The Tupelo journal., 1906-05-04
The OratoricaI Brigade.

The OratoricaI Brigade.
Of all the meetings that the sons of man
Have ever held since old Father Time
began
To mark the days that make up the sea
Of vast and endless eternity
There has never been-will never be
Anything like the Mississippi legislature
of Nineteen Hundred and Four.
Many men of brightest minds
In the present age and ancient times
Have shed lustre and glory in the halls
of state,
But have those giants Of the p st,
whose fate
Is marked in the history of the glorious
past,
Equaled these sages who have net
here last?
Wit and wisdom, eloquence and COM
mon sense
Moderated luridly amid the greatest
suspense;
Cold, hard logic, ridicule and satire
You may believe this or think me a liar;
But the crowd that stands transfiXed
By the spellbinding solons of Nineteen
Six
Will put us again, without fear or shame
The great world-beaters who adorn
History's anne.
The old Roman Senate had it's mighty
Grecian halls reverberated with Vocif-
eration's noisy din;
They ground out speeches that have
been handed down
To Prince and Peasant and Subject and
Crown.
1t has often been said that the ~orations
of old
Breathed forth eloquence that would
never hold
A second place in renown to any flow
Of beautiful metaphor and Posey's
glow;
But these must take, with what grace
they can.
Subseryient rank to u grand-stand
mar
Whose rhythmic sentences and mellifiu-
Gus tone
Hold spellbound all flesh and bone;
Whose graceful gestures and splendid
mien
w do llSNSI III dISCldI1 Hdll VI 1eOlli0ll
Senate e
Nothing on earth has ever appeared yet
That could stir the passions like these,
bet.
Hurrah! hurrah! for Mississippi's sons!
These p%yrotechnics flame like gatling
guns
Fired in rapid succession on the dark
est night
In forid oratory Mississippi is out of
sight.
There are Alcorn of Coahoma and Ste
vens of HattieSburg
Whose orations to be appreciated need
to be heard;
Kyle of Pamela, East of Tate
Frequently rise, windjam-and think
they crate;
There are Eddins and Ellis, Brooks and
Sturdevant,
When they get the floor, my! how they
rant
And Tucker Of Wilkinson is no sardine
When it comes to dispensing %oratorical
benzine
There are Nj chell and Stegall who VOC
ciferate loud
And foolishly think they r changing
the crowd.
There are Nixon and Smith and Nor
risen and George,
Who at frequent intervals Their elo-
quence disgorge;
Short on logic and long on gall,
They stand on the floor and baWl and
bawl.
They think their talks bring results
immense;
They boast of their learning and com-
mon sense.
there are Bird of Newton and Clar=
ence Greaves-
To the windjamming business they r
perfect slaves.
There is Byrd of Newton, and Ethridge,
too,
Who boiler and bawl till their faces
turn blue,
There is Cunningham of Prentiss, whose
chief hobby
Is to pour hell fire into the camp of the
lobby. s..
There are Coleman of Leaore-old
Constitution
And Watts of Lauderdale, with his
circumlocution.
There are Barber and Billiard, who al
ways fall out
and get the floor and bawl and shout.
They spit blue fire, belch up an awful
TRADE
These are some of the members of the
o~ratorical brigade.
There are Wells of Kinds, and the re-
doubtable Ross,
Who are sometimes called to the chair
of the Boss.
They pound with the gayel and cry
aloud,
to force attention for the ora
torical crowd.
There is Norment of Starkville, the
A. and M pun,
And last, but not least, Buck Errington.
The memory of these great men from
history will never fade
The windy members of the Oratorical
Brigade.
Sfrsvcd ar VfOIen