The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-04-04
BOB THE HUMORIST
A Standard Reporter Has a Pleasant
Chat With Burdette.
HAS QUIT NEWSPAPER WORK
Speaking of His journalistic Work
About Bill Nye and Gene
FieId-A Little Polltics-He
Goes to Miles City.
Has QUIT NEWSPAPER WORK

humorfSt, who Is equally funny either
on the platform or behind a Faber, ar
rived in Butte at O'Clock yesterday
afternoon and inscribed Robert ].
Burdette, Bryn Mawr, Pa" on the reg
lister at the Butte hotel. A Standard
reporter had a pleasant chat with him
in the hotel lobby soon after his ar
rival and as he ratified off one funny
story after another he was soon sur
rounded at a respectful distance by
an appreciative audience. who, after
getting a taste of his humor, rushed
out to buy tickets to his lecture at
Maguire's last night. Bob" as he is
best known by an appreciative public,
is as funny off the rostrum as he is on
1t, and his mirth bubbles up as freely
and naturally as do the waters of the
geysers in the national park. In pri-
vate conversation he is exceedingly
entertaining without effort and his wit
laughter. AS a story teller he has few
equals and he has a fund of stories
that is inexhaustible.
well, what shall talk to you
about?" inquired the man who made
the name of the Burlington Hawkeye
synonymous with humor of the richest
variety as he stretched himself out in
an easy chair. Then his eyes twinkled
and away he went. THAT reminds
me-" he continued, "of an incident that
occurred in San Francisco. John l..
Sullivan and his company were there
and a lot of the newspaper boys came
around to interview the big fellow.
Among them was one new reporter,
who hung around on the outside Of the
ring until the others went away. Then
he went up to the ex-champion and
said, Now, Mr.. Sullivan, i want you to
give me a scoop. / want you to tell
me something that you have never
told anyone else All right replied
Sullivan, just ask me something that
no one else has, and then the new man
asked him the same old question about
Corbett and Fitzsimmons."
Are you doing any newspaper work
now" was asked.
NO" replied the humorist. II do no
literary work during the lecture sea-
son. / will pass my fifty-second mile
post next July and 1 am beginning to
feel like the Rip Van Wrinkle of the
humorous platform. / am getting old
and lazy, 1 guess. / am seven years
older than Bill Nye was when he died
and / am older than Gene Field was
when he went away"
There was a trace of sadness in Bob's
voice as he spoke of the death of his
old friends, but his face Frightened
again in an instant and he added,
Great and good men are becoming
scarce, you see, so ii behooves me to
take care of myself have a boy 10
years old, and as he is just about my
size / wear his cast-off clothes, which
accounts for the fact that / dress a
good deal better than / used to. What
he discards is Sunday grandeur for the
governor"
In speaking of his journalistic work
he said: LAS a reporter i was taught
condensation and now / find that I
foI -
panion asked me for a 50.000-word
story some time ago and / attempted
to fill the order. / finished the story
in the first chapter and when 1 found
that / had to have a new family for
each chapter l gave 1t up. The news
paper man who expects to attain sue
cess must work his way up from the
bottom through all the different stages.
He cannot get his newspaper educa-
tion in a college. Bill Nye was Won
derfully conscientious worker and his
articles appeared week after week with
unceasing regularity. Between the
lines you could sometimes see that the
mill stones were rubbing together and
that II was a hard grind but his matter
was always there. If he promised a
batch of copy for a certain date IL was
as unfailing as the appearance of
comet whose appearance had been pre-
dicted by scientists"
do you consent to speak of politics
on this tour?"
"Oh, well. always carry my politics
with me. Being a Pennsylvania, 1
am a protectionist. 1 am dead against
free trade in my business The free
list Is ruin to our trade. l believe in a
tariff for revenue only, at the door. A
man who goes around the country CIV
ing free lectures on any subject is a
public enemy. He always has some
thing cheap but expensive TO sell. hid
den behind his lecture"
pennsylvania acknowledges the
leadership of Mr.. Quay, does 1t not?"
Yes; we have a boss, but he's a boss
worth marching under. / went out in
the battalions of reform to down him
about a year ago. i don't remember
just now what IL was we We're going to
reform. Some other fellow. i reckon
that's the fellow the reformers usually
get after. But when / went to the pri-
mary to cast my death dealing ballot
for the champion of reform, the man in
charge of the poll had just locked the
door and was putting up the shutters.
He told me that they had changed the
time and held the election the day pre-
vious to the one before that on which
/ had just arrived. Was a delegate
to the convention chosen at those pri-
maries? Was j? Nit There was
convention. but while IL was unani-
mously resoluting that Matthew Quay
was the favorite son Of Montgomery
county first last and all the time. with
out any second choice. 1 was at home
picking out hymns for the tree plant
ing OF the lower Merton kindergarten
branch Of the little seed sewers. | did
think of requesting the children TO
plant me in one of the holes we dug
fol the trees. but the one / was in was
so ruch deeper that they could not get
me out of IT,"
MIR Burdette left Immediately after
his lecture last night for Miles City.
where he will drive away cares to-
night He will go up into Canada be-
fore reaching 81. Paul and expects TO
get back home about the middle OF
May. He has been on the road since
early in January.