PRESIDENTS TAFT AND DIAZ RECEIVE GREAT OVATIONS
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BANQUET BY PRESIDENT DIAZ IN HONOR OF PRESIDENT TAFT IN JUAREZ
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Great Military parades on Both Sides of the Border – Loving Cups Presented to Both by El Pasoans – One Hundred Thousand Greet Mr. Taft In El Paso
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SECRET CONFERENCE OF THE PRESIDENTS
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The boom of cannon, the ringing of bells, blowing of whistles and yells from a hundred thousand throats welcomed William Howard Taft, president of the United States of America, when he arrived yesterday morning to write El Paso’s name large in the history of America, and with Porfirio Diaz, Presidente de la Republica de los Estados Unidos de Mexico, to mark an epoch in the history of the two great nations of the western hemisphere.
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The President’s Train
The residents special train consisting of his private car Mayflower, two Pullman sleepers, two private cars for officials and a diner, drew in to the union depot yards shortly after 9 o’clock. The train then proceeded at slow speed to Oregon street where after a wait of only a few minutes, the president and his party alighted from the train and were received by mayor Sweeney and a delegation of El Pasoans who conducted them through the long line of committeemen into the hotel where the breakfast awaited them. Mayor Sweeney made a brief speech welcoming Mr. Taft to El Paso, and the party repaired to the beautifully decorated dining room.
The Dining Room
Never in the history of the southwest had more elaborate preparation been made for a breakfast than for this.
The decorations at the St. Regis dinning room were gorgeous. Places to accommodate 150 persons were set and the Taft party occupied a platform at the east end of the big dinning room under a canopy of flowers and silken decorations. The decorations for the occasion, it is said, cost in the neighborhood of $2,000.
When Mr. Taft, and his party and the committee entered the dinning room the assembled guest received them standing and with great applause.
Just before the banquet Mr. Taft received Mayor Barcenas and a committee from Juarez who extended to him a formal invitation to visit Juarez.
By Mr. Taft sat Governor Campbell and Mayor Sweeney.
Gold match boxes were presented to Mr. Taft and his party and silver boxes to the other guests as souvenirs.
Immediately after the breakfast President Taft and his party escorted by United States troops passed around San Jacinto plaza where 4,000 school children were assembled.
School Children’s Greeting
The greeting of President Taft by the school children of El Paso was one of the prettiest features of the occasion. As the president emerged from the St. Regis hotel after the banquet, in tuneful melody from four thousand little voices, came the strains “My Country ‘Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty.”
The president took off his hat and bowed in acknowledgement of the efforts of the children and their teachers.
The ride of the president around the Plaza park on the way to the chamber of commerce was one like the triumphant victors of old. On all sides the girls and boys waved flags and sang the patriotic airs. The line of the school children was formed on three sides of the plaza park.
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OFFICIAL PROGRAM FOR TAFT'S VISIT
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