The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1908-04-02

pliment. He knew that in his halt.
ing way he could not fully express
the wishes of the bar, himself, and
the people generally, but that one
who possessed so sound mind as
did Judge Spooner would fully ap-
preciate the situation.
The next toast on the program
was Should Old Acquaintance Be
Forgot" which had been assigned to
Judge Spooner, as farewell talk to
the members of the bar and others
present at the banquet.
When the Judge arose to speak,
there was sign of dimness in his
eyes and suspicion of huskiness in
his voice. He was greeted with pro.
longed applause, attesting his i'm
mense popularity among the mem.
bers of the bar.
Judge Spooner stated that he had
been given but little time to prepare
any speech, but that he knew of no
more fitting subject than the sug-
gested one, SHOULD Old Acquaint-
ance Be Forgot!
odd" used in comparative
sense in connection with the Fiji.
teenth Judicial district seemed
rather odd. 1t had only been six
years, on April 1, that he had made
his advent in this district. At that
time, outside of Judge Nc
!Clenahan, he had not known more
than six people in the entire dis
trict, and only four of these six were
present at the banquet, they being,
Messrs. Mcdonald, Fisk, Gibbons
and Stanton.
odd acquaintance" after a lapse
of five years, seemed peculiar.
The speaker had known Mr.. Fisk
for the past twenty-five years. He
knew the others later, although
their acquaintance dated back
fifteen years.
During the past five years great
progress has been made in northern
Minnesota. When the judge came
to the district there were few
practicing attorneys in the district.
The five years that have elasped
have been so progressive in char
acter in this district as to equal
many terms of years in a we'll
sattled community.
During that time the bar of the
Fifteenth district had made such
progress that the speaker would
willingly set it against any other
bar in the state of Minnesota.
Go to the city," said the speaker,
and pick out the four best lawyers
there. They began in the country.
The best lawyers came from the
country. Young lawyers in the
country study hard and rely on
themselves while the young men in
the city mostly rely on others. The
best of the good lawyers began in
the country, by relying on them.
selves.
Judge Spoooner stated that he was
proud of the young lawyers in this
district, and he commended them to
learn the law thoroughly when they
were young. He could not say too
much in favor of the young lawyers
in this district; they were workers.
Judge Spooner said he appreciated
the esteem and confidence the bar
had displayed toward him. The
last five years of his life have been
the most satisfactory in his exist
ance. At times his duties seemed
very weighty. No time would ever
come when the JOY and happiness
experienced in his work among the
bar of the Fifteenth judicial district
would be forgotten.
There had not been any time in
which he had not felt that he was
under obligations to the county
officials in the district for their many
acts of kindness and courtesies to-
ward him.
The speaker stated that in again
taking his place among the ranks of
the bar he had no regret except that
he was sorry that he was going to
remove from among those present at
the banquet. He was delighted to
lay aside his official position and re-
sumo the practice of law.
Never, so long as life shall last,