River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-02-18
Burdette's Lecture.

Ii the moon ever had a regal night,
such one was last Tuesday, when
she came up, an incandescent circle,
with the last cloud of an afternoon
snow trailing over the eastern hor-
lion, as if in haste TO clear the stage
for her appearance. In moment
she had flooded the earth as by magic,
and frosted with silver the expanse of
snowy meadows and the shining eye
OF Venus in the blue West. And
whether this bit of local scene shifting
on the part of Nature, was prompted
by the arrival of very genial spirit
in our midst, or was simply incidental,
matters not a jot; for assuredly the
outdoor conditions were in the incest
possible accord with the lecture given
by Robert j. Burdette at the Congre-
gational church on the Rise and Fall
of the Mustache.
1t was this theme, eternally inter-
esting because eternally human, that
the hearted humorist unfolded
in loops and bow-knots and easy
ripples of poesy, to highly contented
audience. And through it, as the
lecturer himself put it, he conversed
with his audience, ever as a school
boy to his old-time mate, or a soldier
TO his com rade of the desolate camp
fire. And it was strangely refreshing
IN ha Pnl in
syllables the secrets of ones own
heart, touched. to be sure, with glow
Of romance and flashing with an un-
wonted humor, but ones own un-
uttered secrets, nevertheless. For it
is this distinction Of being able to
grasp intuitively the idea at the
bottom of all hearts, and to sketch it
in sunshine, that makes Burdette the
brightest and most real of American
humorists.
This particular subject, The Rise
and Fall of the Mustache, is m UGH
more inclusive than its head, which
is, indeed, but a series of catch words.
The boys fall and the mans rise, his
various stun blings and up-shoots,
and his proud, sincere and ever hope
full pilgrimage down the vale of life,
are the real things that Burdette re-
views with his audience. And this
he does with so delicate a touch and
so warm humor, that the good wife
insensibly snuggles closer to her
husband, and the young fellow who
brought a friend, looks radiantly
conscious. For you understand that
though the boy is the central idea of
the discourse, aud the mustache
really comes in on the down shoot, the
girl is by no means overlooked-"Tom"
was not given to that sort Of thing.
So, for nearly two hours, in fluent
diction peculiar to him self, and in
voice clear and rather small, but
constant in its penetration, Burdette
carried his hearers through spells of
laughter and through misty reveries,
and, from first to last, without lapse
Of interest or active sympathy. For
it was no less evident that the speaker
was pleased with his audience than
that the audience were pleased with
him.
When the Normal lecture course
was being arranged, it was promised
that something in the way of inspira-
ton should be offered to the students
and other patrons OF the course.
This is distinctly the thing that
Burdette has left behind bim-the
personal up-lift, the inspiration to
see the wealth of our human life, and
TO persevere in the great task Of
happiness.
Prof. Brier introduced the speaker
and made the necessary announce
ments of the Lecture Course. After
the entertainment Mr.. Burdette and
his manager drove directly TO Hast
ings in order to make railroad con-
nsetisHs for ether enssssmsHth