The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 23, 1897, Page 1

| The *PRICE FIVE CENTS. 23. SAN FRANCISCO, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JU = e = VOLUME LXXXIL— E 23. 1897. LONDON'S GORGEOUS SPECTALLE- Crowning Triumph of the Diamond Jubilee by the Grandest Pageant Ever Witnessed. MILLIONS OF LOYAL SUBJECTS CHEER QUEEN VICTORIA. Representatives From Every Section of the Vast British Empire March in the Dazzling Parade. MOST MARVELOUS SIGHT THE SUN EVER LOOKED DOWN UPON. Enthusiasm of the Loving English People and the Strength of Stanch Colonists Significantly Displayed at the Last Public Appearance of the Aged and Mighty Sovereign. Copyrighted 1897 by the New York Sws. ONDOX, Exc.. June 22 —Wher a crowd of jubilee” sightseers Sung a weli-dressed stranger into the fountain of Trafaigar square the other day becanse he ventured a remark slightly disparaging to the Queen they sym- bol zed the spirit which. made to-day’s celebration an event transcendent in all human annsis. The intense loyalty of the British people to their sovereign is the one fact above all others in this marvelous spectacle in the streets of London that has impressed all bebolders. Itis easy to describe all el —procession, decora- tions and illaminations—but thisstupendous thing, this majestic homage of many millions, spoken tn one alate yoice. cannot be put into words. It was not hero worship, not mere devotion to a favor- P® mighty, inarti ite ruler, not even patriotism. It was more personal, more human than that. It was the deepest and warm- st heart-tribute to the womanliness of & Queen and the queenliness of & woman. The most significant of all this spirit found the most fervent éxpression in what Lincoln loved to call the *‘common people.” All the sordidness, pettiness and official meddling which made thie preparations for the jubilee a national scandal vanished into nothingness when the masses, which still are the bone and sinew of England, got a chance to make th ir vo ce heard. The mighty roar from millions of throats never ceased from the moment the Queen left the palace until helped from her carriage at tha end of the trying ordeal, three hours later. If in some respects it was the gavest, it was in others the saddest national festival England ever celebrated. T hose who had special knowledge knew, and many o hors suspected, it was a pablic fre- well which Victoria was taking of her “beloved people,” zs she called them in the brief message caused to be telezraphed to the four quarters of the earth, wherever the British flag floats, as she set out from the palace this morning. 1t was a pitiful fact also that she was able to see little if anytbing of those massed and massive millions gathered to greet her. This was known only to a small proportion of 1hose who offered congratulations and homage. It wasa painful truth heild back. Popular emotion was sufficiently intense without the sorrow this knowledge would have added for the woman herself. However, especially with her known sensitive- ness to grief, whatever the emotion may have been, her countenance during that long three hours was & mirror of conflicting emotions. Some saw smiles upon it, others tears, and still others gentie dignity and a ation, but the juviles was not simply and solely the touch of resi Queen’s, as it should bave been. While the celebration first of all wasa personal tribute to the sover- sign there was no lack ot emphasis of the siznificance of the second great feature. This was the new imperial spirit which has only recently had birth. It took the form of a magnificent popular ovation to representa- tives of the colonies, astonishing In fervor and intensity. It wasall the more ostentatious because there was & public impression that the official treatment of the visiting colonial troops was not as cordial as it should have been. There had been almost a national protest against the Admir- alty for their failure to provide the colonial soldiers an opportunity to witness the naval parade Saturday. It had already been pointed out in the Bun that the political purposes of the Government in connection with the jubilee were twotold. One was to inaugurate a new imperial policy and the other to make an imposing display of power in reply to the anti- English attitude of almost united Europe. These two purposes instead of being harmonized were allowed to clash in the most stupid way. The result was a bald exposure of the sordid nature of the Government's plans and & sharp rebuke from its own friends. The following keen comment from the Standard, the stanchest Con- servative organ, well expresses the popular sentiments in regard to turn- ing the jubilee into such bass uses: “The purpose of the Spithead demon- stration is not to make a parade of our maritime strength for the benefit of Continental visitors. Every power of Europe is already well informed of our preparations and resources. Nor would it be the best taste on so pacific an occasion as this, within a few days of friendly congratulations conveyed from every neighboring court, to indulge in the semblance of & warlike display. The prolonged festivities of commemoration have been organized with a purely imperial view, and to leave out of the cul- minating scene some of the chief actors in the play is an artistic as well as a political mistake.” There was therefore a general popular rebuke in the tremendous wel- come which London gave the colonial visitors along the whole six miles of the route. There was an opportunity to make this particalarly strik- ing in the first two miles, from the palace to St Paul's Cathedral, where the colonial contingent of Prime Ministers und troops marched as a sep- arate procession more than an bour in advance of the royal parade. The Queen hersell received soarcely a more enthusiastic greeting. When her carriage arrived the vastcrowds were aiready so hoarse from cheering that they could only zive vent to a rough roar, which must have sounded strangely 1o ber ears. But it is as the greatest gathering of buman beines the world has ever seen that the jubilee will live in the memory of all who participated and in tne history of the race. The effects of this massing of millions were d:fferent from anything I ever before experienced. I have been to creat gatherings in France, Germany, Italy and America, but this was unlike all others. lt was different even from the multitude which sbouied and sang congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of York on THE VICTORIAN PAGEANT. O! ’twere a spectacle would stir the soul, Could she but see it with unclouded eyes. For Britain’s might is represented there, And Britain’s guests, wisdom and wealth and power, With Beauty, gay appareled, pass a pompous hour, Folly perhaps; but always to be wise Is never to bz wholly free frcm care. Dimly she sees the long proczssion wind ; The sunlight silvering on burnished steel, Flashing on jewels and on satins” sheen, Scarlet and blue and gold ; a goodly show. Just as it was on that day long ago— Plumes togs and pennons waveand trumpets peal Just as they did when she was first a queen. Better than all, above the roll of drums Comes the sweet music of a people’s cheer. Burrah ! hurrah! They shout Victoria’s name. From every lip, from every heart, the same True, loyal love that gold can never buy; Slowly, as from a fountain almost dry, Flows the Imperial tribute of a tear. San Francisco, June 22. ; R.A.B. L ‘;‘l f ,‘x‘ll“l‘ h{c’/ il VICTORIA, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India. [From a photograph taken in January last.] the occasion of their marriage in these same streets four years ago. ~The contrast was greatest with the myriad-tongued Paris multitude'which welcomed. their new ally, the Russian Czar, last October./ Infeetious eayety was there supreme. -These mighty British millions were somehow more depressing than inspiring. ( They meant to 'be boundiessly gay, but were less 30 than at any national fete'I ever witnéssed.. It ‘wouid -be absurd, perhaps, to say there -was an- undercurrent ‘of foreboding in ail the worship which was offered . without stint -to. the .graclous-sovereign whose command of the hearts of the:people is bevond words to deseribe, but more than one person expressed to-night the same vague -impression- It was alter the procession. that the.people .gave themselves-up. to light-hearted enjoyment. “Then was; the most wonderful sight of all wit- nessed. The human thrones that had been'still, but not silent, for many hours began to move.. There were. vast areas of humanity which became eddying tides, flowing restiessiy here and there. London was like Venice, with her streets of canals, with ‘nowhere a glimpse: of' the ‘pavement as the sluggish human streams-ebbed and flowed, each drop:or atom help- less to move save with the general current, and rising:up from it all came the ceaseless, voiceless murmur—not soothing, like rippling water over rocks, nor majestic, like.the roat of:an angry sea, but, resistiess, awesome intoning of strange new energy:which beat upon one’sear dfums until now, after many hours, it has become intolerable. s Not for s moment daring inearly a hundred-hours has London been silent day or night. Jubilee throngs have filled the streets .since Friday. Many thousgnds of people have not known' a:bed'in:allithat -time.. ‘To. night the crowds are greater than ever, and it is impossible .to copverse in the Sun office, near the Strand, withont closing the ‘windowsto shut aut the noise.: ButI have no word' of disparagement for this wonderful day of wonderful history of this wonderful empire. ‘ The answers which came within =carcely an hour from forty seats of Government over which the British flags floats-in -every cornerof. the earth to the Queen’s .message of thanks to her.dubjects were alone .sufli- cient to make this. day memorable in buman records. :1, in common iwith thousands of other aliens, have watched ‘men of’ every color and every. creed marching -loyally under the;same flag and. confess-without reserve, without envy, that it was the most marvelous sight the sun everlooked down npon. GREATEST PAGEANT EVER WITNESSED. Representatives - of Every - Nation 'Ride + in .the Wonderful Procession, Which Is the Crown- ing Triumph in Victoria’s Reign. LONDON, Exa., June 22.—The fiela marshal in charge of the .royal procession at Wellington statue, Hyae Patk. corner, received the signal that the Queen had entered her carriage precisely atll o'clock. The starting-gun in Hyde Park was fired instantly and the line of march was taken up exactly according to programme. The progress towara St. Paul’s Cathedral, where the colonial procession had already gone, was made with few delays. As a mere spectacle the royal procession was truly magnificent. As a aymbolization of pomp and power it eclipsed all previous eartkly pageantry. Yet the great in numbers was not repre- sentative save of royalty and the weapons with which royalty maintains itself. Captain Ames, a magnificent scarlet-coated giant, the tallest officer of the British army, splendialy mounted on a great charger, led the way. Four stalwart troopers of the Second Life Guards supported him. As the navy is not only the chief arm of defense but also the senior in_ service, and as everything in England goes by seniority, there followed repree