The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-07

rent of lightning.
l told by the officers of the cruiser
Minneapolis that when the North Atlantic
squadron was coming home from the West
Indies the admiral signaled the Minneapolis
to steam ahead at full speed"
They said: I'VE left the rest of the squad
ron as though they had been standing still.
When about twenty miles away we were sig
nailed to slow up.'
The city of Minneapolis gives you orders
to go ahead. and we expect you to leave the
squadron Of cities in which the Elks have pre-
vously held conventions far in the rear
Don't pay any attention to signals to SLOW
up just steam ahead.'
Minneapolis 1.-The City of Waters, greets
you with wide open arms She has decked
herself in royal apparel, and has done what
she could to provide for : Hr comfort and
pleasure.
Minnetonka, Many Waters where mildly
and softly the Western breeze kisses the lake
and stirs the trees; and the pleased lake, like
maiden coy, trembles, but dimples not Tor
joy, as she awaits YOU.
Mnnehaha, Laughing Water whose smil
ing waters burst into laughter at your com
ing, expresses the gladness of all our citi-
zens at the return of the antlered monarchs
to their wonted hauntS.
From this time forth the city is in your
power; you already possess the keys. They
are not tinkling symbols of sounding
brass, but are the golden keys of charity and
brotherly love that unlock cities as we'll as
hearts, May your stay with us be filled with
pleasures royal as your chosen color the
memory of which shall be as unfading as our
SynDolc mower the dlndEdHIu.
A. NJ Harrison spoke briefly, AFTER
! which Grand Exalted Ruler Meade ID.
| Detweiler delivered the answer to the
general addresses. He said:
DETwEILER's ADDRESS.
The members of the Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks assembled from every
portion of our Union have listened with deep
est pleasure to the glowing and ornate words
of welcome which have just beeen pronounced.
AS the official head of the organization It
falls to my lot to attempt reply, put IL
is one of those occasions when language Is
Inadequate to express our emotions of graf
itude. There times when oratory loses
its power and mars aled words become IN
significant in the expression or the sWelllng
sentiments of happy hearts too full for salts
factory utterance.
The brothers who have assembled here from
the East and from the West; from the North
and from the South; from the cities of the
Atlantic coast and from the marts that line
the eXpanse of the Pacific; from the busting
centers of trade that gem the great lakes
| and from the others that bask beneath eternal
summer on the GULF of Mexico, alike appre-
ciate the honor conferred on the order by
the generous welcome We have received from
his eXcellency, the governor OF Minnesota.
We accept the welcome to your magnln-
cent state replete in noble historic incidents
and world renowned for is unparalleled rapid
ity of development. We are glad to tread
today the soil of Minnesota, which, trod
by illustrious French explorers more than
two centuries ago, had then for long era
vivifying power of the advancing tide of
Western emigration, it leaped to front rank
among its sister commemorative. we know
the inhabitants are brave, FOR we dare not
forget that, when the state was but in its
infancy, 1t a Minnesota regiment that
gave to the history Of the world that heroic
charge, where, in three minutes of time,
out of 252 men, 205 lay bleeding on 100
square yards of sod, and not one man was
missing. We know them to be patriotic, in
teligent industrious and thrifty. We know
hat hei eDterDrjSe has in FORTY
verted $4,000 square miles into one of the
garden spots and granaries of the world
Again, your eXcelency, on behalf of the Elks
of the United States, l thank you for your
words of cheer and your hearty welcome to
this mighty commonwealth.
His honor, the mayor of the city of Min
ncapolis, has admitted the grand lodge of the
Order of Elks, as we'll as the visiting broth
ers. to its far-famed hospitality, in manner
free from ambiguity. We have received its
freedom with words so apt and fitting that
no reply of ours can discharge the debt IN
der which we have been placed. The i'm
pressve scenes which we have this day wit
messed have so far surpassed our most san
guine expectations, that it is with sentiments
of respect and esteem, unalloyed by single
reservation that the order of Elks thanks
your honor. and through you, all the inhab-
itants of the beautiful city of which you are
the chief executive, for this generous and
spontaneous welcome, for this magnificent
ovation.
We did not come to an unknown city. 1t
was not selected one year ago as the location
of our present session without a knowledge
of what We anticipated, for your fame has
preceded you. In its phenomenal increase
of population; in its gigantic manufacturing
interests; in its successful development in
every branch of mercantile enterprise; In
its colossal educational institutions; In its
thrift and energy of its inhabitants; in its
rapid and systematic expansion into every
avenue open to business interests; in its tens
of thousands of beautiful and happy homes;
in the prob;ty. intelligence and public spirit
of its men, and in the beauty and refinement
of tn fhf1 and thnr lior
that | cannot pause to enumerate, it has won
the attention and admiration. not of the
whole wide Union only, but Of the civilized
world.
But proud has been the reputation CT
| your city in regard to wealth enterprise,
population and industry, growth and intel
| lgence your record in regard to generosity
| and free, open-hearted kindness has
passed all these and has been heraded from
ocean to ocean; from the St. Lawrence to
the Rio Grande. The Elks from every city
and state Of our entire Jurisdiction, having
, heard the fame thereof, resolved that, in
the year 1897 they would come here and be
participants. and already they know that
the half has not been told.
The exalted ruler of No. "A. on behalf of,
the Elks of this city, has welcomed, with
words of fraternal greeting, all the vast
herd who have come to Craze in these good
ly pastures. For months past we have been
| awaiting, with feelings of most absorbing in
terest, the. great roundup in this city, and
anXiously longing for its arrival The time
has now come, and with joy, brothers Of No.
"A, We are present with you. Everywhere
there has been abiding faith that the
members of this prosperous and progressive
lodge would more than redeem their prom
Use, and so well perform their part that the
grand lodge session of 1897 will be a red
Letter era in Elkdom
The Elks here assembled receive with
pleasure the fraternal greetings Of the broth
ers of the Twin Cities. 1t is a matter of
congratulation that We do not come into this
community as an unknown band of ad-
! venturers, without a record in the past,
whose merit is yet to be determined. The
| Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
| is no experiment. Already it has cared
| its name and its deeds far up the heights
| in letters of living light.
We are proud that the citizens of Mime
apolis know US through the worthy brothers
| of No. A. who are honored citizens in their
| midst. We are proud that we can tell them
| that our membership extending from Maine
! on the one side to Oregon and California
| the other, from the extreme northern to the
| remotest southern limits of our mighty ma
| ton, is composed everywhere of chosen men,
| who the opponents of their several
| munities in every department of professional
or business life; men of brains and culture,
| of genius and energy.
| There IS nothing in Elkdom which requires
apology. We present a fraternalism which
| is the peer of any similar organization--one
whose tenets will make all who take it's OBJ
| ligationa better men and better citizens-one
that expends the plane of brotherhood to the
| whole human family, and that minimizes
| the frailties and foibles and exalts the virtues
| OF its members
| We are proud of the principles of Elk
| dom, of what it has accomplished, not only in
| charities that have reached sums of i'm
mense proportions, but in making more sacred
| to all its members the hallowed terms, wife,
| mother sister, daughter, In lifting man
kind from contracted egotism and selfshness
to elevated lines of thought and noble modes