, 1891-08-15
CRACKING %CHESTNUTS.
Opening of the Question Box
at Chautauqua.
Queries Answered by DR..
Buckley of New York.
His Opinion Of Woman Suf-
frage and False Hair.

CHAUTAUoUA, Aug. 1.-THE leading
feature OF today's programme at Chau-
tauqua was the opening OF the question
box by DR.. j. NJ. Buckley, editor of the
Christian Advocate, New York, and his
bright aud sententious answers to the
many queries ~propounded. Chautauqua
resolved itself into an interrogation point.
DIR. Buckley was perfectly ignorant of
the character and nature of the questions,
and did no. divine what the contents of
the box were until he opened It in the
presence Of the audience. Then it was
that he was in his element in giving ready
answers, sparkling with wit and humor,
for the box proved to be as surprising and
interesting as Psndora's box.
In the primeval days Of Chautauqua
the question box was designed for the aid
of school teachers; but at the present
time it has developed into a remarkable
system which transforms the audience
into intelligent and intellectual mosquitoes,
who THIRST for the blood and brains of the
one who answers the questions. A very
large audience was present to see the fun
and entangle DR.. Buckley. il possible.
The first slip of paper the doctor took
out of the innocent looking box was a
question regarding a larger outlay for war
ships on the part of the government.
The most magnificent preparation for
peace" he said, lis to be thoroughly pre-
pared for war. | believe fully in the ut
terance OF Samuel j. TIlden that our I'M
protected coast is a standing temptation
to the nations of the world to declare war
against us"
The fourth slip the doctor took up
asked for his opinion on the vcxed ques-
ton OF woman suffrage. His answer com
pletely surprised some of the ballot re-
formers present. He said:
The majority of the advocates of mod
ern spiritualism are women. Nine out OF
ten mediums are women. The same is
true concerning Christian science. In all
the false religions of the world women are
in the ~ascendancy. The biggest political
mistake ever made in the world was the
endorsement of the third party or Prohi-
bition party by the Women's Christian
Temperance Union. The Normons were
the first to grant woman suffrage, for they
knew that women would stand up for
%polyQamy. There's a great similarity be-
tween women and music. Both will help
a circus, a cathedral or an army. Women
are always in sympathy with the prevail
ing spirit. Women mobbed John Wesley
in Ireland while others were willing to die
for him"
A number of questions o fmuch interest
were hen answered very %clevcrly by Or.
Buckley, whose readiness at repartee and
10 debate has given him n national
reputation. But the one that raised the
greatest laugh was the following: why
are there so many ~bald-hcaded men and
so few bald headed women" Almost as
quick as lightning. DR.. Buckley, who is
himself baldheaded, replied: You
cannot always tell exactly whether a
woman is bald headed or not" The
applause from the men that followed this
sally made the pine knots in the roof
boards fairly shake. Some women were
mad, others were sad. but the men fairly
roared with laughter. DR.. Buckley con-
tinued:
IF you will read the works Of
Tertullian, the early patriarchal writer,
YOU will find that he makes a long argu-
ment to show the sin ofbaptizing a woman
who wears false hair"
DIR. Buckley then sketched the rise and
fall of the waterfall and then said:
Woman should live out doors a little
more and wear real hats, not samples or
symbols of them, and perhaps their hair
would disappear too. Ben Butler CON
sidered head badness as a sign of
evolution, for the race has evolved up
ward and left the hair behind. Whether
or not this Is so, a good many people are
like the man who preferred a bald head
to a plentiful supply OF red hair"
The auburn haired maidens now looked
daggers and the ald-headed men in the
front row took another big laugh.