At Ontario the President received a most patriotic greeting; throngs of school children brought him flowers. The Reception Committee was G. T. Stamm, I. S. Miller, E. P. Clarke, S. G. Blood, R. E. Blackburn, G. W. A. Luckey, Dr. O. S. Ensign, Dr. R. H. Tremper, and O. S. Picher.
H. Z. Osborne, of the Los Angeles committee, introduced the President, who spoke as follows:
My Friends—I thank you for this cordial greeting. I am sure you will excuse me from extended remarks. I have been subjected to such a strain in that direction that my brain needs irrigation to make it blossom with new thoughts. It to me is a pleasure to look into the intelligent faces of American citizens. No such people gather in any other country as meet me at every station. They come from good homes, which are the safety of our commonwealth. I am pleased to see these children here. Good schools have everywhere followed the pioneer. You have brought to this new country the old New England ideas of thrift, of living on a little and having a good deal left over. [Cheers.]
[BANNING, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 22.]
Banning, the gateway to Southern California, gave the presidential party an enthusiastic welcome and loaded them down with fruits and flowers. Mr. Louis Munson, editor of the Banning Herald, at the head of the Reception Committee, delivered the welcoming address. The next day at Arlington, where he had gone to again assist in receiving the President, Mr. Munson was suddenly taken with hemorrhage and died as the train passed. Other members of the committee were M. G. Kelley, W. S. Hathaway, C. H. Ingelow, W. H. Ingelow, Dr. J. C. King, F. J. Clancy, W. Morris, and M. L. Bridge. Two hundred Indian school children, in charge of Miss Morris and Father Hahn, were objects of interest to the party.
Replying to Mr. Munson's address, the President said that although the good people of Banning were far in point of distance from the seat of government, yet he was sure they were bound nearly and close to it by ties of loyalty and of patriotism. He expressed his pleasure at meeting the citizens of Banning and his appreciation of their cordial welcome.