July 11,1898
Theater Building on Old Plantation consumed by fire... sending a panicthrough the Streets of All Nations.
The Hawaii Exhibit has been moved from the International Buildinginto the Agricultural Building, since it is now in U.S. possession.Ambulance out of control on the Midway... the breeching broke which letthe whiffletrees up against the horse, causing them to bolt... broughtunder control without serious results.Serious accident in the Georgia Building... painters working on a ladderwhich slipped and went down with them. Two men were hurt, one breakingboth legs.A train load of 300 people is coming from Tennessee...
MASSACHUSETTS DAY
The legislature of the state of Massachusetts having provided for a formalrepresentation at the Exposition, the state officials selected this day fortheir visit. At the head of the delegation was Lieut. Gov. W. Murray Crane andstaff. Besides the governor, most of the state officers and numerous membersof the assembly were present. The exercises were held in the Auditorium at 11o'clock A.M. Governor Holcomb and staff and State Adjutant General Barry,Chancellor George E. McLean of the University of Nebraska, Manager Rosewater,and other Nebraskans assisted in the entertainment of the distinguished guests. Mrs. Clement Chase, chairman of the bureau of entertainment, and other membersof that bureau were present. After music, Governor Hale was introduced andheartily welcomed the visitors from the Old Bay State.
Lieut. Gov. W. Murray Crane responded in a brief but appropriate address. President Gurdon W. Wattles delivered an address of welcome in which hereferred to the fact that at one time the boundaries of Massachusetts extendedwestward to the westward to the western line of the dominion of the nation, andsaid that although these boundaries no longer reached to the eastern bounds ofour state, yet the influence of the New England stock from which many of theresidents of the west descended, the ties of consanguinity which bound the westto the east made the representatives of Massachusetts as welcome as though wewere a part of the Old Bay State itself.
Hon. George E. Smith, president of the senate of Massachusetts, delivered amost polished address, after which Mrs. G.W. Johnston sang in a most pleasingmanner and was warmly applauded.
Hon. John L. Bates, speaker of the house of representatives of theMassachusetts legislature was the next speaker. He said that the delegatesfrom Massachusetts brought the hearty good will of the people of that state andcongratulations on the great Exposition and on the boundless possibilities ofthe great country represented by that enterprise.
Chancellor George E. McLean of the Nebraska University then delivered anaddress, after which more music was rendered, and the meeting was adjourned toluncheon served in the Markel Cafe. At this luncheon eloquent toasts wereresponded to by W.H. Alexander and W.G. Whitmore, natives of Massachusetts nowresiding in Nebraska.
On Tuesday evening, January 12th, the Massachusetts delegation was tendered areception by President Wattles and Mrs. Wattles at their home on Thirty-seventhstreet. The wide porch and grounds about their residence were decorated andilluminated for the occasion. Many of the prominent society people of Omahamet the Massachusetts visitors, and the function was pronounced one of the mostelaborate and successful of any of the many private receptions given during theentire Exposition.
