The Alaska citizen., 1912-10-14

am fast getting an affection for tho l country that l see all around me. 1 am getting so that l want to com i back to it. even though am not 1 yet out of it. l am getting to be q ] sourdough. Anyway I've got sour i dough in my system. with sourdough i hot cakes in the morning. and ir
 the evening. But gentlemen. want ! to promise you that l shall do wha, i l can, that l shall use my best en deavor to do all that can to fur
 ther the advancement of the trans
 portation of this territory"
 Following MT lngersolrs assur
 ance of his firm desire and inten tion to promote the development of this country by the increase of her all too small and insufficient trans pOrtation facilities. the toastmaster called on one who well remembers when those facilities were even less than they are now. Bill McPhee I've been twenty-six years in Alas ka, tWenty-four of it spent in the interior. The early days of the territory were then mentioned by the good old sourdough. I'm going to stay here right along, too, thank you, was the way he finished amid tho nF ,ri
 Tom Marquam was then called upon. MT. Marquam gave all the credit 10 the roughneck. who even then was in the hills developing the country.
 John Roman then said that the peo- pie of the Iditarod were with the
 Fairbanksans body and soul in the procuring of a railroad from the coast to the Panama valley. Albert Bell then sang Mary" so beautifully that an encore was demanded Shouts for Annie Laurie" made the popular tenor sing that famous scotch ballad as an encore Delegate WiCkersham arose at the conclusion of the song and proposed a toasr TO the noble pioneer women of Alaska which made every man present drain his glass. A ten-min ute recess was then held during which a flashlight photo of the gathering was taken.
 MT. Roth, taking for his subject the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden North, was the first speaker after the recess. He dwelt on the wonderful nucleus for a new civilization to be found in the chil- dren of the country, and promised that if the government would but
 lend us it's support, Alaskans would see to it that the railroad would be a paying proposition from the start. On behalf of the Commercial cluh. its Vice-president, MT F. s. Gordon then welcomed the commissioners to the city. He impressed upon
 them the importance of having a railroad by 1917, when We will hold the Alaska Semi-Centennial Exrosi- ton in this city. A most amusing Scotch story was then told them by MT. Gordon in his inimitable style.
 Mir. E. C. Rowland, of the Alaska Exploration company, then spoke Of the high cost of operation in this
 country because of the inadeluate and high transportation facilities
 Mir, Whitely then gave a whistling solo.
 Martin Harrais was then called up
 on and replied very forcibly by ex- blaming to the commissioners just
 what Alaska had to have to come
 into her own. and how Alaskans would have to rely absolutely on
 their decision for her develonment | Judge Adams. chairman of the
 school board, spoke on the rising
 generation of the town: Mir. Adams | invited the commissioners to visit
 the school house In closing the judge
 put himself up as a shining example
 of the healthfulness of the country
 much to the amusement of the lis | teners.
 MT Sale touched briefly on the
 quartz of the country, saying in the
 course of his remarks that eight
 years ago Dr. Brooks had prophesied
 that there was quartz in the Fair banks country.
 At the suggestion of Major Nor
 row "Auld Lang Syne" was sung by
 all. The major. himself and Roder
 Davis leading the chorus. Thus was
 the most successful banquet ever held in Fairbanks brought to a
 close The citizens went away with
 a fleeing that the greatest step in
 the development of Alaska had been | taken