From the archives: Cheer after cheer rang out to greet the chieftain

This story was first published on Sept. 23, 2001, in the Montreal Gazette.
Shortly before 2 o’clock large crowds gathered around the central kiosk, to await the coming of Sir John A. Macdonald, and within a few minutes of the appointed hour the right honourable gentleman arrived on the grounds. … His arrival was the signal for an outbreak of cheers of a very hearty nature.
The Gazette, Thursday, Sept. 22, 1881
There was an extra poignancy to the cheers in Montreal that day. Sir John