The Republican journal., 1906-11-29
The Maine Society Dinner.
SPEECHES BY REV. DR.. LYMAN ABB
BOTT AND GEOkGE A. DUMMY.

bO1 AMI SG0N0G "A. VS~
A eoodly number of the Sons and
Daughters of Maine met at the Hotel
Astor in New York city Thursday even
ing. Nov. 18th, for the fourth annual
dinner of the Maine Society. A New
York special says: The beautiful ban
uuet room of the hotel was never more
Respondent with handsome women and
brave men than Thursday night. The
breath of the pines was in the air, for
upon each table stood a small tree
whose resinous perfume was every
where perceptible. Fully 200 guests at
tended the function, which all agreed
was one of the pleasantest ever held by
the society. Among those present were:
William E. Pulsifer, Mrs. Kate Upton
Clark, George P. Dexter, vice president
of the Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany; Kimball C. Atwood, John l..
Childs, Rev. DR.. and Mrs. Lyman Alb
bolt, Mrs. Upham and George A.
Quimby of Belfast.
At the close of the feast James Nc
Keen, president of the society, who
acted as POSTMASTER, said in the course
of his introductory remarks that for
wears there had been nothing sc sad in
New England, especially in Maine, as
decay. Unlike England, where the laws
of primogeuature tended TO preserve
tine ancestral roof trees, Maine has had
no system for their preservation. Con-
tinuing Mr.. Mckeen said: Il have no
ticed lately during my visits to the
State that the old buildings are being
reclaimed. The work is being done by
the Sons of Maine whose loyalty and
love for their State have moved chem to
return to the scenes of their childhood
and revive The old glories of their ma
tive place"
There is one thing that we as exiles
can do for our native State and that is
to act as patrons of the literature of
our Maine authors Maine is land of
romance. Its hills and rugged coast
are alive with materials of which the
skilful writer may fashion books that
will charm the world"
The Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott was in
troduced as the first speaker, and said
that while he couldn't claim to be a son
of Maine he could claim to be son-in-
law of the State, for his wife was one
of her daughters. He declared that
Norway, Me-, was the most democratic
of all places in the world. After de-
cIaring that Abraham Lincoln's deini-
ton of democracy, "a government of
the people, for the people and by the
people," was the best ever coined, Dr..
Abbott went on to discuss what true
democracy meant in politics, in reli-
gion, in education and in industrial de-
Yelopmeuts.
George 4 Quimby Of Belfast, "Our
George was the next speaker. He
said.
Mr.. President. ladies and members of
the Maine Society of New York: /
am sufficiently versed in etiquette, hay
ing been constant reader of the La
dies Home journal for many years, to
know that the proper thing for me To
do at tins time is to thank you for the
honor you have done me- in inviting me
TO address you on this occasion, and to
assure you that it affords me great
MI. No har., P,,tt b,t Il Ia,
such an uumltigated lie that | cannot
make up my mind to do it, and 1t takes
quite lie to frighten me SO that |
break my halter ard run away: but
there are degrees of perjury that | viii
not commit. and this is one, for | am
not glad to be here, in the position now
occupy, and before am done you will
wish that a pine tree had fallen On
the members OF your committee and
crushed ont their young lives be-
fore they invited me. | dreaded this
ordeal as much as a snake does to
shed its skin. OF course | don't know
positively that a snake breads that
annual duty, but having once fallen
through the Ice and gotten soaked
through, | undertook, in cold room,
in the dead of winter to shed an over
tight suit of underwear, and | think,
mind you, don't say that l know, but
! think | have an idea of how the snake
feels. Anyhow, since then five hundred
thousand dollars wouldn't tempt me to
shed my skin.
In way have been buncoed. After
informing the members of this society
that | would certainly be here and adj
dress them, | was invited to come. As
our President says, that was not a
square deal" Your secretary told me
the programs were all printed and the
society couldn't afford to get out an
other set, and further, that there was
no living orator who could fill my place,
and they didn't want dead one. Still,
if | had had lesser person than my
friend and former toWnsman, Harrl-
man, to deal with, | should now be in
my own home; but when he threatened
to send for me with a writ of habeas
corpus [ surrendered. | am not afraid
of steamboats,, railroads, automobiles,
or even balloons, but draw the line on
a habeas corpus, whether it is steam or
gasolene.
1t is always more or less a task for
me to leave home. | invariably forget
where | put my pawn ticket, and of
course cannot come away without my
watch and best suit of clothes, and Oh
this occasion there was the address to
prepare. You who have never done
ANYTHING Of this kind, except perhaps