HONORS TO THE AMERICAN NAVY 



NEARLY every state, territory, 

 and insular possession of the 

 United States and many foreign 

 countries were officially represented at 

 the annual dinner of the National Geo- 

 graphic Society, which took place on the 

 evening of December the fifteenth last. 



The banquet hall of the New Willard 

 Hotel was beautifully decorated with 

 flowers and palms, and covers were laid 

 for four hundred. The divine blessing 

 was asked by Right Rev. Bishop O'Con- 

 nell, Rector of the Catholic University 

 of America. 



INTRODUCTION BY THE) TOASTM ASTER, THE) 

 PRESIDENT OF* THE NATIONAL GEO- 

 GRAPHIC SOCIETY, DR WILLIS I,. 

 MOORE 



The principal theme of this annual 

 dinner of the National Geographic Soci- 

 ety will be the achievements of the Navy 

 of the United States. In many ways the 

 Navy has added to the sum of our geo- 

 graphic knowledge, and its magnificent 

 feat of assembling the greatest armada 

 ever brought under the immediate direc- 

 tion of a single commander, and then, at 

 this date nearly circumnavigating the 

 globe without mishap, and with the fleet 

 every moment ready for action, is worthy 

 of celebration, not only by this society and 

 by this nation, but by all the nations of 

 the earth, for its guns are shotted, not 

 with the arbitrary power of the tyrant, 

 but with the humane sympathies of a 

 mighty nation. And so the National 

 Geographic Society honors itself in pay- 

 ing homage to the Navy. 



We will now have a word of greeting 

 from one who is about to retire from the 

 responsibilities of a great office; but we 

 would say in passing that neither by his 

 own volition nor by the act of others 

 can he ever retire from the affection of 

 those who during his long years of public 

 service have come into personal associ- 

 ation with him ; he cannot retire from the 

 admiration of those who have watched 

 his course as a man of clean purpose and 

 of noble ideals in statesmanship; he can- 

 not retire even from the respect of his 



political enemies — the Vice-President, the 

 Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks. 



A WORD OP GREETING — BY THE VICE-PRESI- 

 DENT OP THE UNITED STATES, HON. 

 CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS 



It is a very agreeable duty, indeed, 

 which has been assigned to me, and I 

 only regret that I do not possess that 

 gift of utterance which will enable me 

 to conform literally to the sentiment 

 which appears upon the program. "A 

 word of greeting" seems but an inade- 

 quate return for your manifestation of 

 cordiality and of kindness. The toast- 

 master has evidently not appreciated the 

 fact that a word of greeting is a some- 

 what ambiguous term. In the Senate of 

 the United States, when a Senator arises 

 and is recognized by the Chair and states 

 that he wants to say a word, it is invaria- 

 bly a signal for an exodus of the older 

 Senators to the cloak-room. 



I have been somewhat diverted from 

 the contemplation of this theme at the 

 table tonight by the Attorney-General of 

 the United States. He has developed 

 qualities I did not suspect. He had no 

 sooner taken his seat than his eyes began 

 to sweep over this magnificent gathering 

 and he wanted me to point out the hand- 

 somest ladies in the audience. I asked 

 the number of ladies here of the toast- 

 master, and he said there were 120. I 

 then said to the Attorney-General, 

 ''There are 120 handsomest ladies in the 

 audience." This is another evidence of 

 the good taste of American statesmen. 



I want to congratulate you, sir, and 

 your associate members of the National 

 Geographic Society, upon what you are 

 so admirably accomplishing. The scope 

 of your investigation is as wide as the 

 continent — in fact, as wide as the world 

 itself. You are circumscribed by no 

 limits in science or in geography ; you 

 comprehend it all in your generous pur- 

 pose. It is a splendid thing that here at 

 the National Capital, where are centered 

 so many splendid influences, this great 

 organization should have a habitation and 

 a home. 



