[BAKER CITY, OREGON, MAY 7.]
The closing event of the long day was the reception at Baker City at 11:30 P.M. Fifteen hundred people were present and the town was illuminated. The Reception Committee was Mayor S. B. McCord, Hon. R. S. Anderson, and Geo. H. Tracy. Joe Hooker Post, G. A. R., Fred K. Ernst, Commander, was present.
Responding to Mr. Anderson's welcoming address President Harrison said:
Mr. Mayor and Fellow-citizens—It is very pleasing, so late at night, to be greeted on our arrival here by this large audience and by these hearty cheers. We thank you very sincerely for this evidence of your friendly interest, and beg to assure you in return that not only as public officers, but as citizens with you of this great country, we are in hearty sympathy with all your pursuits and plans and hopes in this distant State. I have heard before of its beauty and the fertility and productiveness of its wheat fields and of the rich mines which are found in this vicinity. Situated as you are, the great question with you must be one of transportation, one of getting the products of your field, the surplus of your agricultural products, to a market. I hope you appreciate all the advantages in this regard which the development of these Pacific cities is giving. Every great manufacturing establishment that is built there produces and increases population, and makes additional and nearer market for the products of your fields. I hope the day is not far distant when the completion of the Nicaragua Canal will make a shorter way to the Atlantic seaboard States and much shorter and cheaper communication with a European market. I am glad to be assured—indeed, I do not need the assurance—that here in Oregon, as in the Central and Eastern States, we are one people, loyal and united in the love for the flag which some of these comrades aided to be victorious in the great war, and that you are thoroughly in love with our American institutions. I am glad to assure you that, so far as I am concerned, I know no sections in this country. I desire to promote those measures which shall always be for the interests of all classes, and which shall diffuse the benefits of our institutions equally and fairly among all the States and among all our people. [Cheers.]
[BOISE CITY, IDAHO, MAY 8.]
Boise City, the capital of Idaho, was reached at 7 o'clock the morning of the 8th, where a stop of two hours was made. The following committee of distinguished officials and citizens received the President: His Excellency Gov. N. B. Willey and official staff, comprising Col. E. J. Curtis, Col. J. A. Torrance, Lieutenant-Colonel Casswell, and Maj. Geo. F. Hinton; Senator Geo. L. Shoup, Hon. James A. Pinney, Mayor of Boise City; R. Z. Johnson, President Board of Trade; John Lemp, Charles A. Clark, E. R. Leonard, C. W. Moore, J. W. Daniels, Calvin Cobb, A. J. Glorieaux, Nathan Falk, Peter Sonna, A. R. Andola, J. H. Richards, Hon. S. W. Moody, Capt. C. C. Stevenson, and Capt. D. W. Figgins.
The President was escorted to the Capitol grounds by Phil. Sheridan Post, G. A. R., D. F. Baker Commander, A. C. Bellus, Senior Vice-Commander, N. F. Kimball, Junior Vice-Commander. The parade was in charge of Maj. H. E. Noyes, of the Fourth Cavalry, and was one of the most creditable demonstrations witnessed on the trip. The local militia and more than 1,000 school children participated. Every veteran and each scholar carried a flag, which elicited from President Harrison a beautiful tribute to the national symbol.
After the review Governor Willey and Mayor Pinney formally welcomed the President, who responded as follows: