Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-04
Henry E. Huntington
rendered Great
Reception
Hears His Praises Sung
AS a Railway
Builder
Decorations and Favors All Suggest
i've of Trolley cars--Denonstra-
ton With Red Fire Feature
of Occasion

A LII that the large dining room Of
n the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena
would hold turned out last even
ing to do honor to Henry E. Huntington
the builder of railways. While the
hour at which the complimentary din
ner to Mr.. Huntington was to start was
set for 7:30 O'Clock 1t was not until
after that the guest of honor and his
son. Howard e. Huntington, headed the
| little procession which wound its way
from the main lobby of the hotel into
the beautifully decorated apartment In
j which was to be served the finest repast
yet set before man in Southern Cali
fornia. t-t
The dining room was a dream OF
artistic loveliness. From the center of
1.-THE vast apartment draped festoons Of
ismilax twined about the wires of
varicolored electrical illumination
\ scheme. Peeping out from among the
i green's We're electric lights of all shades
4 Of the rainbow. while magnificent cleo,
Z trio candelabra were placed at IN
z tervals about all of the ia ables.
The tables themselves were set in the
4 form of a magnihed letter 7, &Ke pena-
4 dant ends of the letter being small
4 round tables for Ave or six At the
ijointure of the tables sat the Hunting
TONS father and son, while. grouped
about them were the more prominent Of
1 the guests of the evening.
Decorations Magnificent
The color scheme of the design was
pink and green. Pink roses abounded
on every side, while smilax and fern
made the tables a veritable bower. In
the center of the room stood floral
trolley car, with motorman and con-
ductor complete, while at each place
was. small trolley car filled with
salted nuts Each place was marked by
a magnificent menu of the evening with
a program and musical list. Beside
each plate was a nickeled spike emble
matical of the work which Mr.. Hunting
ton has done in railway building. Each
| spike was stamped: Dinner to H. E.
Huntington, Hotel Maryland Pasa-
dena, October g. 1906
/ DR.. John Willis Baer pronounced the
benediction, calling upon the Almighty
to bless the repast and grant to those
present benefit from the occasion, and
then the dinner was served.
| No sooner were the guests seated
than all the lights save those in the
candelabra were turned out This
was the signal for those on the outside
of the building to set off red fire and
for several moments the big room was
| Illuminated almost solely from the
bright glare of the red fire as it shone
through the glass portals on every side
Burdette POSTMASTER
1t was not until after 10 O'Clock that
the substantial repast was completed
and the speaking began. The Rev.
Robert j. Burdette was master of
ceremonies and from the start he kept
his audience delighted and convulsed
with his sallies of wit.
| When the ice cream was served came
one of the delightful moments of the
evening. So completely i'm keeping had
been every arrangement that even the
ices were according to trolley. Each
ice was a model car trolley pole, rope
and all. They were made in the colors
| of the different branches of the system,
maroon for the Pacific Electric, green
for the Los Angeles-Interurban, etc.
When Mr.. Huntington's ice cream was
sat before him the crowd set up shout
which could be heard for blocks and the
railway magnate himself laughed until
the Rev. Robert ]. Burdette had to clap
him on the back as a restorative.
On either hand of the toastmaster
were Mr.. Huntington and w. e. Dunn.
Nearby was DR.. John Willis Baer.
president of Occidental college, while
other prominent railway officials and
intimates of the builder of electric lines
were near at hand to applaud their
chief.
Huntington introduced
1t was 10;SO when Toastmaster Bur-
dette arose In his place and raised mis-
hand for attention. Applause, which
lasted several minutes, greeted the ap-
pearance of the popular preacher. When
quiet was restored Mr.. Burdette said:
Smoking on the three rear seats only,
gentlemen"
The laughter which this sally had
created subsiding, Mr.. Burdette con-
tinued: This is getting to be life
office with me- said he, "a life offlce
outside of the regulations OF the civil
service. and as years go on and am
elevated higher and higher can look
back on the past and think what a
great man l have become.
After all It is not the great ship
which creates the most noise but the
stuffy little tug which runs along with
its name on the stern where the spank
err out to be that Is the cause OF the
most disturbance. You must excuse
my nautical terms. gentlemen, for my
father was whaler.
"Not such fussy little tug Il the
\