The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-05-18
FOLEY SCORED A
Big HIT HERE
POPULAR NORTH DAKOTA POET
GAVE A READING AT THE PRES.
5YTERIAN CHURCH LAST NIGHT
- HIS APPEARANCE HERE A.
GREAT TREAT.

j. w. Foley, North Dakota's poet
laureate, gave Fargo people an oppor-
tunity last night to see him at closer
range. He gave a reading at the Pres
| byterian church-all the selections be-
| ing from his own verse, which is so
immensely the vogue in cultured and
| literary circles.
Mr.. Foley's appearance here virtually
resulted in an ovation for him and his
numerous Fargo admirers enjoyed a
veritable treat.
Mr.. Foley interprets his own verses
simply, without oratorical or elocution-
airy pretense and for the purpose Of
bringing them to the attention Of a
good many who may not read verse
ordinarily, as we'll as for the pleasure
of those who have been earnest ad
mirers of his work and have encourag-
ed him in the literary field. His verses
cover a versatile range, some Of them
humorous, some pathetic, some nara
tive, and all of them appealing to the
better side Of human nature. He reads,
in addition to his humorous and path
etic verses, some uplift verses that are
in the nature of little sermons, dealing
with every day cheerfulness and help
fulness and seeking to inspire readers
and hearers TO the value of mutual
helpfulness and understanding.
Some OF the western verses are
founded upon real experiences and OBJ
servation, for Mr.. Foley was a resident
of the real frontier for a number of
years, and was witness of the gradual
breaking down of the frontier and the
passing of the great cattle ranges. One
Of his western verses, Shooting up
Lanigan's," tells how a bad man blew
into LaIigan's, shot hole in the floor,
shot hole in Lanigan's wooden leg
and finally shot hole in the keg that
held the supply of liquor, until Lanigan
Reached over and pulled out a big
forty
And shot him between the back bar and
the door
Till he was less harmful than he was
before
And as a finale
He blew into Lanigan's lookin' for gore
An tarried;
We carried
Him out on a door;
And Lanigan took a big splinter of
leg
And got out his jackknife and whitfield
peg
To stop up the hole he shot inter the
key.
All Of which proves the then relative
Importance in the plains country of
floors, liquor and wooden legs, and how
one Of the greatest attacks upon the
peace and ignity of the community was
an unprovoked assault upon the local
liquor supply.
But those conditions have changed
now, as is evident from another verse,
The Passing Of the Prairie which deals
with the advance of civilization from
the view point of real plainsman, who
says of the prairie:
They have riddled it with railroads
throbbing on and on and on,
They have ridded it of dangers till the
zest of IL Is gone;
And I've saddled up my pony, for it's
dull and lonesome here
To go westward, westward, westward,
till we find a new frontier;
To get back to Gods own wildness and
the skies we used to know,
But there is west-it's conquered, and
l don't know where to go.
OF Mr.. Folley's boy verses, possibly
the most popular is Chums, which has
been published and republished since
its first appearance in Golfers, and
which promises some day to take it's
place with Fields Boy Blue and Riley's
Orphant Annie. 1t tells of the friend
ship Of two boys, one of them poor and
cripple, and how
He lives across the street from us
And amt as big as me;
His mother takes in washing 'cuz
They're poor as they can be-
But every night he brings his slate
And then l do his sums
And help him get his lessons
straight.
'Cuz him and me is chums.
And then there is Back to School,
telling the regret of the healthy and
wholesome boy at his return from the
farm in the autumn to the resumption
of his school work, and how he
Fell in the creek twice yesterday.
Slipped and slid from a load of hay;
Stepped on stone and bruised his toe,
Hardly walk cause I'm blistered so.
Skinned my knee till it's blue and black
Sat in the sun and burned my back.
When l went to swim, but, my, I'm
glad
Best vacation / ever had
And all boys, and those who have
known boys and those who have been
boys seem TO find hearty appreciation