The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-09-29
GOV. FRANCIS SPEAKS TO
THOUSANDS AT FARMINGToN

GOV. FRANCIS SPEAKS TO
THOUSANDS AT FARMINGTON
1t was IA splendid crowd thai
greeted former Governor David X
Francis at the Pennington FAN
Grounds last Thursday afternoon
The amphitheater, which seats sevc,
raj thousand people, was packed
from top to bottom, aud two or thrc,
thousand more were on the grounds
II was big day for the Fair. On Il
platform jutting out from the lower
passway Of the amphitheater Gov
| ernUr Francis faced tn" vast throug
| that occupied the seats tier after
tier. 1t was goodly company Of
st. Francois cOunty's well-dressed
well-to-do and intelligent men,
women aud school children, bright.
faced and eager, that gave him wei
come. And the glow on the Gov
ernor's face showed that he appre-
ciated 1t aud was glad to be there,
President j S. Clay Of the South
east Missouri Fair Association, in
introducing Governor Francis and
referring to his candidacy for the
Democratic nomination for United
States Senator, among other com
plhncntnry things, said OF him;
He may or may not be elected to
the Senate, but he is big enough fot
the job; big enough to take the plac"
of Benton, Vest or Cockrell big
enough to stand beside any citizen
and !i@H!h!c enough to extend the
hand of sympathy to the lowest"
Governor Francis said he was
glad to meet H." people Of Southeast
Missouri; that h" felt ut home
among them; that they were his
uoighhnrs, and that be- had been in
clos" touch with them in business
way since he was . boy. He said
h" was In the employ Of commits.
sion firm in st. Louis when he was
nineteen years Of age, and had
learned to know and had become nc
quainted with the people OF this sec
ton through the business dealings
Of his employers with them; and nf-
forwards, whrr Il" went into bust
ness for himself, he kept up that
close business relationship.
He congratulated the Southeast
Missouri Fair Association on the
splendid Fair they had built up and
the success with which they had
met, Of the advantages Of the fair
TO the community and its curuur-
agemcnt to the breeding Of GOOD
stock and the advancement Of agri.
cultural enterprises. He also re-
ferrcd to the Worlds Fair uf 1904
OF which he was President and q
vital moving spirit; of the Luulsi-
ana Purchase, Of which it was A
centennial celebration, and OF that
great patriot, Thomas Jefferson,
whose foresight and statesmunshir
secured for US vast domain west
Of the Mississippi river and made
possible the acquisition of othe,
stretches of territory on to the
golden shores OF the Pacific. lie
told not only of the benefit which
the Louisiana Purchase exposition
had been to Missouri, by attractin!
attention to this State, which ha,
been systematically maligned by
CONSTRUCTORS political enemies M
poor old Missouri Il calumn,
they no longer dare utter, but II,
told of the financial success of tina
enterprise and of the surplus tina
remained and which was Ia be use,
in the construction of u splend;
memorial Ia and statute of ThOma
Jefferson In st. Louis, in tardy rec
, ognition of his great stroke of go
MUS in purchasing the vast Louis
ana territory from France fer
paltry $1,000, 600
Governor Francis said Southeas
Missouri was responsible for hi
: being IN politics; that ii was
. Southeast Missouri delegation in
convention at st. Louis in 1854 tha
suggested him rs one of the del,
gates Mt large from this State to til
Democratic National Convention c
that year-and he was elected. u
to that time he had not thought c
entering politics, but to his electio
then as delegate was largiy du
his selection subsequently by hi
J party as the nominee for Mayor {