USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Official report of the centennial celebration of the founding of the city of Cleveland and the settlement of the Western Reserve > Part 15
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The opera met with popular favor.
CHAPTER IX.
WHEELMEN'S DAY.
JULY 27, 1896.
According to careful computation, there were fifty thousand bicycles in use in Cleveland in 1896. Riders thronged the parks and boulevards every pleasant day, and hundreds utilized the wheel as a means of daily transportation to and from their work. The dedication of one day in the anniversary calendar to the wheelmen was therefore hailed with de- light. Men, women and children given to the exhilarating sport planned for a great demonstration. Unfortunately, on the first day selected (July 24th) it rained, necessitating a postponement until the 27th.
This fact did not, however, lessen the enthusiasm, the event proving a great success on the latter date.
A parade, in which five thousand riders took part, was held on the after- noon of July 27th. It formed in Wade Park and moved down Euclid avenue to Bolton avenue, thence to Prospect street, to Sibley street, to Kennard street, to Euclid avenue, to east side of the Public Square, to Superior street, thence east on Superior street past the reviewing stand in front of the City Hall and countermarching on Euclid avenue. The long column of riders made a gay appearance, many wearing costumes of grotesque design, carrying banners and pedalling wheels profusely decorated with flowers and ribbons. It was a fes- tival such as Cleveland had never seen before. Tens of thousands lined the streets along the route, the crowd rival- ing any assemblage of the Centennial. The street intersections were clogged JUDGE CARLOS M. STONE. with wagons and buggies, while fence- tops, house-tops and other available ele- vations were eagerly sought. Reviewing stands were built in front yards, and wherever trolley cars halted they were hastily turned into observation cars. A local chronicler indulged in the following bit of description relative to the event :
" The crowd itself would have formed a spectacle worth coming miles to see had there been no parade at all. Euelid avenue was trans formed into the semblance of a boulevard of brilliant flower beds by the masses of summer clad ladies and children who fringed its curb from
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Kennard street to the Square. Every cross street and thoroughfare was filled with the same dense mass of color. The graceful Centennial Arch at the Square rose out of a foundation of humanity that watched and waited for hours for the coming show.
" And what a unique parade it was! No such kaleidoscope of color has filled Cleveland's streets in many a day. The nations of the earth were represented. Gayly decorated yachts with colors flying from every mast and stay glided down the open stream, their sails filling with gentle breezes that set their flags fluttering. Butterflies of gaudy hue skimmed silently over the pavements, reflecting a hundred gorgeous hues in the summer sunshine. Frogs with goggle eyes and slimy-looking backs glided gracefully along the line as though jumping had never been known as a means of locomotion. Indians in war paint, waving their tomahawks over their heads fled before a battalion of musket-bearing in- fantry. Arabs in scarlet fezes, velvet jackets and flowing trousers rolled cigar- ettes and chased bevies of pretty girls in Oriental merri- ment, while troops of 'sweet girl grad- uates' in the most be- witching costumes, carrying great bunches of colored gladiolas, forgetful of school room or taskmaster, rode gay- ly onward. Romeos. in doublet and trunks; Topsys and Sambos, almond-
"SNAP SHOT" OF THE BICYCLE PARADE ON EUCLID AVENUE.
eyed Japs, with
wash board hats;
Uncle Sams of all ages, and Goddesses of Liberty without number flitted past until the spectators grew dizzy watching the constantly re- volving wheels.
"The grotesque was present with the beautiful. 'Weary Willies' and 'Slothful Sams ' were there in all the towdry livery of Trampdom. Long-whiskered farmers, with rakes and garden utensils thrown across their handle-bars, rode wheels of antique make and carried signs clam- oring for 'good roads.'"
The grand marshal of the day was Judge Carlos M. Stone, whose chief of staff was J. E. Cheesman.
Eight patrolmen on wheels formed the police guard for the proces- sion. Immediately back of these came a detail of a dozen trumpeters from Troop A, Ohio National Guard. Following these came Grand Marshal Stone and members of his staff who were not elsewhere en- gaged. Next in line was the Chamber of Commerce Wheel Club, with an escort of Cleveland Grays; the City Hall Wheel Club, with Mayor Me
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Kisson in command; the Grasselli Chemical Club, the Ladies' and Gentle- men's Club and the Underwriters' Club, these comprising the first division. The detailed order of procession, according to programme, was as follows:
FIRST DIVISION. Platoon Mounted Police. Trumpeters. Grand Marshal-Judge Carlos M. Stone. Chief of Staff, J. E. Cheesman.
G. K. Shurtleff, -
COMMITTEE ON CENTENNIAL PARADE. J. E. Cheesman, Chairman. W. A. Neff, W. K. Myers,
Carl H. Nau,
Pierce Kennedy,
W. H. Kinsey,
W. H. Boardman,
A. H. C. Vaupel, J. L. Whitney,
J. H. Collister, W. H. Kinnicutt,
B. J. Hamm,
Jno. G. Percy,
Francis Boyle,. J. E. Williams,
C. E. Vaupel, W. A. Skinkle.
HONORARY STAFF OFFICERS.
Capt. W. F. Rees,
Alex. S. Taylor,
E. S. Reese,
Hon. Robert E. McKisson,
M. B. Johnson,
Geo. T. McIntosh,
Judge E. J. Blandin,
Herbert Strong,
Wm. T. Clark,
James B. Morrow,
Ned Collins,
Daniel Bailey, Jr.,
W. P. Johnson,
W. M. Beacom,
A. M. Hopkins,
Fred T. Sholes,
Ryerson Ritchie,
Arthur Bradley,
HI. B. Burrows,
Horace E. Andrews,
Emil Joseph,
E. W. Doty,
J. B. Zerbe,
Benj. Parmely,
Fred S. Geer,
D. E. Wright,
L. J. Robbins,
Walter M. Robison,
Jno. L. Severance,
Felix Rosenberg.
MARSHAL'S AIDS.
Members of the Cleveland Wheel Club. Members of the Association Wheel Club. Cleveland Chamber of Commerce Club with escort from Cleveland Grays. City Hall Wheel Club. Grasselli Chemical Co. Club. Club for Ladies and Gentlemen. Underwriters' Club. Special Features and Novelties.
SECOND DIVISION.
Cleveland High School, Private Schools,
Grammar Schools, Teachers' Club.
THIRD DIVISION.
Toledo Cadets, Davis-Hunt Co. Club, The Worthington Co. Club, Lockwood & Taylor Club,
Cleveland Machine Screw Co. Club, Calaghan Club, The Fowler Sextette Club, Special Exhibition of Novelties.
FOURTH DIVISION.
The White Sewing Machine Co. Club, The Peerless Manufacturing Co. Club, The Hoffman Wheel Co. Club, The Konigslow Wheel Club, The Hi-Tiddle-Ii-Ti Club,
The Falcon Wheel Club,
Delegation of Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ministers' Club,
Special and Novelties, The Sans Souci Club,
FIFTH DIVISION. W. F. Sayle, Marshal.
The Standard Sewing Machine Co. Club, The Press Club, The Sherwin-Williams Co. Club, The World Club,
Fred W. Throssell, William Heinrich,
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Passing the Reviewing Stand in Front of the City Hall. THE BICYCLE PARADE.
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WHEELMEN'S DAY.
The Standard Oil Co. Club, The Warner & Swasey Co. Club, The Cleveland Printing & Pub. Co. Club, Leader Printing Co. Club, Plain Dealer Printing Co. Club,
The Cycling Gazette Club, The Recorder Club, The W. M. Bayne Printing Co. Club, Special Features and Novelties, Congress of Nations.
SIXTH DIVISION.
Capt. F. B. Wise, Marshal.
The Winton Bicycle Club, The Turners' Club, Iroquois Club, Apollo Club, The Yellow Fellows' Club, Power Block Club,
The Okeanos Club, The Haserot Co. Club, Logan Cycle Livery Club, Ladies' Club, Kelley Handlebar Club, Two Hundred Unattached Riders.
SEVENTH DIVISION.
Al. A. Dorn, Marshal.
The H. A. Lozier Club, Fifth Regiment Battalion, The Avery Drill Corps, Painesville Club, Oberlin Club, Elyria Club,
Berea Club, Chagrin Falls Club, Geneva Club, Wellington Club, Norwalk Club, All other out-of-town Clubs, Specialties, etc.
EIGHTH DIVISION.
W. H. Kinnicutt, Marshal.
North Pole Cycling Club, Williams & Rodgers Club, Burrows Brothers Co. Club,
C. B. Baker Club,
Postal Club, The J. B. Savage Club, Forman-Bassett-Hatch Co. Club, J. L. Hudson Club,
Unattached Riders Assembled at Wade Park.
Great enthusiasm greeted the riders along the line of march. In the reviewing stand sat a prominent group, consisting of Major McKin- ley, Colonel J. S. Poland, U. S. A. ; ex-President J. R. Dunn, of the League of American Wheelmen; Colonel Myron T. Herrick, Adjutant General HI. A. Axline, and a large company of citizens, who freely ap- plauded the companies of bicyclists as they rode briskly by. The parade was officially reviewed by a committee of judges, who made selec- tions for the award of prizes.
On the evening of July 24th a gymnastic and athletic exhibition was given in the Central Armory by the United Gymnastic Societies of Cleveland, comprising German, Swiss and Bohemian organizations. The entertainment was under the auspices of the Centennial Commis- sion. There were eight hundred participants. Music was furnished by Kirk's Military Band. Upwards of 10,000 people crowded into the Armory and almost as many were turned away by policemen who were forced to close the doors to avoid a crush. The exercises commenced at 8 o'clock. The first number brought out five hundred men, women, boys and girls. The men wore light sleeveless shirts with fancy mono- grams of cord work indicating the societies to which they belonged. The boys were similarly attired. The women wore blue flannel blouses, loose and comfortable, with white or red braid, bloomers cut full and extending a trifle below the knees, black stockings and gymnasium shoes with rubber soles. The girls were dressed in like manner. With
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almost faultless precision the following programme was carried out, every number eliciting hearty applause :
PROGRAMME.
I. Mass Calisthenics, By all participants-Boys, Girls, Ladies and Men.
2. Dumb-bell Drill, . Boys from 11-14 years.
3. Climbing on 16 Poles, Boys from 6-11 years.
4. Long-Wand Drill, Juniors 14-18 years.
5. Flag Drill, Girls 11-16 years.
6. Indian Clubs, Ladies' Classes. . Men's Classes. 7. Iron Wand Drill, 8. Parallel Bars, . First Divisions of Men's Classes.
9. Apparatus Work, Girls' and Ladies' Classes.
IO. Athletics and Games, Boys, Juniors and Men.
II. Horizontal Bars, . First Divisions of Men's Classes.
12. Mass Exercises of all participants on all kinds of apparatus, closing with a Grand Tableau and Pyramids.
The first performance of "La Sonambula " was given in the Cen- tral Armory, on the evening of July 25th, by the Centennial Grand Opera Company. A number of well-known Cleveland singers took part. The rendition was considered very creditable.
CHAPTER X.
WOMAN'S DAY.
JULY 28, 1896.
Woman's noble part in the upbuilding of the city was fittingly por- trayed in the exercises of Woman's Day, on July 28th. To the women this was the greatest day of the Centennial; it was one of the days which made the Centennial great. A programme representing months of preparation by the Woman's Department, and typical of the best womanhood of the Western Reserve, was enthusiastically carried out. Among the honored guests of the day were Hon. and Mrs. William McKinley, Governor and Mrs. Bushnell and Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfield, the honorary president of the Woman's Department. The programme consist- ed of public exercises in the Central Armory in the morning and afternoon, and a reception and banquet in the Grays' Armory in the evening.
Early morning trains brought del- egations from nearly all the townships of the Reserve, and before the usual time for clearing away breakfast tables had arrived the streets were alive with women bedecked with badges and rib- bons on their way to the Armory. The headquarters of the Centennial Comis- sion, where special arrangements were made for the day's entertainment, proved a delightful resting place for many, prior to the opening of the ses-
sion. At 8:15 o'clock a committee consisting of Mrs. Elroy M. Avery, Mrs. Sarah E. Bierce, Mrs. O. J. Hodge, and Mrs. S. P. Churchill, proceeded to the Public Square and decorated the monu- . ment of Moses Cleaveland. The cere- mony was not elaborate, but deeply im- MRS. W. A. INGHAM. President of Woman's Department. pressive and patriotic. A large wreath of flowers was reverently placed upon the monument, the members of the committee repeating the following lines in unison as they performed this simple act :
"We, representing the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Cen- tennial, bring this floral tribute in honor of Moses Cleaveland, the found- er of the city."
There was a fair audience - fair in more senses than one-in the Armory when the hour for opening the exercises arrived. The interior
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of the building was handsomely set off with flags and bunting, while the tiers of seats were radiant with women in their summer gowns. Palms and house plants surrounded the platform and a large vase of cut flow- ers ornamented the speaker's table, which was draped with the national colors. Occupying chairs on the platform were the speakers and officers of the day, the members of the executive board, the township historians and vice presidents, the presidents of the various women's organizations of the city, and the members of the Cleveland Vocal Society. At 9 o'clock the programme was opened with singing. Mrs. W. A. Ingham, the presiding officer, then introduced Rev. Dr. S. P. Sprecher, of the Euclid Avenue Presbyterian Church, who invoked Divine blessing. The open- ing address was delivered by Director-General Wilson M. Day, who said :
I esteem it a high honor, indeed, to speak the opening words of this most impor- tant and interesting occasion. Through good and evil report, through all circum- stances, the women have stood by this Centennial.
Were the women of Cleveland to withdraw for even a brief period their influence and activity from our city life, our churches would be depleted, interest in the cultiva- tion of art and literature would die out, hospitals would close their doors, the temper- ance and rescue work would cease, our day nurseries would send the helpless babes back to the crowded tenements, the aged and infirm would be cast into the street, the poverty stricken would be left to their fate, and the beautiful flower missions, and summer outing trips for shop girls, and fresh air camps, and sewing schools, and kin- dergartens, and retreats for the fallen, and every other form of sweet and gracious charity would either fail utterly or be so helplessly crippled and badly managed by busy men that they would ultimately awaken the pity, if they did not merit the with- drawal of the support of the entire community.
Madam President, the Centennial Commission owes an inextinguishable debt of gratitude to the women of Cleveland for their patriotic and self-sacrificing efforts in behalf of this celebration. Prompt to answer to the call for assistance, ready in sug- gestion and execution, undismayed by obstacles after most disheartening, intelligent and comprehensive planning, loyal to every request of the commission, yet absolutely independent of any assistance, they have done so well that we could not wish it better. Officers and members of the Woman's Department, I offer you both thanks and con- gratulations - thanks for your invaluable services, congratulations upon the splendid outcome of your wise and unwearied efforts.
Mrs. Ingham delivered the address of welcome on behalf of the Woman's Department to the women of the Western Reserve, speaking as follows :
On this notable day of a hundred years, when our city takes unto herself gratula- tion because of her women and what they have accomplished in seventy years of united work, preceded by three decades of exclusively domestic life, rearing sons to bless the Republic, and daughters - polished corner stones of stately homes - it gives me joy to welcome you to this auditorium. Although we are obliged to gather in the Central Armory of the Ohio National Guard, it does not imply the least trace of the Amazon in our midst, but, rather, because there is no available building for our as- semblies. We will say in a burst of patriotism that we are here in memory of Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans. She, like other young girls of her time, was taught to sew and to spin; but, taking up the sword and white banner, led her country's troops to victory. So we, triumphing over obstacles, may some time have a woman's building all our own.
Eighteen hundred and ninety-six greets you!
Tabitha Cumi Stiles, accompanying her husband Job in the Connecticut expedi- tion of 1796; she of the linsey-woolsey frock, the heavy shoes, the wide frilled cap, gives you hearty recognition; so do all the pioneer women who followed her -- Grand- ma Scovill, mother of old Trinity; Irene and Hickox Seranton, whose daughter, Mary Bradford, a benefactor in art and higher education, is sitting now in the president's chair during this address; Mary H. Severance and her noble mother, Juliana Wal- worth Long-all these and hundreds besides who endured privation and sacrifice that we might have this goodly Forest City. Those unnamed ones of a century ago, who saw stars through their cabin roofs, who subsisted upon grains of corn and what the
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MRS. GEO.
PRESLEY JR.
MRS.E.S.WEBB
MRS
M. S. BRADFORD
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MRS.N.B. PREI
MRS.S. E. H. BIERCE
MRS.S.P.CHURCHILL
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FURN
MRS. JOSEPH
REPRESENTATIVE MEMBERS OF THE WOMAN'S DEPARTMENT.
GROUP I.
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rifle brought to their scant tables; they lying in cemeteries now, would give you benediction.
For love of Rebecca Cromwell Rouse, founder of women's work here, forming in 1830 and sustaining the Ladies' Union Prayer Meeting, then the Noah Society, in the name of the Female Reform Company, Mrs. Samuel E. Williamson, secretary; and of the Martha Washington and Dorcas, from which, assisted by Mrs. Stillman, came our earliest charity, the Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum; all these would express gladness at sight of you. One representative of the Martha Washington and Dorcas remains with us-Mrs. J. A. Harris, whose heart swells with joy to see this Centennial day !
From the bosom of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Northern Ohio, centering in Cleve- land, I bid you welcome, they who took unwearied charge of the boys in blue - dying to make men free - those careworn women, Mrs. Rouse, Mary Clark Maynard, Ellen Terry Johnson, Sarah Mahan, Susan Melhinch, Mrs. Peter Thatcher, and their asso- ciates. Of these, Ellen Terry Johnson survives to send you personal greeting from Hartford, Conn., and Mrs. Thatcher is on this platform.
On behalf of the great organizations which came afterward-the Women's Chris- tian Association, and Sarah Fitch, whose name is a household word; of the bands of holy women of the temperance crusade, who thought it all joy to go even into the saloons to save the lost --- of these, Jennie Duty has but lately passed into the skies, and Mrs. M. C. Worthington yet lives at more than three-score and ten to bless the city by her beneficence.
The noble thousands of women in educational work; the grand givers of a hun- dred years, who have made the highest culture possible for us - Flora Stone Mather, Eliza Clark, and other true-hearted women, the scores of bright, intellectual members of latter day clubs-all of them would gladly take you by the hand.
With the voice of thousands upon thousands of our number who labor in shops, stores, offices and factories-yes, all the working girls and wage-earners who would gladly sit with you in these chairs - we bless your coming.
Our Executive Board of the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Commission, representative as they are in art, literature and philanthropy, some of them striving for the Centennial because they are children of the pioneers-the women of the churches, loyal to Him whom we serve-these singers and players upon instruments- the grand Banquet Committee, who have prepared a splendid " feast of reason and flow of soul" in the Grays' Armory this evening - women of all nationalities, every- where throughout this great city - give you the freedom of Cleveland on these our festal days, the threshold of a new century!
Mrs. A. A. F. Johnston, dean of the Womans' Department of Oberlin College, responded as follows:
Mrs. President :
In behalf of the women of the Western Reserve I wish to thank you, and through you the women of Cleveland, for the invitation that has opened to us this festal occa- sion. I wish also to thank you for the hearty and gracious welcome with which you greet us. It is fitting that we meet together on this memorable day that emphasizes a century of growth and progress, for the relations existing between your beautiful city and the favored region known as the Western Reserve have always been intimate and vital. Cleveland might well be called the capital of the Western Reserve. Here in your growing city the early settler found a steady and open market for his farm prod- uct. Here also he supplied himself with agricultural implements and household necessities.
Not all the thought of the early settlers was spent upon the clearing of farms and the building of homes. They understood very well that individual prosperity is based upon public prosperity. They laid carefully and well the lines that made for public good. They organized township government, built churches and established schools. And in all this early work, which had in it the promise of our present progress, the women of the Western Reserve stood by the side of their noble husbands. You, Mrs. President, have welcomed us to-day in the name of the first woman that settled in Cleveland, in the name of the long line of women that have helped to make your city illustrious. I respond in the name of these heroic women, who, leaving their New England homes of comfort and luxury, faced the weariness and dangers of a long journey and the hardships and privations of frontier hfe. I doubt if any burden seemed more grievous to them than the loneliness of their isolated homes. But they never murmured. They had the strength and courage that comes from strong con-
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CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE CITY OF CLEVELAND).
victions. They believed they were called to such a time as this. The history of their lives never has been written. Like most heroic living, it never can be written. But on days like this we reach back through sympathy and feel the inspiration of their lives.
I respond also in the name of the oldest daughters of the Reserve, some of whom are with us to-day. Their memory goes back to the log house, with its glowing hearth and hospitable latchstring that was always out. They remember, too, the little brown schoolhouse on the hillside. They may not have had all the appliances of the modern schools, but one thing may be said in favor of that primitive schoolhouse: individuality was left to the child, and room was given him in which to grow, and the Fairchilds, the Wades, the Garfields and the Algers, who thumbed Webster's spelling book and Adams' arithmetic, were found later in life able to carry the burdens of society and state gracefully and well.
It would be interesting, if there were time, to trace how many of the movements which have been made for the civilization of our State and our Republic had their be- ginning on the Western Reserve. "Take, as an example, education. The first teachers' insti- tute in our State was held on the Western Re- serve; the first normal school, so far as I can find. in the United States was opened at Kirt- land. It is true that Columbus had the first graded school, but to accomplish that work she sent to the Western Reserve for Dr. Asa D. Lord, then principal of the Western Reserve Seminary, a normal school at Kirtland. The schools of Columbus, as graded by Dr. Lord, were an object lesson for all the West. And through this movement a tremendous impulse was given to the efficiency of our public school system. This work accomplished, Dr. Lord was made superintendent of our State Institution for the Blind, which he soon raised to the first rank among our benevolent institutions. His last great work was as superintendent of the in- stitution for the blind at Batavia, N. Y. And here I am reminded, if I wished an example in proof of my statement, that the women of the Western Reserve co-operated with their hus- bands, among the thousands of examples that might be cited, I could find none more worthy than Mrs. Lord.
Mrs. Lord has taught more blind children than any man or woman, and when, upon their leaving school she has urged them to habits of MRS. ELROY M. AVERY, economy and thrift, she has found them too Chairman of Executive Committee. timid to invest their small savings in a public bank, but they were only too thankful to entrust them to Mrs. Lord, taking her private note, knowing that the interest would always be paid and the face duly honored.
We hear much in these days of the higher education of women. A few weeks ago I attended in your city the annual meeting of the Ohio branch of the College Alumna Association. There were present representatives from Wellesley, Vassar, Smith, Cornell, Oberlin, Ann Arbor and Wisconsin University, all rejoicing in degrees which we carried with inherited assurance. Degrees from grandmothers and great-grand- mothers, and possibly degrees that came over in the Mayflower, and still so late as 1840 there was not a woman in the world who held a degree earned through a college course. It was a little college on the Western Reserve, at that time shaded by the primeval forests, that first honored itself by opening its doors to women. The world scoffed, but the example spread, and to-day the college that will not confer a degree upon woman is an exception, and must give good reasons to an exacting public.
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