CHAPTER XXVIII

THE GOLDEN JUBILEE.

On June 6-8, 1905, there was celebrated at Flint, in the county of Genesee, the fiftieth anniversary of the city. Many cities have observed their fiftieth anniversary, but it is doubtful whether any other city has ever had the privilege of combining with the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of its incorporation the ceremonies incident tot he dedication of a stately new court house, of a beautiful new library building, of memorial tablets to its soldiers and sailors, the laying of the corner-stone of a new federal building and the welcoming home of its former citizens. The fiftieth anniversary of Flint was signalized by the most substantial evidences of financial, intellectual and moral prosperity.

The historian of the day, Rev. Theodore D. Bacon, prepared for the official record this "History of the Golden Jubilee and Old Home Coming Reunion." We cannot do better then quote in its entirety this thorough and able contribution to the city's history. It reads as follows:

"George Eliot says somewhere that there has never been a great nation without processions. There is profound truth in the remark. Celebrations and processions are not such trivial things as they seem sometimes when we come to ready about them. The speeches may be forgotten, and the order of march and the number of men in line which were such burning questions the week before the event, may seem utterly trivial the day after but a new sense of common life remains, stirred into consciousness by the celebration, which would otherwise have lain dormant. People feel that they belong together more, they are less a crows and more a real body corporate. The United States was more a country after the Centennial, so Flint is more of a city as a result of its Semi-Centennial Jubilee.

"It is good, too that these celebrations should be recorded, even though the record may not be quite as interesting as the latest novel, for it brings to mind more then the mere events in detail. As these are recalled, there comes with them a renewal of that common feeling which makes the life of the city, and, as the years ago by, the old-time celebration gains insignificance for your and old.

"The Jubilee had its inception in a chance remark to Mayor Bruce J. Macdonald, by one who happened to be looking over the records of the city, that Mr. Macdonald was the fiftieth mayor of the city. Further conference between the mayor and Alderman M. P. Cook led to a motion by the latter in the council for a celebration and a committee to have charge of it. The motion was passed unanimously and the movement was inaugurated. This general committee confined its activities principally tot he appointment of an executive committee, carefully chosen from representative men of the town, by whom the plan was outlined and the various subordinate committees were appointed.

"At the outset the plan for the celebration was extremely modest, not to say meager, but as the idea grew in the minds of the people suggestions began to come in from all sides and a much broader and more adequate conception of what was to be done was established. It was designed that the celebration should appeal to all classes of the community and also make as deep an impression as might be on those who come from outside. There must be a recollection of the past, an appreciation of the present and a glance into the future. There must be display and amusement, and a setting forth of material advancement and prosperity;. But these must not be allowed to overshadow the moral and intellectual aspects of the occasion. Every living person, near and far, who had ever lived in Flint, must be made to feel, as far as possible, that he or she had an important share in this celebration.

"In order to accomplish this result, it was needful, not only to make ready an adequate celebration, but to make it widely known. For this purpose the newspapers of the state were kept filled with interesting reading concerning Flint and its golden jubilee, and a persistent canvass was made for names of former inhabitants of the city to whom programs and invitations to be present were sent. Dignitaries of other cities and other prominent citizens of the country also were urged to be present. Nor were these appeals in vain, for when the day arrived a great concourse arrived to help make the celebration an eventful one.

"a few words should be said also regarding the financial side of the enterprise. Naturally such an undertaking could not be carried through without a good deal of expense, but so great was the willingness of the people of the city to contribute in cash and labor and supplies that not only was the celebration carried through according to the program, but, wonderful to relate, a substantial surplus was left after the celebration was over. The total cash subscriptions were $8,373.75, while a surplus of $1,203.46 was reported to the common council on November 6, after all bills had been paid. How well this foresight, public spirit and executive ability were rewarded, the remainder of this narrative must endeavor to set forth.

"The formal exercises began on Tuesday evening, June 6, 1905. At six o'clock the mayor, common council and other city officials and ex-officials gathered at the Dryden and marched from there, escorted by the chief marshal, Lieutenant-colonel Parker, his aides and Company A. Michigan National Guard, to the First Ward park, where the celebration was formally turned over to the mayor, Hon. D. D. Aitken, by Judge Charles H. Wisner, chairman of the general committee. In a few well-chosen words, the chairman made the presentation, which was fittingly replied to by Mayor Aitken. A great roar of bells and blowing of factory whistles, all over the city, proclaimed that the celebration was formally opened. The officials, present and past, then retired to the Dryden to partake of a banquet, while the troops proceeded, in company with Crapo Post of the Grand Army of the republic, tot he Grand Trunk depot to receive the old battle-flags, which arrived from Lansing in charge of Colonel Cox. These flags had been carried by Michigan regiments through the Civil War and are very precious mementos. They were carried to the Bryant House for safe-keeping until the parade next morning.

"At eight o'clock came the illumination of the city, which afforded entertainment to the crows assembled on the streets. In addition to the eight electric arches on South Saginaw street, two new arches had been erected, one just across the bridge on North Saginaw street bearing the legend, "Flint, Vehicle City,' and one, the Jubilee Arch, at the corner of South Saginaw and Fifth streets. They were now put in operation for the first time. But the special attractions were the two search-lights, sent to the city by the United States Navy Department, and, above all, the electric fountain in the First Ward park, a labor of love on the part of Manager Beard of the electric light works, Superintendent Fisher, of the water works, and Chief Rose, of the fire department.

"One of the search-lights was erected just north of the fountain on a raised platform, whence its dazzling rays were directed along the great throng on Saginaw street, while the other was mounted up at the Michigan state school for the deaf, and sent its great beams toward the sky from various angles, attracting attention for miles around. but it was the fountain after all that held the attention of those who were able to get anywhere near it, with its waters constantly pouring over the bright lights, which changed from red to blue or to pale green, and the perhaps to the bright light of the ordinary lamp, only to come back in a moment to some other color, the whole modified and rendered opalescent by the flow of water. People would gaze for a while and then make room for others, only to stand around the outskirts of the crowd and work their way back slowly for another view of the fascinating object. Slowly the crowd faded away to rest before the more strenuous celebration of the two days to come.

"Wednesday morning the celebration began early by a salute of fifty guns at six o'clock, followed at right by fifty strokes of the city hall bell; for the bands were assembled, and the strains of a dozen different melodies in as many different keys set the small boy to dancing and the sensitive ear to shrinking. But by 9:30 all clashing of chords had ceased and the whole line of march was thronged with eager spectators awaiting the first grand parade. The business blocks and many private houses were gaily and often elaborately decked with flags and bunting, and from every window and from the tops of many houses spectators were in evidence. The line of march was in the form of a string with a loop at the end of it. The procession marched north on Saginaw street, from Eighth street as far as Wood street, then west to Detroit street, and southerly on Detroit to Saginaw, and up Saginaw to Fifth. As leader in the procession came the Vice-President of the United States, Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, in a carriage with Mayor Aitkin. Standing erect in the carriage, he made a most conspicuous figure and was heartily cheered along the whole line of march. Following him came the athletic figure of Governor Fred M. Warner of Michgian, on horseback, well-mounted, and surrounded by the regulation group of gorgeously arrayed aides. Then came two battalions of the Michigan National Guard, led by Brigadier-General Harrah and under the immediate command of colonel Bates. As they marched along, with upright carriage and swinging step, they made a fine impression and were greeted with hearty applause. But the special favorites were the Detroit Naval reserves, who followed, for these men had seen real service and had met the Spaniards in the West Indies. The conflict was not a long one, but it had been enough to show that the spirit of '76 and '61 is still with us, and that men accustomed to luxury and the pleasant things of life still have the old mettle in them and cam put up with the hardships and the harsh discipline of the common sailor for the sake of the country and the old flag. The spirit is just as truly in the soldiers as in the sailors, but these men had had the chance to show it and were still ready for active service.

"Then came Michigan's own high dignitaries in state and nation, Senator Alger, Mr. Justice Brown, of the United States Supreme Court, the Michigan supreme court in a body, other federal and stage judges, and other state and local officials, completing the first division of the procession.

"The second division was Masonic, and attracted attention by the accurate execution by the Knights Templar of the elaborate evolutions laid down in their manual.

"It was not yet time for the old Flint part of the procession, yet the next division was more significant of the heroic in the early days of the city than any other, for it was the Grand Army division. Here they come, the band playing as gaily as for any of the divisions that have gone before, but somehow it is not gaiety that comes to the mind and heart as this division comes up the street. See the flags as they come along, faded and torn, with here and there a round hole in their faded stripes. How tenderly they are carried! And then see the men that follow them, in their Grand Army blue. Here is one with an empty sleeve, there another who goes with a crutch, and many a one who must use a cane. They are not so very old, say sixty-five on an average, but how long ago it seems from the time when they went forth, when the city was just beginning to be. To most of the spectators their work is a matter of history, not of memory, and it seems like having men step out of a book to see them marching along. Even to a few who can remember those stirring times of '61, the memory seems like that of a bygone era. And how hard it is to realize that these men were hardly more than boys when they went forth. To us they have been elderly, gray-bearded men for many a day. Is it possible that, when they did those things, they were really not so old as out National Guard boys? How strange it all seems! They pass, and the city is better for having seen them.

"Then come more fraternal orders, Odd Fellows, Knight of Pythias, Knights of Columbus, Knight of the Maccabees, Woodmen, Cleaners, Grangers, and finally the Order of Eagles, making up the fourth division.

"In contrast to the military display which had preceded them, but of no less interest to the spectator, came the last two divisions of the procession devoted to Old Flint, and to New Flint. As leader of the Old Flint division came a weather-beaten and dilapidated old stage coach in which James K. Polk rode to Washington for his inauguration, now drawn by four horses and with its top occupied by pigs and chickens. It is older than the city, but yet more elegant than many a public vehicle that drew settlers hither in search of homes. Behind the coach comes a band of Indians. On Ordinary days they are much like other good citizens, but today they are gorgeous and terrible in buckskin and feathers like their fathers of old. Following them came a load of logs, illustrating Flint's earliest industry, and after that a float containing a log-cabin, with a raccoon on its roof and skins of various animals hanging on its walls. In front of the cabin door, sat the housewife, spinning industriously and at the same time rocking a cradle of old-time make. By her side stood the husband, with his cradle (for grain) over his shoulder. Many another suggestion of old days followed, including the doctor in his old-fashioned gig, and the old fire department under the veteran chief James Williams, all togged out after the old fashion and pulling the hand pump that used to break the backs of enthusiastic young fire laddies.

"Finally there came that division which represented all that for which the rest of the celebration had been prepared, namely, New Flint. It was represented by its mercantile industries, its vehicle industries, and by an ornamental section consisting of a floral parade. Following the band the mail carriers, in Uncle Sams' blue and gray uniform, led the mercantile section, and after them came floats of all sorts representing the varied industries of Saginaw Street, and with the present fire department, brought up the rear in imposing style. The came the representation of the City's chief industry-vehicles. Following its own band, came the brigade of vehicle workers of the city, all in white uniforms, and then, after another band, six allegorical floats, on which much care, and ingenuity had been lavished. On the first appeared a large globe, to which was attached a wheel, and as the wheel was turned by the goddess of fortune the globe revolved, an indication of the part which the vehicle industry plays in making the work go round. Seated on the floor, among boxes, kegs, etc., were figures symbolical of art, industry and commerce. The next five represented the progress which has been made in the form of vehicles, beginning with a jungle scene, with a man reclining in a hammock suspended from a pole carried on the shoulders of two stalwart Negroes. A second showed an Egyptian woman under a canopy on a camel's back, surrounded by Arabs. A third showed an Indian squaw with a papoose, riding on a travois, or Indian drag, made of two poles hitched to a pony's sides, across which a board was fixed on which the squaw was seated. Still a fourth showed the two-wheeled ox cart of Old Mexico drawn by oxen, while the latest and finest output of the vehicle factories formed an appropriate climax. To tell of the beauties of the floral display requires both more space and daintier words then is at the writer's disposal. Let the reader with the bare facts at his disposal, of ladies on horseback, floats and gorgeously trimmed carriages and automobiles, supply the vision to his own imagination.

"So ended the first day's procession, but by no means all its celebration. Of this it was but the beginning. The parade was followed immediately by the laying of the corner stone of the Federal building. The exercises were begun with prayer, followed by the paying of the stone by the grand lodge of Free and Accepted masons of Michigan, after which the Hon. D. D. Aitken,, mayor of the city, delivered the following address of welcome:

"Mr. President: On behalf of the city of Flint, which I officially represent at these exercises, I wish to extend to the illustrious visitors who honor us with their presence, acknowledgment of the city's appreciation.

"The laying of the corner stone of this edifice if this edifice, which is to be dedicated to governmental uses, is an evidence that Flint, as a government family, has assumed such proportions that it is entitled to a building in which to carry out its business relations with the government. I say family, Mr. President, because it seems to me that this great republic is made up of thousands of municipal families, both large and small, covering all the territory over which waves the Stars and Stripes.

"the great Cities are municipalities, with their own municipal governments. The sparsely settled township is a municipality and, in its crude and undeveloped condition, carries on in its own way the scheme of government; they all separately owe allegiance to, form a part of and, as a while, constitute this republic of ours. While some of our associated municipalities outnumber us in population a thousandfold, and for wealth, the comparison would be still less favorable, yet, for devotion to one another, patriotism and love of country, we claim to be the peer of any.

"Fifty years ago, while yet small, with no knowledge of municipal government, we felt others would have greater respect and we, ourselves, could accomplish greater things if we were a city, and we became incorporated and took on the dignity of the name, although our numbers were few. From that day to this the improvements and increase in population have constantly gone forward and there has never been a time when we could not say there has been a material improvement in the year last passed, and today, honored by the presence of some of our country's most distinguishes sons, laying the corner stone of this building to be erected, and dedicating the two beautiful buildings, one to education and the other to justice, is certainly sufficient reason for rejoicing and congratulations among the people of Flint, and it is with no small degree of pride that I again extent to you their thanks for your presence here today."

"Mayor Aitken was followed by the Hon. Fred M. Warner, governor of Michigan, who also delivered an appropriate address of welcome to the distinguished guests from near and far.

"The Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice-President of the United States, was then introduced and spoke as follows:

"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen of Michigan:

"We are assembled to perform an interesting function--a ceremony which denotes the growth and progress of a great people. We are taking a distinct step in advance. Old facilities and old methods are inadequate for present and future needs. Provision must be made by the government to meet in good manner the increasing requirements of the people, who are going forward with a will and with tremendous momentum to develop and expand their opportunities to the very utmost.

"The growth of the city of Flint and the state of Michigan has been great. Both city and state have increased with remarkable rapidity. It has not been many years since the spot where on we stand was in the midst of a vast virgin forest. It was not long ago that the hardy pioneers entered the wilderness to lay the foundation of the present advanced civilization which we behold. WE cannot contemplate present conditions without recalling the fact that this community, like many others in the United States, was most fortunate in the high quality of its early settlers. No country upon this earth was ever more blessed than our own by the splendid men and women who went into the forest to carve out their destiny. They had deep love for the home and abiding devotion to the state. They thirsted themselves for knowledge and were a God-fearing people. They endured privation without a murmur. They met hardship without complaint. They had unlimited confidence in their future. We witness today the ample fruition of their efforts and their hopes--the achievement in a large measure of their exalted purpose. As we contrast the present with the past, we may well believe that they built better than they knew.

"The cornerstone of this community was well set. It was laid in faith in the church; faith in the state; faith in the school house and faith in the fireside; and the faith of the fathers is the faith of the children.

"The building which will rise here is to be dedicated to a high use--the service of the people. There is no department of our government which comes to intimately and so constantly into contact with them as the post office department. In fact, the vast majority of our countrymen have no physical evidence of the existence of any other department of our national government. They are daily and hourly brought into touch with this great department. the word 'great' is not misapplied. It is used advisedly, for there is no postal service in any country which approaches it in magnitude, and there is no other department of the government possesses such vast machinery and transacts so large a volume of the people's business.

"When the post office here was established, three-quarters of a century ago, under the name of Flint River, there were ten thousand six hundred post offices in the United States, and the gross annual expenditure of the post office department were two million nine hundred thousand dollars. Last year there were seventy-one thousand post offices. The gross expenditure of the department was one hundred and fifty-two millions of dollars. In 1834 there was a profit to the government in the service of eighty thousand dollars, while there was a loss last year of over eight millions of dollars. There were twenty-five million miles of mail service performed in the former year and five hundred and five millions of miles in the latter.

"We gain from this brief exhibit some conception of our rapid and vast national development, for the postal system has merely expanded in response to our national growth. It has merely kept pace with our commercial, social and national needs.

"It is impossible to exaggerate the beneficence of this great branch of our governmental service. It has been a most potent factor in our social and national upbuilding. It is an indispensable instrument of trade and commerce. Paralyze it for even a brief time and the great business world would be seriously embarrassed.

"It has always been the helpful handmaiden of education. It promotes the wide dissemination of literature. It delivers the press within large areas free, and where is it nor married free, it is delivered at a low cost, with unfailing regularity and amazing punctuality. Through the instrumentality of the post office department, the press reached the uttermost parts of the republic and people residing in the most widely separated sections of our country readily communicate with each other. The American people are essentially a reading people. They live in the vital present and must have the latest information from all parts of the world and at the earliest possible moment. The postal system enables them to keep abreast of rapidly transpiring events at home and abroad. The system is not sectional in its operation, for it performs its functions with impartiality in all neighborhoods and all portions of the country.

"The present high state of postal system has not been achieved at a single bound. It is the fruit of years of study, of earnest, patient effort. It is in the fullest degree of evolution. From the days of Benjamin Franklin until now the effort has been to suit the postal service to the expanding needs of the people. We have passed from the saddle-bags tot he railway post office. We have developed in the cities from the post office where the people went to receive their mail to the free delivery system which carries it to their doors. We have developed from the post office at the country crossroads tot he rural free delivery, which brings the mail daily to the farmers' gates.

"There is, perhaps, no branch of the service which has been more rapid in its development and more beneficial in its operation than rural free delivery. Eight years ago it was in its incipiency. There were many who had no faith in it and who doubted its efficacy. Fortunately there were those who were optimistic enough to believe that the service could be successfully established and who well appreciated the needs of the great agricultural communities of the United States. It has rapidly passed from the experimental stage and become a permanent feature, far-reaching in its effects.

"Eight years ago, there were, all told, forty-four routes. The annual appropriation was forty thousand dollars, less than fifteen thousand of which was expended. Last year there were more than twenty-four thousand routes, covering more than five hundred and seventy-nine thousand miles, involving an expenditure of more than twelve millions of dollars. The appropriation by the last congress for the support and extension of the rural free delivery service for the coming year amounts to twenty millions of dollars.

"The rural free delivery service has not been and is not self-supporting, and it will not become self-sustaining for years to come; yet the service is so beneficent in its larger results that it will be maintained and extended regardless of this fact. It has, by no means, reached the limit of its development. It will continue to expand and in good time will be extended to every neighborhood where it is feasible. It will, no doubt, in year to come, become self-supporting. In measure its effects we cannot regard it purely from the pecuniary standpoint. The people do not stop to consult the ledger when they make provision for their moral or intellectual welfare. We must view the service as we consider all government measures, and policies--from the standpoint of the ends accomplished. In a very marked degree it removes the isolation of the farm and bearings agricultural communities into close touch with trade centers.