The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1902-09-04
Great Crowd Attends the Annual Re-
union OF the Old Settlers
Club at PaddOCk'S Lake.
FULL PROGRAM IS CARRIED OUT.
One of the Most Successful Reunions i'm the
History of the Cuba. e. Buck
master Makes Annual Address.
(By R. F. Roberts.)

A delightful day favored the gather
ing together of the old settlers and
their descendants and friends.
poodly number came early and when
the occupants of five we'll filed coaches
from Kenosha were turned into the
crowd it did not seem to be materially
increased. But the crowd kept on
growing until two in the afternoon,
when it was very apparent a crowd
was present which no man could num-
Der. In every direction you might
look there was a crowd of people.
Practically everybody was at the picnic
but if you started out to find a person
it was found an impossible thing to do
an iufallib1e indication there was a
big crowd on1hand-
The Harmony orchestra was on the
platform before one o'clock and gave
some fine selections. The crowd, as
matter of course, followed the music
until the pavilion was we'll filled. A
Quartette lead the singing of ''Ameri-
ca,'' the orchestra playing and the
audience rising and joining. The
audience remained sta nding while the
Rev. Mr.. Montague made an Impress
i've invocation to the God of our fathers
aud to our God.
A. e.. Buckmaster, Esq, gave the
annual address which was appreciated
by ali and the speaker received a round
of warm applause at its close. Mr..
Buckmaster was greeted with a mag
nifcent audience. There was before
him a perfect sea of bright eyes and
glad expectant faces. 1t was remarked
that the audience was the largest and
grandest that ever greeted a speaker
on the pavilion platform.
Miss Mabel Fosters recitation was
given with quiet and marked graceful
ness of manner which was very pleas
ing. There was much quiet humor in
the word painting of the Ladies' Mite
Society and it's accumulation of the
sum of twelve dollars to buy karepet
for the church. 1.-THE total disappear
ance of the funds when the karepet
committee sought to buy the karepet
was a comic tragedy. The member in
whose hands the funds had been left
so1emnly promised in church to make
restitution of the money as soon as she
felt able, but at present she did not
feel able.
Mr.. John Blakey was called out and
after some persistent calling took the
platform and entertained the audience
FIVE minutes in his usual happy vein.
Hon. z. G.. Simmons responded to an
invitation to take the platform and
gave some statistics of the growth of
our trade and manufactures, etc.,
which may have an important bearing
on some Of the sociological questions
of the day.
The base ball contest between the
Racine county, Officials and Kenosha
county officials was full of excitement
and fun and was witnessed by an eager
crowd of several hundred people. By
some the crowd was estimated at up
wards of thousand.
This twentyfourth annual picnic
has passed into history as one of the
records of the Old Settlers Club of
KenOsha county.
The speech of Mr.. sBuckmaster, in
part, is as follows:
"The early settlers made no mistake
when they concluded that the garden
of the earth was located in Southern
Wisconsin; that her natural resources
were great; that her soil was most fer
tile and would yield crops in abund-
ance; that the lakes and rivers offered
a speedy highway for the rude COM
merce of that day. That the hills and
valleys in Southern Wisconsin abound
ed in va1ua bic minerals awaiting the
pickaxe and the shovel, and that all
these resources waited only the ingen-
uity and push of the Yankee settler.
cit may be asked how it is that
Wisconsin in her comparatively brief
period of statehood has achieved that
distinction and that prestige which
she now proudly bears. To one who
studies the character of her early
growth and notices the ruggedness and
thrift of her pioneers, the energy and
push of those who were first active in
her history, the question will almost
solve itself. For, it is a truth
amounting almost to an axiom, that
the development Of country is de-
pendent upon the character of its
early settlers. Our earliest popula-
tion consisted mainly of hardy men
and women from the New England
States who were used to toll and were
willing to brave the danger or hard
ship IN order to build for themselves
homes. These hardy New Englanders
gave stability and character to our