The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1909-09-28
DehUers an 4 ddress
Upon the. State
Fair Grounds
BILLOWS OF SOUND
Great Crowd ROars Out Its Welcome
to Chief Executive of NatiOn.-En.
tertainment of Fair Forgotten When
Train Bearing President Reaches
the Grounds Exhibits Are Viewed.

u ELENA, Mont, Seut. 27-William
HI Howard Taft, president of these
United States, this afternoon de-
llvered an address at the fair grounds
before an audience made up of people
from all over the state.
A long, sharp toot of locomotive
whistle was heard, shortly before 4
o'clock. Some one, high up in the
grandstand, looked and saw train
winding its way toward the spur to
the grounds.
He's coming; Taft's coming" was
the cry that went up. The racing
card was forgotten. The crowd buzzed
with suppressed excitement, while the
people on the grounds started for the
gates leading to the trains. Soldiers
and the ground police held them back.
In few minutes, the train puffed up
to the platform and stopped. Cheer
ing which could be heard a mile away
broke out and was long continued. The
state reception committee broke into
huzzahs, the band struck up, Hail to
the Chief"
| President Taft had arrived.
| Accompanied by his party he en-
tered the grounds. through the furthest
gate to the west. A roped passage
way led directly to the door at the
southwest corner of the main exhibi-
tion building. On the west side Of
the passage way the governor and
other state officials were standing,
and on the east side was the state re-
ception committee. All wore badges
which were adorned with Taft's like
ness
AS the nations ruler entered the
grounds the applause was deafening.
He bowed to the right and left.
smiled and quickly entered the exhibi-
tion hall, followed by the automobile
escort, the state officers and supreme
court justices, five army officers from
Fort Harrison and the directors of the
state fair.
The building had been cleared some
minutes previously of all visitors, and
after the president and the others had
spent 20 minutes in the building, they
left by the same door they had en-
tered. Automobiles were waiting and
in regular order they were filled and
! started for the opening of the track.
| 1t was here that the crowd maSsed
about the speakers stand obtained
their first view of the president and
cheering broke out.
| 1t was a great billow of sound, ris-
ing higher and higher and it rolled
across to the mountains and back
again. They, too, welcomed the first
man in the land. Again and again the
crowd burst out in applause. The
Boston and Montana band played,
Hail to the Chief" as it had never
played it before, but the tones were
drowned in the vocal reception ac-
corded to Taft.
Taft smiled and bowed and waved
his hand, and in his response to the
acclamations of the crowd there was
! a cordiality and frankness which i'm
mediately won for him the friendship
of the great throng. He mounted the
platform and stepped forward, facing
the audience. The party which ac-
companied him through the exhibition
hall, occupied seats on the stand,
while the reception committee stood
Immediately beneath the stand in the
space reserved for them, which was
staked off with posts and ropes and
surrounded by soldiers and policemen.
surrounding the speakers stand was
a platform, about three feet high. Two
special officers stood on both the
west and east sides and four stood
facing the audience, watching 1t in