Norwich bulletin., 1916-02-11

c. o. MURPHY, F. N. instructive and eloquent made the fea- ture of the annual banquet of Rev. Daniel Mullen assembly, fourth degree, Knights of Columbus, which was held on Thursday evening at the Wauregan house where covers were laid for 70;
 The two speakers to whom the Knights and their lady guests listen ed with so much pleasure were Cor poration Counsel Joseph T. Planning of this city and Judge Edward L. Smith of the court of common pleas of Hart ford
 Promptly at s15 the Knights escort ed the ladies to the banquet room where the following, well chosen menu was served:
 
 Grape Fruit, Macedoine
 Cream of Celery Soup
 Waters
 Celery and Olives
 Boiled Fillet of Cod. Shrimp Sauce
 Hollandaise Potatoes
 Chicken Croquettes, Sauce Supreme
 Rosette Potatoes French Rolls
 Dinner Rolls
 Neapolitan Ice Cream
 Assorted Cake
 H '9f7 Demi Tasse
 Seated at the head of the table were Faithful Navigator Charles O. Ms1r- phy and Mrs. Murphy. Judge Edward l.. Smith, Revs. J. H. Fitzmaurice. Myles P. Calvin, W. H. Kennedy, W. A. Keefe. of Plainfield, R. R. Morrisey of Voluntown. Corporation Counsel Jo- seph T. Tanning, Mayor T. c. Murphy, and Miss Isabel Murphy. John M Lee, master of the fourth degree in this state, and Mrs. Lee.
 M,,.~L~,
 When the last course had been dis cussed Faithful Navigator Charles O. Murphy pleasantly opened the post prandial exercises by introducing Mayor T. c. Murphy as the first speak CT.
 Mayor Murphy expressed the great pleasure that he felt in being present at this banquet of the Rev. Daniel Mullen assembly. He mentioned some of the facts about the growth of the assembly in the past year, sixty-th having been gained in that time. He referred to the insurance feature of the order and advised all the members new as well as old to pay more attention to this side of the organization.
 Corporation Counsel Fannins.
 Corporation Counsel Tanning follow cd the mayor with an address that held the close attention of the ban quetters as he sketched some of the conditions and beliefs that preceded by several hundred years the sailing of Christopher Columbus upon the voyage of discovery
 The speaker said thaat recently he had read that a mere man had stated that the greatest delight of his life was to go to church, and upon being asked for his reason said thaat it was because of the wonderful thing that happened there-the man in the pulpit could keep a crowd of women from talking for half an hour. I disclaim any such prejudice, said MT. Tanning. and indeed I sympathhize with the ladies, who have honored us with their presence, that they are obliged to keep quiet while I compress the common places of my recital into the minutes which are set apart for me on the stop watch which the chairman is holding to get as his share of the performance. l trust that they will not feel it nec- essary as a matter of self protection to go to sleep, but rather to take an interest in things pertaining to Co., lumbus, if for no other reason, be- cause his glory and the advances of civilization resulting from his achieve ments were due to the courage. the en- terprise and splendid generosity of one of woman-kind. the illustrious Isabella, queen of Spain.
 Honor Memory of Columbus.
 Every gathering of the Knights of Columbus, besides it's advertised pur- pose. is intended to honor the memory of Columbus. to gather now glory for the name of him whom we have adopt ed for our hero. And as l have been impressed by things which have read about the great discoverer. I do not think it will be amiss to speak of some of the incidents of history which are incidents to the success of the eventful voyage which brought him through the Sea of Darkness to the blessed landing on San Salvador. Early Theories of Earth's Roundness
 There is much that Is fantastic about the conditions which have some times been mentioned as inspiring or recting the great historical venture of Columbus. It has been said that the knowledge Of the roundness of the earth was new in his day or that he was the first to appreciate that fact. That, of course, is not so. Aristotle, teacher of Alexander the Great, proved all the proofs known to us except that of an actual cireumnavigation. From 1250 to 1850 merchants and Francis can monks from Europe had estab- lished lines of land travel to China or Cathay-and from sSeh visits it became known that there were sea- ports in China looking out upon the ocean, and Marco Polo, the Venetian, in his book or travel made known that even beyond the far distant Chi- ma was another land which he caNed Cfpango, being Japan, which he claim ed was still further out a thousand miles in the ocean.
 After 1250 when it became known in Europe that there were seaports in China, the wonderful theory was ad- vanced that by sailing westward from Portugal these ports might be reach ed by straight-away sailing. 1t being considered that there was but one these countrieA And this doctrine was most strenuously advanced in l267 by that wonderful son of the church, the monk Roger Bacon.
 Studied Arohbishop's Book.
 When Marco Polo, after twenty years of service with the ruler of the