The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-10-02
MISSOURI SHOWS
OUR PRESIDENT
Standard Oil Fires Salute Of
TWenty-One Guns

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 2.-The presidents s
boats with the blue flag of the chief
executive flying, passed under Eads
bridge shortly after 9 O'Clock this
morning. nearly nine hours ahead of
time. In response to the noisy well
come. the president came on board
and waved his hat. Committees repre-
santing various organizations came on
board ard escorted the president to
carriages.
sight" said the president, as the car
riages passed the decorated business
houses When the presidents steamer
passed the Wood River refinery this
| morning, near ST. Louis, 1000 en-
ployes of the Standard Oil concern
fired 21 charges of dynamite as a sa-
lutte to the president.
Twenty Three Governors.
Not since the Louisiana exposition.
has St. Louis entertained such a crowd
of spectators, prominent politicians,
governors. senators, congressman and
millionaires as gathered along the
river front to greet the arrival of
Roosevelt when the presidential boat
steamed down to the levee. Great
banners were displayed on every
steamboat. reading: Dig her deep
through Dixie,'. and Fourteen feet
through the valley
After a short delay the president
went TO the Jai Aai building and
made his address, then reviewed the
naval pageant and will resume his
with the presidential steamer is the
steamer, Alton, bearing the governors
of % states. They will reach Cairo at
9 o'clock tomorrow morning where
the president is scheduled TO make an
address, Memphis will be reached Fri
day afternoon.
A heavy rain and the parade start
ed at the same time. The president
stood up through it all, large pool of
water forming in his seat while the
parade moved By
Governor Folk Roosevelt rushed to the
governor and said, Il am a great ad-
mirer of yours. The president was
cheered 20 minutes after the intro
duction and often in the course of
his speech. At luncheon no speeches
We're made. At o'clock the president
left in triumphal march for the boat.
Favors Water Highways.
Following is a synopsis of the pres
ident's address which was delivered
to one of the largest crowds ever gath
cred in st. Louis.
We have lived in an era of phenom-
email railroad building. AS routes for
merchandise, the iron highways have
completely supplanted the old wagon
roads, and under their competition the
impor tance of the water highways has
been much diminished. The growth of
the railway system has been rapid all
over The world, but nowhere SO rapid
as i'll the United States. Accompany
ing this there has grown in the United
States a tendency toward the practi-
cally complete abandonment of the
system of water transportation.
Such tendency is certainly not
healthy and | am convinced that it
will Lot be permanent. There are
many classes of commodities, especial
ly those which are perishable in their
nature and where the value is high
relatively to the bulk, which will al
ways be carried by rail. But bulky
commodities which are not of a per-
ishable nature will always be specially
suited for the conditions of water
transport.
Improve Water Ways.
From every standpoint it is desir-
able for the nation to join in i'm
proving the greatest system of river
highways within its borders, a sys-
tenn second Only in Importance to the
highway afforded by the Great Lakes;
the highways of the Mississippi and it's
great tributaries, such as the Missouri
and Ohio.
1t is empha.ically a national task,
for this great river system is itself
one of our chief national assets.
Danger of Extravaganza.
Our knowledge is not sufficiently far
advanced to enable me to speak def
nitely as TO the plans which should be
adopted: but let me say one word of
warning: The danger of entering on
any such scheme lies in the adoption
of impossible and undesirable plans.
plans the adoption of which means an
outlay of money eXtravagant beyond
all proportion to the return. or which,
though feasible, are not, relatively to
other plans of an importance which
warrant their adoption