Arizona republican., 1903-04-17
CALIFORNIA VISITORS
Party of Golden State Officials Spent
 Yesterday in Phoenix.

Former Governor Murphy and, in- cidentally. many citizens of Phoenix. yesterday enjoyed the companionship of five of the most distinguished office holders and one of the leading financial men in the state of California, who four hour visit. The party. of which A. P. Maginnis was the official head for the purpose of this excursion. and through whose influence the others were persuaded to visit Arizona. was returning from a brief visit to the Grand Canyon, when they decided to include in their tour the Salt river val ley, of which they had heard so much and accept the hospitality of Governor Murphy. an intimate friend for years, and at whose residence they were en- tertained at dinner last evening" Their private car was attached to the regu- lar incoming s. F. P. & P. train yester- day morning and to the outgoing train this morning.
 Mir Maginnis was formerly in the employ of the A. T. & s. F. railroad though he is now extensively inter- ested in oil operations in California. The other five gentlemen were Alex. Brown of San Francisco, chairman of the state board of equalization; R. IT. Beamer of Woodland, Frank Mattisor of Santa Cruz, W. H. Afford of San Francisco, members of the state board of equalization, and E. P. Colgan O. Sacramento, state comptroller and ex- officio member of the board
 Mr. Coigan, the state comptroller, Is an old friend of the Murphys. and has for many years enjoyed especially in innate relations with MT. F. M. Mur- phy. MT. Colgan is now serving his fourth successive term in that office. membership on the California board be- ing secured by election. MT. Beamer, whose hair and mustache are now white with the frosts of time, has held office ever since attaining his majority, and is one of the kind of men the peo- pie never allow to get out of the har- ness. He has served twelve years on the board of equalization and is enter ing upon another four years term. He is active in all things that interest his town, county and state, and in addition to the office mentioned above, he is a trustee of the city of Woodland, preST- dent of the Farmers & Merchants bank of that city, has served on the board of education and in addition Is one of the youngest men for his years and the best story teller in the state, young or old. MT. Mattison has also held the office of assessor of Santa Cruz county for the last twelve years. MT. Brown is well known in state poi itics, and MT. Afford is one of the lead ing democratic politicians of the state. He was formerly district attorney ot Tulare county, assistant district attor- ney of San Francisco, and stumped the state for w. J. Bryan for president He is a gifted orator and did a little spell binding yesterday afternoon in the presence of limited number, an incident which will be mentioned 4 little later. The records of these gen. tlemen show them to be men who have worthily held the trusts reposed n them, or men who have violated the lamented Lincoln's aphorism by fool ing all the people all the time, and have not been caught at 1t yet.
 Though their mission here was pure- ly social one, they might not inaptly be called statehood committee from California, for they have hitherto borne friendly spirit for Arizona and recognized the mutuality of interest between the two commonwealths Their visit has impressed them greatly with the marvellous resources of this territory and their sympathy and in-
 q .l,,,, l. %l~ A,,.r 4r her efforts for the realization of hel greatest ambition.
 One day and two nights were spent by the visitors at the Grand Canyon which they enjoyed, as do all visitors to that wonderful place. After spend ing yesterday in sightseeing, they sait they were more than glad they had taken the side trip to Phoenix, for il had shown them Arizona in a new light, had given them an idea of thu agricultural resources and of the many similar valleys they had heard about but had not seen. In company witt Governor Murphy, they drove out tt the Indian school, through the farming district adjacent to the larger canal: on this side of the river, the orange orchards, etc. They also visited tho capitol and expressed themselves a: surprised at finding so magnificent : 1 building erected at such a minimum of cost. a iattering testimonial tt members of the administration tha had it in charge. They also commented on the general good appearance of thu architecture of the city and the unus
 ual number of good buildings for town of it's size.
 Late in the afternoon, when thu
 visitors and few friends had gather | ed at the Hotel Adams for short res
 from sightseeing, occurred one O
 those pleasing incidents that gentle
 men delight to engage in when takin. | life in a lighter vein than the common place grind of business, namely, a littf
 practical joke on a man they know vii stand for it. The job was put up b. Governor Murphy. who. to accomplish 1 his purpose, had enlisted the service | of MT. Afford. The little gathering wa
 requested to be in order and surrende
 the floor to MT. Afford, who had a nev
 story to tell. MT. Afford began a pleas
 ing and beautifully worded address