The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-20
I'll E FRIENDLY SONS.
Brilliant Feast at inc Davenport Ho

Brilliant Feast at the Davenport Hotel
 The annual banquet of the Friendly
 Sons of St. Patrick was held in ths
 Hotel Davenport. From beginning te
 end it was uniformly enjoyable, prob
 ably the most so of any banquet ever
 given by this society. There were pres
 ent thirty-one members and invited
 guests, all of whom were photographed
 by fashlight before sitting down to
 dinner. The ceremony took place short
 1y after 10 o'clock, and the first course
 of the elaborate menu was served i'm
 nlediately after, but it was nearly
 o'clock before Andrew J. Clerkin, pre-
 siding as toastmaster, opened up the
 after dinner exercises.
 During the banquet music was ren-
 dered by trio composed of Fred Scan-
 lon, pianist; George Kessel, cornetist,
 and William Schwartz, violinist. Solos were rendered by Joseph A. Casleman and R. Galley.
 The first speaker called upon by Toastmaster Clerkin was P. H. Cosgrove who responded to the toast, "The Day We Celebrate." He was followed by Howard c. Webb, city attorney, who spoke on New Haven" In part he said as follows
 "As stand here I claim the right to speak for New Haven for all that I have I owe to this beautiful city of ours. As stand here before men who are deeply interested in it's progress and in its municipal control let me say to you that I think there is one thing that narrows and binds it-the spirit of pes simism. Since the days of the Puri- tans it has been here, less than ever before to-day perhaps, but still it is here, and nowhere more evident than in municipal affairs. Let one party make a proposition and carry it to the polls and it is immediately opposed by the opposite party as if it were a sin against the whole country. As it is in politics, SO it is in private affairs. Let one individual or class of individuals propose something of public interest and it is without delay besmirched in its object by class with opposite ideas.
 'We find our legislative bodies in the city of New Haven spending valuable time debating over badges of the police while it entirely ignores an appealing and stifed public in it's request to have the streets watered. Again they debate hotly over the erection of fiagpole, delaying so long that it is final ly erected at private expense. They de- hate whether the bandstand shall be placed on one side of the green or the other. and we find the charter being torn asunder to find vent for this pes simistic spirit.
 Judge John P. Studley responded to the toast, "The Judiciary" Judge proved a very humorous speak CT and kept his hearers in the best of humor. In referring to the judiciary he quoted d iAs of the poet Burns ano said that he had often wished that he 1 might see himself as others see him. He said that it is very easy to understand how the plaintiff and defendant III , case feel. especially after tho verdict l has been given, but it is q puzzle to un- derstand what their feelings to the judge may be. He remembered one | case he said, of a woman who was ar rested on a Fourth of July for drunken ness, appearing before him the next day.
 Had you been drinking?" he asked | her
 Yes, your honor, I had. I took one or two in honor of the day. You know how it is yourself, your honor"
 well" said the speaker, that af- torded me slight glimpse of myself