The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-05-11

take of the good things that wal
before them. They obeyed hin
in all fullness of purpose; for the
sequel truly showed, that they
did eat, drink and BECAME MERRY
The first speech of the evening
was made by Mr.. L. Caro-, thu
president of the Doca D'Aosts
Association. It was an address
eloquently delivered In English
a. follows:
Mr.. Consul and Gentlemen:
We look upon you. Mr.. Consul, u
the representative Of the italian King
and the Italian people. We welcome
you, and honor you for that.
There is strong tie that binds Italy
and this land together. England,
France and Spain have all, at times,
been At war With this country. Italy
never has. Always, the eagles Of
Italy and of America have smiled in
peace upon each other. And the great
Amerigo, and the still greater
Columbia, were sons of Italy.
But the strongest tie of sll is this:
That here, in Louisiana, you find the
sunny skies of Italy and Sicily. Our
people find nature the same here as il
is in our fatherland. They may dream
that the vines and fig-trees of Louis
lana are those of Tuscany or OF
Calabria.
More than that, they find here a
hospitable people, glad to receive into
American citizenship any honest man;
glad to protect by their laws all the
fruits of honest labor, and glad to re-
cognize and regard ability and virtue.
We who have left Italy still love it;
but this is the land of opportunity
Like ours, it is land of freedom. 1t
is a land of magic, and of glorious
destiny. Happy the son of Italy who
can fall under the touch of that magic,
and make himself part of that destiny
Now we greet with good fellowship,
our friends and our members.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Carols
address, he said: "Gentlemen,
our most able and honorable
Mayor, Mr.. Lewis, will act as
toastmaster."
Mr.. Lewis, on assuming the
position of POSTMASTER, spoke as
follows:
Mr.. President:
The honor of presiding on this oc-
casion is of course due primarily to
the Office my fel]ow-citizens have be-
slowed upon me. and is q compliment
to the Office. For this l thank you.
believe however, at least l fatter
myself to that extent, that to some
small degree the selection is due to the
good will and friendship of the in
dividual members of your association.
For this thank you more.
Mr.. Consul:
It is not often sir, that we are honor
ed with the presence of SO distinguish
cd guest as the high official of
great foreign power, such as that you
and while we know that
you are with us in response to the
earnest invitation of your former
(nOw good American citi-
zens) and but for them the pleasure of
having you with US to-day would in all
have been denied US,
I would feel that I had
been derelict in my duty as the Official
head of the town of Franklin were l
not to do ell in my power to make you
EEL at home while here, and to make
your short stay with US as pleasant as
possible.
Feeling thus extend to you a most
cordial welcome, and sincerely. hope
hat you will 60 away with your re-
SO pleasant that they will
lot be soon forgotten.
While with US sir, the city is yours.
Mr.. Lewis then proposed a toast
o our hosts, The Duca D'Aosta
Association, and called on the vice
'onsul to respond. The vice con-
ul's address was scholarly and
Eloquent patriotic. We herein
produce it in full:
dr. Mayor and Toastmaster, Mr..
President and Gentlemen:
feel particularly grateful to you
or the honor you have extended me
J asking me to attend this most in
eresting and enjoyable gathering to.
ay; l thank you, Mr.. Mayor. for the
ospitality Of the city, and you Mr..
resident for the hospitality of this
ouse; I assure you that I feel most
eeply grateful and also assure you
lat shall remember the very
leasant and enjoyable entertainment
nd functions of this time as we'll as
Il the attractions offered.
We have here q number of Italians
no have gathered together for the
lrpose Of celebrating this occasion
their association, which has been ,
AIMED after q member of the Italian {
oval House, who have gathered to-
ether to celebrate the anniversary {
this lodge, showing by the name ,
icy have given it how much feeling {
icy preserve for the land of their Z
rth and how strongly they feel and t
alize the honor of being Italians | I
I'd while l am sure it is their ambi.
IN to help and remember Italy, at i t
e same time, they are anxious to r