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Show COLONEL STANTON KITS1T LAKE Former City Clerk Wears Distinguished Service Medal on Uniform. Army Man Will Be Speaker at Bonneville Club Dinner Tuesday, Colonel Charles E. Stanton, D. S. M., member of the Legion of Honor of France, one-time city clerk of Salt I.ake, and pioneer of the n eat, arrived yesterday afternoon, aft-ernoon, after more than two years of service abroad as chief disbursing officer of the American expeditionary force. It was the 'same "Charlie Stanton" of decades past, his friends of former days faid last night, when they greeted him sis of oId.y They will welcome him formally for-mally at a dinner of t lie Bonneville club to be held at tho Hotel Utah tomorrow evening. As full of anecdotes as a pepper box is of spice. Colonel Stanton spent yesterday aflernoon and evening renewing the ac- j ouaintanceships of days gone by, and expressing ex-pressing his wonderment at the progress which the city has made since first he came here in Tine colonel talked last night about that first visit of his to the city. Came by Ox Teams. ' "It was during the October conference of the Mormon church, just half a century ago this fall," ho said, "the families came hundreds of miles behind their slow ox-teams, ox-teams, in historic stagecoaches, horseback and on foot. They 'parked' their animals whre tho street s are nyw, and pitched their cam dm along City creek, which then ran unfettered through the city. By night t he camp fires dot Led the slopes of the benches, and all eyes were turned to what is now the head of Main street. "For then the temple was in the making. mak-ing. Its site was marked with the construct con-struct ion material, and the structure itself it-self was just level with the street." Another tale of thoe days, the colonel related last night, and one about which he spoke with especial pride and interest, "was the driving of the golden spike which Unit the first transcontinental railroads. A boy then, and a friend of all the railroad rail-road men, he was privileged to mount the cab of the Union Pacific locomotive. He was told to ring the bell to mark the celebration. He rang. Hut, unfortunately unfortunate-ly for him, he chose the moment when the late Senator Stanford was making his address to make the welkin ring the loudest. "They heaved me out of that cab in a hurry, and for a moment ruined the day for me." said the colonel last night, wim a chuckle. "But X made up for it by making bird cages out of an old tie and Belling them for relics of tho real thing," he added. Among First to Sail. Colonel Stanton went overseas on the boat with General Pershing and that first group of officers who went to pioneer the way for America's greatest military effort. He established his office in Paris and maintained it there throughout the war. He spoke with great feeling last night of the wonderful results accomplished by tiie American troops, and expressed his personal gratitude at having been allowed the opportunity to serve with them. He will relate at the Bonneville club dinner some of the sidelights of the war which came under his personal observation through his intimate association with the leaders of the American troops. There are probably not more than a dozen men in the American army who know more intimately the details of the tremendous work which had to be done behind the lines in France before the American troops could get into action. He promised last night that he will relate re-late some of these matters tomorrow. It might he mentioned as just a single item that Colonel Stanton personally disbursed more than ?1"0,U00,000 for purchases and pay abroad. Came to Salt Lake in 1889. After his early visits to Salt Lake as a boy, when he and his brother freighted ties into the city. Colonel Stanton came back in 1SS9. Almost at once he began to take an active and prominent part in : the affairs of the city. He was secretary to the commission which built the city and county building, and helped much in the designing of that structure. He was prominent in the his'tory of the Old Liberal party and served three years bs county clerk. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he became a lieutenant lieu-tenant in the pay corps of the army, and at the conclusion of those hostilities he was given a permanent commission. Most of his army experience has been In the handling of funds, and much of his time lias been spent at western posts. He served many years at the Presidio in San Francisco. There he was at one j time president of the Family club, one of the best known men's ciubs in the country. ' ! His only regret last night at his return j to Salt Lake was that Sirs. Stanton was i unable to stop over with him. Mrs. I Stanton, known affectionately to many Salt leakers as "Aunt Mollie." came from j New York with the colonel, but was compelled com-pelled to go on to the coast because of ill health. Colonel Stanton will be here until Wednesday, Wed-nesday, when he will leave for Los Angeles, An-geles, en route to his new station in San Francisco. |