Part 41

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--It is with great pleasure that I meet you here to-night. I would not have a heart if I did not say that I have been touched by this demonstration and the demonstration on your streets to-day. [Cheers.] I account for this in a different way from those who have preceded me. I saw on your streets to-day more ladies than I saw in any city which we have visited since we left Washington. And the beautiful children! While we have had more flowers in other States, we have not met more beautiful women and lovely children. I tell you, in order to raise anything sweetly and beautifully you must have rain. [Cheers.] Congress has passed a law providing that the Weather Bureau be turned over to me July 1, and if I can control the weather and another President comes here I will see that you have a flood. [Cheers and laughter.] I will endeavor, however, after July 1 to give you thirteen months' rain every year. I have been touched to the heart in many ways since I came to your beautiful city. I have met friends who were my boyhood's friends away back in Wisconsin, and comrades who served with me in battle and in camp. [Cheers.] I would fail to do my duty if I did not say that I am glad to see you all. God bless them and may the future deal kindly with you all. [Great cheering.]

CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.

Early on the morning of the 6th the presidential train crossed the State line and entered the new State of Washington, stopping a moment at Chehalis, and reaching Centralia at 7 o'clock. Here the President was received with a national salute, and notwithstanding the rain several thousand people were present. Mayor D. B. Rees and the following prominent residents welcomed the Chief Magistrate: J. H. Corwin, H. J. Miller, W. H. Bachtall, H. L. Meade, Geo. Miller, E. R. Butherworth, Charles Johnson, Henry Shield, N. B. Kelsey, A. J. Wright, and Geo. H. Ellsbury.

The President said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--It is very kind of you to turn out so early in the morning. I can count among my pleasantest experiences in the Northwest this very early rising. I am a good deal of a Daniel Webster as to early risings. [Laughter.] It gives me great pleasure to notice the evidence of increased population as contrasted with what I saw six years ago as I passed through this country. I was so unfortunate then as to find it enveloped in smoke, so that the mountain tops were invisible. I am afraid we are to have this experience repeated on this visit on account of the fog. I suppose this is because the beauties of your country are so great that they have to be shaded to the eyes of a stranger. Seriously, however, you have a great commonwealth. I do not doubt that your future is to be one of great development and great increase in population, and that you are to found here a very contented, prosperous, and happy people. Fortunately you have a capacity for great agricultural development after you have cleared away the forests; and that, after all, is the permanent foundation of every American city. It is well enough to have trees on the land and mines in the earth; but trees will be cut down and mines be dug out, and the only thing that lasts is good soil in the hands of good husbandmen. I thank you most sincerely. [Cheers.]

TACOMA, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.

Ten thousand cheers greeted the arrival of the President at Tacoma Wednesday morning. Gov. Elisha P. Ferry, Mayor Geo. B. Kandle, and Judge Wm. H. Calkins, at the head of the following Committee of Reception, met the party: Gen. John W. Sprague, Samuel Collyer, Colonel Garretson, Judge Allyn, Hon. M. Hill, Mrs. Frank Allyn, W. D. Tyler, Mrs. Derrickson, Thomas Carroll, Dr. Munson, Judge John Beverly, Judge Applegate, H. C. Wallace, Senator John B. Allen and wife, Mrs. Galusha Parsons, Charles Hale, George Reed, Charles Catlin, S. C. Slaughter, Thomas Sloane, L. E. Post, Nelson Bennett, F. F. Jacobs, I. W. Anderson, A. C. Mason, C. W. Griggs, G. W. Holmes, E. M. Hunt, John D. Hills, L. R. Manning, Hon. Thomas Carroll, Col. Charles Reichenbach, Atty.-Gen. Jones, State Treasurer Lindsley, J. D. Hogue, C. B. Zabriskie, and Fred T. Taylor.

The decorations were upon an elaborate scale. Chief among the attractions of this order were five mammoth arches spanning Pacific Avenue, constructed from products typifying the principal industries of the State, to wit: the timber arch, coal arch, iron arch, grain arch, and shingle arch. Notwithstanding the rain the parade, under Chief Marshal C. W. Griggs, was a brilliant success.

A noteworthy incident was the special reception tendered to Mrs. Harrison and the other ladies of the presidential party by the ladies of Tacoma at the Opera House. Fully 5,000 paid their respects. Mrs. S. C. Slaughter, on behalf of the ladies of Tacoma, presented to Mrs. Harrison a beautiful painting of Mt. Tacoma by the artist Rollins. Accompanying the picture was an illustrated copy of Mrs. Bernice E. Wewell's poem on "Mt. Tacoma," also a gold engraved spoon, the latter for the President's grandson. In acknowledging the receipt of these souvenirs Mrs. Harrison made perhaps her first public speech on the trip. She said:

_Ladies_--I cannot thank you enough for all your kindness. I shall take your gifts home and treasure them all my life as mementos of a most enjoyable visit to your beautiful city. [Applause.]

After the review of the procession Governor Ferry, in the presence of many thousands, formally welcomed President Harrison to the State of Washington. The distinguished veteran General Sprague made the address on behalf of the citizens of Tacoma.

The President responded as follows:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I feel that it would be cruel to prolong this exposure which you are enduring in the inclement weather of the day. I visited your city and the region of Puget Sound six years ago. I found this country then enveloped in smoke, so that these grand mountain-tops, of which mention has been made in the address of welcome, were hidden from our view. I come again and the smoke is replaced by fog, and we are still, I suppose, to take the existence of these snow-clad peaks on faith. [Laughter and applause.] I don't know but there is a benevolent provision for your comfort in the fact that this magnificent scenery, this unmatched body of water are frequently hidden from the eye of the traveller. If every one who journeys hither could see it all everybody would want to live here, and there wouldn't be room. [Laughter and cheers.] I congratulate you, citizens of Tacoma, upon the magnificent, almost magical, transformation which has been wrought here in these six years since I first saw your city. It has been amazing: it is a tribute to the energy and the enterprise and courage of your people that will endure and increase and attract in a yet higher degree the attention of the whole country.

A harbor like this, so safe and commodious and deep, upon Puget Sound, should be made to bear a commerce that is but yet in its infancy. I would like to see the prows of some of these great steamship lines entering your ports and carrying the American flag at the masthead. [Cheers.] I believe we have come to the time in our development as a people when we must step forward with bold progress, or we will lose the advantage we have already attained. We have within ourselves the resources, and a market of which the world is envious. We have been content, in the years gone by, to allow other nations to do the carrying trade of the world. We have been content to see the markets of these American republics lying south of us mastered and controlled by European nations. I think the period of discontent with these things has now come to our people, and I believe the time is auspicious for the enlargement of our commerce with these friendly republics lying to the south of us. I believe the time is propitious for re-establishing upon the sea the American merchant marine, that shall do its share of the carrying trade of the world. [Applause.]

My friends, I desire to again express to you my regret that to give us this magnificent welcome, under circumstances so inauspicious, you have been exposed to so much wet. I especially regretted, as I passed those long lines of dear school children, that they should have been exposed in order to do us honor. I will not detain you longer. For your city, for this magnificent young State that we have received into the great sisterhood of the Union, of which you are a glorious part, we give our aspirations, our prayers, and our best endeavors. [Applause.]

_On Steamer "City of Seattle," Puget Sound._

At 11:30 A.M. the President and his party left Tacoma, embarking on the steamer _City of Seattle_ for the Queen City of the Northwest. There was a great outpouring at Tacoma to witness the departure, and the presidential convoy was escorted down the sound by all the steamers in the bay. As the President came aboard he was met by Mayor and Mrs. Harry White at the head of the following committee of prominent citizens of Seattle: Jacob Furth, John H. McGraw, A. W. Bash, Postmaster Griffith Davies, A. M. Brookes, A. A. Denny, L. S. J. Hunt, W. E. Bailey, F. J. Grant, President and Mrs. G. W. Hall, President and Mrs. R. W. Jones, Maj. J. R. Hayden, Mr. and Mrs. E. Brainerd, Mrs. George H. Heilbron, Mrs. J. C. Haines, Mrs. R. C. Washburn, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Holman, Mrs. E. L. Terry, Mrs. J. F. McNaught, Mrs. A. B. Stewart, Mrs. James A. Panting, Mrs. H. F. Jackson and daughter, Mrs. Charles F. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Bentley, Miss Ina Jameson, Miss Annie Longfellow, Miss Millie Longfellow, Walter F. Cushing, Col. G. G. Lyon, Dr. Young, D. B. Ward, Colonel Langley, J. T. Ronald, John Wiley, C. M. Ogden, Colonel Street, Judge Roger S. Greene, Mr. John Collins, Capt. W. A. Snyder, ex-Atty.-Gen. J. B. Metcalfe, Lieut. A. B. Wyckoff, and Dr. Whyte Fredrick.

When the convoy and her noisy consorts had passed out of Commencement Bay and entered Puget Sound the Reception Committee assembled on deck, and Mayor White in an address cordially welcomed the President, who, in response, said:

_Mr. Mayor_--I accept with great gratification these words of welcome on behalf of the citizens of Seattle. It will give me great pleasure to contrast my observations of your State in 1885 with what I shall see to-day. I have not lost track of the progress of Seattle, but have, through friends, been advised of the marvellous development which you have made, and how you have repeated in the substantial character of your edifices the story of the Chicago fire, coming as you have out of what seemed a disaster with increased magnificence, and finding in it really an advantage. I will defer until I am in the presence of your people any further acknowledgment of your courtesies, and will now only thank you, as you are repeating here what we have observed on our whole trip, namely, the unification of all our people and the absolute oneness of sentiment in devotion to our institutions and the flag.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.

The steamer bearing the presidential party, followed by a great flotilla that had come out to greet them, arrived at Seattle at 1:30 P.M., and fully 40,000 people witnessed the disembarking. The city was profusely decorated. On Pioneer Place stood a triumphal arch bearing the ensigns of all nations. Ranged at its entrance were the Sons of Veterans in uniform and 75 school-girls. As the President's carriage entered the great arch the choir-girls greeted him with a song of welcome, composed for the occasion by Prof. L. A. Darling. Near the arch, on a platform, sat the shrivelled form of Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle, the last of the race of royal barbarians who once ruled in the bays and forests of the sound. She was an object of great interest to the President and his party. After visiting Lake Washington on the cable cars the President was escorted to the University campus by Stevens, Miller, and Cushing posts, G. A. R., M. M. Holmes and J. St. Clair, commanders. Thirty thousand people were assembled on the campus; officials were present from every part of the State, also from British Columbia. Opposite the speakers' stand were 2,000 school children, each waving a flag. Governor Ferry, Senator John B. Allen, Hon. John H. McGraw, Jacob Furth, and numerous other prominent men were on the platform with the President, Secretary Rusk, and Mr. Wanamaker. Rev. G. A. Tewksbury pronounced the invocation. Judge Thomas Burke then delivered the welcoming address on behalf of the citizens.

President Harrison replied:

_Judge Burke and Fellow-citizens_--I am sure you have too much kindness in your heart to ask me to make an address to you this afternoon. This chilly air, this drizzling rain, the long exposure during the day which you and these precious children have suffered, warn me, on your account as well as my own, that I should say but a few words in recognition of this magnificent welcome. Six years ago I visited your beautiful city, and the distinguished gentleman who has been your spokesman to-day was one of a hospitable committee that pointed out to me the beauties of this location. You were then largely a prospective city. Some substantial and promising improvements had been begun, but it was a period of expectancy rather than of realization. I am glad to come to-day and to see how fully and perfectly the large expectations then entertained by your enterprising people have been realized. It is a matter of amazement to look upon these towering substantial granite and iron structures in which the great business of your city is transacted. That disaster, as it seemed to you, which swept away a large portion of the business part of your city was like the afflictions that come to the saints, a blessing in disguise. [Cheers.] You have done what Chicago did. You have improved the disaster by rearing structures and completing edifices that were unthought of before. Those who were not enterprising or liberal have been compelled to be liberal and enterprising in order that they might realize rents for their property made vacant by fire. [Cheers.]

I fully appreciate the importance of this great body of water upon which your city is situated. This sound, this inland sea, must be in the future the highway, the _entrepot_, of a great commerce. I do most sincerely believe that we are entering now upon a new development that will put the American flag upon the seas and bring to our ports in American bottoms a largely increased share of the commerce of the world. [Cheers.] As I have said in other places, for one I am thoroughly discontented with the present condition of things. We may differ as to methods, but I believe the great patriotic heart of our people is stirred, and that they are bent upon recovering that share of the world's commerce which we once happily enjoyed. Your demonstration to day under these unfavorable environments has been most creditable to your city. We have certainly seen nothing in a journey characterized by great demonstrations to surpass this magnificent scene. [Cheers.] I realize what your spokesman has said, that in all this there is a patriotic expression of the love of our people for the flag and for the Constitution. [Cheers.] And now, my friends, thanking you for all you have done for me, humbly confessing my inability to repay you, pledging to you my best efforts to promote the good of all our people, and that I will have a watchful observation of the needs of your State, of your harbors, for defence, improvement, and security, I bid you good by. [Cheers.]

After the President's address an effort was made to present the veterans individually, but the inclement weather forbade it. Turning to those about him President Harrison said:

I leave you very reluctantly, and I shall always be sorry that my time was so limited here that I could not do justice to your hospitality. [Great cheering.]

At 5 o'clock the party boarded their train, but a great crowd had assembled and called repeatedly for the President, who responded and said:

I can only thank you once more; you have given me a royal welcome, and I carry away with me the most grateful memory of your kindness. I was up until past midnight last night, making a speech, and had to be up at 6 o'clock this morning to speak to some friends in Oregon. I leave you with the best wishes for your city and the State. [Enthusiastic cheers.]

As the President concluded there were loud calls for Postmaster-General Wanamaker, who waved his hand toward the children and said:

The reasons given by the President for not making a speech certainly apply to those who are in your programme to follow him. I cannot, however, leave the platform without thanking you for that share of the welcome that falls to us who attended. There is a chill in the air, but there is no lack of warmth in the cordial greeting that you have given to us who, though we felt ourselves to be strangers among you, have found ourselves to be among friends. I have been trying to find out since the census report was announced what the reason was that Philadelphia had fallen behind. [Laughter and applause.] It is all very plain to me now. This city set on a hill I shall put down in my book as Philadelphia Junior. [Applause.] You have the family likeness. I recognize some of you by name, and I do not wonder that you have settled in this beautiful spot, so rich in its resources, where you discovered everything that we have in Pennsylvania except one thing, and I expect you will find that before long, and I am sure that I hope that you will find the anthracite coal stored away somewhere in your hills. I know if you undertake to find it you will do it. [Applause.] You need no better illustration than the choir over yonder, that could not be stopped even to allow the President to speak. [Applause and laughter.] I shall carry away from here a story that I am afraid they will call a California story, but I will get your Mayor to give me a certificate that I was perfectly sober--that there was nothing but water. [Applause and laughter.] And I shall try to recommend what I have seen in this wild West, where people have their splendid schools, their many churches, their refined homes, and where there is such a hearty welcome for all that come in their midst. For my part of the work at Washington I have already given you evidence that the Post-office Department was thinking of the Pacific coast. I shall do the best that I can as a business man for this splendid business people that you have in your city and for the many more that are to come; that all the facilities of the mail--quickening it, increasing it--shall be given to you; that you shall not say that your Government does not give you all the assistance in building up your great enterprises and swelling the prosperity of all this coast. I say good-by to you and give you a heart full of good wishes. [Continued applause.]

PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.

It was 10 P.M. when the train stopped at Puyallup, where a goodly crowd awaited the visitors. The President shook hands with several score, and in response to calls for a speech said:

_My Fellow-citizens_--I am very glad to see you to-night, but I am sure you will excuse me from speaking when you remember that I have been out in the rain all day at Tacoma and Seattle, and have had to talk several times. I am glad to see you, and appreciate the friendly interest you manifest in coming out here to-night in such great numbers to greet us with such kindliness. I have known for a long time of the great hop industry of this region, and I am glad to know that it has proven profitable. The question of the Puyallup reservation was one of the last which was brought officially to my attention before leaving, and I expect it will be one of the first I shall take up on my return. Good-night and good-by.

CHEHALIS, WASHINGTON, MAY 6.

A great crowd greeted the President with cannon and bonfires on his arrival at Chehalis at 10:30 at night. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor Milet, who delivered an address of welcome; Judge Ashman, an old comrade of the President's at Resaca; and J. F. Sachs, an early pioneer, who presented the President a native hawthorn cane.

Responding to greetings the President said:

_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for this midnight reception. We passed you this morning without stopping, and regretted it when we saw the number who had collected here. We gladly yielded to your request to stop to-night in order to show our appreciation of your kindness. It is very pleasant for me to see those people who have no interest in politics except for good government. [Cheers.]

CASCADE LOCKS, OREGON, MAY 7.

The first stop on the morning of the 7th was at Cascade Locks, where several hundred people gave an early morning greeting to the President, who responded briefly, saying:

_My Friends_--I am very much obliged to you for your kindly greeting, and, as we stop only a few moments, I can only express my sincere thanks for your presence.

HOOD RIVER STATION, OREGON, MAY 7.

At Hood River Station the President shook hands with a number and addressed the gathering as follows:

_My Friends_--It is very pleasant to see you this morning, and to come out into the sunshine after two or three days of chilly rain. I have been talking so much, and so much in the dampness, that my voice is not very good; but my heart is always fresh and open to these receptions. I thank you very sincerely for your friendliness and wish for you all, and especially for these little ones, every happiness in life. [Cheers.]

THE DALLES, OREGON, MAY 7.

After traversing the famous gorge of the Columbia River the presidential train at 11 o'clock emerged within view of the city of The Dalles, where an enthusiastic welcome was extended the Chief Executive. The Committee of Reception consisted of Mayor Moody, D. M. French, Dr. William Shackelford, J. A. Varney, R. F. Gibson, Robert Mays, H. M. Beall, John McCaul, J. P. McInerry, M. T. Nolan, George Ruch, and the following prominent ladies of the city: Mrs. T. S. Lang, Mrs. N. B. Sinnott, Mrs. A. M. Williams, Mrs E. M. Wilson, Mrs. S. French, Mrs. S. Brooks, Mrs. Geo. Liebe, Mrs. Charles Hilton, and Mrs. J. Patterson. Many old soldiers and a large number of school children were present.

Mayor Moody, in behalf of the city, welcomed the President, who responded as follows: