1884-08-04 Knights of Labor Demonstration

 “The city from early morning presented a holiday appearance. Most of the large workshops and factories were silent and deserted, and the workmen had thrown aside their tools, donned their holiday attire and, with their wives, lady friends and children, joined in the celebration of labor holiday”

Hamilton Times.       August 5,1884

It was day for Hamilton working class to celebrate.

August 5, 1884 was a not a statutory holiday in Hamilton, but many places of work were shut down for the day.

The Knights of Labor organized a series of events for the working men and women of the city to enjoy, while other Hamiltonians were also able to enjoy the celebrations as well.

Processions were always popular and the leaders of the Knights of Labor were determined the processions they had arranged for their second annual demonstration would be reflections of the size, power and dignity of the labor movement in the city.

Weather conditions were always a concern when parades and outdoor events were planned, but things seemed good as the day began:

“The weather was favorable to the Knights, Sunday’s rain having cooled the air and settled the dust and made marching a matter of pleasure rather than an unpleasant duty. “¹

¹ “The Knights of Labor : Annual Demonstration of the Hamilton Knights”

Hamilton Times.  August 5, 1884.

The first procession of the day involved all marchers gathering in the downtown core, in and around Market Square, and after which everyone would head up King Street to the Crystal Palace grounds:

 “As the time approached for the gathering of the various organizations on the Market Square preparatory to joining in the general parade at noon, the streets in the vicinity of the square gradually became more crowded and crowded, and the square itself, before the long line of processionists commenced to move, became covered with a seething mass of humanity.

“Between 12 and 1 o’clock, lorries with trade emblems were driven on the square, assemblies and unions with banners and flags marched on the ground and took up their position, and numerous bands kept ‘music in the air.’ ¹

Marshalling so many people required a lot of work, and worry, for those charged with that duty:

“All morning the streets were thronged with well-dressed men wearing badges instinctive of the unions to which they belonged, and the members of the various committees could be distinguished by their pre-occupied air and brisk business-like movements and conversation as they bustled about making the final arrangements. “²

² “The Knights of Labor : Annual Demonstration of the Hamilton Knights”

Hamilton Spectator.  August 5, 1884.

The Knights of Labor parade was a major attraction for Hamiltonians whether they were of the working class or not:

“There was evidently a great deal of curiosity among all classes of citizens and citizenesses as to what the demonstration would be like, for as the hour of noon approached the sidewalks along the line of march were filled with spectators, among whom were many visitors from neighboring towns and villages.”²

While the Knights of Labor procession the previous year had been a male-only affair, such was not the case in 1884:

“Not an uninteresting feature of the procession was the lady operatives. It was the first time here that the ladies have turned out on foot in such a procession and the innovation was a very popular one. The ladies stepped out boldly to the beat of the drum and the flourish of trumpets, and their neat, tidy and genteel appearance was much commented upon.”¹

The parade was immense:

“The procession was one of the largest ever seen in the city and it took nearly sixteen minutes to pass a given point.

“Along the route, the streets were bordered with thousands upon thousands of people, and whenever the ladies in the procession passed along they were greeted with loud cheers and continued applause.

“The streets were decorated with flags and bunting, and beneath the joyous rays of the sun, everything looked its prettiest and wore its most joyous face.

“ With the music of the many bands, the cheering and hurrahing, the steady tramp of the thousands of feet, and the constant rumble of carriage wheels, the noise was deafening.”²

The Crystal Palace grounds at King and Locke streets were already well-filled even before the parade arrived there:

“At the Crystal Palace, a large crowd had already gathered, and with the added thousands of procession and attendants, the grounds and buildings were overflowing with a vast, pushing, jostling throng of people of all sots and conditions; from the itinerant boy, dirty and ragged, to the representatives of great wealth; from the barefooted girl, with taffy-smeared face and tangled locks, to the lady of means and leisure. All classes were represented in the immense gathering.”²

The weather conditions became unpleasant, briefly, as the parade participants dispersed :

“Shortly after the arrival of the processionists on the grounds, the rain, which had been threatening for some time, came down pretty lively, which had the effect  of driving the people inside the palace, and for a time, it looked as if the outdoor amusements would be spoiled with the wet, but it was not long before the heavens again cleared and the sun shone brilliantly overall.”³

³ “The Holiday of Labor : Monster Demonstration in the Crystal Palace”

Hamilton Times           August 5, 1884.

The afternoon hours of the day were filled with sporting events, music and food at the Crystal Palace grounds.

After supper, another parade was planned, again to move from the downtown to the Crystal Palace grounds:

“At 7:30, the workingmen again gathered for the illuminated procession , which formed on the Gore. A dense mass of people were here to witness it move off, which it did about 8 o’clock, headed by the Independent Band. It presented a picturesque appearance, the many variegated Chinese lanterns carried reflecting in the twilight – pleasing light and shade.”³

The Crystal Palace was to be where some rousing speeches in support of the labor movement were to be delivered to a receptive audience, but it did not work out as satisfactorily as was intended:

“The Palace was more than comfortably filled before the arrival of the procession, and by the time it filed in the building was densely pack, and although the committee had barricaded the stairs with the intention of keeping the people out of the gallery, they swarmed all over, crowding the gallery also.

“The experiment of lighting the Palace with electricity, it must be confessed, was a failure. The light was very uncertain and unsteady, and while some parts would have a superabundance of light, others would be altogether too shady.”³

Besides the unsatisfactory illumination of the Crystal Palace, and the gathering of people on its gallery which was considered structurally unsafe, the speaking portion of the evening was somewhat disastrous:

“The Palace is at all times a difficult place to speak in, but last night it was wretched, and it is a thousand pities that the committee – who appeared alive in all other matters – should have made so poor arrangements to preserve order. An incessant noise was kept up the whole evening. Children running around in the gallery, people tramping up and down the stairs, and around the outskirts of the ground floor, walking out and in at all the lower doors, and a general rumpus going on behind the platform were poor accompaniments to a public speaker. That such a speaker, such a subject and such an audience should have been brought together under such circumstances was to be deplored.”³

While the Second Annual Demonstration of the Hamilton Knights of Labor may not have ended as well as was hoped, nonetheless, it was a memorable day for the labor movement in the city.