The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-06-01
BOOSTER CROWD
.. VISITS CITY

by big mogul engine, equipment of
the 500 line, carrying on board 120
leading business men of Minneapolis,
pulled into the city at 7:10 last eve-
ming. Accompanying the bunch Of
boosters was the 151st Minnesota
Regiment Band which had been over
seas. The band is a fine organiza-
tion and gave very much enjoyed
concert for an hour and half in the
city park following the speeches. Geo.:
C. Jones, of Minneapolis, was chair
man of the organization and first in
troduced Mayor Andrew G. Bonhus,
who welcomed the visitors to the city
and assured them that the people of
Valley City and surrounding country
were indeed glad to have come out to
get better acquainted with the people
of this section. H. O. Cooley, also of
Minneapolis, was then introduced and
made a very fine talk on the aims of
the bunch present and stated that the
northwest and Minneapolis had every
thing in common-that what was pros
perity for North Dakota meant pros
perity for Minneapolis and vica versa
He said that the boosters were out af-
ter business and he did not want to
camouflage anything. He. wanted the
good will of our business men and he
wanted the good will of the farmers,
because if the latter had good crops
and prosperity it meant that they
would get business from the business
men and that meant prosperity for
Minneapolis. 1t was a genuine heart
to heart talk and was much enjoyed.
The band then finished the exercises
in the city park and the visitors with
Ia couple of hundred business men of
this city repaired to the Elks Home
to enjoy smoker and some talks.
Mr.. Jones continued to preside and
the first number on the program was
some community singing, both visit
ors and city fellows heartily joining
in. Mayor George Leach, colonel of
the famous 151st regiment, and who
lead the regiment in France, and
since coming back has been elected
mayor Of the finest city in the coun-
try, was first introduced. The mayor
paid his respects to the good people
of the northwest, complimented the
folks here, boosted his home city and
made a fine plea for the soldiers bo-
nus, claiming that the boys were en-
titled to it just as much as the prof
iteer who got a big bonus for what
he had to sell as a result of the war
and while the boys were fighting for
one dollar per day. His plea was
sound reasoning and took well. The
mayor is real fellow and has a fund
of humorous stories to intertwine
with his good thoughts. Then we had
some singing by a quartet of boosters
who brought down hearty encores
from the crowd. Following this came
a real artist as a speaker-Rev. Roy
Smith, pastor of the Simpson Metho-
dist Church of Minneapolis. The par
son was introduced as real fellow
and he proved it He is fine, easy
talker, has a fund of wit and humor
and we venture to say that his hear
ers last night were delighted at his
efforts. Mr.. Smith is to lecture at
our Chautauqua, we are told, and we
can promise those who did not hear
him last night a great treat. No
gathering like that of last night
would be complete if we did not have
some local speaker on the program,
so Hon. Lee Combs was selected to
talk for Valley City and he made a
fine talk. His line of thought was
upon what we have heard so much
about in politics of late years - the
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce.
Mr.. Combs contended that it was
hard to make the farmers of the coun
try believe that they are getting a
square deal from that organization
and that giving the farmers square
deal meant more to Minneapolis than
any other agency possible could mean
because Minneapolis was the one great
market for the northwest. Any crit
icisms that Mr.. Combs might have
made were meant in good faith and
were pertinent and timely, and while
the writer did not hear Mr.. Combs,
those who did tell US that it was a
very fine effort. The balance of the
time was spent in social smoker and
the business men of the city met and
enjoyed closer acquaintance with
the business men of Minneapolis,
Strengthening friendships and busi-
ness relations very materially. Their
annual tours serve a dual purpose.
First, they give US an opportunity to
get better acquainted with the men
we deal with largely through CORES