The daily morning Alaskan., 1899-12-23
T NAg GREAI Chamber of Commerce Din
 ner Last Night.
PLANS FOR GOOD WORK
Business Was Combined win PIeasuTe-New steamboat to Be "The City of skagwny."

Wit. wisdom, history, philosophy, and commerce were all wouhlly represented in the frs, annual banquet of the Chamber of Commerce, held at Clancy cafe last evening. The dinner was all that could be desired, and the service, the one thing that Skagway banquets generally "fall down" on, to drop into slang, was pdrtie- ularlv good. But the attendance was not nearly SO large as was expected.
 Among those present were: President Keller, George A. Bracket, A. $. Dautrlek. s. c. Kaufman, N. A Dav, Thomas Whit ten, J E ullv. Laramie Mayer, Herman Meyer, W. L. Metealf, R. C. Smith, A. Scott, C. E. Kelly, A. C. Easel, F. M. Woodruff, Il. O. Peterson, Theodore Johnson, John Kllem, P. E. Kern, and Assistant Secretary w. Coyney.
 Every member present voted that Presi- dent Keller should have his rleture painted as he sat at the head of the board, with the background of deep crimson throwing out his handsome figure and his elaborate toilette for the occasion. He really did look pretty, but he was not the only one, for about one-half the members present, despite the words of the invitation that it was ''an informal friendly gathering" " graeed and lent dignity to the occasion hy ,.onnlng full evening dress.
 There was lots of informal fun over the dinner, and when coffee, cigars and champagne were introduced the pres dsnt made a paternal address. In the course of this he expressed the pride he felt in being a member Of the organization and particularly of being honored bv the position of president. This took up number of words and was very pTettlly and modestlv said. And then he went on Ito speat oi the work the chamber had done and what he hoped il would do, and this latter was applauded, while what had been done, he asked the secretary to report upon.
 Secretary S. c. Kaufman m de report that Is such careful and condensed e1- position of the work cf the chamber tbat it nas been decided to reserve it for the New Years edition of the DAILY ALASKAN. lt was somewhat of a surprise to the members who have not been regular attendants at the meetl1gs of the chamber, and they enthusiastically applauded It. Later on in the evening MT. Kaufman was called upon for a speech, and the graceful way in which he acquitted himself was as much surprise to himself as 10 every body else. From now on we may class Nr. Kaufman among Skagwav's best after dinner speakers.
 There were several other surprises of similar character in store fer the members of the 1hamber-and it was an exclusive gathering of members cnlv-whlch showed that the active members really did not know, had not appreciated to the full, the bra n power and the eloquent flow of Wal rds of the members who have regularly sub S r.bed and taken pride in the work of the organization, and yet have been too absent or too much occupied to attend all the le- gular meetings.
 The list of toasts were as follows;
 The Great Northwest. .. Geo. A. Bracket Alaska. ......... ...Thos. Whilten Skagway-lts Past n Future ....
 ........"..............J Judge Day Skagway's Mercantile Growth.....
 .......................J. ]. E. Lilly Transportation. n...,........A. 5. Dautriek Skagwav Nome .........W. L Metealf Short speeches. ...... Members generally
 These set speeches were eloquent and practical In their way; they exhibited great deal of thought and pains 10 tseer- tain facts and figures on the subject: touched upon; and were it not for the late i hour and the want of space, each on' would fill the space 1t was we'll worthy O in this report.
 But these speeches on this occasion served only, as lt seemed, to whet the az petites of the members for speech-making and a regular meeting of the Chamber O Commerce, with the unwonted aid O champagne, was the result.
 SoTe of the most important movement of tie Chamber of Commerce of the com ing year will eventuate from the sugges tlons made last evening.
 One thing the public will be glad t learn was to be found In the Ieft-hand cor