The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1911-07-06
ChautauQua Fun.

IcclllS, WIlcIl tllc SuIllIIIcI harvest IL
almost in-then there are a number
| of travelled sleeves of care in the
. world that need to be knit up with
: laughter. The Chautauqua manager
knows this we'll and when he plans
his program he does not forget it.
Fully half of the hours on his SEIZED.
ule are frankly, hilariously laughful;
and in almost every other minute
there is at least smile. The enter
tainers promise boldly "an hour of
merriment;" the readers volunteer
to deliver a full quota of quirks and
jokes; the musicians peck in with
their classical selections, plenty of
bright, airy, tuneful things; and even
the most desperately in earnest lee
turer points his most serious argu-
ment with afunny story.
Chautauqua fun is as varied as a
Chautauqua audience. There are
jokes that are seen, jokes that are
heard, and jokes that are subtle, in
tangible, fleeing things, that must
be caught on the fly. The Chautau-.
qua cartoonists make the jokes that
can be seen; that is, they visualize
fun. All the equipment they need is
a bunch of paper, a few crayons, and
some people with eyes to see. They
can keep laughter rollicking through
the auditorium for hours. So can
the story tellers and the readers.
They work through the ears of their
auditors and reach the funny bones
as expeditiously as do the cartoonists.
Their co-laborers, the impersonators,
make a combined attack upon the
eyes and ears of the Chautauquans
and bring before them all the ludi-
crous people who have ever walked
the earth in fancy or in fact and put
them and their actions on exhibition.
Some of the musicians like the Jubi-
lee Singers, are so full of fun, SO full !
of life and swing and energy, that all
who hear must of necessity join in
the chorus. And sometimes the more
serious musicians will sing such a
Jolly little story in music that the raw
elled out parts Of every life are all
made whole.
Then there are among the enter
tainers a number of magicians. A
magician can do the most mysterious
and unexpected things And mys-
terry and surprise has fun in it al
ways. A magician can find all sorts
of homogeneous and unsupported
treasures in the innocent and re-
spectacle hat of your next-door
neighbor. He can take rabbits out Of
your necktie and coins out of the
man who was never known to have
any before on his person. He can
make flower blossoms right out OF
the air, and beckon here and there
until bowls of goldfish come to him
from nowhere in particular.
Funny stories are brought forth in
great numbers during the Chautau-
qua season. Every lecturer has a
fund of them; and it frequently hap
pens that the same story will be in
troduced by different lecturers to the
same audience until the joke wakes
Did and hoary and the Chautauquans t
receive it with the weary contempt {
vhichlis bred by undue familiarity. ,
LAST summer there was one hard
worked tale which deserves pension.
t was about the faithful little hem
the only thing in the country that
AN pay off the national debt by just
aging around. May her son never
et." At one Chautauqua that story
vas told five different times by as
many different lecturers.
But as rule the stories presented
re fresh and original and altogether
delightful. One of the best known
md most popular lecturers has what
he calls "a sunshine book" in which
le writes down all of the bright sto-
les which he hears and which he
kinks may help scatter the clouds on
weary road. Whenever
lie gives lecture he tells his audi
nee about this book and never day
!oes by that his mail does not bring
lin a stack of volunteer contribu-
ions to the collection. People who
ave heard him lecture go out with
.ars open for stories which they send
lin. In this manner one of the
mighty host keeps his stock of stories
resh and interesting.
Cro:Ioc orJ lourb, oro c,,oh corni