The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-24


chat every man mad at least one story
IN tell. and most people today can bear
witness to the truth of the assertion.
Through it may b. questioned whether
" was born in a spirit OF temporal OBJ
elrvatiou or in prophecy. In the Dark
Ages there were plenty of stories told,
mi they came from the lips Of the pro-
fssei0naI story-tellers. and il is not in
Evidence that he stole them. The sim
ME fact is that az year after year and
century after century passed the habit
Of telling stories spread. until now
mere is no man alive who is not victim
=, the habit. Mark the development of
The story, too from the simple tales of
Confucius TO those keen-worded narra-
rivls of such men as Chauncey Depew.
They have-some of them. at least
The matter Of age i'm common, but note
+he progress of storytelling from an
aboriginal pastime to a twentieth CEN
Jury art.
and. OF course. san Francisco has
lent pace with the rest Of the world in
This as in all other things. Perhaps she
leads the procession a little. for there
Is that in the romantic history of this
,ftv which has given rise to stories that
the whole world tells with glee. and
claims as its own. There is no genera
disposition 10 give credit to stories that
are simply tOld-Stories that PASS from
nan 10 man. and the authorship of
which is lost forever after il is told
enough 70 support itself They come
and 60 and appear and disappear like
coins I'm circulation. and no man holds
them for his own longer than il takes
him 90 pass them on.
The dean Of the story teUers of San
Francisco is Uncle George Bromley Of
the Bohemian club. and his telling of
a story gives il "a local prestige OBJ
tanned i'm no other way. When asked
directly what was the funniest story he
had ever heard. Uncle George stag
Uarai for a moment under the RESPONSE
bHty so suddenly thrust upon him. But
he appreciated the fact that he had
ha.n consulted as a high authority. and
h. was not unwilling to give an opin-
ion.
- attended the session of the house
Of representatives. in Washington he
said. when the question of irrigation
WAS hTst being considered. Large sums
Of money we're asked to be appropri-
at=d, and the members Of both houses
from the west and southwest were
strongly urging the expenditure. Con
gresham Tom Ochiitree from Texas
made a really brilliant speech. and
closed il with brilliant euiogy of the
country ne represented 1t is the
Erardest country ever made, he said,
and needs today only a little better
society and more water Then arose
Sunset Cox of New York to remark:
That's all hell needs. Mr.. Ochntree,
and the appropriations wire lost"
George A. NewhaH who is some
thing of a story teller himself. was
present when Uncle George told this.
and he said il reminded him of a time
when he had laughed at what he
thought was the funniest moment of
his life.
General Horace Porter, now United
States ambassador to France" said
Newhall, was making a very clever
little speech at a dinner. to which I
had been invited. He was frequently
Interrupted by remarks more or less
pointed from Ochiltree. and finally
General Porter grew very angry. He
did not show it, though. He simply
stopped, turned to the POSTMASTER and
said. suavely: Sir. / would some day
like to write the epitaph TO be engraved
upon the tomb of Thomas p Ochiitree
] would not make it long. for the great
work of his life may easily be eN-
pressed. I would write, Here lies
Thomas F. Ochiltree.' and then under
# ! would say in his own language. /
He neved done anything else.
q g q
No one would take Horace G. Plat,
ut the first glance. for a story teller.
lie looks like the prosperous lawyer
and railroad man that he is. and there
j. something. too, in the st00p of his
shoulders that reminds one of the
scholar. But the members of the Pa
Cttic-UHion club know him as their best
priced raConteur, and he is an after
dinner speaker with a reputation that
Is not confined TO his home city. Touch
ing the best story he ever heard. Mr.
l'idtt says
Il like this story because it has the
flavor of the real humOr of the west at
the time il was first tOld-and 1 am
ashamed to tell YOU how long / have /
known it. In little frontier town not
tar from where we are sitting now,
Vigilance committee found il incumbent |
upon 1t one day to lynch a man charged |
with stealing horse. That same day.
and not long after the tragedy. il was |
discovered that the wrong man had |
been executed. and a red-shirted miner !
was sent TO the widow to Straighten /
matters out He found the lady and |
SAID. Mrs. -. We hung Bill today |
Tor stealth boss, aud just now we 1
learned he didn't steal it. So the laughs |
Vu us
. % .
Big and genial Peter F. Daley of the |
Weber Il Field theatrical forces says he !
Knows ..t46.S3N stories. and that at some /
portion of his life he has regarded each |
ono n' them as the best he ever heard /
MT DALEY Is never given a written-Out l
part on the stage. The author of a piece /
assigns him 4 name and tells him he is 4
I" nave 50 much time on the stage in /
td'1 act Pete does the rest and il is /
because he cannot COnGne himself to /
INES written by other people or play
'N' same part ne same way at two
successive performances that. as he de-
CARES. really great Shakespearean
interpreter was lost to the stage.
When I had been in the business
only year or two" he said the other
gay. u had to make A quick trip from
cleveland to Buffalo. | had one fine,
SUIT or clothes. bang-up hat. new
IdIr oi shoes. care, pair of gloves
ana some incideutais. and so made
pretty good front. l boarded the Buff
F" train and found two ragged. dirty
seed kids hiding in the car. I listened
'' their story and was touched by it
S' much 50 that when the conductor !
, .i me- IN I pleaded with him to let the
h"yS so through. Z gave him over $40O
N.Ft1 of the best language he ever ]
Stoned 10, and finally got him to the
verge of tears. All right he said. I'll !
TAKE the kids through. Mr.. Daley. And I
now. n YOU please, III look at your
l. ket- That reminded me. All
a'd. I forgot TO explain that to YOU
j W travelling with the kids
superior Judge Leawlor knows a good
pm any stories and knows how 10 tell
{ hem well but b.s y,.ae ,,nvr;lIirg, 20 o., /