“The enthusiasm of
Hamilton people grows stronger and stronger as time goes on, and the series of
reverses sustained by the German forces yesterday were received with shouts of
jubilation as they were announced in bulletins from the Spectator office at
different intervals.”
Hamilton
Spectator. August 5, 1914.
If anything, the
excitement on the James street was even higher on the second day of the war as
they were the night that war was declared.
The news from the war
zone was more battlefield related rather than the political maneuvering which
had characterized the previous evening’s bulletins.
The Spectator stereopticon
views displaying the very latest news was immensely welcomed by Hamiltonians
gathered on James street:
“Last night the
crowds which gathered to again hear the latest news from the battlefields
exceeded by far all previous records of the city, and they devoured with eager
delight the details of the engagements at Liege and Vise.
“The little Belgian
nation, who have hitherto been regarded as an almost insignificant factor in
the terrible affair, were the heroes of the hour, for they had struck the first
real serious blow at Germany’s ambition. Their capture of two regiments of
soldiers and their destruction of another, was at first regarded as in the
light of impossibility, but when the news was corroborated and the first
details of the fight given, the crowd shouted itself hoarse with delight.”1
1 “Crowds
Eager for News From the North Sea : Immense Throng at Spec. Office Awaited Flash
: War Scene Pictures Aroused Great Enthusiasm : 91st Band Will Play
Patriotic Airs Tonight”
Hamilton
Spectator. August 5, 1914.
While the success of
the Belgians in the earliest days, interest was strongest as regards what news
was available about the actions of England:
“What the crowds are
really waiting for is for Britain to get to work. Their confidence in the
British navy is supreme, and the feeling is that the instructions from the admiralty
office to the fleet to wipe out or capture the entire German navy will be
carried out as soon as the two fleets come within reach of each other.
“Either the
censorship is too strict, however, or else the two navies have not yet come
into conflict, for there was no news of the kind the crowd desired, so in a
measure, the people were disappointed.
“They cheered and
cheered again at the news of the capture by the French of two German on the
Mediterranean, and the sinking of another. They welcomed the intelligence that
the British fleet at Gibraltar had played a part in this by heading off the
German retreat westward and thus enabling the French to intercept them.
“But this was only a
crumb of comfort, and nothing will satisfy them until the Spectator is able to
announce that the German navy is a thing of the past and that Britain has once
more demonstrated its might upon the sea.”1
The efforts of the
Spectator to use the latest technology were much appreciated by large numbers
of Hamiltonians:
“The Spectator
stereopticon has become quite an institution of the city, and long before it
was dark enough to commence flashing bulletins on the huge screen opposite, a
great mass of people had taken up their positions.
“By the time
everything was ready to start, there was scarcely room to move between King and
Main streets, and the great mob was cheering heartily and waving miniature
Union Jacks all the while. They sang patriotic airs, and howled and hissed at
everything that was German or Austrian, while the operator in the Spectator
office was kept busy changing the bulletins for their consumption
“As soon as the
messages came through from the special agencies of the Great Family Journal,
they were quickly transformed into lantern slides and thrown on to the screen,
and the people time and again showed their appreciation of the excellent
service of news which the Spectator was providing.”1
In conclusion, it was
considered another very memorable occasion:
“It was another great
night, and it did the heart good to see how these Hamilton folk join together
so heartily in the cause of Empire.
“One thing is certain
– the city is warmed up now, and the blood of the citizens flows as thickly as
that of the people of the motherland itself.”1
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