The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-05
TUE LITERARY OUTLOOK.
,L,t,S WHITCOMB RILEY
ONCE MISTOok HIS AUDIENCE

INTO the Manuscript of
,ntbon, Hopes Next NOvei-Conan
,,c.s rnuiIlingness to Contract
So. stories in Advnnce-Mrs. Kate
las Virgin and Her Interest
,.i,deruartens-The COmings
Doinqs Of Several Authors.
w.. york. Feb. lit must be that the
.-,., and Frenchmen who are now
over here in such profusion to
.-s,so and regale us from the lecture
~, wholly unacquainted, as they
-.-,, the local prejudices and peculiar
~ The communities they visit, often
mos. mdicrous blunders in their
.l,r.s with their audiences. Even the
.. ,scurer is far from escaping such
',.l,rs once saw James Whitcomb
- walk into one with all the disin-
.,,,7-ness OIL a child; and, taken in all
e.,tores it was as pretty an enter
..,,r,ao+ as ever came under my eye.
n, 1lr RGey's list of delights at this
.r,. was a character sketch, studied
r,o.elv from a man in real life well known
:, Mr. Riley, and indeed to half the PEG
-. ,f rn5iana-one of that familiar type
~ ,emneranee evangelists, who, from be-
rr dasn in the gutter one week, have
,,oorted the next. to the hight of the
,,strpm. whence they shout imprisoned,
.roofional appeals and warnings to their
Observation-Disclosures. and even administer
s,rone rebukes-for want of tenderness
and fellov-feeHug-to the habitually tenn
morale No one who has seen Mr.. Riley
on the platform need be told that he made
the impersonation with great art. The
character was well defined in his mag
nation: il interested him; and it came
or with a reality and gusto that even
NJ Riley's Hoosier farmer at his best
could not surpass. But it was not the
demon of intemperance that Mr.. Riley's
exhorter assailed; it was the demon of
base bah. The small, insiduous, serpen-
line way in which The base ball passion
planted itself in the human heart was
described in low, Kissing phrases that
made one feel as if there were burglars
4 in the house Then followed in high,
fervid. appalling phrase, that made you
Fl
something growing in him--the account
Of the sudden bursting forth of the pas
u sion. from this uuobserved planning,
mo a devouring parasite that, almost in
the twinklng of an eye, took the whole
man into its deadly embrace. On this en-
sued a softer. gentler straih--a generous
q appeal to the better nature of the victim
II and a like appeal on his behalf to the aid
n and sympathy of those whose better
II strength had enabled them to escape his
Il error These latter were especially urged
& not to take pride in their strength and not
to disdain a weaker brother, and in setting
N forth to them the manner in which they
81 sbould labor with the weaker brother,
81 the orator, remember, once cried out 81
Fl would 90 to that first baseman. and 1
81 would plead with HMM the name of his
Il mother, his father-for the sake of his
81 children, his wife-to break away from this
81 monster 10 free himself, to-" / forget the
rest
Fl Well, this sketch, delivered in about the
words and manner that 1 have outlined,
was given by Mr.. Riley on the one occas-
ion when | heard it, in an Indiana town
where temperance even TO the point of to-
Il tai abstenance and prohibition, was the
militant conviction of a large part of the
Fl community, and to an audience drawn al
most exclusively from this part. The lee
ture was one of a course presented under
the auspices of the local Y. NJ. c. A.
Tickets had been sold mainly for the en-
tire course, and they had been bought
largely by people who looked with little
favor on public entertainments in general,
n but felt that they might safely indulge an
a lecture, especially a lecture provided by
the Y. NJ c. A.-honest, earnest people,
not unnteigent, but from want of expe-
Renee entirely without quickness in any
q thing like satire or travesty.
The effect of the performance on this
most ill-adapted Of audiences was clearly
II marked progress. You could see il travel
hhe low wide wave on water Almost at
lhe second sentence they were in a roar
OF laughter; the mere mention of base bail
WIN sarcastic intention was tickling to
them The joy was unrestrained and with
Out misgiVings; it simply welled forth.
ana TINS continued through about one
third of the harangue. Then there came
change barely perceptible at first but
teeohiIs moment by moment better de-
"H7t Inc laughter still continued in
scarcely diminished volume; and indeed,
50 eohtlnued 10 the very end; but it be-
sdu 10 nave an undertone of compunction,
terminal rash of holding back, as if the
ausner were anything but pleased with
nn"SeH LOT laughing; but this became
hndity so distinct that it was like a mock
Ms egho to the laughter. The effect was
most ludicrous.
nu1 'he best came when the entertain
eit was over and the people were dis
IslnS' As they made their way slowly
o"aIp Inc door. in low but quite audible
S',.'lelliees 90 each other they gave their
so aa'onS OF what they had been hearing.
ontr Souis women with whom the seri-
esS ot NE had not yet crystalized into
pr, ~ ligld conviction would say to a
fb,asel rather, Wasn't that base BAN thing
10. ~, ana he would answer with a slut
H.. . "a al-um-ye-tolerably tolerably"
wats pIsAke to the caricature l after
a.. earned, continued to, grow on re-
no @ Inc young man who managed
old uise OF lectures for the Y. M. c. A.
Rst nue. mat so much offense was taken
nat ,, ~ 'he succeeding course, they did
tbtri. TO include Mr. Riley, and he has,
co ,s'ih, never leetured in that town since
Y"' y never under the auspices of the
a Row, manuscript of Anthony Homes new
Il v5ieE Coonel Dieppe"-the novel of
eoce ' ! made mention in this correspord-
Owbtr,. "VeA or two ago-arrived in this
N"iiA few