Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-11-29
DEAsY IN NEW YORK.


A banquet OF the Maine society OF rev
York was given at the Hotel Martinique
last Thursday evening, Nov. %.
Ex-Congressman Charles e. Littlefeld,
president OF the society, presided. Brief
addresses were made by J. c. Hamiin, OF
Portland, Woodbury. Blair, former pri-
vate secretary of the late Senator Frye,
and by Hon. L. B. Deasy, OF Bar Harbor.
Following are some OF the flashes of wit
and wisdom with which Mr. Deasy enter
tanned his fellow-guests:
81 understand that what is expected from
me is not q speech, but 9 message from
home; message from Maine, our common
mother. She sends this message: That
she is as well as can be expected, that she
has this fall contracted some cold which,
judging by past experiences, she will not
be relieved Of for several months; that last
September she nearly had an attack OF
nervous prostration, but that her constitu-
tion is yet unimpaired.
ssShe counts herself unfortunate, however,
in that whenever any OF her sons and
daughters develop more than ordinary
ambition or display more than usual
promise, they leave her and take up their
residences in New York or some other
distant state, but she counts herself for
tunate in that, however far her children
may wander, they do not forget her, but
look back ever with love and longing.
sin speaking OF Maine to an audience un-
acquainted with it one is handicapped by
their want OF familiarity with the Lam
guage one must perforce use. With you it
is different. You are to. the manor BORN
and when speak to you Of the stately
pines and dark spreading hemlocks over
arching the road leading from Skowhegan
to Seeboomook, you know that ! have not
been hunting up weird and spooky words
from Alice in Wonderland, but that l
am speaking Of actual geographical locali-
ties; and when l call to your mind the
view that presents itself to the delighted
eye OF him who stands on the summit of
Mount Katahdin and looks mort to
where the sun glints the surface OF lake
Wooiigosquigwam and where the pines
are reflected in the FURNISHED mirror OF
lake Apmongenegumock,y you know that
am not practising vocal gymnastics, but
that am trying to describe the beauties
OF Maine; and when ! speak OF the vista
seen from that same lofty eminence look
ing northwesterly to where the Conquom-
gomoc river has its rise, and remind you
that you can trace its course in q silver
thread across the meadows where it forms
20 I'm xxtstk he has 30, NJ
thence enthusiastically to where il leaps
in wild, turbulent cascades over the triple
falls OF Debsconeak, Pockwockamus and
Aboljackomegus, and then winds its
devious way through forests until it loses
itself in lake Ambajejus- alien audi
ence would accuse me of talking about
the Boer war or Of hunting up hard words
to try to spell down . Boston schoolma am.
But you know that am trying as best /
may to describe in a. simple language as
possible perfectly familiar scene in your
native State.
"Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his essay
on Language inveighs against the rigid
ity of the vocal organs of the New Eng
land people. He compares the New Eng
landers in this respect with residents
OF southern countries much to the disad-
vantage Of the former. He says:
See the brown peasant Of the plastic South,
How All his passions play about his mouth. :
With Us the feature that transmits the soul,
frozen, passive, palsied, breathing hole.'
snow this may be true OF Boston; think
it is. 1t may be true Of Cambridge where
DR.. Holmes lived. But it is not true Of
Maine. People who have to stand ready at
all times to direct strangers as to the best
route to take from Chemquasabantacock
to Ripojenus Falls by the way OF lakes
Wooligosquigwan and Apmougenegunock
can't do business with any frozen mouth.
II want to explain to you in perfectly
non partisan way, as becomes this nom
partisan organization, the recent political
revolution which we experienced. Iwapt
to do this in language which you will un-
derstand, habituated as you have become
to the Manhattan dialect. man boosted
that his son, who had recently returned
home after completing his course at Yale,
could speak four languages poker, base
ball, college and, rather imperfectly, Eng
lish. From my reading OF the metropoIi-
tan press l am convinced that base ball
language will be fairly Ineligible here.
"You see it was this way: For about
thirty years the democrats in Maine had
not made home run. They had not even
been to the bat in all that time. The re-
publican nine got careless. Gov. Cobb
undertook to knock out . three bagger
with the Sturgis law. He did not connect.
Then the State treasurer got out. Nobody,
not even the umpire, knows exactly how
it happened, but he certainly did get out
lot money!. Then, with two men out and
with new pitcher in the box, Gov. Fer
maid went to the bat last year. He could
not see the ball. He famed. He was
struck out.
"And since that time Plaisted, johnson,
Gardner, McGuillicuddy and Gould have
all made home runs, and they have got
two or three more men ON bases But the