St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1886-04-01
JOHN b. COUGHS NEW BOOK.
Platform Echoes.

Platform Echoes.
This entirely new and splendidly il
Illustrated volume is the browning life
work of the world famous John b.
Cough. Every one is familiar with
the story of his early life, and of his
rescue from drunkard's grave, and
how this once wretched and despised
sOt became one of the most famous
men of our time and the best known
speaker in the world. For seven years
he stood amid the horrors of delirium
tremens, an abject slave to the bottle
and his condition and wretched APP
pearance were such as to cause people
to exclaim, "There's the man who has
been i'm hell" Since that time the
good he has accomplished cannot he
estimated. The rich and poor, the
high, the low, the learned and unlearn-
ed, have been alike thrilled and moved
10y his burning words. He has swayed
brilliant audiences of royalty and fash
ion has spoken in State prisons, iails,
poor houses and penitentiaries reform
schools, and houses of correction to
the deaf, and dumb, and blind to au
diences composed wholly of Outcasts
and to audiences numbering thousands
of children. At his feet more than ten
million people have sat and listened in
admiration and wonder. In his libra
~ may be seen IL set of large volumes
"a far better memorial Of his life and
labors than any monument of marble
or brOnze-cOntainin the original sig
natures of one hundred and fifty
thousand men and women who were
induced to sign the pledge through his
personal efforts. These names-many
of them tear believed and written with
trembling hand-represent stories of
happiness and woe, of ruin and re-
morse, of blighted hopes and wasted
lives, of battles fought and victory
won. To give some of these thrilling
life histories; to depict scenes of joy
and sadness to lift the curtain on life's
stage and show its tragedy and come
DIV and to draw "living truths" from
the lessons thus taught, and bring
them home to every heart, is the prime
object of this volume.
Many distinguished men and women
have long urged Mr.. Cough to write
this book They knew that in forty
five years of unceasing work among all
classes in Europe and America, he has
seen much of the bright and shady
sides of life, and that the wealth of ma
terial i'm his possession would make
one of the most valuable and thrilling
books of the day. Rev. DR.. Lyman
Abbott, the eminent editor and divine,
has written the story of Mr.. Coughs
life and career for the book.
1t is John b. Cough in print. In it
he gives to the world i'll permanent
form his best thoughts on many topics,
Ii fol- hi of
ring anecdotes and Incidents, his most
telling stories of deepest pathos and
keenest humOr. AS story teller he
has never been equalled. The tender
ness of his pathos and the spice of his
humnr are Irresistible. But whether
he narrates story of mirth or of sOr-
row, it is always to illustrate great and
living truths. Stranger stories are
here told than romance ever dreamed
Of every one Of them drawn from real
life by a master hand. In every chap
ter he weaves in anecdOte after anec-
dote, incident after Incident, story at
ter story, and underneath them all lie
Giving Truths" that stand out as bea
con lights. He plays upon the read
er's feelings as with an enchanter's
wand, at one time filing his heart with
gladness, at another binding his eyes
with tears. At his bidding hearts are
melted, and stern, strong men, as we'll
as sensitive women, weep tears of com
passion, are aroused to Indignation, or
moved to uncomfortable laughter in
spite of every effort to control their
feeling.
This work is wholly and entirely
new. Not one word of it has ever be-
fore been published. 1t contains moth
ing that appears in Mr.. Coughs eau
photography" Q869) or in his "Sun
light and Shadow" Q88O). This is a
totally different work, and is conceded
by critics, and by the entire press, to
be the GROWING life work of its illus
triOus author.
Its illustrations are the best we have
ever seen. 1t contains two hundred
and twentyseve fine engravings by
the best artists and engravers in the
world. Many of these illustrations are
"too funny for anything" while 9th
ers depict wretchedness and woe. Six
teen of these engravings are full page
ones, and are magnificent specimens of
art. Two hundred and nine are text
illustrations. There are two fine steel
plate portraits. One is from a Iife-size
full length painting, showing Mr..
Cough as he appeared shortly after his
rescue. The other is from a photo
graph just taken. All in all, it is one
of the finest and most deliberately illus
trated volumes ever produced by the
American press.
We advise our readers to buy Plat
form Echoes at the first opportunity.
They can, in our opinion, much better
afford to dispense with dozen other
books than not possess this. Once be-
gun it will not willingly be laid aside
till the last page is finished.