Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

LASNSING TOW)NsIIi, ANI) (IT ITH, I IIISTOIRY

543

SUCH DECORATIONS.
And such preparations as were made! Mr. Buck tells of using
1,000 lace curtains as part of the material of decoration for the
old rink, where now is the armory. The event was looked forward to for weeks and months and of wonderful brilliance was the
culmination.
The fifth annual ball of the Grand River Boat Club is described
in a clipping from a newspaper of that time as the "most brilliant." The large orchestra was brought here for that occasion
from afar. It were futile to attempt a full description of this
affair at this time- as Kipling would say, this is another story.
There is one other affair that centers around the old boat club.
Reference is intended to the farewell tendered by the club to
Charles A. Towne, at the old Hudson House, Feb. 18, 1886. Mr.
Torwn went out from here to win a name known nation-wide.
He was for a time senator from Minnesota, and was second only
to Bryan as a silver-tongued advocate of bi-metalism in 1896.
He served several terms in Congress and was known as one of its
foremost orators. Mr. Buck relates of him, "Charlie was one of
the smoothest talkers, even as a young fellow, as I ever knew; he
had the gift."
Another occasion of the boat club was the annual banquet.
Dec. 28, 1887. Hon. Samuel L. Kilbourne, still a resident of
Lansing and probably oldest member of the Ingham County bar,
presided as toastmaster. A sharp contrast between then and now
resides in the quantity of food set forth. At the club banquet in
1886 there are 25 articles of food on the bill of fare not including
the vegetables, which were probably held of too little account to
mention. Mr. Buck says the banquet committee was not trying
to show off either in point of lavishness of food. But 25 articles
of food are more than the number supplied the other evening at
the dinner in compliment to President Burton, concerning which a
number are still questioning whether or not there was anything
to eat.
Still another occasion was a farewell tendered by the club to
Mr. Buck himself, on the occasion of his leaving for a period of
residence in California. The same Charles A. Towne, referred to
above, was present and delivered a poem suitable to the occasion.
Its first stanza ran: