Wichita eagle., 1888-03-22
THE WICHITA BOARD OF TRADEDED-
ICATION AND BANQUET.

THE WICHITA BOARD OF TRADEDED-
ICATION AND BANQUET.
Harper Sentinel.
Through the courtesy of the invitation
committee. we were committed to enjoy
a nights festivities last week with the
Wichita Board of Trade upon the &C.
casion of the dedication of their hand
some new rooms in one of the many
rich new business blocks just being COM
pIeted. 1t was a gorgeous occasion and
time set for gorging the stomach of
hungry editors and enthusiastic real
estate agents and bankers of a once
glorious boom.
The new quarters of the said board of
trade is thing of beauty; fit place for
the gathering of the untiring, undaunted
and energetic men, who have, by a
combination Of hard work, enterprise.
brains and money, made the city OF
Wichita wonderful magic city and a
cubject Of conversation throughout the
sivilized world; city that has in short
time spread over a good portion of the
globe and is capped by a mighty large
scope of the blue canopy when the moon
is in full bloom and 1.-The North Star
stands grim in the heaven" 1t would be
a suitable place for the crowned poten-
tates Of Europe; as the reflection from
their diadems from the numerous cleo
trio lights flashing upon the alabaster,
semi-circle ceiling above would cause
tlies roosting there to drop in hfeless
envy upon the bald-heads below and
suck maple syrup from the royal veins
of the Anglo-Saxon race.
Like ST. Peters Cathedral at Rome, the
circled half-breed saw-buck trusses
which support the hand-power saw mill
sawed old oaken bucket striped ceiling,
were planned after the Queen Elizabeth
style of the Pennsylvania canal bridges,
old style Webster Unabridged before the
war.
We think we are right in our descrip-
ton of the trusses, if we understood the
apparent Hebrew phrases of the archl-
tect who seemed to think we understood
all he said, and at this late date due
courtesy to him Will allow us to pass on
the deal.
The room is large and elegantly furn-
ished with high, thro ne-like pulpit in
front with railing around il for the &C
commodation of the mourners to come
up and pay in their dues to the pork
with the boom and the future world. 4
Winfield man informed us that the
pulpit was built of galvanized iron in
imitation of black walnut, but right
here we are prepared to say that 1t was a
lie, or Tom McNeals speech would have
made it ring like the college bell.
Fine upholstered chairs adorned the
room with sea-weed hammocks and
silver tinted cuspidore attachments, at
Leaf the chair we sat in was upholstered
with the fur cap of a fourth ward mil
iiOnaire, who had commenced the exer-
cises Of life by carrying a hod in st.
Louis, and by hard work and the use of
his inflated intellect, had at last reached
the top rung of the ladder through the
rise OF farm land planted with town lot
stakes fifteen miles from the Wichita
postotfice.
The address of welcome was delivered
by Mr.. W. S. Morris, u brilliant orator of
the board, who spoke of the rise and fall
of nations, of the tide, of the blue can
opy and of Kanopener, the geographical
center of the earth, but rising above
them all was the mighty inland city of
Wichita. which was destined to become
the great commercial mart of the great
west and the Cow-skin country. We all
voted Il, accompanied with a hearty
dose Of applause.
Hon Tom McNeal of Medicine Lodge
replied to the welcoming address. After
apologizing for all the Unborn weakness
of his wife's relatives migrated in him.
and for not having been given weeks
time for the preparation of an impromptu
speech, he scared off on the pointed end
of female honey bee story, until every
body had shaken the cobwebs from their
laughers. He then spoke of the pride of
the valley-Wichita. paving many well
earned compliments to the energy of her
people and the board of trade, finally
winding up with his first nights expert
ence in Wichita nine years ago; how the
bed he slept in was typical OF the Wich-
tia of today-full of lfe-clover-hay-
scented bed-bugs, ali taking a bite out
os the tenderfoot. AS Tom had tasted
forty-eight hours in preparation for the
feast, he was hungry and soon brought
his impromptu speech TO close.
THE BANQUET.
The banquet was spread in room 80
feet deep and so feet wips in the same
building. Four tables were spread run
ming the full length of the room, making
sufficient room for 400 people. The
board of trade members and citizens oc-
cupied one side of the table. the guests
the other side. Nearly all the delicacies
of the season, except canned salmon,
canvass.d back duck, sour krout and pigs
feet, were piled on those tables in beau
tiful profusion, commingling with sweet
scented, green vining flowers and anna
teur church spires of plaster-paris coated
sorghum sugar cakes, the whole invoice
being relieved in the foreground with an
occasional banana, apple and orange.
The banquet was under the manage
ment of that prince Of caterers, Gandol-
70. and was certainly az choicely and
finely arranged affairs as we have ever
enjoyed or attended.
After the banquet came the lighting Of
four hundred cigars, and as the little
fakes of smoke curled toward the cell
ing they formed In black and threaten
ing clouds, and everybody choked lit
tie and looked for rain. At this juno
ture the giarin2 spark of a diamond pin