platform, being admitted by tickets, and at the close of the reading of the Declaration of Independence Miss Anthony stepped forward and said to the president, Hon. T. W. Ferry, of Michigan, acting Vice President of the United States: "Mr. President, we present this declaration of rights of the women citizens of the United States." He bowed and received it silently, and the ladies quietly left. On Chestnut street, in front of Independence Hall, was a platform not in use, and Miss Anthony read from it the declaration just presented, at the request of many who wished to hear it.

At noon the First Unitarian Church was filled with a large audience who remained five hours to hear the reading of the declaration by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and addresses by various persons. Lucretia Mott, eighty-four years of age, presided, and spoke with her usual earnest eloquence.

III. THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH IN MICHIGAN.

HE Centennial Fourth was welcomed with patriotic demonstrations throughout Michigan. As the midnight bells rang out the old year and rang in the new, in nearly all the cities and larger villages in the State cannon were fired, fireworks were displayed, flags were flung to the breeze, and the people declared, in a variety of ways, their joy at the advent of the one hundredth year of the nation's independence. These midnight demonstrations were kept up for nearly an hour. Though they were informal, they were quite generally participated in, friends and neighbors apparently vieing with each other in giving expression to the patriotic emotions which the event awakened. The fact is worthy of record here, because of the spirit which it illustrated. There was no preparation for a formal demonstration; no programme was laid down; no previous appeals had stirred the public mind, yet as the clocks struck the hour of midnight, and told that a new year was born, everybody seemed prompted, as by one impulse, to show in some way appreciation of the significance of the event. The Centennial Fourth was, of course, the great day of the year. It had long been looked forward to with lively anticipations, and preparations for its due observance were early begun. The whole people, as by one consent, joined in the preparations, and when the day arrived, turned out to honor the memory of the founders of the republic, and to testify anew their fealty to its fundamental principles. In this chapter the reader will find chronicled somewhat fully the Fourth of July doings at fifty places in the State of Michigan.*

*This chapter is made up entirely from newspaper reports of celebrations in the various towns in the State. The newspapers whose columns have been so freely drawn from are the Adrian Times, Allegan Journal, Peninsular Courier (Ann Arbor), Battle Creek Journal, Bay City Tribune, Big Rapids Magnet, Tuscola Advertiser, Charlotte Republican, Coldwater Republican, the daily press of Detroit, Dexter Leader, Dundee Enterprise, Wolverine Citizen (Flint), Fowlerville Review, Grand Ledge Independent, Grand Haven Herald, Grand Rapids Eagle, Greenville Independent, Portage Lake Mining Gazette, Ionia Sentinel, Gratiot County Journal, Jackson Citizen, Jonesville Independent, Kalamazoo Telegraph, Lansing Republican, Marquette Mining Journal, Sanilac Jeffersonian, Ingham County News (Mason), Isabella County Enterprise, Muskegon Chronicle, Milford Times, Niles Republican, Northville Record, Ontonagon Miner, Otsego County Herald, Port Huron Times, Saginawian (Saginaw City), Clinton Republican (St. Johns), Ypsilanti Commercial, St. Joseph Republican, Sturgis Journal and Times, Iosco County Gazette, Grand Traverse Herald, Tuscola County Pioneer, and Saginaw Courier.

ADRIAN.

The weather, from early morning until noon, was very unpropitious. The rain fell steadily and with greater or less severity all the time. Nevertheless, the streets were thronged with people. Every train of cars, from every direc tion, coming into town, was crowded, and the country thoroughfares were lined with vehicles. According to the programme, the procession was to have started at ten o'clock, but it was delayed, in the hope of more propitious weather. The immense crowd of people which thronged the streets in the central part of the city bore the delay patiently, though they stood out in the rain and mud, with no shelter but dripping umbrellas. Shortly after eleven o'clock the clouds showed signs of breaking away, and immediately the various divisions of the procession, which had already taken up the positions assigned them, were notified to fall in, and the procession moved in the following order:

FIRST DIVISION.-Platoon of police; grand marshal, S. B. Smith; aids, C. E. Rogers, R. H. Baker, William Todd, H. C. Hart, W. H. Smith; carriages, with president of the day, vice-presidents, orator, chaplain, reader of Declaration, and quartet club; Gen. W. H. Withington, colonel commanding first regiment State militia, with field and staff; Manchester band; Adrian Light Guard band; the Saginaw Light Guard; the Ann Arbor Light Guard; the Ypsilanti Light Guard; the Hudson Light Guard; the Tecumseh Light Guard; the Adrian Light Guard; drum corps; Lenawee county soldiers and sailors.

SECOND DIVISION.-Assistant marshals, O. L. Teachout, H. J. Trupp, Clark Decker, Henry Bowen; Knights Templar band; Adrian commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar; Adrian Lodge, No. 8, I. O. O. F.; Hudson lodge, I. O. O. F.; Tecumseh lodge, I. O. O. F.; Deerfield lodge, I. O. O. F.; Fairfield lodge, I. O. O. F.

THIRD DIVISION.-Assistant marshals, A. K. Whitmore, T. J. Navin, John Rapp, Thomas Camburn; Tecumseh brass band; German Workingmen's Association; St. Patrick's Benevolent Association; German St. Joseph's society, with St. Joseph's band; Social Turn-Verein.

FOURTH DIVISION.-Mayor and common council, city of Adrian; Chief R. J. Bradley and assistants, in charge of fire department; assistant marshals, L. M. Sayles and M. Graves, in charge of Lenawee Junction Farmers' Club; Blissfield brass band; the Lenawee Junction Farmers' Club, bearing farm implements of 1776 and 1876.

FIFTH DIVISION.-Officers in command of Sledge Hammer brigade; Sledge Hammer band; Sledge Hammer Guards.

Although in some places the mud was ankle deep, still the soldiery and organizations on foot marched patriotically on, and never seemed to flag an instant. And when the long line came down Maumee street, about half-past twelve, on its way to the fair ground, the boys in blue, many of them plastered to the knees with mud, performed their evolutions with the promptness and correctness which always characterizes Michigan militia. The line was estimated to be a mile in length, and was twenty minutes passing a given point.

The features of the procession were the Saginaw Rifles, Capt. D. D. Keeler, forty muskets; Ann Arbor Light Guard, Capt. S. B. Ravenaugh, thirty-five muskets; Ypsilanti Light Guard, Capt. C. Newell, thirty-one muskets, with band of twelve pieces; Hudson Light Guard, Capt. C. Bush, thirty muskets; Tecumseh Light Guard, Capt. A. D. Lawrence, thirty-six muskets; Adrian Light Guard, Capt. B. F. Wheeler, forty-eight muskets; Adrian Knights Templar, and the Adrian, Hudson, Tecumseh and other lodges of Odd Fellows, to the number of several hundred; the German Workingmen's Association, to the number of seventy-four, and about an equal number of the members of the St. Patrick's Society. The Adrian fire department was a noted feature of the display. Engine "A. J. Comstock," No. 1, A. E. Aldrich, engineer; the "W. H. Waldby," No. 2, J. Kells, engineer; the chemical engine, E. P. Crittenden, engineer; the hook and ladder apparatus, John Saviers, foreman; and the hose carts, were all elaborately decorated with flowers, evergreens and beautiful emblematic devices. The Lenawee Farmers' Club showed the farming implements of 1776, contrasted with those of 1876, and made a display which attracted attention. The "Sledge Hammer Brigade," which brought up the rear, was a burlesque affair which was unique and elaborate, and provoked a great deal of merriment, as it was designed to do. Almost every store, hotel and dwelling along the line of march was decorated with flags, bunting, mottoes, inscriptions, pictures, evergreens, flowers, wreaths, arches, and patriotic devices of great variety. Among those who decorated their buildings or premises were Kelly Beals, Dr. Finch, R. Merrick, ex-Alderman D. E. Benedict, ex-Governor W. L. Greenly, Burton Kent, J. J. Newell, ex-Alderman E. W. Mixer, Ira Metcalf, Asa W. Aldrich, Fred Hart, E. L. Webb, J. McKenzie, P. L. Sword, Austin, Treat & Goodsell, Charles Nash, W. J. Cordley, Charles Young, S. R. Norton, W. H. Cook, F. J. Wing, L. J. Judd, W. H. Cleveland, P. Miller, G. L. Bidwell, Mrs. Gue, D. Germain, H. Corbus, F. Gaylord, H. A. Colvin, G. F. Payne, A. L. Millard, G. M. Crane, C. F. Smith, S. A. Angell, A. Wing, T. J. Goodsell, ex-Mayor Angell, J. A. Eaton, N. Herman, F. Bennett, D. Patterson, J. Helrigel, C. Bowerfind, E. L. Clark, C. B. Johnson, F. J. Buck, Mayor Waldby, J. E. Farrar, L. R. Damon, Charles Bidwell, W. A. Whitney, A. Howell, C. Wolcott, F. J. Hough, John Mason, M. N. Halsey, H. H. Seaver, J. Mitchell, J. Auchempaugh, W. S. Carey, C. B. Backus, Dr. Baker, Mrs. Barnum, Dr. Tripp, Henry Hart, C. B. Ackley, Dr. Jewett, G. W. Larwill, W. S. Wilcox, F. J. Green, L. Auchempaugh, J. R. Bennett, James Berry, ex-Mayor Luck, E. P. Andrews, and many others.

A speakers' platform had been erected in front of the grand stand at the

fair ground, and about one o'clock the exercises were commenced. Rev. Mr. Merrill uttered a brief but eloquent prayer, and "America" was sung by the quartet and thirty-five boys in chorus, who had been trained by Mr. Everiss. The president of the day, Hon. Henry Hart, then introduced Mrs. Alida Van Loon Cole, as the reader of the Declaration of Independence. The lady read the ancient document with considerable spirit, and was accorded three cheers at the close. At half-past one the orator of the day, Hon. A. L. Millard, was announced. He spoke for fifty-five minutes. After the oration, the chorus, led by Messrs. Bliss, Everiss and Johnson, sang the "Star-Spangled Banner," and the Rev. St. John Dillon-Lee pronounced the benediction, the bands played "Red, White and Blue," and the crowd dispersed.

At the conclusion of the exercises at the stand, the Lenawee County Soldiers and Sailors' Association, which had formed a conspicuous feature in the procession, marched to Dean's Opera House, where by the liberality of the ladies of Adrian a bounteous dinner had been provided. The room in which the tables were spread had been appropriately decorated, and suitable mottoes were displayed upon the walls. Veteran soldiers to the number of two hundred sat down to dinner and were provided with abundance and variety of food. After dinner the association held a meeting, at which short addresses were made by Colonels N. B. Eldridge and R. B. Robbins, and Major S. E. Graves. A resolution was unanimously adopted of thanks to the ladies of Adrian for the bountiful repast furnished by their hands, and to A. J. Dean for the free use of his opera house.

At four o'clock in the afternoon the crowd assembled to the number of thousands on the fair grounds to witness the games from which much amusement was expected. The first was a wheelbarrow race, the contestants being blindfolded. S. T. Jones, W. S. Johnson, G. W. Miller, R. H. Hastings, J. Horn and A. W. Taylor entered the race. The prize, six silver half dollars, was awarded to Hastings. The contestants in the sack race were J. S. Benjamin, R. H. Hastings, John Oliver, Thomas Wise, J. Stuart and G. W. Miller. The prize was awarded to Stuart. Several young persons tried in vain to climb the greased pole, but Robert Hastings alone was successful, and he also succeeded. in catching the greased pig.

After the games, a dress parade of all the military companies took place on the grounds, under the command of Colonel Withington. After the parade had been dismissed the vast crowd dispersed to assemble again, after dark, to witness the fireworks display. R. A. Bury had charge of this portion of the celebration. Instead of having all of the display in one place he divided his stock of