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Thb National Geographic Magazine 



of the world's production of lead, and 

 no one knows the wealth of gold, silver 

 and copper we have. I think the 

 largest part of our mineral wealth is 

 still undeveloped. I believe that the 

 United States government should have 

 a department of mining. 



In the central part of the state we 

 have a wonderful grazing country and 

 a country which is also capable of rais- 

 ing such immense crops of grain as, for 

 instance, 50 bushels of wheat per acre, 

 90 of barley and 120 of oats. 



Governor Gooding has been engaged 

 in developing Idaho for twenty-five 

 years. He is a ranchman and a 

 banker, as well as a statesman. He 

 feels that the greatest need of his state 

 is improvement in railroad facilities, 

 and is especially anxious to see con- 

 structed a road connecting the north 

 and south parts. In his campaign for 

 election he says he drove 175 miles 

 and made his fight largely on a plan to 

 connect the two sections of the state by 

 rail. 



THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE NATIONAL 

 GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 



MORE than 200 members and 

 guests were present at the an- 

 nual dinner of the National 

 Geographic Society, which was held in 

 Washington on the evening of December 

 20. Secretary of War and Mrs Taft 

 were the guests of honor of the evening. 

 The large majority of those present were 

 residents of Washington, but a number 

 had come many miles to be present, 

 Messrs Angelo Heilprin and Henry G. 

 Bryant from Philadelphia, Professor Lib- 

 bey from Princeton University, Messrs 

 W. S. Champ and Anthony Fiala from 

 New York, and Major Thomas L. Casey, 

 U. S. A., and Mrs Casey from Saint 

 Louis. California, Texas, Wisconsin, 

 Michigan, Alabama, Ohio, Illinois, Vir- 

 ginia, Kansas, Nevada, Wyoming, and 

 Pennsylvania were represented by mem- 

 bers of the U. S. Senate or House of 

 Representatives. It was the first annual 

 dinner of the Society, and the occasion 

 was so successful that it has been decided 

 to hold an annual banquet each year dur- 

 ing the week preceding Christmas. The 

 following paragraphs from an account in 

 the Evening Star of December 21, by 

 Albert F. Ferguson, may prove of in- 

 terest : 



"Mr William H. Taft of Ohio and Mrs 

 Taft were the guests of honor at a dinner 

 given at the New Willard Hotel last 

 night by the National Geographic So- 

 ciety. Though it was as Justice Taft of 

 the United States circuit court or as Gov- 

 ernor Taft of the Philippine Islands, and 

 later as Secretary Taft of the War Depart- 

 ment that he became generally known to 

 the people of the country, the members of 

 the National Geographic Society desired 

 to do honor, not to the jurist, the admin- 

 istrator or the statesman, but to the man 

 who had the force and ability to be each 

 and all, and who devoted his energies and 

 many talents to the cause of his country. 



"At the beginning of the speechmaking 

 which followed the discussion of an ex- 

 cellent assortment of substantial edibles, 

 Prof. Willis L. Moore, as its President, 

 announced that the National Geographic 

 Society had a membership of eleven thou- 

 sand. In its endeavor to honor Air Taft, 

 however, the organization strayed beyond 

 the folds of its membership and gathered 

 about the six long tables set for the din- 

 ner an array of men and women who 

 represented not only persons whose 

 thoughts turn to subjects geographic, but 



