The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-06-09

PeVple Tor my presence here, prompts
me to acknowledge and contend that
! u is myself that should be congratulate
cd Tor the honor and distinction which
nave been accorded me today.
have been deeply impressed with
al the ceremonies / have witnessed:
ana the magnificent picture now
spread before me- comprising this
splendid audience Of many thousand
attractive people seated in this great
campus, which is shaded by venerable
OAKS OF more than a century's growth,
| ana IN face of the line of old col
iese buildings, which loom up through
the toiiage on the east, will be
stamped upon the tablets of my mem
( DRY ana remain there as one of the
most charming souvenirs of my life
some months ago a committee of
iaoles from your city. with the dis
/ ungulshed and indefatigable president
OF the Alumnae association, Mrs. Pat
teFSon, at its head; and amongst others
that earnest co-wOrker and, as I have
found. the most charming of all host
esses, Mrs. Reynolds, met me at the
national capital, and extended 20 me
| a very cordial invitation to participate
/ In the ceremonies of this centennial
! eeleofation, and although a stranger
J 70 them and to all whom ] would prob
ably meet here, I accepted it prompt
/ ~ and With manifest pleasure which
L ala not attempt to conceal.
g . e
! 1 long since learned from practical
| experience and observation that the
proverDial hospitality OF the people of
! the sunny south was not myth. and
I thaJ IT had in no wise been exagger-
4 aled, but that it was the real. live,
4 genuine thing il was represented to be.
/ Now / must in truthfulness, say that
/ the old-fashioned generous warmth Of
welcome which has been extended to
/ me on every side and at every thresh-
\ Oid since my arrival here yesterday
morning. infieXibly confirms all the
| sweet Impressions that had developed
| IN my mind, of the simplicity, chival-
/ ~ and bOundless hospitality OF south
ern men, and the charms. graces, beau
/ ~ and manifold virtues of southern
/ women.
J I am delighted 70 have the privilege
/ Of Joining you in celebrating the Tooth
anniversary of this deservedIy famous
institution of education which must
| be so gratifying to all OF you who have
( had the honor and the pleasure Of par
/ ticipating in the management and d.
rection Of its affairs as well as to those
( ings and material advantages.
AS a factor in this community and
/ this state, and. indeed, in a large num-
Der Of states. its widespread and sub
! tie influences in developing the mind.
moulding character. arousing latent
ambitions, refining and elevating
thought, and giving inspiration to
noble impulse and purpose do not stop
at the college door, the confines Of
the city or the boundaries of cOmmu-
mites where the thousands Of the alum
nae who have rOne out from here have
made their hoIsrs. but they impercep-
tibly affect other tens Of thousands
through communication and assOcia-
ton like the invisible electric current
exerts its myGterious power, and like
the sweet symphonies of music and OF
nature that viprate in illimitable space.
never ceasing and ever thrilling and
ennObling with divine effect the high
est attributes OF the minds and hearts
of human kind.
The celebration of this hundredth an
niversary Of salem college has a great
} significance; not only that it relates
10 century Of educational growth and
advancement, whose benefits no hu-
man power can ever approximately es-
innate, but that it also suggests a cen
tury of industrial. commercial, inven-
i've and scientific progress and ex-
pahsion OF population in your own
state and in the nation at large.
a review and contemplation Of the
nineteenth century, a period of our
7 countrys history so replete with Won
derfut events, eXcites and thrills our
minds with surprise and admiration.
II was suggested TO me by the ladies
IN charge Of these ceremonies that
might in my remarks aIlude to the
status Of affairs in the United States
in 1902
In a retrospective study Of that pc
Rod and the primitive conditions ex-
listing at the dawn Of the nineteenth
century in comparison with those we
md today, we are struck with amaze
ment at the rapidity OF the advance
ment
Indeed. it is almost impossible to
realize that in the year 1900 the total
white population Of the United States
was only 100000 souls. The center
of population was then between Wash
ingtOn and Baltimore
The entire white population west OF
the Alleghanies was less than
100000, more than half Of whom were
in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Ohio had only As. 900 people. and had
not then been admitted TO the Union.
The settlements in that state were
mostly on the Chic river and its trib-
utaries, and the territory in the lake
region was wholly under control of the
Indians.
Around Pittsburg. Pa. near Fort
DuqueSne, a small population had
gathered. IN Westmoreland county,
there were some Dutch settlements, (
and on the MOnOngahela river and its
tributaries a considerable number OF
Seotch-Irish, among them my own an
eestors, were cutting farms out Of the
forest.
The only means Of communication
with all those settlements west Of the {
mountains were two wagon roads
through an almost unbrOken line OF
forest One Of these led from Phila-
dolphin 10 PiJtsburg the other from
Virginia 10 Tennessee, with a branch
through Cumberland Gap to Ken
lucky.
western New York was still a viii
derness; Buffalo had not yet been laid
out, Utica had only fifty houses; Al
bany was a Dutch village with 5000
inhabitants. and no packet boats then
piled between ii and New York. Stage
coaches required almost two days 10
make the journey from New York to
Philadelphia, as against two hours
now by rail.
The mails In the southern states were I
carried on horseback.
In 1900 the nations capital was trans
ferTed from Philadelphia 10 Washing
ton. which then occupied fever
stricken mOrass near the Potomac. Z
The half-hnished White House stood Z
in a naked field. and across a swamp
mile and half away could be seen
the two wings Of the unfinished CAPT /
toll
These were some of the primitive
conditions existing when this school
was founded, end yet il seems almost (
incredible that the parents Of thou
sands Of people OF the present genera !
ton were then living.