW J. BENNETT. COMMANDER LOUIS BELL POST, G. A. R.
MORRIS
GRANITE STAT
AUST CO.
ELM AND HANOVER STREETS.
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ADDRESS OF DAVID L. PERKINS, ESQ.
threat to tear down over our heads the pillars of our temple of liberty -- to perpetuate slavery. But when the time came and the tocsin of war was sounded in defense of the Union, then the fires of patriotism burned brightly and even fiercely.
In these piping times of peace it is hard to realize the torrent of embittered feeling that swept like an avenging flame through every hamlet of the slaveless North. .1 potential spirit had been aroused and it crystallized around the supreme thought of saving the Republic. Everywhere it was the same. From every walk. profession, and condition the sturdy yeomen of the North swarmed down upon the rebellious South like the northern hordes of old, until a million men were under arms. The highways and byways resounded with the tramp of armed battalions, and every available ren- dezvous was given up to the study of tactics and the practice of soldiery. There were thousands of commonplace young men who never felicitated themselves on being made of heroic stuff beyond the average of their kind, who yet felt the divine impulse born of patriotism, of which most of us are capable. I judge this to be the true inwardness of at least a part of the world's cherished heroes, who have acted bravely and truly out of patriotic impulse, and because they had the opportunity, more than out of deliberate purpose. And these are indeed our heroes, because their impulses were born of liberty.
There was a saying in the far North that a regiment of old women could march through the South, and thousands of young men, the flower of the land. came hence as to a festival. And in the far South they boasted that one of their valorous knights could vanquish a half dozen sluggish North-men. Both sections were destined to a rude awakening. Hardly had the northern army of raw recruits begun to assume the form and semblance of an armed force when the more influential of the northern press began to clamor for an onward movement. The unholy rebellion was to be speedily
crushed with one great decisive battle. The specious ery was everywhere repeated of "On to Richmond!" Ah! how little did they know the hydra they were contending with. It was not one battle but ten times ten, covering a period of years, and the embattlement of near four million men, with rivers of blood, and the expenditure of billions of treasure, before the sun of peace would again shine undimmed through the dense clouds of a fratricidal war. It may be that the failure of General Patterson in Western Virginia to prevent reinforcements from reaching Beauregard at the eritica! moment was a blessing in disguise. But the recoil from the first Bull Run was terrible, and then our people began to realize something of the magnitude of the struggle, and the early estimate of a ninety days' war with seventy-five thousand volunteers was wholly abandoned. The first Bull Run was the barbed arrow of Providence that was to destroy the peculiar institution of the South. It gave confidence to the slaveholders, and inspired the Northmen with a resolution not born of compromise. Let us examine some of the incidents of this greatest if not grandest struggle in all history.
As a sequel to the failure of the Peninsula campaign before Richmond under MeClellan came the second Bull Run. The excitement in Washington, and all over the loyal North as well, was different in its kind from that which followed the defeat and retreat of our army July 21, 1861, for by this time we had accustomed ourselves, some- what, to the vicissitudes and stern discipline of war. This time there was no inrushing of demoralized men by scores and by thousands, frenzied with fear and bent only upon gaining a temporary refuge, for a year's experience of army life had changed all that. The rebel sympathizers, with an increase of hauteur, were prudently jubilant as they meandered up Pennsylvania avenue, and yet careful not to give flagrant offense. for the Unionists were sensitive at the way in which Bull Run history had repeated itself. This defeat, like the other, only served to stimulate the government and people alike to a more determined effort. The smoke of battle had hardly cleared away when it became evident that General Lee was about to cross the Potomae into Maryland, so as to menace either Baltimore or Philadelphia, or both. To successfully meet this onslaught,
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SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF MANCHESTER, N. H.
required something more than the prowess of a discredited general at the head of a defeated army, and General Pope had been ingloriously defeated only a few hours before. Whatever else may be said of General Mcclellan, he was undoubtedly an officer of merit; a. good defensive fighter; and as an organizer of armed forces his equal was then unknown to our rulers. He had been relieved of his command, but having the confidence of the army his services in this crisis were urgently demanded, and on the second day of September he was reinvested with the authority of command. Almost on the retreat. he began the great task of rehabilitating the defeated army. Marching through Wash- ington he had his legions so well in hand that they were ready under "Little Mac" to stand at the word of command and again try titles with a thrice victorious foe. This indeed was a worthy achievement, and it bore fruit at South Mountain and Antietam, where he attacked and defeated the enemy.
No one who witnessed that march under the impressive, not to say depressing, circum- stances of the case can ever forget the confident air, the enthusiasm, the corps d'esprit of rank and file that characterized the movement, nor the loud huzzas that trembled on the air as the bronzed heroes went forth to confront the foe on another field. And there were some who were disposed to speculate as to what the harvest would have been if Mcclellan had commanded that army at the second Bull Run instead of Pope. But this change of base was vastly beneficial to the Union cause, for it not only restored confidence to the army but it aroused the North to the dangers of invasion and possible capture of Washington, and needed troops were rapidly recruited. In this single aspect. of the case it has been said that Lee's course in crossing the Potomac was a monumental blunder, and yet he repeated it at Gettysburg. It was indeed a brief and inglorious campaign for General Lee, and whether it ought not to have been rendered still more so was the one burning issue that long vexed the partisans of Mcclellan. At all events he lost his command. Herein consisted the vast difference between the Union and Con- federate armies operating in Virginia, that while the Confederates were at home, and stimulated by an almost unlimited confidence in Stonewall Jackson and General Lee, the Union forces had at best but a limited respect for McDowell and Pope. General Scott was superannuated, and Burnside and Hooker, gallant and invaluable corps com- manders, were greatly outclassed as commanding generals. McClellan was at logger- heads with the civil authorities, and whether political feeling and jealousy were factors at all in this unfortunate state of affairs impartial history will alone be able to determine. But we can hardly estimate the damage to the Union cause that resulted from this friction, nor need we marvel, under these untoward circumstances, that the Confed- erates, fighting at home, with fewer men and poorer equipments, were so uniformly successful in the great Virginia campaigns until General Grant and exhaustion finally drove them to the inevitable surrender at Appomattox. Nor need we speculate over these unfortunate conditions, for history is full of cruel examples that serve not as guides or even as warnings.
It was a common saying among officers of merit that their successes in the field were in proportion to their distance and isolation from the intrigues of Washington, for there was no supreme genius of command. General Sherman rarely came to Washington if he could avoid it, and he won imperishable fame in his ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea with the wires and bridges cut behind him. Considering the vast interests involved, the intelligent make-up of the rank and file, and the tremen- dous resources at hand, was there ever so unfortunate an army as the Union Army of the Potomac? And no better army ever faced a foe. We had fed upon the ghastly details of the Peninsula campaign, with its seven days of fierce warfare at the gates of Richmond, the infinite peril of the retreat through swamps and flood, the closing slaughter at Malvern Hill, the change of base, and the long agony of recuperation. Then came the second Bull Run, Chantilly, and Antietam. Now Burnside succeeds
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GEN. RICHARD N. BATCHELDER. QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL, U. S. ARMY. RETIRED JULY 27, 1895.
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McClellan, and December 13, 1862, came the battle at Fredericksburg, where fourteen thousand brave men were sacrificed. It was said that it was never possible for him to win that fight in the open, and that he was fortunate in being able to get his army back through the mud to the old camping ground at Falmouth, almost hopelessly demor- alized, where Hooker spent weary months in reorganizing what was left of it. After that, May 2-4, 1863, came the holocaust at Chancellorsville, where seventeen thousand, the bravest of the brave, went down before the legions of Lee and Jackson.
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