The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-01

l cluD at me Arlington notei iho 'Hho' ~ night Nowhere else, of course. It goes without saying that there is no organiza- ton in the world regarding which the above poem" could have been written' l And it was a fine lot of humanity, too' that went upon the grldiron-the bluest | of blue blood like Lord Charles Beres- ford. vice admiral of the British navy; and the richest, like J. Pierpont Morgan Think you that the Gridlroners stood afar 1 off and trembled because the high and mighty were among the guests? Nay nay This only gave zest to the enter tainment. The GrIdiron club loves a shin ing mark. And the best part of it all was | that in all the fun, there was, In addition to the utmost good humor no lack ot dignity Perhaps this is one of the things that make a Gridiron club dinner so completely succt ssful
 What did the gridroners say about their guests? Here was a cordial word upon the menu souvenir about Sir Michael Herbert, the British ambassador:
 Here's to you good Sir Michael.
 A Briton sound and true;
 | Our greetings to King Edward,
 And welcome warm to you.
 The poetry may not have been Ten nisonian, but the sentiment was there and so was the picture. which represent ed a very tall Uncle Sam clasping Sir Michaers hands and the British lion, with a broad grin on his face, doing a cakewalk with the American eagle. Then this was said about senator-elect Cor man:
 Arthur Pue. Arthur Pue,
 What in the worlds the matter with
 you?
 We heard of you downed,
 Unseated uncrowned,
 And now you are back with the grid iron crew.
 There were equally appropriate verses about General Corbin, who was shown firmly anchored to the Washington monu- ment, while General Miles was "A snub- ping of Russians and Austrians and Prus- i sians.s About Lord Beresford, who was reminded of the cousins and aunts of Pinafore fame, and about J.. Pierpont Morgan and Senator Hanna and other distinguished people, the verses being too numerous to quote at length as nowhere else in the United States and under no circumstances could such remarkable dinner party have gathered, as ordinarily one distinguished guest suffices for a gathering Last night men of national and international fame were as thick as the traditional leaves in vallambrosa. | The President, who dearly loves a | Gridiron dinner. could not be present be- cause he and his cabinet were being en- tertained by Secretary Moody, but for eign ambassadors, senators and repre- sentatives. high army and navy officers railroad presidents and other captains of industry" together with men who have won distinction in journalism, law. sci- ence medicine, art and other great pro- | fessions, were present and glad to have been Invited. In addition to those already 1 mentioned there were Count Cassini, the Russian ambassador; Senor Ojeda the Spanish minister. and Count von Quadt of | the German embassy; Adjutant General l Corbin. Admirals Schley and Bradford, Senators Depew, Aldrich, Fairbanks, Beveridge and many of their colleagues; | Governor Terrell of Georgia and Governor Murphy of New Jersey. and President Spencer of the Southern railway, Pres | ident Ingalls, of the Big Four President Williams of the Seaboard Air Line and President Badham of the Bessemer Land and Improvement company of Alabama. The room Into which these guests were ushered by the ringing of an old-fashion- ed dinner bell was surpassingly beauti- full. Electricity was utilized to add the wealth of its brilliancy to the magnificent floral display, the panelled ceiling of the room being covered with southern smilax, interspersed with which were hundreds of miniature coored lights, the whole effect being indescribable in its beauty. For the first time in this city the club used the Albright electric decorations. which formed such a conspicuous feature of the reception to Prince Henry of New York and the praise bestowed upon them was deserved. In addition to this feature. the floral display was unusually fine; hundreds of costly American Beauty roses, together with spring blossoms, brought from southern conservatories. be- ing noticeable The entire decoration of the room was done with the usual artis- tic skill of Smal whose treatment of foliage. blossoms and electric lights form ed an ensemble of wonderful color and effect.
 An inkstand was the appropriate menu souvenir. Its chief feature was a grid iron which held a calendar each month illustrated with a verse and picture hitting off one of the guests.
 One feature of the annual Gridiron din- ner is the induction into office of the new president of the club. Tonight this ceremonial was unusually spectacular and Mir William F. Curtis was inaugura- ted president In a blaze of glory. MT. Curtis prominence in the Columbian cele- bration ten years ago. when he unearth- ed so much interesting data regarding Christopher Columbus, suggested the idea of putting the great genoese ex- plorer on Mir. Curtis, trail The Court of Ferdinand and Isabella assembled to hear the report of Columbus, whose tour of discovery began 40 years ago.