"It's me pr-roud privilege, ladies and gintilmin, to wilcome to our
midst, a gintilmin bearin' in wan hand a distinguished ancistry, a
spirit av enterprise and a hear-rt av courage, while wid his other, he
snatches a dinner for his starvin' min out o' th' middle av th' Sargasso
Sea. Oi rayfer to our distinguished commander, Captain Leonard Madden of
America."
A burst of applause followed this period. Hogan beamed, bowed deeply to
left and right; his voice went up an octave and he proceeded:
"Ladies an' gintilmin, me mind runs back through th' pages av histh'ry,
lookin' for a name fit to be compared with him but I don't find none.
There is Columbus and Peary and Stanley and Amundsen, all av thim
gr-reat min, but whin you come to compare thim with our hero, phwat have
they done?
"Look at Columbus. What is his claim to glory? Did Columbus iver swim
out into th' stinkin' Sargasso and come back with a good dinner for his
star-r-vin' min? Histh'ry does not say so. He discovered America,
Columbus did. What is America? A whole continint. Anybody that was
sailin' by would have noticed it. But, gintilmin, a dinner is a very
small thing and they are har-rd to discover, as ivry wan of you lads
very will know. Columbus wint out in thray ships, our gallant captain
wint out in his undhershirt and a straw hat.
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