Show WEARERS OF SILVER CROWNS thirteenth annual excursion of the old folks THE PEOPLE OF LEHI DO HONOR TO THE VETERANS at an early hour yesterday mornier the streets of this city in the neighborhood ol of tae utah central railway presented resented quite a lively appearance it it was the day for the annual old folks excursion the on which the aged fathers and mothers in israel and the strangers within our gates tes were to te have ave a day of genuine enjoyment to make ake them forget for one day at least the cares and pains oad of declining years and cause them to realize thai there are feelings of gratitude respect and honor towards them in the breasts of their sons and daughters kind providence seemed 0 o q smile down u on ajae halap happy throng who con at the utah ta central depot the he weather had been hot and opples sive for several days but yesterday morning thick clouds hanging over head bead prevented the hot rays of the sun from oppressing the excursionists and as all 1 I were comfortably seated in the cars can and were starting from the depot a most WELCOME SHOWER of rain descended just sufficient to lay the dust and purify the air without earla baving any unpleasant trace behind in TAI lehi this beautiful shower came earlier in the morning so that the grove bad time to dry ry before e re the e train rain arrived and there was no trace of unpleasant dampness left to Toms make keit it convenient and pleasant for the old people the train consisting of fourteen passenger cars and one caboose at the disposal of the committee was backed up on the temple block switch on south temple street where the transfer from the street cars and vehicles bringing the excursion iota be made with ease the committee and their aids were on hand band early making the necessary arranger arrange menus ment sand and all seemed to understand their particular part of the pro gramme so that everything was done harmoniously aad quietly and without the least excitement or accident at the train backed quietly deyn to the depot grounds and a few minutes later pulled out of the city THE GREEN FIELD and fine orchards of mill creek the cottonwoods Cotton woods and the countr country y beyond just moistened by the late rain presented a lovely picture and caused the hearts of many of the aged ones to oe be filled with gratitude when they contrasted the scene with what they had beheld when all that country was but a barren and unfruitful desert passing the point of the mountain the lovely utah Valley with its romantic lake nestling in the centre burst diato iato views view and about half an hour later the train at 10 1045 45 a m arrived at lehi lebi it P passed assed the depot about one hundred yards yard 8 and aa stopped in front of robert gi Gil ichrist christs grove where the unloading of the passengers took place the bands played welcome strains of music soon all were comfortably seated by the tables which were richly Y laden with food I 1 an examination of the grove which is not very large but quite shady and pleasant convinced the be beholder Solder beA older that the lehi people peaple had teft left nothing nothilde un done that could be done for the con veni lenience ven lence ence of their honored guests A grand stand feet with an elevation of six feet above the ground bad been erected and tastefully decorated with mottoes and flags one thousand feet of tables and two thousand feet of benches had also been built to give an idea of what was done to SATISFY THE APPETITES of the excursionists we will mention that the committee had furnished for the occasion loaves leaves of bread buns 50 pounds ot of butter pounds of beef and chicken pounds of cheese pounds of sugar pounds of cake pies aad ZO SO gallons of milk besides coffee tea etc also 1000 pounds of ice which to gether with a flowing flawing well giving 70 gallons of water per minute did considerable sid erable to keep everything about the grove in an even temper the train from salt lake city brought people all told of these were over 70 years of age namely between TO 0 and 80 77 between SO 80 and 90 and 7 above 90 years old besides these about 70 old people of lehi were in attendance and perhaps people from other parts of utah county principally from the neighboring borio settlements of american F fork ork Plea pleasant sal t grove and alp alpine 1 l e forty young men aa ar forty young youn ladies neatly dressed in white dil did service as waiters at the tables and vied with each other in their attentions to their aged guests the entire assembly at the grove was estimated at nearly at 2 pm the exercises from the platform were commenced under the direction of charles E R savage on the stand were his excellency governor caleb W west who accompanied anted the excursion from this city president president A 0 smoot of utah stake a number of Bish bishops the old folks committee and their aids besides THE THREE OLDEST PERSONS on the ground wm win Burgon of union aged 94 john B lewis of the twentieth ward aged 91 and mrs williams of the thirteenth ward aged 90 years there were also present resent of the pioneers onders Pi of 1847 milan ilan atwood jacob weiler lorenzo D young and charles I 1 barnum of the members dembei of zions camp who went to missouri with the he prophet joseph in 1834 zeru bable snow solon foster joseph B noble royal barney albert brown wm F cahoon nathan tanner and johnj john J tanner of the mormon battalion boys elam luddington wm kelley joseph shipley israel evans george S clark josiah butterfield and newman buckley also Alexa alexander ader mcrae who was imprisoned with the prophet joseh joseah in liberty jail philo dibble of springville Spring ville one of the oldest members of toe e church and a number of other persons the old folks choir sang asang I 1 ere the sun goes down and elder george goddard offered prayer music by tile ane band bishop thos R cutler made maae a few remarks of welcome assuring the assembly that thai it afforded him and the people af pf lehi generally unbounded bounded uh pleasure to have the opportunity of receiving into their midst so many of their aged f friends whom they loved to wait upon and honor wm C dunbar rendered appropriate airs on his scotch bagpipes in an able mannet manner the band played I 1 hall hail columbia GOVERNOR WEST being introduced to the assembly sala said that h he scarcely knew how to express himself on the present occasion it was indeed a novel novel experience of his life to witness so enjoyable and pleasant an ovation tendered the aged men and women of the community he had on many occasions seen young people gathered together for pose of merrymaking merry making and recreation but this was the first time in his life on which h he had met with such an assembly of old folks when he first came to utah he heard of this beautiful f ul custom and was at once struck with the a appropriateness ot of the movement I 1 I 1 looking kin upon it as one of the best tokens of kindness and love that could possibly be shown to old age but lie he did not fully comprehend it until he had witnessed it in detail he did not believe that anywhere in toe the world today a more beautiful custom was practiced than the one which was being celebrated on the present occasion he did not know how bow this pleasing movement was first brought about but had been informed that the man who first originated the idea ot of tendering to the old folks a free excursion was present on the stand and he felt impressed to utter as his honest opinion that if that man had done no other noble deed I 1 this one alone should entitle him to 0 one ne of the highest seats in heaven in gazing upon the bearers of these white blue and reg red ribbons he be was impressed very deeply the fact that they were entitled to wear them on the merits of age alone was proof of nobility itself what have these aged veterans not gone through during the last forty years in their endeavors to make this country formerly covered with sage brush what it is today he felt that the injunctions injunction honor thy father and thy mother should always be remembered these old people who are present here today are the ones who brought about this great change and their children now enjoy the benefits thereof and when the hearts of the old people are made glad today the younger people who wait upon them are no doubt doutly doubly so as it always affords greater satisfaction to give than to receive for this reason the speaker felt assured that those who a ministered administered to the comforts of the aled aged today felt a satisfaction and joy in doing so that would more than repay them for all their labors the governor concluded his speech which was app applauded I 1 added repeatedly by saying that he be hoped as long as the sun shines and the mountain breezes blow in fair utah this beautiful custom of treating the old folks to recreations of this kind may inay be perpetuated three hearty cheers were then given tor for the governor who throughout his speech manifested a deep felt sympathy for the movement the tone of his words and the expression of his bis countenance gained for him the hearts of everybody who listened to him wm win C dunbar bunbar sang my dear old wife and ill I 1 in a very pleasing and suggestive manner elder wm willes assisted by elder george goddard san sang b est best crop ta the lehi choir sang let ther hills hill 8 resound with song elder savage made a few remarks in behalf of father burgon the oldest man presen tafter tatter which father lewis spoke a few moments theold the old folks choir tb then en treated the assemble to a song and chorus entitled ID dear aar heart were growing old the solo being ably rendered by mrs silverwood PRESIDENT A 0 0 SMOOT said that if future occasions should make it desirable f for or the old folks of salt lake county to make the neighboring county on the south another visit they might select any town in utah county and they would meet with the same hearty welcome they had received from the good bishop and people of lehi lebi today he greeted the founders of utah with joy and satisfaction on the present occasion and blessed all who in their hearts harbored good feelings tor for israel A gold medal the gift of swaner bros co of salt lake lake city was then presented to samuel mu liner the pioneer tanner of utah now an alk aged aped veteran who was present in response to a call he eap exp explained bained how bow he first commenced tanning leather at an early day in this when tb the e people eo wera k E nearly e all barefooted and were f so 0 bious 0 68 to get leather for shoes tb t 1 ey could not be persuaded t ait until the hides bides were sufficient to be be fit f for or use auld lang ang syne was then rendered by the old folks choir after which geo goddard and C E R savage made appropriate remarks the latter being tendered three cheers a as s the man to whom the governor had alluded as the first to make a move for giving the old folks these annual ex cursione cur A GOLD MEDAL the gift of swaner brothers co was then awarded to father wm carter the man who turned the first sod in utah in 1817 that aged veteran is now the utah penitentiary suffering for conscience ld c I 1 sa kethe announcement of which fat twit cast a temporary gloom over the vast assembly and audI melted many to tears job openshaw Open of salt lake city gave a recitation in the lancashire dialect music by the band W NAISBITT who had witnessed the labors and hardships of the aged veterans for the last thirty five years then made some appropriate and interesting remarks bearing on the conditions of the past and present he closed by expressing the wish that utah might at last become known in her true light the old folks choir sang I 1 leaf by leaf the roses fall prizes consisting of walking canes dress hatteras hats bonnets armchairs etc were then awarded to all the old people of lehi also to the oldest men and women of american fork pleasant grove and alpine the eldest lady on the ground etc A cart donated by the studebaker company was sold at auction and the proc proceeds eeds used for the benefit of the old people prizes were also awarded to A M fox leader of the lehi brass abandand ban dand joseph kirkham leader of the left leh silver band which did very much toward rendering the day pleasant and agreeable by sweet strains of music |