The morning call., 1891-06-11
AROUND THE BOARD.
Fourth Annual Banquet Of the
Chamber of Commerce.
Hon. Warner Miller Entertained as the Guest
OF the Evening - Various Toasts
and the Responses

For the first time since the remodeling Of
the Palace Hotel began the new dining
! room was utilized last night, the occasion
| being the anniversary banquet of the Cham
| per OF commerce, which is always a notable
| gathering. There were present at least 125
| OF the representative men Of the city, and,
| as the guest of honor, ex-senator Warner
| Miller of New York, President of the Mica
| ragua Canal Construction Company, sat at
| the right hand of President Taylor of the
Chamber Of Commerce.
| Across the west side of the room long
table extended the entire length of the
| apartment, and at right angles TO this were
| placed Tour smaller ones to accommodate the
number present. At the center of the main
tables and facing to the east sat President
Taylor, with Hon. Warner Miller to his
right, and Bishop Nichols occupying the
seat immediately to his left. Facing them
| were Morris Nj. EStee and William l..
Merry.
The tables had been tastefully decorated
Tor the occasion and huge punches of roses
while smilax extended around the entire
| board,
THE PRESIDENTS WELCOME.
When the bOuntiful menu had been dis
posed Of President Taylor arose and con-
graduated the members ON the success
which had attended the four successive ban
quetS given under the auspices Of the
/ Chamber. He spoke of the great good
which had been accomplished by the Organi-
cation and urged his fell0 w-laborerS to build
we'll for the sake of the generations yet to
come. In conclusion he extended hearty
welcome to the guests.
lie then introduced the guest of the even
ing, Hon. Warner Miller, who responded to
the toast, The Marriage of tile OceanS-A
Union Full of Promise"
HLLER's ADDRESS.
In substance, he said Il am not indlffer-
ent TO the good opinion of my felOw-citi-
gems. and am not Indifferent to the hearty
welcome accorded me tonight For fifteen
years have had the privilege Of discussing
ali of the great questions affecting the wei
fare of this great nation, but | venture to
say that have never before advocated an
undertaking OF greater Importance than the
one address you on tonight. The first
question which presents itself is, Can tue
Nicaragua Canal be constructed at reason
able cost and in reasonable time? Sec
0ndly, Will it pay as financial investment?
! Third, what will be its effect upon the Pa
cihc Coast? These questions | shall, with
| your kindly indulgence, attempt to answer
tonight" [Cries of go ont" Take all
the time you want!'l
He then traced the history Of the enter
| prise from its earliest inception, and spoke
| OF the opinions of the two great military
| engineers, Grant and Sherman, who both
! advocated It's Dractcability and did all
| within their power to further its Inaugural
| ton. Those two distinguished men had
| both predicted the failure of the Panama
| project, and time had shown the wisdom Of
| their opinions.
ENGINEERING AS A SCIENCE.
! He then outlined the work already accom-
! pljshed and said: There is not cubic
| foot of earth to be removed or cubic yard
! of rock to be taken out that we do not know
| to an eXactltude the quantity and quality.
| At every point where an excavation is TO be
| made we have drilled to depth of thirty
| feet, and have in our offices samples OF every
| material We can tell you just where there
| is sand. clay, rock or gravel, and more than
that, we can tell you just what the quality
! is as vel as in Indignantly. More than that,
We have already expended from $4,000
| 600 TO S5,O00,0 600, and we have found that the
| cost of the work thus far accomplished has
not exceeded one-half the amount of our eS-
| Inmates. This statement | make to show
that we have made the most liberal allow
ance."
The speaker then pictured the great adj
vantages 10 accrue to the Pacific Coast, and
in conciu fusion predicted that it would usher
in a new era Of prosperity.
The other toaSts were as follows:
"Let the Flag Float on Every Sea- Hon. w.
W Morrow.
tine Future of the Pacific Coast" Hon. limo
Thy Guy Phelps.
"ihe Aimy-Small in Numbers Millions of
! Reserves" Brigadier-GeBeral Thomas H. Ruger,
L. ). A.
The Nsyy-H carts Of Iron for Iron Ships"
Rear Admiral John Irwin. U. 5. n
'San FrauciscO-a cry by The Sea-" Mayor
George II. SandeTson.
"Cape Horn Sailors aud Arctic Whalers," Hon.
George 4. Bromley.