Ireland at the St. Louis Exposition

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 43, 27 October 1904, Page 20

Ireland at the St. Louis Exposition

4 Concessionaires' Day,' on Thursday, September 8, was one ot t!hc great s'pe-cial days ,at tte Loluisilana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis 1 . 'Among the vaxio'us features of the day was a magnificent para»de,, in which all the nations and races of people represented at the fair participated, each concession being hea,de(d by a laige bra^s band. Some of the musical organisations were very large, that of the Philippine Scouts aggregating more than 10,0 musicians'. Some of» the principal bftinds of tihe United States, as well as well as from 10/ eiga countries, were m line. Ireland was represented by ten jaunting cars, beautifully de<o'rated with artih-cial flowers and flags, drawn by splendid thoroughbreds and filled witih the prettiest ol colleeovs. The cars were pre.e/ded by Ireland's Own Band, ot Dublin, whicih played Iri>=h music exclusively aJJong the lmo ot mairch. The Irish yocfica was universally conceded to be bh-e neatest and daintiest portion of the parade, and was fjre.eted by thurdcrs of a;*plausc as it passed through the mass of sTgjht-seefcs 1 . As the Irish contingent neared the reviewing s>tand their hand s.truck up an arrangement of the ' Lament of the Irish Emigrant.' The trim, military appearance of t,he mon and their clean-cut execution of the music broigM a storm of cheers awd applause from; the tens of thousands of spectators who thronged the pla/a, awt tfte cars came in foe tiheir share, as they followed. It was a sight that made Irish hearts beat high, for in that tihrce miles of procession, dazzling the sight with gorgeous Oriental color, there was noUbing as beautiful as the sinnple clis'play made by Ireland. Immc-liatoly after tshe disiper.si'o'n of the parade Ihe judged met to decide the winners in the various contestis. To Ireland's Own Band was unanimouKly awardid. the first prize of 100 dollars in gold for the best a-lpearance and performance of the day. The Boer War section., conuposed of 70.0 veterans of the donflitt m Soutdi Africa, superbly mounted, carried off ti^e first prize for appearance, but Ireland came in a close second, taking t'l^e secrn,d priv.e of £50 in gold. A girl in the Paris section won the prij/e for being tJier most beajutiful woman in the parade, but only after mi'icJi discu<s*on, as one of the Irish girls, Muss Josephine Colliass was mame|d by several of tlie judges. Miss Collins was dressed in simple white, with a red Kerry cloak, an r d looked the ideal Irish beau,ty. She was awarded the second prize.