Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-26
.HUMORISTS PLAN
MONUMENT To NYE
DISTINGUISHED WRITER'S TO
AID PROJECT
American Press HumorIsts Who Are
to Gather in Los Angeles Expect
to Carry Out Long Cher
ished Idea

secretary-treasurer of the American
Press Humorists, that organization
has taken up the project of building
a monument to the late Edgar Wilsor
Nye at Laramie, Wyo., and the func
Is to be swelled by proceeds from q
big entertainment which the funmak.
ers will give in the week of September
Is next. while their fifth annual con-
vention is in progress in Los Angeles
Cooperating with Mr.. Searight is the
Rev. Robert J. Burdette, who as
Bob" Burdette, the Burlington Hawk
eye humorist, was a friend of Bill Nye
Mr.. Burdette, as long ago as 1904, when
the American Press Humorists held
their annual convention in st. Louis
favored the monument project and not
only is he assuming a large part of
the work in connection with the pro-
ject now, but has agreed to act as
one of the entertainers on a big bill
at Temple auditorium, for which ar
rangements with Manager Sparks M.
Berry have about been concluded.
Distinguished Men Invited
In addition to Bob" Burdette there
already have been promised such we'll
known humorous lecturers as Melville
D. Landon Cell Perkins) and Sam
Davis editor of the Carson Appeal,
both humorists of the old days, and
associates of Bill Nye; Strickland w.
Gillian, former. humorist of the Los
Angeles Herald, lecturer for the Slay-
ton Lyceum bureau, Chicago, and ia
nous for his classic, "Finnigan to
Flannigan;" Edmund Vance Cooke,
president of the National Lyceum En-
tertainers, better known in Los An
geles as the Ohio Philosopher, and a
Go tn wi
Poet" Judd NJ. Lewis, author and
lecturer and humorist of the Houston
Post. Invitations also have been sent
Samuel L. Clemens mark Twain),
Joel Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus),
John Kendrick Bangs, Charles Battell
Loomis, Thomas Augustin Daily Frank
l. Stanton, Wilbur D. Nesbit, S. q.
Kiser and Holman F. Day, members
of the association.
Plan Interesting Trip
The list of patrons and patronesses
for the entertainment is being prepared
and will include the most prominent
Angelenos and number of the lead
ing people of surrounding towns. Sew
eral of these towns will be visited by
the press humorists as trips incidental
to the convention; also there will be a
day at the home of Mr. and Mrs
Robert j. Burdette, Sunnycrest, Pasa-
dena; trips to Mt. Lowe and Catalina,
a reception by the Los Angeles Press
club and banquet by the chamber
of commerce. Returning, the humor-
| lists will go either by way of San Fran
cisco or the gold mining camps of
! Nevada. or both.
There are more than 100 of the
American Press Humorists, connected
with the leading newspapers and mag
azines of the country, and their enter
tainment at past conventions has in
cluded high honors, such as a special
train to Atlantic City as guests of the
city of Baltimore; an official American
Press Humorists' day at the st. Louis
exposition and a reception by John D.
Rockefeller at his Forest Hill home.
The convention last year was held in
Philadelphia and Los Angeles was
chosen as against four other cities
which made bids for the fifth annual
meeting.
Will Be Notable Gathering
The Bill Nye monument project will
make the fifth annual convention more
notable than any of the preceding
gatherings. In letter being sent out
by Secretary Searight he says:
For several years the humorists
ing a monument to the late Edgar
Wilson Nye, and, had the project been
carried through before the death of
Mrs. Nye, 1t is probable that, in re-
spect to her, the monument would
have been erected in Asheville, N. c.,
where Mr.. Nye died. Now, however,
Laramie, Wyo., is a favored location
that having been the scene of the
humorists earliest efforts and some of
his best work.
IF every American who has laughed
at the keen wit and the droll, homely
SMILES of the late Bill Nye would pay
tribute in the measure that that laugh
was worth a monument of gold could
be built to the memory of the fun
maker of Laramie. That no monument
has been raised is due. not to lack
of appreciation, but of concentrated
effort or suggestion of a satisfactory
method of procedure; at least such is
the belief of the newspaper humorists
of today.
1.-THE American Press Humorists
therefore have taken UP the subject
of a Bill Nye monument, and, until
September 1 next subscriptions will be
received by the members or at con-
vention and fund headquarters, 1922
West First street, Los Angeles.
"The faith of the humorists in
American optimism and the American
appreciation of laughter is such that
they believe the greater part of the
fund can be raised by September /,
and 1t is their intention to conclude
the project with a grand public enter
tainment at the fifth annual conven-
ton In Los Angeles, September Is 10
22, 1907. The American Press Humor-
lists Tribute to Bill Nye,' a book to
be issued prior to the convention, will
be presented as souvenir of the mon
ument fund to subscribers to the pro-
iect."
The California members of the Amer
lean Press Humorists are: Los Angeles
Secretary -treasrer, Frank Thompson
Searight; perpetual parson. and pastor
emeritus, Rev. Robert j. Burdette;
John S. McGroarty, Harry c. Carr,
William Hamilton Cline. Arthur j.
Burdick. San Pedro-W Winfield Hoga-
boom. San Francisco-Lowell Otus
Reese, Bulletin; Alfred j. Waterhouse,
Sunset magazine.
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