Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-04-27
Hundreds Crowd Kruger
: Auditorium to Welcome
Home the King of
Cyclists and Cheer Him
for His Victories on
~ the Foreign Tracks.
II. r.. NJ

aaFNA
fete was ever before honored In this
Community. The occasion was dol
i lar dinner given to Kramer on his re-
tarsl from a most glorious and VIC
,storiDua campaign abroad. Nothing
alike the Kramer dinner has ever hap
pened around here. Friends, admir-
ms and well-wishers to the number OF
about 500 gathered to pay their re-
aspects to the great American cham
spion, and beautiful sentiment rer-
vsded the atmosphere throughout the
@Yeping. High praises md raT" com
pliments were heaped upon the guest
Of honor by men whose words amount
TO something, and Kramer though
used to the worshippings of thou
sands and the plaud Is of even more
sat through II all, blushing like q
hthoolboy and plainly showing at
times that the kind remarks Of the
speakers had surrey reached the
heart.
IT, Kramer wanted to be a big man on
this particular occasion, but he didn't
have the power to subdue his feelings
He was the recipient of an honor Of
all his numerous honors which he rel
ished most. His victories on the bike
!, track are always sweet to him, but
Kramer never felt more proud than
when he viewed the vast gathering
ha. thnaA nrnEant had
Come to pay him homage. AS Will
lam A. McManus, the POSTMASTER, re-
ferred to some of the great feats OF
Kramer, the champions face flushed
q brilliant red, but when His Honor,
Jacob Haussling, the mayor, faced
Kramer and talked to him like n
kind father, the conqueror of con-
duerors was conquered within him
helf, 1t wasn't a speech that Mayor
Haussling made, it was a sort OF
bentt heart talk. and was filled
with beautiful sentiment. Kramer
was p'ainly affected, and when the
F.. mayor presented to him a valuable
split-second watch, the gift OF his
'grlends, the great champion could
hardly respond. The applause that
followed the presentation gave Kra-
fner an opportunity to recover, but
his thoughts were not ent rely clear
and he was stumped for the loss of
"word. He managed to say Thank
s.ssl.,, - bnt that was enough. He
showed more in his actions than
=. words could speak, and when he sat
down he was gwen an ovation.
G
The Kramer dinner was not the
ordinary kind of dinner you hear
hbout. 1t was a gathering of friends
to greet a friend. to greet a young
man, who by his marvellous speed
and cunning on n bicycle track, has
Brought fame to himself, both In this
country and in foreign climes, and
has brought tremendous attention to
.fhe community in which he lives. Yes,
the gathering we are discussing was
one big friendly family and the diners
came there for the sole purpose of
paying tribute 10 a worthy fellow
man. Most of those present knew
Kramer personally and others knew
him through his fame. But one and
al alike knew full well that he was
deserving of the fete in his honor and
they We're delighted to be counted in
on II by at least their presence. Sew
eral times during the evening Kra-
alner, said within my hearing, This
IS the happiest moment of my life,"
md there was no mistaking his feel
ing in the matter. He had been wined
and dlned and praised abroad, but
his own good people had never before
paid him tribute in such way. II
Mas the crown of his success-his
happiness was complete. His tri-
eumphs on the bike will perhaps never
be eqnalled by mortal man, yet Kra-
lller. l dare say, will remember with
great pleasure the festive occasion Of
saturday evening, when other of the
numerous happenings in which he
has been concerned are all forgotten
- sl G
The arraneements for the nner
Were fine. and everything occ lrred
just as planned by the celebra on
committee. which was composed of
Matthew J. o Brien. chairman; Will
lam cardwell, former mayor of E asst
orange, the home of Kramer; Harry
r. Hays, Edwin G. Koenig and Harry
+. Beidon. For weeks these men had
worked hard to make the AFFAIR sue
cess, and the result was co nplete.
The dinner part of the program was
only Incidental. The large gathering
the Joyous feeling, the delight to be
present on such an occasion was the
whole intent and purpose of the af-
ifaiel 1t was a Kramer dinner, ana il
was Kramer n ght He was king,
yet he was as humble as a schoolboy
.tn 8ihis greatness. Always modest
sonnet mes cold footed" as the boys
AT the track would say, Kramer was
al a-flurry. He was glad to be there
over to his home in East Orange
where ne could sit down by his quiet
little self and just think over the
honors he had received and so highly
appreciated. If Kramer had the git
of oratery OF an Amos G. Batchelder
who made the principal address oil
the evenins %. would no dou' have
expressed his ceilings in his own way
Barking in such gift the ch mp'or
asked me II / would kindly say In tbs
sl.vening Star what he would have
sisksd to have said to the diners per-
H.. tnta-nrotaa I-rau,ar as