Part 36

_Gentlemen_--I beg you to accept my thanks for this banquet spread in honor of this community of strangers who have dropped in upon you to-night. We come to you after dark. I am not, therefore, prepared to speak of Pasadena. When the sun shall have lightened your landscape again and our expectant eyes shall have rested upon its glories, I shall be able to give you my impressions of your city, which I am already prepared to believe is one of the gems in the crown of California. [Applause.]

Perhaps no other place in California has by name been more familiar to me than Pasadena, if you except your great commercial city of San Francisco. That comes from the fact that many of your early settlers were Indiana friends. I am glad to meet some of these friends here to-night. It is pleasant to renew these old acquaintances, to find that they have been received with esteem in this new community. I have found a line of Hoosiers all along these railroads we have been traversing.

Everywhere our train has stopped some Hoosier has lifted his hand to me, and often by dozens. As I said the other day, Ohio men identify themselves to me by reason of that State being my birthplace, but it is not a surprise to me to find an Ohio man anywhere. [Laughter.] Ohio people are especially apt to be found in the vicinity of a public office. [Laughter.] I suppose whatever good fortune has come to me in the way of political preferment must be traced to the fact that I am a Buckeye by birth. [Laughter.] And now I thank you most cordially again for your attention and kindness. California has been full of the most affectionate interest to us. I have never looked into the faces of a more happy and intelligent people than those I have seen on the Pacific coast. [Applause.]

You occupy the most important position in the sisterhood of States, stretching for these several hundred miles along the Pacific shore. You have fortunate birth, and your history has been a succession of fortunate surprises. You have wrought out here great achievements in converting these plains that seemed to be so unpromising to the eye into such gardens as cannot be seen anywhere else upon the continent. [Applause.]

And now, when I remind you that bedtime was 1 o'clock last night and the reveille sounded at 6 o'clock this morning on our car, I am sure you will permit me to say good-night. [Applause.]

SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The first stop on Friday was at San Fernando, the home of Dr. J. K. Hawks, who for twenty years was General Harrison's near neighbor. The Committee of Reception was: R. P. Waite, S. Maclay, J. Burr, J. S. Kerns, C. Smith, Colonel Hubbard, Mesdames Bodkin, Hubbard, Smith, and Misses Platt, Gower, and Jennie Hawks.

Dr. Hawks made a brief address of welcome and introduced the President, who said:

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--I am pleased to be introduced to you by my old and honored friend, and I do sincerely hope that he has won your respect to the same extent which I learned to respect him when he was my neighbor. I hope you will excuse me from speaking further. I thank you all for your friendly greeting.

SANTA PAULA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The thriving town of Santa Paula, Ventura County, gave the President and his party a hearty reception, distinguished above others by a truly mammoth floral piece 24 feet long by 6 feet in width, covered with calla-lilies, and bearing the word "Welcome" in red geranium letters 40 inches in height. The Committee of Reception was: W. L. Hardison, Chairman; Casper Taylor, Rev. F. D. Mather, C. J. McDevitt, F. A. Morgan, F. E. Davis, J. B. Titus, C. H. McKevett, N. W. Blanchard, Dr. D. W. Mott, C. N. Baker, A. Wooleven, Harry Youngken, and S. C. Graham. The Major Eddy Post, G. A. R., Henry Proctor, Commander, was present.

Maj. Joseph R. Haugh, an old Indianapolis acquaintance, welcomed the President on behalf of the committee. President Harrison, replying, said:

_My Friends_--I cannot feel myself a stranger in this State, so distant from home, when I am greeted by some familiar faces from my Indiana home at almost every station. Your fellow-citizen who has spoken in your behalf was an old-time Indianapolis friend. I hope he is held in the same esteem in which he was held by the people among whom he spent his early years as a boy and man. [Cries of "He is!"] That you should have gone to the pains to make such magnificent decorations and to come out in such large numbers for this momentary greeting very deeply touches my heart.

I have never seen in any State of the Union what seems to me to be a more happy and contented people than I have seen this morning. Your soil and sun are genial, healthful, and productive, and I have no doubt that these genial and kindly influences are manifested in the homes that are represented here, and that there is sunshine in the household as well as in the fields; that there is contentment and love and sweetness in these homes as well as in these gardens that are so adorned with flowers. Our pathway has been strewn with flowers; we have literally driven for miles over flowers that in the East would have been priceless, and these favors have all been accompanied with manifestations of friendliness for which I am very grateful, and everywhere there has been set up as having greater glory than sunshine, greater glory than flowers, this flag of our country. [Applause.] Everywhere I have been greeted by some of these comrades, veterans of the late war, whose presence among you should be the inspiration to increased patriotism and loyalty. I bid them affectionate greeting, and am sorry that I cannot tarry with them longer. [Cheers.]

SAN BUENAVENTURA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

Three thousand people welcomed the party at San Buenaventura, including nearly 1,000 school-children, who bounteously provided the President and Mrs. Harrison with flowers. The Reception Committee consisted of: Mayor J. S. Collins, J. R. Willoughby, E. M. Jones, P. Bennett, C. D. Bonestel, N. H. Shaw, and Cushing Post, G. A. R., D. M. Rodibaugh, Commander.

Gen. William Vandever welcomed the party, and the President spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--I am very glad to meet my old friend and your former representative, General Vandever. I have had some surprise at almost every station at which we have stopped. I did not know until he came upon the platform that this was his home. I have not time to make a speech, and I have not the voice to make one. I can only say of these hearty and friendly Californians that my heart is deeply touched with this evidence of friendly regard. You have strewn my way with flowers; you have graced every occasion, even the briefest stop, with a most friendly greeting, and I assure you that we are most grateful for it all. You are fortunate in your location among the States; and I am sure that in all this great republic nowhere is there a more loyal and patriotic people than we have here on the Pacific coast. I thank you again for this greeting. [Cheers.]

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 24.

The reception at Santa Barbara was the most unique that the presidential party experienced on their trip, and also one of the most enjoyable; it was a veritable flower carnival.

Leading the procession was a Spanish cavalcade commanded by Carlos de la Guerra. The President's escort was a cavalcade of children marshalled by Mrs. Schermerhorn, with flower-decked saddles and bridles; then followed over 100 flower-trimmed equipages, each displaying a different design and flower and bespeaking the marvellous flora of Santa Barbara in the month of April. The stand from whence the President reviewed the procession and witnessed the Battle of Flowers was a floral triumph; 20,000 calla-lilies were used in its decoration and as many bright-colored flowers. The battle scene occurred on the grand stand, immediately opposite the reviewing stand, between several hundred ladies and gentlemen. The whole was a spectacle to be witnessed but once in a lifetime. The parade was under the direction of Grand Marshal D. W. Thompson, assisted by special aids George Culbertson, Dr. H. L. Stambach, T. R. Moore, Samuel Stanwood, Paschal Hocker, and C. A. Fernald. The Committee of Reception comprised Mayor P. J. Barber, C. F. Eaton, W. W. Burton, W. C. Clerk, I. G. Waterman, D. Baxter, E. P. Roe, Jr., C. E. Bigelow, Alston Hayne, Frank Stoddard, L. P. Lincoln, W. N. Hawley, J. W. Calkins, Geo. A. Edwards, C. C. Hunt, Edward M. Hoit, Hon. E. H. Heacock, Dr. J. M. McNulta, W. B. Cope, C. F. Swan, W. M. Eddy, J. C. Wilson, R. B. Canfield; also, Joseph Sexton, of Goleta; E. J. Knapp, of Carpinteria; T. R. Bard, of Hueneme; R. E. Jack and E. W. Steele, of San Luis Obispo; H. H. Poland, of Lompoc, and Dr. W. T. Lucas and Thomas Boyd, of Santa Maria. Starr King Post, G. A. R., C. A. Storke, Commander, participated in the reception.

After witnessing the parade the entire party, including the ladies, visited the ancient Mission of Santa Barbara and were taken within its sacred precincts, it being the second occasion on which any woman was admitted. At night they witnessed a Spanish dance, conducted by many ladies and gentlemen, under the direction of F. M. Whitney, Mrs. Bell, and Mrs. Dibblee. The eventful day closed with a public reception, participated in by 15,000 people.

Gen. Wm. Vandever delivered an address of welcome, to which the President, responding, said:

_General Vandever, Gentlemen of the Committee and Friends_--If I have been in any doubt as to the fact of the perfect identity of your people with the American Nation, that doubt has been displaced by one incident which has been prominent in all this trip, and that is that the great and predominant and all-pervading American habit of demanding a speech on every occasion has been characteristically prominent in California. [Laughter.] I am more than delighted by this visit to your city. It has been made brilliant with the display of banners and flowers--one the emblem of our national greatness and prowess, the other the adornment which God has given to beautify nature. With all this I am sure I have read in the faces of the men, women and children who have greeted me that these things--these flowers of the field and this flag, representing organized government--typify what is to be found in the homes of California. The expression of your welcome to-day has been unique and tasteful beyond description. I have not the words to express the high sense of appreciation and the amazement that filled the minds of all our party as we looked upon this display which you have improvised for our reception. No element of beauty, no element of taste, no element of gracious kindness has been lacking in it, and for that we tender you all our most hearty thanks. We shall keep this visit a bright spot in our memories. [Applause.]

BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

The first stop of the presidential train on Friday, April 25, was at Bakersfield, the gateway of the famous San Joaquin Valley, which was reached at 8:30 in the morning. Fifteen hundred residents greeted the President, who was met by W. E. Houghton, W. H. Scribner, W. Canfield, and C. E. Sherman, constituting a special Committee of Reception. The general committee for the occasion comprised the following prominent citizens: N. R. Packard, E. M. Roberts, John J. Morrison, Emil Dinkelspiel, H. L. Borgwardt, Jr., J. Neideraur, P. Galtes, O. D. Fish, H. A. Jastro, Geo. K. Ober, Dr. Helm, J. J. Mack, E. A. Pueschel, S. N. Reed, H. A. Blodget, C. A. Maul, Chas. E. Jewett, A. Harrell, G. W. Wear, Wm. Montgomery, John Barker, H. P. Olds, E. Willow, B. Brundage, B. A. Hayden, F. H. Colton, W. H. Cook, B. Ardizzi, C. C. Cowgill, L. S. Rogers, John O. Miller, Geo. G. Carr, N. R. Wilkinson, A. Weill, H. C. Lechner, S. W. Wible, Dr. John Snook, L. McKelvy, A. Morgan, E. C. Palmes, John S. Drury, W. A. Howell, A. C. Maude, Chas. Vandever, Alonzo Coons, T. A. Metcalf, R. M. Walker, Richard Hudnut, Sol. Jewett, J. C. Smith, S. A. Burnap, H. H. Fish, S. W. Fergusson, J. W. Mahon, A. Fay, Chas. Bickirdike, H. F. Condict, H. C. Park, and I. L. Miller.

A large number of beautiful bouquets were showered upon the party here. Judge A. R. Conklin made the welcoming address. President Harrison spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for your friendly greeting and for these bouquets. You must excuse me if I seem a little shy of the bouquets. I received one in my eye the other day which gave me a good deal of trouble. You are very kind to meet us here so early in the morning with this cordial demonstration. It has been a very long journey, and has been accompanied with some fatigue of travel, but we feel this morning, in this exhilarating air and this sweet sunshine, and refreshed with your kind greeting, as bright and more happy than when we left the national capital.

I am glad to feel that here, on the western edge of the continent, in this Pacific State, there is that same enthusiastic love for the flag, that same veneration and respect for American institutions, for the one Union and the one Constitution, that is found in the heart of the country. We are one people absolutely. We follow not men, but institutions. We are happy in the fact that though men may live or die, come or go, we still have that toward which the American citizen turns with confidence and veneration--this great Union of the States devised so happily by our fathers. General Garfield, when Mr. Lincoln was stricken down by the foul hand of an assassin, and when that great wave of dismay and grief swept over the land, standing in a busy thoroughfare of New York, could say: "The Government at Washington still lives." It is dependent upon no man. It is lodged safely in the affections of the people, and having its impregnable defence and its assured perpetuity in their love and veneration for law. [Cheers.]

TULARE, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

Tulare was reached at 10 o'clock. Nearly 6,000 people awaited the President's arrival. Capt. Thomas H. Thompson, E. W. Holland, and Hon. O. B. Taylor met the distinguished travellers. The other members of the committee were: Hon. John. G. Eckles, Hon. J. O. Lovejoy, I. N. Wright, J. Wolfrom, E. T. Cosper, Hon. J. W. Davis, Sam Richardson, Dr. C. F. Taggart, M. W. Cooley, H. H. Francisco, C. C. Brock, James Scoon, D. O. Hamman, J. L. Bachelder, R. B. Bohannan, James Morton, A. O. Erwin, J. B. Zumwalt, Hon. E. De Witt, Alfred Fay, J. H. Whited, J. A. Goble, W. L. Blythe, M. M. Burnett, Scott Bowles, R. L. Reid, F. M. Shultz, B. F. Moore, F. Rosenthal, Henry Peard, Sam Blythe, J. A. Allen, E. Lathrop, E. J. Cox, J. F. Boller, Hon. G. S. Berry, R. Linder, Miles Ellsworth, R. N. Hough, C. F. Hall, Dr. E. W. Dutcher, M. Premo, Hon. John Roth, A. Borders, T. W. Maples, E. D. Lake, S. S. Ingham, D. W. Madden, Sam Newell, M. C. Hamlin, W. C. Ambrose, H. C. Faber, C. Talbot, L. E. Schoenemann, M. C. Hunt, G. W. Zartman, A. P. Hall, J. H. Woody, Isaac Roberts, Capt. E. Oakford, J. C. Gist, H. F. Tandy, C. F. Stone, and Dr. B. M. Alford.

The committee escorted the presidential party to a unique platform constructed inside the stump of a gigantic redwood tree, and there was ample seating capacity upon the platform for the entire party; about the base of the great stump were arranged boxes of elegant flowers. Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies in the party were escorted to the stand by Mrs. E. B. Oakford, Mrs. T. H. Thompson, Mrs. G. J. Reading, and Mrs. Patrick, of Visalia. Gettysburg Post, G. A. R., and Company E, from Visalia, were a guard of honor to the Chief Magistrate.

Governor Markham introduced the President, who spoke as follows:

_My Friends_--This seems to be a very happy and smiling audience, and I am sure that the gladness which is in your hearts and in your faces does not depend at all upon the presence of this little company of strangers who tarry with you for a moment. It is born of influences and conditions that are permanent. It comes of the happy sunshine and sweet air that are over your fields, and still more from the contentment, prosperity, and love and peace that are in your households. California has been spoken of as a wonderland, and everywhere we have gone something new, interesting, and surprising has been presented to our observation. There has been but one monotone in our journey, and that is the monotone of universal welcome from all your people. [Cheers.] Everything else has been new and exceptional at every stop.

My own heart kindles with gladness, my own confidence in American interests is firmer and more settled as I mingle with the great masses of our people. You are here in a great agricultural region, reclaimed from desert waste by the skill and energy of man--a region populated by a substantial, industrious, thrifty, God-fearing people, a people devoted to the institutions under which they live, proud to be Americans, feeling that the American birthright is the best heritage they can hand down to their children; proud of the great story of our country from the time of independence to this day; devoted to institutions that give the largest liberty to the individual and at the same time secure social order. Here is the firm foundation upon which our hopes for future security rest. What but our own neglect, what but our own unfaithfulness, can put in peril either our national institutions or our local organizations of government? True to ourselves, true to those principles which we have embodied in our Government, there is to the human eye no danger that can threaten the firm base of our institutions.

I am glad to see and meet these happy children. I feel like kneeling to them as the future sovereigns of this country, and feel as if it were a profanation to tread upon these sweet flowers that they have spread in my pathway. God bless them, every one; keep them in the lives they are to live from all that is evil, fill their little hearts with sunshine and their mature lives with grace and usefulness. [Cheers.]

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

A crowd of 10,000 greeted the party at Fresno; upward of 1,000 school children were present, led by Professors Heaton, Sturges, and Sheldon. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor S. H. Cole, Dr. Chester A. Rowell, F. G. Berry, Dr. A. J. Pedlar, Dr. St. George Hopkins, W. W. Phillips, I. N. Pattison, Louis Einstein, Nathan W. Moodey, C. W. De Long, and J. C. Herrington. Altanta Post, G. A. R., Capt. Fred Banta, Commander, also Company C, National Guard, Capt. M. W. Muller, and Company F, Capt. C. Chisholm, participated in the reception. A number of handsome floral designs and other mementoes were presented to the several members of the party.

Dr. Rowell delivered the welcoming address. President Harrison, responding, said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--It is altogether impossible for me to reach with my voice this vast concourse of friends. I can only say I am profoundly grateful for this enthusiastic greeting. I receive with great satisfaction the memento you have given me of the varied products of this most fertile and happy valley. I shall carry it with me to Washington as a reminder of a scene that will never fade from my memory. It is very pleasant to know that all these pursuits that so much engage your thoughts and so industriously employ your time have not turned your minds away from the love of the flag and of those institutions which spread their secure power over all your homes. What is it that makes the scattered homes of our people secure? There is no policeman at the door; there is no guard to accompany us as we move across this great continent. You and I are in the safe keeping of the law and of the affection and regard of all our people. Each respects the rights of the other. I am glad to receive this manifestation of your respect. I am glad to drink in this morning with this sunshine and this sweet balmy air a new impulse to public duty, a new love for the Union and flag. It is a matter of great regret that I can return in such a small measure your affectionate greeting. I wish it were possible I could greet each one of you personally, that it were possible in some way other than in words to testify to you my grateful sense of your good-will. [Cheers.]

MERCED, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

The presidential party arrived at Merced shortly after noon and was welcomed by several thousand enthusiastic residents. The Committee of Reception was composed of the following representative citizens: E. T. Dixon, Maj. G. B. Cook, L. R. Fancher, C. H. Marks, E. M. Stoddard, S. A. D. Jones, Frank Howell, W. J. Quigley, M. Goldman, C. E. Fleming, J. H. Rogers, J. A. Norvell, Thomas Harris, Maj. C. Ralston, F. H. Farrar, R. N. Hughes, Judge J. K. Law, Thomas H. Leggett, and H. J. Ostrander. Hancock Post, G. A. R., J. Q. Blackburn, Commander, participated in the reception. Three little girls, Dottie Norvell, Mattie Hall, and Baby Ingalsbe, representing the citizens of Merced, presented Mrs. Harrison with a beautiful souvenir in the shape of a large American flag woven from roses and violets.

Chairman Dixon made the welcoming address, and President Harrison replied in the following words:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I have scarcely been able to finish a meal since I have been in California. [Laughter.] I find myself hardly seated at the table till some one reminds me that in about five minutes I am to meet another throng of cordial and friendly people. But I think I could have subsisted on this trip through California without anything to eat, and have dined the while upon the stimulus and inspiration which your good-will and kindly greetings have given me. I do not think, however, from what I have seen of these valleys, that it will be necessary for anyone to live without eating. [Laughter.] I have been greatly delighted with the agricultural richness, with the surprises in natural scenery, and in the production which have met us on this journey. Everywhere something has been lying in ambush for us, and when I was thinking of prunes and English walnuts and oranges we suddenly pulled up to a station where they had a pyramid of pig tin to excite our wonder and interest at the variety of the production in this marvellous State. But let me say, above all those fruits and flowers, above all these productions of mine and field, I have been most pleased with the men and women of California. [Applause.] It gives me great pleasure, too, to meet everywhere these little ones. I am fond of children. They attract my interest always, and the little ones of my own household furnish about the only relaxation and pleasure I have at Washington. [Applause.] I wish for your children and for you, out of whose homes they come, and where they are treasured with priceless affection and tender supervision, all the blessings that a benign Providence and a good Government can bestow. I shall be glad if in any way I have the opportunity to conserve and promote your interests. [Cheers.]

MODESTO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 25.

Modesto was reached at 2:40 P.M. The veterans of Grant Post, G. A. R., with Company D, N. G. C., and several hundred citizens, gave the President a rousing greeting. The Committee of Reception was Hon. John S. Alexander, Charles A. Post, and Rev. Dr. Webb.

George Perley introduced President Harrison, who spoke as follows: