St. Landry democrat., 1891-02-14
II want to be like Jes 3,
want to be like Je;
! want to be like Jesus,
An serya him till the end y

The next thing Oh the program was
speech by Samuel Augustus Pezoir. The
master again prepared the audience for
any "erras" on the part of Samuel Angus
tuS.
''Yo kin see 10 yo'selves," he argued,
''dat he is very small pusson, an ought
to be encouraged, bein' dat he has de
cheeks to git up befo' SIGH a la'ge an
intelligent sugience an make de at
tempts."
Samuel made the attempts, several of
them, but each time his voice stuck in his
throat and the crowd laughed. Where
upon he would twist his fingers and look
up into his instructors face with the most
pathetic, appealing expressions magma
BILE. Being encouraged with smile and
':nebber yo' mind de laugh" he would
turn again and courageously face the
lannon's mouth-or what was almost as
bad Finally he succeeded in getting
through with his little couplet, and at the
tap of the bell, proudly bowed himself off
the stage.
Following this was another "qua'tette"
and chorous, all sung by the organist
alone. At it's close he said that as his
best songsters and his best speakers had
not yet arrived he felt constrained to ad-
dress the res pectable company himself.
II want to talk TO you few minutes,
my dearly affectionate friens." he re-
marked, ION the important subjec' of
sociality. Now sociality, my hearers
he raised his voice to high oratorical
pitch, as he went on, and attacked the
vernacular with more and more vigor. and
less and less Internationally am
sumpin' yo' can't no ways do without if
yo' want to go out irter de world an
'sociate you selves with dem as has got it.
It's sumpln' yo' can't have end keep il all
to you selves. | can't keep it all to my
self. It's sumpin' dat mixes US all up
togeder and makes US 'sociate one with
anoder. | can't jes' tell yo' what dis
sociality' am in and OBJ itself. 1t can't be
thusly described in words 1t is sumpin
SO fine, an soft like, that eff yo' reach out
20 han SO, an try to grab it, why it amt
dar."
There was rude guffaw in the back of
the church. The speaker stopped andf
looked severe. Presently he remarked
significantly in lower key, "Whar dar is
ignorance dar is no sociality."
A woman in large plaid dress and sun
bonnet rose up and said with great dignity,
pointing to rough looking individual :
Some O yo' men folks put dat man out,
er will l heard him swar, an jes
want him to know dis am chu'ch, an
no public house"
There was some little commotion. The
"spotted" individual got up and slouched
out. The speaker decided to cut short
his harangue. He announced that Santa
Claus, from whom he had ha6 frequent
dispatches during the evening, would now
make his appearance. There was loud
jingling of bells in the vestibule and the
children's saint rushed in, huge pack on
his lack, his face calsomined as white as
chalk. The audience rose to their feet
and sent up shout of applause, and the
little knot of white folks slipped out and
left them to the intense delight which was
to follow the distribution of the dolls, the
vases and the mysterious package.
On our way home we dropped into dim
hall where there was colored folks
dance in progress. The fiddlers were
doig their best, and the the floor manager
was ''patting" with both hands and feet
ss he Justify called off the changes. l
wonder if our cultured young folks who
make such fine art of the poetry of
motion, would ever feel like going through
their changes again, could they once
witness this rude burlesque, this purely
animal enjoyment of sensuous music! The
dance was not nearly SO well attended as
the Christmas tree, though probably later
in the evening the hall filled up. The
colored people have a great way of
making night of it." They often hold
their prayer meetings until daylight.
They are very fond of "sociality. "-Alice
III. Jones, IN Cedar Rapids Republican.