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Show -SIM CLUB TRIES ITS HAND IT PATRIOTISM "Star Spangled Banner," Flag Saluting, Bluejackets Bluejack-ets Make Up Part of Dinner Programme. WASHINGTON", Feb. 17. Patriotic fervor fer-vor stirred participants at the closing" dinner of the season given by the Gridiron club of Washington tonight, with President Presi-dent Wilson, members of the cabinet and others prominent in governmental and business iife of the nation as guests. Songs that rang- with the spirit of Americanism and demonstrations of loyalty loy-alty to the president -were Interspersed j.h travesties on the peace note leak investigation, in-vestigation, woman suffrage pickets at the White House gates, prohibition, for the District of Columbia, California's part In the national eleotion with Senator-elect Hiram W. Johnson impersonating himself him-self and with other satirical allusions. The Leak Inquiry. The leak inquiry was caricatured in several sketches, one of them a musical melange and another a melodramatic effusion ef-fusion entitled "The Waif," in which "Ad ministration Leak" appeared as the heroine and ''Barney CT. W.) Law son" as the irrepressible villain. Introducing the musical sketch, one of the correspondents correspon-dents with a tremolo tenor sang "Down on the leakv Way," which was followed by another song by a club member, who, as impersonator of Representative Wood, was presented as "William Wood, the Plumber, the Guy Who Stops the Leaks." In initiating a new member of the club, John Snure. correspond pnt of the Des Moines Register-Leader, psuedo-Ellis Island officials conducted an immigration immigra-tion examination for admission.' Wilson, That's AIL Inspector to applicant, sharply "Born?" Applicant "Yea." "Business?" "Rotten." "Foreign country?" "loway." "Who is president of the United States?" "Woodrow Wilson." "What does he do?" "Spends most of his time dodging women wo-men with yellow flaes." "Who la vice president?" School for Scandal. "I don't know." "NVver mind, neither do we." "Who makes the laws?" "Woodrow Wilson." "If Wilson makes the laws, what does congress do?" "Squanders money on creeks, rivulets and bluffs, mostlv bluffs." "What is the building called in which congress meets?" "A school for scandal." "What are the qualifications for a rear admiral of the navj?" "To cure a cold and play a good game of golf." "Are you an anarchist?" "No, I'm a member of the press gallery." gal-lery." Californian at Head. In the inauguration of Ira E. Bennett, originally from California, as president of the club, a group of California "bad men" and Senator-elect Hiram Johnson appeared. ap-peared. "Ah Sin" described the recent election, concluding thus: "The voting went on a way that I grieve. And my feelings were shocked at the state of Hy's sleeve. Chuck full of double-cross ballots, the same with intent to deceive. The result, as we know, convulsed the whole land. And here's Hiram W., who did not understand. under-stand. And his smile it is childlike and bland." Johnson "See here, you Hongkong hatchetman, do you mean anything personal?" per-sonal?" Ah Sin "Whassa mattah you no likee?" Where Pacific Rolls. Johnson (in despair) "You see, gents, the reward we reformers receive to be the chop suey of the heathen. And yet the last hope of the nation comes from California yes, from galorious California, the shining shore, where o'er and o'er and more and more oh! sunset land of poet's strand where the Pacific rolls and rolls ah ! gents, I could go on forever, singing the glories of that golden land of flowers and wonderful majorities " Ah Sin "You slngee in senate, executive execu-tive session, sabe?" In the midst of the dinner a call of the bugle, sounding sharp above the clatter of the banquet hall, caused the guests to pause and look up. Then came a word of command and the rattle of accouterments and over the halls swung a platoon of Uncle Sam's bluejackets from the navy , yard, guns at the carry, headed by a young ensign. "Star Spangled Banner." j Smartly they marched to the center of I the hall, halting before the president of the United States. "Present arms!" was the command, and as the ensign saluted with his sword the sailors obeyed their order. Just then a beautiful silk American Amer-ican flag was unfurled and the Gridiron quartette sang. "Star-Spangled Banner." Three hundred diners arose in their places Joining in the chorus and winding up with a volley of cheers. The evening closed with the club singing, sing-ing, "Hello, Gridiron; Hello, 'Frisco." |