TWENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 



99 



It was after eight-thirt\ wlien the diners reached the end 

 of the excellent menu and President Rogers arose to call the 

 company to order. 



President Rogers said: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is 

 w ith a great deal of regret that I have to annotmce that Gov- 

 ernor Baldwin is unable ti) ]:»e with us to-night. \Nt had 

 hoped to be favored with his ])resence, as well as that of sev- 

 eral of our ex-Govern^)rs, but other duties have compelled 

 them to send their regrets instead. But we have got one thing 

 which I want each one of you to carry away a sample of, and 

 that is a "Baldwin" apple. W'e haven't Governor Baldwin, 

 but we have got the BaUh^'iii apple, gracing the tables in 

 quantity and quality, and I would like to have each one of 

 you carry home a Baldwin apple. 



The next thing we have here is a peach, the king of the 

 peach, or the peach king, brother Hale. I take great pleasure 

 in introducing as cur toastmaster this evening Mr. J. H. 

 Hale. (Applause.) 



Mr. J. H. Hale — Friends: I don't blame you a bit 

 for preferring to talk to your neighbors rather than to 

 listen to those that are to follow. It is said : 



There was a wise old owl who lived in an oak. 

 And the more he heard the less he spoke ; 

 And the less he spoke the more he heard, 

 Why aren't we all mpre like that bird? 



Simply because we are Americans, antl when two or 

 three Americans get together, they have to have more or less 

 speechraaking, and }ou will be wearied from now on with 

 something of this sort. 



You would have dodged me if I had had the good success 

 of the colored brother in the south who was particularly fond 

 of vegetables, fruits and chickens, and after prayer meeting 

 at night was wont to crawl under the neighbor's fence and 

 help himself to what he could lay his hands on, until it became 

 considerably burdensome, so that the owner of the plantation 

 decided to sit up one night and trap him, and he invited a 

 neighbor in to assist him. So when the proper time arrived. 



