Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-07-15
CLOSING SESSIONS
OF 1908 ASSEMBLY
Sunday Was The Last Day of
This Summers Chautau-
qua at Green Lake

The last four days of the Chau-
tauqua proved interesting ones.
The musical program on Thursday
afternoon proved especially inter-
esting on account of the creditable
singing Of the Willmar High school
Girls Glee Club. In the evening
the audience was amused and enter
tanned by the Houstons. Mr.. Hug
ston gave splendid impersonation
of Herman the Great" in clever
magical act and he brought down
the house with his wonderful imi-
tation of various musical instru-
ments. His ''cello" was especially
fine and when he ''played'' Even
ing Starr from Tannhauser it was
no strain on the imagination to
think real instrument was being
used. Mrs. Houstons' recital of
Rlley's 'That Old Sweetheart of
Nine with "cello' and piano ac-
compartment, was superb and was
listened to with rapt attention.
Friday was made noteworthy
thru the presence Of Hon. E. T.
Young and Pro. F. L. McVey,
chairman Of the Minnesota Tax
Commission, both of whom spoke
in the evening, and also made a
few remarks in the afternoon.
On Saturday afternoon, before a
deplorably small audience, w. A.
Shoemaker, president of St. Cloud
Normal school, delivered an ad-
dress on 1.-The Best Thing in Life"
And last, but by no means least
except in physical stature, came
Rev. James H. Batten, ''The Little
Giant Of Grand Forks, N. D. He
is man with something in him.
and that it comes out'' everyone
Iwho heard him can bear witness to.
Few men possess such power of
analysis or such convincing logic,
and fewer still combine with these
qualities a beauty of diction and
ability to inspire such as character
ICES Rev. Batten. And, what is
more, his talks are practical. He
reaches the hearts of his hearers
because he expresses in such mas
terly manner the things which
lie the closest to them. Sympathy,
love of Righteousness and hatred of
shams and deceit, lofty purposes
and ideals with Faith behind them,
a feeling of moral, intellectual and
religious responsibility-these are
the things he pleads for, with
lpower born of a warm heart,
clear mind and an intense purpose.
His lecture on Abraham Lincoln,
was one Of the finest ever heard
hereabouts. It was a great tribute
to great man, one Of the greatest
World Spirits that mankind has ever
known. On Sunday morning he
spoke on "Moral Imperialism, "
incidentally hitting the saloon
traffic severe blow, In the after
noon he gave an impromptu talk on
"Capital and Labor and in the
evening he made few remarks on
"The Chautauqua Idea and IDEAL"
In both of these talks he displayed
the same clearness of thought and
conciseness Of expression that char
acterized his regular lecture, and
before he had finished he had COM
pletely won the hearts of his hear
ers, all of whom went away hoping
to hear the Little Giant again.
| The Chautauqua season closed in
the evening by a special grand con-
cert by all the musical and literary
talent on the grounds and after a
few remarks by Prof. Tonning, in
which he thanked the talent for
their faithful services, and also
pleaded for support for next year,
the 1908 Chautauqua Assembly came
to an end.