Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-07
BETA THETA RI.
A College Fraternity Dinner in Honor of
Justice Harlan.

! Justice Harlan.
i ONE HUNDRED AND PITY SIT Down AT THREE
| long TABLES AT woRxLKY's-HANDsoNE DEC
oKATIoNs AND Az ELABORATE NKSr-ELoouESr
| AID WITTY SPEECHES bY DISTINGUISHED men.
/ The dinner given In honor of Justice Harlan
last evening by the members of the Beta Theta
III fraternity was n great success. Guests from
/ all parts Of the country came on singly and In
! delegation to help do honor to one Of the most
illustrious members Of this society. and more
than 150 gentlemen SIT down at the great ban
| quet at Wormley's. They were jolly set OF
men, or, rather. college boys and with singing
and speechmaking and dining the evening
| passed mcrily away. 1t is not often that
so many prominent men are gathered to-
gether. for last night there were judges
ministers. doctors, lawyers. journalists. UNI
! dergraduate students, professors, members OF
| Congress and followers of all the other learned
| or skilled professions.
They were from all directions, yet they were
not strangers TO each other. for they were all
| bound together. Young and old. by the bond OF
| brotherhood and their devotion to their be-
J loved secret society. Greek letter men arc pa
: triotic and they are enthusiastic. and when they
start out to do thing ~ body they are pretty
sure 20 succeed right royalty.
SECRET MEETING.
| Before the banquet meeting was held, but
what was done behind those closed doors may
| no outsider never know. Some singing and
| some cheering was heard outside the meeting
roOm but all else was Greek to the uninitiatetl.
Among the m ystcries that were done in secret
| il leaked out that Justice Brewer of the SUI
preme Court was initiated intofull membership
| in the society. When the doors were finally
opened, however. Mr.. brewer appeared with
such calm, unruftied air and immaculate
| shirt bosom that il must be that more con-
| sideration Is show to a member of the SUI
| preme Court than to a luekle-s wight of an I'M
dersraduate when he is put through the gates
OF mystery into the inner light Of full knowl-
edge. Mr.. Brewer was formerly member of "a
chapter that has been but recently taken into
full union in the society, so that the justice
| initiation was simply to place him in good and
regular standing.
THE TABLES AND DECORATIONS.
1t was a little after 8 o'clock when the guests
sat down to dinner. Three long tables were ar
ranged in the shape Of the Greek letter Ri, the
shorter table of the three ran across the ROOM
while the two larger ones were attached to it
and ran down the room in parallel lines almost
out OF sight At the head of the dining hall
was q beautiful arch of evergreens in which
had been placed vari-colored incandescent
lights spelling the Greek letters of the frater-
nifty, Beta Theta Pr"
The walls were deliberately decorated with
flowers and plants and bunting and presented
room was draped the great flag Of the society
field of blue. displaying three stars around a
red rose, with border panel of white.
At the center of the head table sat Gen.
Beaver, ex-governor Of Pennsylvania. who
acted as chairman and POSTMASTER. At his
right sat Justice Harlan, the guest of the even
ing. and at his left was Justice Brewer. Rev.
G. W. +. Birch Of New York began the exer-
eises of the evening by invoking the Divine
blessing and giving thanks for the history o.
Beta Theta Pr
The menu was long and elaborate one and
required several hours to properly discuss it.
A feature Of the banquet was the absence OF
wine, but this had by no means depressing
effect upon the diners and when the proper
time had come eloquence, enthusiasm and wit
lowed forth In large volumes.
GEN. BEAVERS HAPPY SPEECH.
When the coffee had appeared and the cigars
were beginning to disappear in great clouds Of
smoke Gen. Beaver arose and rapping on his
glass for attention, made happy speech Of
welcome and Introduction Of the guest Of the
| evening. Later on ne introduced each Of the
speakers in q few well-turned phrases that did
honor to the speaker and to the fraternity. In
| introducing Mr.. Harlan, Gen. Beaver referred
pleasantly to the society and then, speaking Of
the guest Of the evening, went on to say: "He
u large man in many respects, and he has
peculiarities, but will allow some of the boys
70 dare to enumerats them. I shall not attempt
1t. now have the pleasure and honor to pre-
sent to this distinguished audience the distin-
suished guest Of tie evening, Mr.. Justice Har-
Ian Of the Supreme Court Of the United States"
JUSTICE HARLAN's SPEECH.
Mr.. Harlan rose, but 1t was several minutes
before he got . chance to speak. When the
cheering and applause had subsided Justice
Harlan responded as follows:
Mr. CHAIRMAN; The kind words with which
you have introduced me to this company Of
Betss call for grateful acknowledgment on my
part. / am not conscious, sir, Of having done
any thing to deserve what has been SO gener-
ously said OF me, much less to deserve the
honor OF this imposing banquet.
This occasion IL TO me, sir, q most enjoyable
one. 1t not only recalls to my mind delightful
associations with brother Betas during the
happy days Of college life, but it gives me an
opportunity, Of which gladly avail myself, to
exchange greetings with many whom have
long known and with many others from differ
| ent parts Of the country with whom have not
| before had the pleasure of personal acquaint-
| ance. We have assembled at this festive board
| to renew our pledges Of devotion TO society
one Of whose principal objects is to cultivate
feelings Of brotherhood. That surely, il an
object to be warmly commended. We have
widely varying plans Of life, and our homes are
widely separated, but we are not, for those rea-
sons, Indifferent as to each others welfare. We
are all Of one blood. There is one God and
Father Of us all, who il above all, and through
all, and in all. We are, indeed, all brothers.
$50 man and man should be-"
Whatever, therefore, concerns our fellow
man ought to be a matter Of concern to us all
know that such has been, and now is, the feel
ing Of every genuine Beta, wherever he may
reside and whatever his calling. "Here we
meet in joys fraternai, meet to cheer our
| brothers on" was the song OF Betas
at the very beginning Of their organization
in this country. And it is their song
today. We viii never grow weary Of singing
in that strain Our hearts best sympsthies 60
| out to our brethren wherever in this broad
land their lot has been cast. Indeed, as true
Detas, our sympathies 60 out to every human
being, of whatever organization and whether
belonging to any organization or not, who IL
traveIy struggling in the line Of duty.
1t 10 related Of a gallant British officer that
| he LED his troops in the darkness Of night
| through dreary, trackless desert, guided only
by . particular star, upon which, as he ad-
vxnced, hts eye was steadily fixed. In the first
attack upon the enemy he fell MORALLY wound
| ed As hfs life blood ebbed slowly away, the