New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-07
Any Old Banquet
By Deems Taylor.

Certain public functions, like church wsd.
dings, society banqucts, and Indignation meet.
ings Of property ol0Hers' associations, ara
allooys happening. The newspapers cannu,
ignore them; pet no reporter has ever pet sue.
ceeded in writing anything neto about any one
Of them The Tribune Magazine has at Lr,.
solved this difficulty NTH its Ready Helps 70,
Reporters7 series. Armed NTH copy of Form
d., appended herewith, any reporter may st
comfortably at his desk and, by yerely filing
IN few names, turn out complete and aecE.
rate account Of any public banquet he n.ay
be called upon to coUer.l
r 7 PWARD Of - hundred members ard
~ guests of the - were present las.
night at the organizations til annual
banquet, held in the Grand Ballroom Of the
- Hotel The guest of honor for the even
ing was State Senator -, famous as the
author of the - bill. President - Of
the society was postmaster, the speakers be-
ing: Professor - of - University; the
Rev. DR.. -; -, the poet; and Irwin Cobb.
President - in his opening address out
lined the activities of the organization dur
ing the past year, and predicted great things
for the future. He pointed out that during
l9- - new members have been secured,
bringing the total membership up to -. He
drew special attention to this phenomenon in
its bearing upon the problem Of national pre-
paredness and the mobilization of our re-
sources, and by way of illustration told an
amusing anecdote about an Irishman and N
elephant. Introducing the guest of the even.
ing, he referred to him as "the man who has
done more to further the cause of - than
all the - in the country"
Senator -, in responding to the toast at
once sounded the keynote Of the evening. upon
an occasion such as this" he observed, "whaa
no man can say truly what the morrow maJ
hold for US, it i'll behooves US to allow our
vision to be blinded by prejudice or petty self
interest. We should look upward, not down.
ward; forward, not backward, and having once
put our hands to the ploughshare we must
let the chips fall where they may. Grave
problems are confronting US daily, problems
such as -, which in my own poor way I
have sought TO partly at least, solve through
the agency of the bill bearing my name, which
is now before the lower house of the State
Legislature | need hardly point out the i'm
portance of this incident in its bearing upon
the problem of national preparedness and tho
mobilization of our resources" In conclusion
the Senator told an amusing anecdote abous
an Irishman and horse.
Professor spoke upon modern educa-
tiona problems deploring the modern ten
Cency to minimize the Importance of a classical
education and the growing spirit of material
ism among the young men of to-day. lie
pointed out the grave Importance Of this sta,e
of affairs in its bearing upon the question Of
national preparedness and the mobilization Of
our resources, relating, by way of illustration,
an amusing anecdote about an Irishman AMI
a giraffe.
After the Rev. DR.. - had pointed out
the significance Of the story of Jonah and the
whale, in its bearing upon the question of an
increased navy, the poet, -, read an org-
nal ode, written for the occasion Irwin Cobb
told some of his inmtable Southern stories,
winding up with an amusing anecdote about
an Irishman and goat.
A notable feature of the evening occurred
shortly before the close of the banquet, when
the diners were connected over the transcon-
tinental telephone line with the members q
the -- Club of San Francisco, four thousand
miles distant. After an interchange Of con-
gratuatory messages between President ----
and the president of the - Club --. the
well-known barytone who was a guest at the
San Francisco dinner, sang "A Perfect Day.
his voice coming over the wire with wonderful
dstnctness.
Handsomely bound commemorative menus
were distributed each containing an auto
graphed portrait Of Senator -. The ices
were served in souvenir boxes cleverly made
up as miniature -.
Among the distinguished people present were
Major General - acting commander Of the
department of the -; Henry w. -, pres-
dent Of the - Company; Deputy Dstric.