Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-07-15
SESSION WAS
SUCCESSFUL
CHAUTAUQUA GAVE HIGH-CLASS
PROGRAM.
ASSOCIATION MAY HAVE BALANCE
Despite Adverse circumstances. 1912
Season Has Proven Best in History
-Children's Day Programs Large
ly Attended.

The twentieth annual session of
the Southern Oregon Chautauuua
Association closed the most success
tul season of its history last Friday,
the last day being designated as chill
dren's day and devoted entirely to
their entertainment. However, the
building was filled for both enter
tainments by children of various
ages, 1t being apparent from the
hearty applause accorded the actors
that the older ones were Just as
happy in the enjoyment of the pro-
grams as those of tender years.
! Children's day was grand success
from every standpoint.
Bronte, the wonderful dog, held
the stage in the afternoon. 1t is
| difficult to understand the intelli-
gence of this unusual canine. She
spells, counts, adds, subtracts and
does countless other things that call
for a mentality rare in the animal
kingdom. Mr.. Mccormick explains
that she does it by mental telepathy,
by reading the number from his own
thought, However she does it, she is
accurate, seldom making an error of
! judgment, her cheerful bark an
nouncing the correct answer almost
unerringly. And if she does make a
mistake, question from her master
brings the correct answer on the sec
ond trial, She does her work with
out the urging of the lash, kindness
being the rule in her training. She
is all she was represented to be ana
management and patrons were not
disappointed. bronte is a wonderful
dog.
Mr.. Mccormick himself is an ex-
pert in the art of initiating birds of
the forest. He opened his entertain
ment Friday afternoon with a trip
into the barnyard, impersonating the
chicken just out of the shell as well
as the older one in such q realistic
manner as to call forth a round of
applause. His most clever interpre-
tatiOn in this line was that of the
stolen chicken. From the barnyard
the audience was taken into, the
woods, where numbers of forest birds
were impersonated, including the
robin, the whippoorwill, cardinal,
| blue bird and mocking bird. The
| ly initiated bird of them all, Mr.. Nc
Cormick giving its warbling song in
a manner that was most realistic In
| this art every one VINO heard Mr..
Mccormick pronounces MIN a master
} Inc work of Bronte took up the
! greater part of the program. Prob
lens we're given her in arithmetic,
she was asked to count the buttons
on boys coats, to count the number
of children on the stage and to tel
| blindfolded the number OF fingers
held up by person in the audience
| To all problems and questions her
replies were most accurate, her barK
coming promptly upon hearing the
! question. She appeared to enjoy the
entertainment as greatly as the au-
dience, a feature OF the program that
made it all the more interesting. AT
the close of her part of the perform
ance her master gave a most inter-
esting account of how she does it.
Prof. Larimore's circus brought
the Chautauqua session to a close.
Sixty boys and girls appeared on the
platform in tricks and stunts that
would do credit to members of the
profession. Many difficult feats
were accomplished by both the boys
and girls, the latter vying with the
former in several contests that
showed the weaker sex to be fully
up to the stronger when occasion de-
mands.
The circus opened with a drill in
which the entire list OF performers
massed upon the stage. The disci-.
pine of these children was remark
able feature of the entire perform
ance as in the opening number.
Prof. Larimore is loved by all the
boys and girls who enter his CLASSES
and they are always willing to work
for him. the somersaults by the
girls was one of the most amusing
features, the various degrees of skill
with which the smaller ones turned
over bringing out much merriment..
The boys starred in a game of soak
um and the wheelbarrow race Keen
rivalry was evident in both these
contests. A game of tunnelball be-
tween eight boys and an equal num-
Der of girls was won by the boys by
a narrow margin, the girls showing
much alertness at this sport.
The singing of the boys in the
suitcase drill was excellently done,
the music accompanying the drill in
perfect time. The turning pole work
of the boys was clever, as also the
trapeze work OF two girls and the
ring work of little boys
For spectacular effect the closing
flag drill was the best In this exer-
else the larger boys and girls partici-
pated, the latter using the ladders
and the former forming pyramids
and other shapes by standing upon
one another's shoulders, The unfold
ing of the flag at the close, with the
burning of colored lights, made a
most impressive exercise