Hamilton County OhArchives News.....OUR GUESTS A Cordial welcome to the People of the South March 24 1880

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Cincinnati Weekly Enquirer

OUR GUESTS.

A Cordial Welcome to the People of
The South.
The Visitors and What They Did.
Inspection of Our Manufacturing and Business
Interests – Addresses on "Change—The
Great Banquet, &c.
        The following is a partial report, from the DAILY ENQUIRER of March
19th, of the "Welcome" given the Southern Excursionists on the opening of the
Cincinnati Southern Railroad. Want of space precludes the giving of the entire
programme, which was one of the grandest of the time:
        At noon a large number of guests found their way on "change, escorted by
friends. The Exchange was handsomely decorated with flags, and across the
street, in front, hung a large banner bearing the words: "The Cincinnati Chamber
of Commerce thrice welcomes the City's Southern guests." Over the entrance was
draped a National Banner, and under it, framed in flowers, were the words
"Welcome" and "Peace and Good Will." At a quarter-past one o'clock President
Brown mounted the rostrum, while every body gathered about it, and said:
        "Gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce: It will not be expected that I
will attempt any thing in the shape of a speech; but I can not forbear the
opportunity to say that I am glad that the day for which I have looked for so
many years has come at last [cheers] – namely, the completion and full operation
of the great trunk line from Cincinnati to the South.
        Governor Marks of Tennessee, was then introduced. He said: "Gentlemen of
the Chamber of Commerce of Cincinnati – This is my first visit to the Queen
City. A number of years ago I was made one of a Committee of about 75,000
Tennesseeans, charged with the duty, among other things, of making a visit to
the City of Cincinnati. [Laughter.] For four long years, from time to time, we
attempted to discharge the duty imposed upon us. [Laughter.] Let me assure you,
we found the road exceedingly rough. [Laughter.] A great many accidents, serious
in their character, befell us by the way. [Laughter.] For reasons entirely
satisfactory to ourselves, we concluded to give up our trip to Cincinnati.
[Laughter.] It was our understanding then that if we ever got here we would meet
with a warm reception. [Cheers and laughter.] We have come up here to-day to
render an apology for not making the call before [Great applause and laughter],
and to assure you, gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce, that in the sympathy of
the reception that you extend us on his occasion." [Long and repeated cheering.]
        This was the popular speech of the day, and it made the Governor of
Tennessee a popular favorite in Cincinnati. The unanimous verdict was that
Tennessee has the Marks of good government.
        Governor Col1uitt was introduced and said:
        "I will say, gentlemen of the Chamber of Commerce and of Cincinnati, I
will say to my honored friend, the Governor of Tennessee, who has so facetiously
referred to the events of the past, that now and here is a fitting occasion when
the dead past shall be buried forever. [Cheers.] We of the further South here
looked forward with pride and satisfaction to the enterprises which this noble
city has set on foot by which the barriers that have divided us heretofore
should be barriers no longer. And I do not think that I misconceive the
sentiments of the people of the South when for them, the multitudes that are
present whose faces I recognize as well as for the multitudes we have left
behind, when for these and for them I extend to you, sir, the right hand of
fraternity (grasping the hand of President Brown), and bid you a friendly
greeting [great applause] to the climate and soil of the South [cheers] as we
have received from this noble and this loyal city." [Prolonged applause.]
THE BANQUET.
        Though eight o'clock was announced as the hour for beginning the
banquet, it was forty minutes later before the doors were thrown open to the
guests.
        As to banquet, it was one of the finest and best managed affairs of the
kind the country has ever seen. Seventeen hundred and seventy-six persons passed
the doors and sat down to the tables, and 513 waiters and wine-servers
officiated, and yet the hall was comfortable in its spaciousness, and the best
of order prevailed. No one was cramped for room. Between every table there was
space to be had and to spare, and no one was jostled. The waiters had been
carefully selected to each table, and a head waiter had been assigned, and all
having been carefully drilled, the work was done systematically and
harmoniously. In no other way could such a large crowd have been handled, and
the Messrs. Roth, by their forethought, well earned the reputation of
first-class caterers.
The Scene.
        On entering the hall, or from either the stage or the balconies, was a
grand one. The long tables, loaded down with the material and aesthetic
accessories of a banquet – dishes, eatables, and flowers; the large army of
guests, and the smaller but still extensive one of waiters; the balconies
crowded with a select gathering of spectators, the front rows glowing with the
bright colors of the ladies' dresses, the glare of lights and the brilliant
coloring of the flags with which the hall was decorated, formed an ensemble at
once striking, beautiful and magnificent.
The Music.
        One of the features of the affair was the music. In addition to the grad
organ, presided over by Professor Henry Carter, the Cincinnati Orchestra Reed
Band was present, and under the leadership of Michael Brand contributed largely
to the pleasure of the occasion. Many of the airs and selections rendered by
both called out the loudest applause and were encored, but when the orchestra,
by a happy thought, went out of the regular programme to play "Dixie" they
fairly took the audience by storm. The best of order was prevailing, and hardly
any sound louder than the regular hum of conversation had as yet been heard, but
when the first familiar notes of the old tune reached their ears the vast
audience, seemingly forgetting every thing else, rose as one man, and in one
breath gave vent to that indescribable, wild and spirit-stirring sound, known to
our soldiers as the "rebel yell," a form of expression of feeling peculiarly
Southern, as the "Hip, hip hurrah!" is Anglo-Saxon. For several minutes this
continued, the strains of the orchestra being unheard, and nought but that wild
sound filling the ear. Finally, it stopped long enough to allow the musicians to
play the air, but the moment they reached the chorus again it pealed forth
shrill, sharp and long until the wails echoed the sound.
        Immediately after "Dixie" the orchestra struck up the "Star-Spangled
Banner," when for a moment, there seemed a pause of hesitation, followed
instantly by the most tremendous applause. Up, on their feet, got the
Southerners, and waving their napkins over their heads, again that "rebel yell"
was heard, as, with loud acclaim, they greeted the old patriotic anthem. For
several moments the scene was indescribable; the stage, the body of the hall and
the balconies all joining in that whole-souled greeting of the "old flag," until
suddenly the organ took up the chorus from the drowned out chords of the
orchestra, and peal after peal the deep sounds came pouring out, reverberating
from the ceiling and the walls, until the voices of the large audience were
dulled into insignificance, the whole making a scene patriotic, grand and
enthusing.
THE SPEECHES.
        The speech-making did not begin until after eleven o'clock. Though the
work of the banquet ran smoothly, very smoothly, the magnitude of the work
precluded the possibility of great rapidity in serving the courses, and the
result was a greater delay in reaching the speech-making portion of the
programme than was expected. Soon after eleven o'clock, however, the
toast-master called to order, and called upon Mayor Jacob to deliver.
The Address of Welcome.
        It was as follows:
        DISTINGUISHED GUESTS: On this occasion of celebrating the completion of
the great enterprise commenced by our city, of having a direct connection by
railroad with the South, I have a great pleasure, as well as distinguished
honor, to bid welcome to you who feel that a great achievement has been
accomplished by the city of Cincinnati in connecting our city with the fertile
regions of the South.
        Let it not be said that we are sorry for what we have done because some
may say our taxes have increased. It is not a work for the present, but for
future generations. It is essential to our city that we should have Southern
connections to place in the market our products, as well as merchandise
manufactured by us, and receive a just reward from our kind friends.
        For many years our city has suffered for want of a direct connection
with the South, and it may be characterized as a great enterprise on the part of
a municipality to effect that end by the completion of the Southern Railroad,
which, in my opinion, will conduce to your as well as our interests.
        I, therefore, on behalf of the City of Cincinnati, bid you welcome to
our city.
        Mayor Jacob was followed by Governor Foster, who welcomed the guests in
the name of Ohio.
Governor Foster's Address.
        The event that brings you here is one of great interest to the State of
Ohio; one in which our Queen City take especial delight, as testified by her
splendid illumination upon your arrival, and the superb banquet which we are now
so happily enjoying.
        The completion of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad brings into close
business and social relations the people of great States which hitherto have had
but little of such intercourse, or real knowledge of each other, except such as
is gained upon the bloody field of war.
        We of Ohio boast of our great agricultural and mineral resources; of our
extensive manufacturing industries; or our own splendid system of free schools;
or our peerless charitable institutions; of our numerous thriving cities and
villages; of our more than three millions of prosperous and happy people;
        You, too, gentlemen, can boast of your vast agricultural and mineral
resources, which, when fully developed, will far exceed ours. You can boast of
your manufacturing industries, and the wish of all of us in Ohio is that they
will grow and expand until at last your cotton may be exported in cloths, and
you are able to supply not only our own country with sugar, rice and tropical
fruits, but also be able to contribute to the commerce of the world by their
export. You can boast of your thriving cities and villages, your systems of
free-schools, your charitable institutions, your sugar-cane, your rice
plantations, your beautiful and luxuriant groves of oranges and other tropical
fruits, and your rich and famous blue-grass region.
Governor Marks of Tennessee
        Mr. President and Gentlemen: If it is possible for me to make you fear
me, I want to say to you gentlemen, business men of Cincinnati that I 'want to
take up the remarks that I made to you to-day on 'Change where I left of, for
they were suggested by what I had seen. When I talked to you this morning I had
not seen the fair ladies of Cincinnati. I have seen them to-night, and now I
know that if we had succeeded in reaching Cincinnati when we tried it a number
of years ago we would have had to surrender to their beautiful eyes. [Applause.]
        Cincinnati, looking southward, saw a city – the gateway of the South – a
young and growing city of boundless possibilities, intervening were broad
rivers, deep valleys, vast mountains and weary distance. Cincinnati said: "Let
the rivers be spanned; let the mountains be leveled; let the distance be
annihilated," and it was done. [Applause.] You have now a grand National
highway, running through our grand old mountains. It is your grand work, a
deeper and profounder significance which I dare not omit to mention to-night. It
binds together the North and South with hooks of steel. It has relegated to
commerce all sectional questions. [Applause and cries of "good, good."] It has
relegated to commerce all sectional bitterness. Commerce is the grand inquest of
truth. It tolerates no subterfuges. We shall know each other as we are. It will
make us acquainted with each other, and standing in this presence to-night,
speaking for my section, I am proud to declare that we are not afraid of the
result. [Loud applause and cries of "Good! Good!"] The laurel of war is
fertilized in the blood and tears of mankind, but the olive of commerce is the
growth of fraternity as broad as humanity. [Applause.] To-night the Queen City
of the West sits crowned with the olive, and she is celebrating to-night that
event which at last ends war. [Applause and cries of "good, good."] she has
turned the sword into a steel rail. [Applause.] She has stretched out her mighty
arms, and lo! Peace, like a sweet benediction has fallen upon all the land.
[Applause.]
        Governor Colguitt, of Georgia, was next on the list. He was more
enthusiastically received. He responded to the toast, "The South Atlantic
States."
Governor Colquitt, of Georgia.
        The following is a brief abstract of Governor Colquitt's address. It was
in response to the toast, "The South Atlantic States."
        I confess to you that I'm at a loss how to respond to the sentiment
which was uttered, or the welcome we have received. It is hardly to be expected
that I should attempt now to speak of the resources of our South Atlantic State,
that the multitude of men have from these States give their testimony of the
great work Cincinnati has achieved. Grand as are the material results which may
come from this they are as nothing beside the moral good which shall arise from
this work. It may be a noble boast for the city to say that the result of this
work will be a great financial return, but the greatest boast is that the city
has undertaken in her courage that which for fifty years the North and the South
have desired. I know that those who have families will join with me in this
sentiment, that it is not good for man to be alone. Cincinnati has opened up a
highway that we of both sections may come to learn how much of good there is in
each other. You call Cincinnati a great Queen. If you would add to her fame,
write of her that throughout this entire Union blessed is she, the peace-maker.
Through the arts of commerce this city has opened a highway by which hearts of
men may flow together. I will say for the encouragement of the men who have
constructed this highway, that while Kentucky and Tennessee are great States, we
think you will find Georgia a greater one. When you reach the borders of the
State of Georgia that there all rivalry and all strife have ceased. You have
seen the little rills as they rush down the mountain side, noisy and furious,
how they become quiet as they run into the great river. So will the railroads.
As they pass through the other States, they may quarrel, but when they reach
Georgia they adjust their differences and join in mutual business profits. We
recognize Cincinnati as the Queen City. We love her for what she has done. The
work which she has done should be a bond of union between the two sections of
country, and when that is accomplished, and we of the South shall prepare a
toast, it will be one that will reach throughout the land. It will be
        "To the Queen of the West,
        In her garlands dressed,
        On the banks of the beautiful river."
[Great applause.]
 


M. E. Ingalls.
        MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMAN: It gives me great pleasure to respond to
this settlement. If there is any interest in the world that should share in the
general rejoicing tonight it is the Northern Railroad. If its opening means
renewed life and energy to this city, it certainly means it in a much greater
degree to them. As the manufacturer and trader hopes that this grand highway
will bring him trade and customers and profit, so do the railroads leading from
this city to the North hope that it is the harbinger of better days to them.
There is no interest in this city that shares your hour of triumph in an equal
degree with that which I am called upon to answer for.
        Glance with me for a moment at the situation and you will understand
this. Cincinnati is a central city. She lies half way between the great grain
and provision markets of the North and the consumptive markets of the South. If
you draw a circle of six hundred miles in diameter, with this city for the
center, you will find upon the north-eastern edge the busy manufacturing City of
Pittsburg, which your own Chattanooga is destined to rival. Upon the northern
edge of this circle lies Chicago, the grain and provision market of the world.
On the north-west lies Peoria, in the midst of the greatest corn-producing
country on this earth. At the western line, at the junction of the mighty rivers
is St. Louis. On the southern edge is Chattanooga. Within this circle lie all
the busy manufacturing towns of Ohio, and the rich agricultural country of
Indiana and Illinois. To every village and hamlet in this Northern land there
are railroads from Cincinnati. They radiate from this city like the leaves of a
fan – they have the capacity and willingness to do a large business, but it has
never come. The manufacturers have been anxious to sell their wares, the dealers
earnest to sell their grain or provision, the railroads to carry the traffic.
The merchants of Cincinnati were possessed of undoubted capacity, capacity and
skill. Just 500 miles to the south was Chattanooga, this gateway to the promised
land of all our hopes, and just beyond a people rich and anxious to buy this
surplus. There never were two communities more favorably situated for an
interchange of commerce than the North-west and the South-east, and there never
was a city more favorably located for the purpose of making and formulating this
exchange than this city, but it never came, and why? Because between the City of
Cincinnati and the City of Chattanooga stretched 500 miles of waste, no good
highway covering it, no means of communication. And therefore it is that the
railroads from Cincinnati to the North-west have not prospered, and their
history for the last twenty years has been one of financial distress. They had
an abundance at the North, but there was no demand here for it except what our
own mouths consumed.
        And for twenty years Cincinnati and her railroads to the North have
stood by and seen the great current of traffic to the East pass to the North,
and that for the South go around them, with no power to join in the tide and
obtain their share of the prosperity. For years they have waited and hoped for a
change, and to-night the fruition has come. Between here and Chattanooga is a
highway capable of carrying the traffic of the continent, well and thoroughly
built. Do you wonder that we are rejoicing over the hour of deliverance? I
rejoice to-night that for the first time in her history the commerce of
Cincinnati is free. I thank God that our merchants can go to-day to their broad
prairies of Indiana and Illinois and buy their products, and ship them through
this city and sell them to the South without paying tribute to any Caesar. No
rival city can longer claim toll from his trade. I congratulate the people of
the South that a new source of supply is opened to them, and a new market where
they can exchange their cotton for the merchandise and manufactures that they
need, thus adding to the comfort and pleasure of life.
        But they tell me that this railroad is all right so far as it goes, but
that it only extends to Chattanooga, and has no connections beyond; that another
railroad owns all connecting lines; that certain individuals in the City of
Louisville have bought all the railroads of the South and propose to reduce our
road to a mere local highway; that they have their hand on all the arteries of
trade south of the Ohio, and propose with an iron grasp to stop the pulse-beat
of the commerce of the South. I am not alarmed by this. It is an impossibility.
When they show me that these gentlemen can make the waters of the Ohio flow back
to its source, or can move the hand back upon the dial, I will believe that they
can change the laws of trade and commerce and compel the whole South to submit
to their demands. No, gentlemen, it is too gigantic an undertaking, and I do not
believe those shrewd gentlemen will try it. If they do they will fail, as every
other combination of its kind has failed. There never has been but one man who
wept for more worlds to conquer, and he did not live in this century or this
country. I am not troubled about connections.
        From Lake Michigan to the waters of the Tennessee there are 600 miles of
railroad in operation, though you might as well try to dam the Mississippi as to
stop the tide of traffic that will flow over it and force its way to the gulf,
to the ocean, and to every city of the South.
        After the mind that planned it, and the brain that plotted its ruin, are
silent and cold, it will live and flourish and spread out its branches and
afford prosperity and comfort to all the country around it. It will also add to
the comfort and happiness of the two sections in promoting an interchange of
travel between the North and South. Our people have often made visits of
pleasure and business to the North, to Chicago, and met there pleasant faces and
friends, but if one of them chanced to stray an equal distance to the South he
found himself a stranger in a strange land.
        Our citizens have thought nothing of a round trip to the falls of the
Mississippi, and yet an equal distance to the south are the orange groves of
Florida and the pleasant resorts of Georgia and Carolina; but access to them has
been so difficult, and the trip so wearisome, that the journey has been
undertaken only as a last resort by invalids. This is all changed, and in the
future we promise ourselves the pleasure of frequent and delightful visits to
the South. We expect our Southern friends to come here and meet the citizens of
the North, and this shall be the city were the North and South shall meet and
become friends. By this a greater good than the commercial gain will come from
our railroad.
        Gentlemen of the South, I tender you and your families the freedom of
the northern railroad connections of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. 

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