The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-19
ST. PAUL TYPOTHETAE CELEBRATE
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S BIRTH
DAY ANNIVERSARY
WITH A SUMPTUOUS REPAST
IN MARKED CONTRAST TO BEN'S
RARE OLD PHILADELPHIA
LUNCHES.
MEssRs. RAMALEY AND CASTLE
Vie With Each Other i'm EIonuent
Tributes to the PhiIOsophic
Printer-Statesman


| Enough members Of the printing fra
ternity in ST. Paul, accompanied by
their wives and ladies, to fill the com
Portable ordinary OF the Windsor hotel.
met last night to do honor to the men,
DRY Of the father of the printing bust
ness, and incidentally discuss a thor
oughly substantial menu. The tables
were prettily decorated. At the head
| sat Charles W. Hornick, and about him
number of gentlemen who have been
closely Identified with printing inter-
! ests. In st. Paul. Mr.. Hornick was
| toastmaster. When the nuts and crack
ers had been reached he briefly intro
| duced the first speaker, David Ra-
| maley. Mr.. Hornick called attention to
| the contrast which might be made be-
| tween the primitive methods which OBJ
| tanned in Franklin's days, and the mod
| ern typesetting machine, the rapid
| presses, and the illimitable kinds of
type and methods Of using it. Mr..
| Hornick referred in witty strain to
some of the incidents in the life of a
boy who first came to Philadelphia with
a shilling and three loaves of bread,
and who later signed the Declaration
| of Independence.
He then called on David Ramaley.
who needed no introduction in St. Paul,
and who would speak on Franklin, the
printer.
| Mr.. Ramaley read a carefully prepar-
| ed, interesting biography of the man
| who, in his opinion, occupied the place
in American history next to that Of
| George Washington. Franklin he said.
was a man that the printers of the
| United States had the special privilege
| OF honoring each year as the birthday
anniversary comes round. He spoke Of
| the lads humble beginning his appren-
| ticeshlp in cutters shop, his service
with a tallow chandler, and felt that
If allowed to follow his own bent
Franklin would have been bold buc-
cancer on the high seas. Any+of these
occupations the speaker thought might
have forbidden him the illustrious
name and history he left behind him
| for American boys.
! In interesting fashion Mr.. Ramaley
| told how Franklin ran his brothers
paper, sought a new position, was de-
| luded into going to England in search
| Of type which some scoundrelly official
| had promised to purchase for him, how
| he established Poor Richards Almanac,
| which was maintained for thirty years,
and how finally the struggling youth
became respected for his ability and
went on from one unexpected honor
| to another, until he was made governor
of his colony in Pennsylvania, and a
member of adj the important bodies in
| existence in his little neighbOrhoOd, and
| came to sign the declaration of indie
pendence, yet all the time he was known
and wished to be- regarded as Franklin
the printer
Franklin as Statesman was the
toast assigned by the POSTMASTER to
| Capt. H. A. Castle, and the captain
responded to it at first in humorous
| fashion, and later on gave a detailed
account of many facts and stories Of
| the life of the printer-statesman which
| showed thorough reading of his subject.
| The speaker said he had listened to
Hcrnick and Ramaley rowing over the
cost of the ink on the back of the menu
! cards. and was thereby reminded OF
| two Minneapolis men who, while wait
| ing for banquet to begin in the West
| hotel We're specializing whether the
mahogany mouldings were made from
wood which cost $3.50 or 1915 per LOO.
| At all events, he explained that some
! Of his knowledge Of Franklin's states
| manShip had disappeared and that
| Ramaley had recited much of the ball
ance. In spite of this the captain gave
h most interesting account of the man
| members Of his craft. While Franklin'S
| friends were pouring hOnors, one after
| the other upon him, he never was
| ashamed of his business and always
wished to be called Franklin the print
err in fact wrote his epitaph with the
word following his name, not philoSo-
pher, not inventor, not dominic, not
postmaster not signer Of the declara-
ton of independence, but simply print
err This, Capt. Castle believed, should
serve as an illustrious example to
American boys, and was sign that
Franklin was not ashamed of the vO-
cation in which he was brought up.
Franklin was too old to be a states
man, having died three years after
Washington was inaugurated. He
! would have been the second president
| and was, in the opinion of the speaker,
| the greatest statesman in the country,
with the possible exception of the mar
tyred president, Abraham Lincoln.
Franklin's craftsmanship was never
properly appreciated. Having gone on
a fools errand, he found himself
stranded in a strange land, and, from
sheer necessity, his horizon was broad
ened and his experience added to.
In conclusion, Capt Castle enumer-
ated the positions which his people had
given him, and believed the only rea-
son he had not actually written the
declaration of independence was that
his warmest friends and compatriotS
feared he would inject into that docu-
ment some of his sarcastically funny
ideas. AS it was, he added many OF
the strongest portions to the declara-
ton.
Mr. Charles Conradis, who was to
have spoken on Franklin as philoso-
pher, was not able to be present, but
sent in a paper covering the. subject,
which was read by H. L. Collins.
Among those present were: Messrs.
and Mesdames. G. W. Hornick, David
Ramaley, H. A. Castle, w. 7. Rich,
Chas Brandtjen, Potter, Michael Urea
cy. H d. Brown, Fred Payne, Howard
Collins, Frank Shoop, Armstrong,
Montgomery, Repke, Miss Brandtjen,
Messrs. E. P. Penniman, Mcclellan,