Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1896-11-05

to care whether I was there or not.
In fact, they seemed to be looking
for somebody else. One man only
was looking for somebody that,
apparently, he didn't know. FL
nally he looked at me.
"Be you the speaker" he asked.
L said, 81 be-"
II mistrusted es much" he con-
tinued. "Clam into to the Vaughn,
there, and I'll draw you up to the
tavern"
l "clammed" in, and he drew me
up. Also he drew me out. He
was a committeeman, but 1 didn't
feel as pleasant toward him as i
probably should, for 1 didn't like
that word "mistrusted," even if it
was localism. 1t turned out tina;
he used the word advisedly. 1
have always mentioned the fact
that my stay in Michigan was brief.
/ met two other spellbinders of
our side up there. One was a re-
ally brilliant and modest man. The
other good fellow with more gall
than gray matter. The brilliant
man was little mentioned and his
opportunities were not near so de-
sirable as those of the other fellow.
l was inquisitive about it, and the
other fellow told me how he work
ed it.
Don't give it away" he said,
and l haven't. He is back now
and it makes no difference il /
tell you confidentially.
II make myself solid with the
committeeman" he continued
There are ways to do it, you
know. A familiar slap on the
shoulder, a pocketful of good CT
gars, some funny stories, on the
side, other things which we won't
mention-this wink will do-and
then when the meeting is closing
1 work in three cheers and tiger
for the head of the ticket, and
see that the Chairman works in
three cheers and the trimmings fol-
the speaker. This looks well in
the town paper and is good to cliT
out and send to headquarters ano
elsewhere. Then / get the commit
teemen in that town to write let
ter to the County Chairman, telling
what a spellbinder 1 am; what al
overwhelming turnout there was
how i enthralled the audience anG
how many votes l probably chang
ed, and 1 get a copy of til. lettel
which goes to headquarters. Their
are no flies on me, and I'm as solit
as a cannonball. The man who
don't do that lacks system. See?'
l did see, but my modest FRIEND
lacked system. So did 1.
But the story telling stump
speaker is liable to meet with Sc.
we're disappointment at times. That
is, he may run UP against the
wrong stump. Occasionally he
strikes an audience that prefer,
figures on the tariff, and all that
in place of figures of speech. Fol
such he should be well supplied
with a wealth of interesting sta.
tistics. If he doesn't know wha,
the market prices of the staples Of
the region he is speaking in were
in 1892 and other previous records
and what they are now, he is in q
->haa row for stump speaking
Hence, grear-rAsearch in those line,
is necessary before venturing from
the city into the farming districts
AS cannot remember a number
long enough to successfully turn
from the telephone directory to th,
annunciator, / shall hereafter con
fine my stump speaking tours tt
the urban districts, where people
do not care so much to know wha
the price of wheat was in 1879 al
they do about what the price oil
rolls is this morning, and wher,
the price is coming from.
/ have found that a city audi
ence generally likes good story
A country audience frequently
takes time to think whether it like.
the story or not. And the speaker
sometimes fails to obtain the deci.
sion before it is time to go to the
next stand.
1 made q speech in the Chicago
Twelfth ward one Saturday nigh
not long ago, and told a story al
the start, which was received with
such applause and appreciation tina
l had to wait quite awhile before
could proceed with the discourse
On the following Monday night
told the same story to an audienc'
up in the thumb" of the "mitten''
of Michigan. Instead of having
to wait for the applause to subsid'
the audience looked as if it was
waiting for me to subside.
/ think 1 have said before tha'
my stay In Michigan was brief, bu
the State is safe. / heard tina
from both sides while l was there
and have heard it since. The pre-
ponderance of evidence, therefore
should satisfy everybody that thu
wolverines know what they arr
about. In which they are fortu.
nate.-William Lightfoot Visscher
| in ChicaOo Times Herald