The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-01-29

In the !. itI.nu Of tiie year isl n.ei
vim i rcvcre aCel5eE III tho ror.i N
5yt.' 81 " i,cn-a@ia. -! NAica is% X
MS .try mach hro.el 1T tan Ei;et. Tho
accident WIS cue iss4ely IL IN error III
judgment hy Win j my esn eeifEfi.
biasctel III nrfit If q .ruy 80 c~rci2..
al II time whoa the cyclone orbit VIZ.
IL us2. ~ Ez5ar al Il hight. new In@.
~ thunder" - .Gnir fraln nt.self. tel
quite !. long distance with very little or
sirlc,ion until | reached the earth. when
| was shocked to lind that | could pro-
c.efi no farther.
Stirring mp. however. | WIS horFiiied
to tinl imforc | had proceeded two steps
that my choicest L., h.d been lronen
just below the kl"n. After weeks of
suffering 1T Il village. 10 which | WIS
carried by admiring friends. | was led
10 believe from the large number ct pao-
pie VIII" came long distances to view the
shattered limb that If | could get ii on
the stage. together with IA few explain
atory remarks regarding atmospheric
phenomena. | would entertain and in
struct while possiijl. detracting atten-
tion from the accrrse,l ballet and thus
elcvat.ng the stage.
A New York manager had previously,
written me regarding the possibility of
my lcctnring. and | had been just coy
enough TO keep him interested. THIS a>l
began to gct around on crutches | could
not overcome the de-irr to appear iii
public, SO that those who had read aft
er" me colld also -sit under me-" |
yx-r,ta -, Ellis r,,,,,..r..-. ., a, toll l ~, tiot
he might make !iftr dates for me in de-
sirable cities iii Decomber ard January
at an enormous lri"e. lie wrote back
IL kraow what printing and press notices
| had.
| he'd or. notice. which | sent Ia him
at once. although he never Us, i il. 1t
was rs follows:
Last evening ,ir. Nye s.o,.e at the
new rink here on the subject. i, or Il
Not the Tarii; Il Tax TIE speaker ar
rived on the 8 O'clock stage from Tie
Siding. He was the ii"st one in the hall
and by far the last ~ ont of ii. II"
speaks with great difficulty. owir. tofhe
fact that he is unable 10 think Of things
to say. Some think he viii improve.
The lecture was free. and several came in
to get warm. Those vino were already
warm enough did not ON i'll.
The %iallitor tells us that the lecture
lasted over an hour. He thinks that il
our people here had begun in time it
could have been averted. He is going to
resign is j%anitor if the wner Of the
building do not treat him with more
consideration"
There were other notices that were bet
ter than the above-notices that | had
written myself-for | was more careful
not to wound my feelings than the man
who wrote that one.
After ii few weeks. greatly to the sur
prise of those who knew me-. | got IL tele-
gram asking me my price for le.turing.
The telegram came from IL small hut
very active and thrifty place. | WAS not
ready with my lecture yet. and my
clothes We're not done. SO | wirad back
that | would charge 800 and expenses.
The answer by red message WIS that my
terms We're accepted with pleasure.
This only gave me Two days in which
TO study my piece and finish my clothes.
Ii was very annoying. bat | could not
honorably get out Of it. Also by this
time | had grown very tired IF studying
the Il, ture. 1t did not improve on ac-
quaintance. Iwondcrelho Icouid have
seen anything smart in il on the start.
Oh. low very trite and tart and Tough it
seemed rs ! studied it walking np and
Gown IN the gIanarg., and how | wished
that | had not beaten down the price of
tie young man who wanted to write IA
good lecture for ne.
Why did | try to ~cconolnizc by writing
my W lecture. Here was IA yonng
man who had written lectures for all
the prominent lecturers of the country,
and sfslt dollars was all he ASKED. Why
did ! try to ave eight dollars and there
by hutniliate myself before the people:
Finally the job WAS done. The lecture
instead of the lecturer Was committed,
and the new clothes came hc,ne with
white basting threads in them. had a
dress rehearsal i'll the evening at home
before | went to bed. One good. kind
man Went from my rehearsal to sit up
with a lady who had been killed by her
husband willie at tea. lie went rather
cheerfullv, it seemed to me.
al along the way to my engagement
| could not be hapry. Everything re-
minded me Of my lecture. IL my inn
agiration | could see the audience. at
first exlectant. then disappointed. then
disagreeable, then offensive and finally
riotous. | could not eat anything. l
did not feel hungry. dreaded meeting
the committee. was tempted to get
killed on the road. and though | needed
the advertising l gave it up, for | could
not think of any kind of death that would
not make me ashamed to be laid out.
~ sA