[SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.]
Arriving at San José the President remained an hour and reviewed a parade in his honor. He was received at the depot by Mayor S. N. Rucker at the head of the following Committee of Reception: Judge John Reynolds, Judge F. E. Spencer, D. B. Moody, R. O. Shively, S. F. Lieb, V. A. Schellar, C. M. Shortridge, T. E. Beans, L. G. Nesmith, C. T. Ryland, O. A. Hale, H. W. Wright, J. W. Rea, C. T. Park, A. McDonald, C. T. Settle, H. M. Leonard, B. D. Murphy, J. H. Henry, A. E. Mintie, S. F. Ayer, Judge W. G. Lorigan, and H. V. Morehouse. Mayor Rucker delivered the address of welcome at the court house.
President Harrison, responding, said.
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens—I am again surprised by this large outpouring of my friends and by the respectful interest which they evince. I cannot find words to express the delight which I have felt and which those who journey with me have felt as we have observed the beauty and, more than all, the comfort and prosperity which characterize the great State of California. I am glad to observe here, as I have elsewhere, that my old comrades of the great war for the Union have turned out to witness afresh by this demonstration their love for the flag and their veneration for American institutions.
My comrades, I greet you, every one, affectionately. I doubt not that every loyal State has representatives here of that great army that subdued the rebellion and brought home the flag in triumph. I hope that you have found in this flowery and prosperous land, in the happy homes which you have builded up here, in the wives and children that grace your firesides, a sweet contrast to those times of peril and hardship which you experienced in the army, and I trust above all that under these genial and kindly influences you still maintain your devotion to our institutions and are teaching it to the children that shall take your places.
We often speak of the children following in the footsteps of their fathers. A year ago nearly, in Boston, at the great review of the Grand Army of the Republic, after those thousands of veterans, stricken with years and labor, had passed along, a great army, nearly as large, came on with the swinging step that characterized you when you carried the flag from your home to the field. They were the sons of veterans, literally marching in their fathers' steps; and so I love to think that in the hands of this generation that is coming on to take our places our institutions are safe and the honor and glory of the flag will be maintained. We may quietly go to our rest when God shall call us, in the full assurance that His favoring providence will follow us, and that in your children valor and sacrifice for the flag will always manifest themselves on every occasion.
Again thanking you for your presence and friendly interest, I must beg you to excuse further speech, as we must journey on to other scenes like this. Good-by and God bless you, comrades.
[GILROY, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 29.]
Two thousand people welcomed the President on his arrival at Gilroy at 6 o'clock in the evening. The floral decorations were particularly fine; the piece attracting the greatest attention was a life-size white bear made of tea-roses. The Committee of Reception was Mayor Loupe, Thomas Rea, Geo. E. Hersey, Victor Bassignsno, F. W. Blake, Professor Hall, and Messrs. Eckhart, Casey, and Cleveland.