The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-30

d. b. ATHERTON,
The Boards Alert Secretary.
that he had not said half enough to
satisfy his auditors. When he referred
to Cuba voices as we'll as hands entered
into the Dlaudits and the room rang
with cheers. The same was true of his
reference to the Nicaragua canal and
Whatever suggestions he made of pro-
lection and reciprocity We're not re-
ceived as partisanship; they We're re-
ceived on patriotic grounds, the same
on which they We're uttered.
1t was few moments after l o'clock
when Mr.. Smith concluded, and in a
few words MIR. Torrey announced the
banquet ended.
MIR. TORREY'S OPENING
Two and a half hours We're occupied
in the discussion of the menu and it was
II O'Clock before James H. Torrey, the
toastmaster, arose and in his inimit-
ably dry and humorous way opened the
ball as he expressed it, with a series
of stories which caused a ripple Of
laughter to perpetually prevail through
out the room. He finally arrived at a
reference to the vaudeville part Of the
programme which would be omitted.
He apologized for the committee for
this disappointment and remarked up
on Treasurer a. w. Dickson's and Il.
b. SturgeS' part in the affair. During
Mr.. Torrey's recital the speakers table
even lost its decorum and became con-
NulSed with the rest of the auditory in
appreciation of the toastlnaster's witty
effort.
Captain May, president of the board,
spobe in serious tone concerning
scranton from 1871 to 1896 His address
was replete with food for the reelection
of the Scranton business man. APP
plause frequently Interrupted him. He
said: ~.
For this evening am glad that / am not
in exact phrase a business man of Scran-
ton but one of tribe half business and
half professional becoming so large in this
country. 1t gives me greater freedom
in saying what l have a right to say to the
credit of the business men of this city,
but which | should hesitate to say if |
} could be properly classed with them
In order to fairly reply to the toast as
signed me | patiently read the minutes
of the board for the twenty years succeed
ing its legal birth in 1871, or so much of
these minutes as l could find. | supposed
the task would be of a dry as dust char
Carlyle's, but | found it just the opposite.
That which struck me the most forcibly
was the evidence of development from an
organization formed for mutual protec-
ton against loss when giving credit in
carrying on their business, which was
mostly of retail character and the pro-
curing of more advantageous freight rates
from the railroads entering the city, to a
body of men whose scope was far wider
and more unseltish and whose aim was
not only their own betterment, but that
of every one in the community.
From the seltishness which surrounds
much of business was developed the
higher selishness Qf you will allow me
thus to call it, of pride and interest in the
city's growth in all directions, whether
material, intellectual or moral. To best
protect themselves they found they had
to protect the other fellow, and that is
getting very near to philanthropy, if it is
not the love of man itself. The hard times
of 1873 to 1873 may have had to do with
the broadening out process, as Immediate
ly succeeding that time the question of
diversified industries became prominent in
! the transactions of the board. The mem
| bers discovered that it was unwise to
depend upon one industry for the welfare
of the community and that something in
addition to coal mining must be had to
round out the industrial situation. In this
| ava I,IiIna,, ~ '', I =" " -,
,,nr,, ,,,a,, oa,,,,,i''t ,'',,tnatt ~
a', rrt - "''o''' as III
N''
lliE coLM QUESTION.
Later in the career of the board the
| question of the profitable use of our
| great piles of culm became pressing one
| Several ways Of prolitaby using these
! banks have already been discovered but
| 1t seems to me we are lust on the eve of
! discovering the most important way Of
utilizing these great mounds which to
! strangers seem such a blot upon our
| scenery. When our friends, nearly all
| members of the board, succeed in generat-
! ing gas at a cost per thousand feet much
/ less than it can be produced from any
! other source we shall have taken from
! these black heaps the gems they contain
me necessity also OF getting many IN
of coal which in tirn, y,orid ceosa h.nniise
| of tho evhonetio, of tba ,,ina,,al ooIlsad
| tbe hnar1 to he de.iro,,, of h,inr,in, It,ar
| ,ndustries here ca tbot tho Iost S'onSIa.
| tion which we hone win make M, Srra n
| ton in tbe fmt,nrn ,ouIi ha s,,,,,o,t,,I a,,1
mnl,a Tim ,oore sOtinitn,,s o,,d anar,t'tiC ati'
n, Tho directio,, % ~ ostatiia,,,,,,,,st ~
raotnrias ,nd ,,,o,1,s N
win trese r,ea+ ,,,,a,+io,,,,. vital 20 tho
nernetuitv and tba arou,th or tha t,nn