The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-03-09
THE LECTURE FIELD.
Passing Away of Once Popular Form O,
Entertainment.
Especial Corrcspondcncel

Entertainment.
Especial Correspondence
BOSTON, Feb. THE passing away of
the lecture rs popular form of entertain.
ment has been favorite subject for news.
paper leader writers for some time and there
Is little doubt that from frequent WRITING
thereof many editors have come to believe
the story true. In Il certain sense it is true
That is, no lecturer of these DAYS is able To
arouse such general interest, not to say en-
thusiasm, as was felt in the platform talks
of Mrs. Livermore, John B. Cough, Henry
Ward Bcecher and the other stars of the
old time galaxy.
But it is also true that there are more lee
turcrS making living now than there ever
were in the past, and it is quite likely that
they are earning in the aggregate, even dur.
ing this winter of financial shortage. all
round, n greater sum of money than fell to
to the galaxy of the winter of, say, 1870.
A man who was II famous manager of ia
nous lecturers in the days when peonle
used to fight to get reserved seats to hear
John b. Cough extol the desirablity of
water as beverage over wine, or Mrs. I.iv-
ermore set forth the need of emancipating
our wives and sisters and daughters from
the chains of social bondage, said n few
days ago:
one great one 90 years ago. Each of the 80
is probably making fair years income,
net, during the season, and in the total the
earnings of the present SO are perhaps
greater than the one of the past, but there
Is vast difference between the lecture de-
Hvered then and the lecture delivered now.n
In this last the old time manager is fright
as usual" but he is not right if he holds
that there are no good lecturers nowadays.
There were never more informing lectures
than those delivered by Lieutenant Peary.
the arctic explorer, who Is now in the
frozen regions ON his second trip of eX.
ploration Peary did good business
too-a business that netted him enough,
as has often been stated in print. to
pay the expenses of his present trim.
Henry NJ. Stanley is also still making
money, and SO are Eli Perkins, the truth.
full man, and George KEENAN,, the Sibe-
rian traveller. Mrs. French Sheldon, the
only woman who has travelled alone among
the African savages, gathers good annual
income from the people who 20 to hear
lectures, and host of lesser lights are prof.
ttably in the field on every conceivable sub-
ject.
The CLUB course" of lectures is a great
thing nowadays, whereas it was hardly in
evidence at all score of years ago, and the
private lecture" has similarly increased
vastly in popularity. The army of persons
who subsist as managers and attaches of
lecture bureaus is an evidence of the con-
tlnued prosperity of the business In the
seventies there was but one lecture bu-
reau worth mentioning. Now there are
probably Is.
a feature of the lecture business of TODAY
is the greater practical character of the lee
lures and The larger percentage of women
who pace the platform. \ very large num-
Der of our speaking sisters devote their talk
to physical culture in one form or another.
and another portion speak upon such prac-
tical questions as housewives desire to re.
ceive instruction upon. But the lecture that
strives to be simply amusing appears to be
In the sere and yellow leaf, Bill Nye being
almost the only very successful speaker of
THIS sort. PAUL MENTOR.