Morning journal and courier., 1885-05-28
THE COMPLIMENTARY BANaUEr

dresses .. A Large Attendance of Prominent Citizens--Letters From Disttnguished Gentlemen.
 | Last night the complimentary banquet in honor of our postmaster, Hon. N. D. l Sperry, rendered by the New Haven Cham Der of Commerce and by citizens. took place at the Carll Opera House. The Republican League house was thrown open for the re- ception of the guests of the occasion. The guests began arriving at about 7:30 o'clock. The League house was directly connected last night with the opera house by frame addition built on the rear. This, by the way, furnishes an extra room which will be advantageous to the League in the future, as with it the members of the League and building into the opera house. The opera house presented a beautiful scene. First in attractiveness was the assemblage of ladies who occupied the lower or dress circle gallery, witnessing the gay and animated scene below. The gal lery was well filled with the lady guests of the banqueting gentlemen. For each of the three hundred tickets sold for the banquet two ladies' tickets were issued The hall was finely decorated by Dickerman for the occasion. On every side beautiful foli- age plants, natives and exotics, hanging baskets of plants and plants in full bloom met the gaze, while national flags were ap- propriately arranged at suitable points of vantage. The tables were on the stage, five of them in the rear running parallel fianked by one in the center at which sat the distin guished guests. In front of this were four more tables at right angles with the guests | table. The most striking object of the occa- sion was unique and perfectly lovely" floral | piece which elicited much admiration. This | occupied position wh ere all could see it in | the center of the guests table in front of MT. Sperry, in whose honor it was arranged and supplied It was a figure of a U. s. mail attache in uniform walking on mas ! sive bed of flowers and wheeling dainty | hand barrow laden with roses in the midst of which was tiny 'U. s. mail bag" so ! labelled; while the ground work consisted entirely of roses of various hues, white car nations, lilies of the valley and other flowers fringed with leaves large and small, the whole making one of the largest and finest floral pieces that has ever been seen in public hall in the city. Finally; in the dress circle gallery front was a fine framed DOT trait of the ex-postmaster. On the right of the stage occasional glimpses of the head quarters of the large corps of colored walters were had. The ladies were admitted to the gallery by cards of invitation which specified 9 o'clock as the time for them to appear. This was so arranged in order that the ladies might not, as on former occasion, become weary in waiting while the gentlemen 5anqueted, they finding it rather irksome to wait long before the literary exercises of the occasion began. On this oc- casion the ladies had to submit to see their liege lords depart for the banquet an hour or oe 4Ias,, scene, but no doubt all found this method was satisfactory. The toilets of the ladies' in their diversity of fabric and variety of colors, added to the brilliancy of the oc- casion.
 The postoffice employees, many of whom have long served under the retiring chief, oc- cupied the rear seats on the main floor, which commanded 8 good view of the scene. The Banquet.
 At S:15 the subscribers and their guests were escorted from the club parlors to the opera house and took their seats at the table. At the center table seated ex-Mayor Lewis, on his right being Governor Harrison and on his left Hon. N D. Sperry. When the company were all seated ex-Mayor Lewis called the large company to order and called upon Rev. Dr. John E. Todd to invoke the divine blessing. Then came the banquet, which was all that could be desired. The courses were promptly served and everyone
 
 frame of mind. Following was the
 MENU.
 SOUP.
 Green Turtle. Olives. Tomatoes Cucumbers. Gherkins.
 FISH.
 Boiled Salmon, Pommes de terre Parisienne.
 RELIEVES.
 Filet de Boeuf, au Champignons.
 
 ~ Asparagus en Trenches. s''' N'-
 Roman Punch.
 RoTIs. !
 Boned Turkey, Aspic Jelly.
 SALADS.
 Crackers and Cheese.
 PASTRY. Strawberry Merengues. Fancy Ices Ice Cream.
 Assorted Cakes. Nougats. Fruit.
 Cafe. While the banquet was being eaten Wheel ! CT and Wilson's band in the dress circle dis coursed choice selections of music. At o'clock the doors to the dress circle were opened to the ladies. The chairs were speedily filled and opera glasses from all points were brought to bear upon the ban quoting party. The gentlemen welcomed the ladies by general clapping of hands. In one of the upper tier of boxes were Mrs. Sperry and Miss Sperry, wife and daughter of the ex-postmaster, and their friends. The banquet was concluded at 10:30. Ex-Mayor | Lewis, president of the Chamber of Con- merce, rapped for order and spoke in sub- | stance as follows: Gentlemen, members of the Chamber of Commerce, citizens and friends-We have gathered here tonight for ] a purpose and for one purpose alone, to do honor to one of our distinguished citi- l zens My thoughts tonight wander back to | the settlement of New Haven two and half | centuries ago, and following up to one hun dred years and then to the centennial of | birth as a city, and we wonder how time | flies. Then we will go back only quarter | of century and note that the city grew in l wealth and population more during that l quarter of century than in the three quar- ters preceding it. You have doubled in your l grand list and material wealth, and in popu- lation. Our guest has ever stood in the | front rank of those who had the interest of | our city at heart. None, know from ex- perience, has ever been more ready to stretch | forth his hand to the stranger who de- | sired to find home in our midst | As politician he is the liveliest in the | partisan, he is also true friend to any | honest man, without regard to his political | affiliations. May you all be as honorable as | N. D. Sperry, our honored guest" When MT. Lewis concluded loud cheers | were given for MT. Sperry, which were re-
  After the cheers had subsided Mir Sperry | responded as follows:
 MIR. sPERRYs RESPONSE MT. President, Members of the Chamber of | Commerce and Fellow -Citizens-It is said | that Tout of the abundance of the heart the | mouth speaketh," ;" but find myself tonight | because of that abundance almost speechless. | I would not. MT. President, have it under | stood that your personal and exceedingly l complimentary speech is to any extent mer- l tied, but assure you that greatly appreci- | ate the generous Kindness and friendship | that prompted your very fattering remarks. | am overwhelmed with this magnificent | expression of the approval of my fellow-citi- | zens of my official services just ended-cov- ering nearly quarter of century-and I | shall ever remember most gratefully and ap- | that throughout these years that | I have been in charge of the postal affairs of | this city I recall no unkind criticisms of my | official acts from my fellow-citizens, and I | deeply regret that have not been able to render them better service It is no small | matter to part officially with my who have been so | kind and generous to me, and it is exceeding | hard to part with the clerks and carriers in | the New Haven postoffice who have served | the public so faithfully for many years-and | wish here to publicly express my high ap- -eA o1 kI,o-~ I.o