The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-07

HE A0D-1 whereupon a big reel wound about with over 3 hundred yards of elastic was toted to view. It was unstrung and stretched about the room to illustrate the inde- finable and elusive contention. To save future trouble the line was cut up in garter lengths and distributed among the guests.
 There were two or three famous Grid iron dinners, following the election of William Mckinley as President He had begun attending the dinners while a member of Congress. The famous tele- phonie conversation with Mr Mckinley at Canton took place at the first of these dinners. The messages received from the President-elect at the Gridiron end of the line were decidedly pertinent to some of the guests. For instance. the late Rep resentative Boutelle of Maine, chairman of the House naval committee. had been Frequently named as a possible secretary of the navy. The message came over the wire asking if MT Boutelle was there, and the answer flew back: "Yes. and waiting"
 A little later message came for Speak. CT Thomas B. Reed, who was one of the Gridiron clubs favorites and a frequent guest at it's board.
 ''ls MT. Reed present." was the inqui- ". Yes, he is here" was the reply, but almost before the words had been spoken there came the familiar drawl from the speaker, But not waiting"
 It was at that dinner that the club pre- sented Mr. Boutelle with an immense portfolio. on the outside of which ap- peared in great letters. Navy Upon opening it he discovered a page of equal size containing the simple but effective word, Mt"
 President Mckinley, his new cabinet. and Mark Hanna were all present at the dinner held in March. 1897. The seat of the clubs president was usurped at one stage by Napoleon (McKinley) in uniform demanding the immediate introduction of Prosperity It was introduced in the shape of a huge pie, 12 feet in circumfer- ence, made especially for the occasion The Napoleonic individual seized and turned the pie over to Senator Hanna, to whom a large cleaver was handed, but before he could grasp it a great mob of Ohioans rushed in, grabbed the pie in large sections and carried 1t away. It was at that dinner that MT. Hanna made his first public speech The quickness and brightness of his retort, when he was brought to his feet by the Pie" has been long remembered by those present MT. Hanna was one of the very few public men who never failed of an invi- tation to the club.
 An impersonation, which proved very entertaining, at the time. occurred a year later. when Senator Lodge of Massachu- setts, and Representative Grosvenor of Ohio were presented as representing re- spectively Civil Service Reform and the Spells System. The impersonators of those public men, arrayel in fan mel sweaters and tights entered a ring and fought under Marquis of Queens bery rules till the representative of the Spells System was grabbed by his long whiskers and thrown to the floor. He was carried out on stretcher, ton an ap- propriate dirge, while the victor departed with swelling chest
 In like vein there have been imper- sonations of notable occurrences, past and prospective, even down to the recent De- cember dinner. where there was an Afri- can jungle scene, with President Roose- welt it's central figure. The animals howled and hooted when the lights were turned out. Then followed a scene where the President was dictating magazine sto- ries, as an auditor stood by, counting the eminent authors earnings at the rate of $1 a word. One of the great hits of recent years was the appearance of Mirza Ali Asgar Khan, grand vizier of Persia. He had been announced in the morning papers as an arrival in Washington. Dur ing the dinner he came in to the Grid iron dinner, leaning on a staff and an attendant, and took a prominent seat which had been presented to him. In pa- thetie broken English he complimented Senator Beveridge. of Indiana. on the great value of his new book, "The Rus sian Advance" and remarked that he would like to read a copy.
 Tt would give me exquisite pleasure to present you with an autograph copy. May I ask your eXcellency what is your address?" asked the Indiana senator.
 w H. Taft, then secretary of war and fresh from the Philippines. walked around two or three tables to shake hands with the grand vizier. He was "on' better than Beveridge, as a ''roguish, juvenile twinkle in his eyes' demonstrated. Fiji nally the grand vizier was called upon for a speech, unfolded a manuscript as long as the history of "rhe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" He soon created a sensation by a violent attack upon Germany and Russia, both of whose ambassadors were present. The president of the club interrupted him with warning. whereupon the speaker. angry, gathered his saffron robe about him and was leaving in a huff. As he proceeded he tore off his whiskers and the paint on his face, revealing a well known member of the club to the aston ished banqueters.
 The clubs distinguished kguest list is almost interminable Harrison was the first President to attend dinner and came several times thereafter, once when he was an ex-President. He was one of the happiest after-dinner speakers at the clubs table Cleveland never attended a Grdiron dinner, but almost every nota- ble man connected with his administra- ton did Mckinley was frequent guest. Roosevelt was attending Gridiron dn- ners long before he came in sight of the White House. ln the earlier days pres- dents accepted, as a rule, but one inva- tation a year.
 President Roosevelt has almost inva- riably come to two dinners annually. President Sanford B. Dole of the Repub- lie of Hawaii and several presidents of Central and South American republics have been at the Gridiron dinners. J. F.erpont Morgan has been there fre- uuently, but never makes a speech. B. H. Hartman has come there four times and at his last appearance did make a speech,