The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-12-10
ALONG THE
WAY, SAYS FOLEY
y. o. POET GIVES ST. Paul
REPORTER SECRET TO GET
TING THINes"-"eRIN AND sE
CHEERFUL" WiNs-MADE HIT
WITH AUDIENCE,

j. w. Foley stood on the rear END
OF street car yesterday afternoon
and vainly searched his pockets for J
match, says The ST. Paul Pioneer
Press. He couldn't find one. Neither
could the reporter.
hey, conductor" called Mr.. Foley
In that whimsical Missouri Dakota
voice. have you a match in your
The reporter held his breath 10
listen to the crushing of the pre-
sumptuous one. But the conductor
was actually coming toward him.
puilng pockets inside out as he came,
only to be anticipated by three or four
men who thrust boxes into the verse
makers hands. He conferred a dis
tlnct personal favor on each in some
strange way. although he needed but
one match. Foley punched cattle
1uLeS years on the western plains
which explains why one Are stick
was enough.
What did you do, or how. that
MADE every man on the real of the car
rush to oblige. your" the reporter
wanted to know.
Mr.. Foley laughed and spoke Of
something else. but his words a few
anu earlier were the key to the
mystery.
Remember that smiIel" he had
said. Go to the world with a smile
on your a c and il will give you al
most anything you ask. Just grin and
be cheerful. That is enough. But 90
TO the world with your chest puffed
out, and swagger up to the world. and
1t Is likely to kick you down stairs.
Remember the smile!"
Smiles After Nap.
He had been routed from an after
noon nap a short time before by the
ma in search of an interview. and
nae answered the knock smiling. The
man In search OF an interview appeals
10 the world to know If arising from
sleep with q smile on ones face isn't
an indication of an extraordinary
character. MI. Foley smiles almost all
the time, however, so he probably has
his own peculiar secret of life.
It's Just in knocking up against
the world and learning all the time
that makes humorists," he explained
when the reporter suggested that the
state OF Missouri was producing more
than It's share OF men who can make
smiles, and that there must be some
mystery about that, too.
You see, / was a newspaper re-
porter at $11 a week, and / had 10 do
everything, and $11 a week don't
stretch enough to allow a man to ex-
pand much. So I had to keep digging,
and / didn't have time to think a.
great deal Of myself, and now, when
/ have attained a little success, there
is more to learn than ever.
You get off here? Well, so long.
old man! Remember that smiIe!"
Reading Spontaneous.
Commenting upon MI. Foley's read
ing, The st. Paul Pioneer Press saws:
II 1t were possible for Eugene Field.
James Whitcomb Riley and George
AIDE to resolve themselves into a pleas
antly smiling, boyish-lookins man,
whose. language Is replete with quaint
ly turned phrase and who speaks with
the most whimsical pauses and shades
OF tone, then that man would be hailed
on the streets by his friends as J, w,
Foley Of Bismarck, N. d. MI. Foley de-
lighted an audience at the Park Con-
gregational church last night, appear
ing under the auspices of the English
section of the st. Paul institute.
In introducing himself to his hear
ers, Mr.. Foley assured them that he
regretted his bad taste in not being a
native of Minnesota.
But really" he said, 1T wasn't ma
ture enough when, I was born to have
sound judgment. I live in North Da-
kota now, but / was born in Missouri.
My parents we're there at the time,
so I considered it better that / should
make the state famous, At an early
age, 4, to be exact, / took them with
me to the northwest, where Mr..
Roosevelt and 1 settled q large part
of the state of North Dakota. l have
remained there, but Mr, Roosevelt
presume You have heard of Mr.. Roose-
velt?-left there to go east-to-ac-
cept-a govePnment-position.'
Throughout the delightful hour that
followed, the audience paid him q
unique compliment in repeating with
him, unconsciously, many of his verses.
Snatches of rhyme that had fingered
in the memory, their authorship un-
known, were read by Mr.. Foley out Of
Mr.. Foley's book. thus quickly estab-
fishing a comradship between speak
er and hearers.