The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1913-05-27

Steamboat. gent is particular
ly strong.
"Chautauqua" is the name of five
towns in the states of Illinois, Kansas,
New York, Texas and Washington.
In two instances the county bears the
same name. About five hundred COM
munities In cottages or tents are
called "ChautauQua," besides the alto
gether improper use of the word as
applied to series of indoor meetings.
The name is derived from an Indian
phrase, the latest Interpretation of
which is that it refers to the mus
callonge, for which the lake to the
southwest of Buffalo, New York, is
still famous, and that it means "the
place where the fish was taken out"
However that may be, the name would
have been as local as Mankato had it
not been for the activities set going
in 1874 by Lewis Miller and Bishop
John H. Vincent. But the fame of
this place has encircled the world.
Two Southern states, Kentucky and
Texas, send more than thousand per-
sons each to Chautauqua every sum-
mer. Six Southern states contribute
more than 500 persons each to the
summer population Of this unique COM
munity in western New York. Bar
ring one-day visitors, there are as
many Southerners as New Workers at
Chautauqua every year.
What is the force that draws 80
large a number from this distance to
single locality? The cosmopolitan
character Of the attendance may have
some influence, There are about
as many Canadians as Virginians
at Chautauqua, and always a
sprinkling of foreigners from abroad,
some of them distinguished per-
sons. Southerners are not insen-
sible of the mutual advantages of such
association. The tendency of birds of
a feather to flock together" also,
may be effective to some degree.
Many Southerners doubtless go be-
cause so many others go. Another at
scenic charm of the Chautauqua re-
gion, with its lake over 20 miles in
length, at an altitude of 1,400 feet
above sea level, its exemption from
heat, malaria, mosquitoes, and other
things that do annoy, and its compar-
atively easy access from Southern
! points. After all, however, these ad
vantages might conceivably unite
elsewhere and the Chautauqua enthu-
siast will tell you that any other place
where they should all be found would
still not be Chautauqua. Chautauqua
is not merely community, it is an in
stitution, and pervading the institu-
| ton Is a moral and intellectual force
A kindly trickster who diverts you
with chaff and then when you aren't
looking slips good things into your
pockets, is the figure by which a we'll
known speaker at Chautauqua illus
trated the character of that institu-
! ton. Then, if you don't appreciate the
| good things after all, in any case they
need not detract from your enjoyment
| of the trifles by which you were first
allured. Many go on enjoying these
| for a whole summer and never give a
| great deal of thought to other mat
| tiers. Some are content with harmless
nothings for themselves, yet take sat
! isfaction in seeing the treasures Of
knowledge or moral benefit quietly in
troduced into the possession of their
wives and young people. This is as
ones mind and circumstances may de-
termine.
There is, after oil, nothing occult
or even obscure in the working of the
ChautauQua influence. 1t is what you
take it to be. If you see in Chautau-
qua merely a pretty, pleasant and
sailing, launching, boating, fishing,
bathing, baseball, tennis and rogue
are popular and where those of seden-
tary inclination read, smoke, or play
checkers at the hotel or the club, then
you have seen rightly as far as you
have gone. AS compromise midway
between Newport and the north
woods, you will find Chautauqua salts
factory. Hundreds do.
If along with an innocent and
wholesome outdoor life in a delight.
full climate you expect musical, liter
airy and dramatic entertainers of a
clean, unobjectionable and more than
usually talented order for the relaxa-
ton of evening hours; if you seek
variety of amusement for the children
at all times under proper safeguards
of direction and restraint, you will not
Ire disappointed.
Perhaps you crave, together with
the ease Of do nothing days, oppor
tunit5 for not too serious attention
to the discussion of present matters
of national or worldwide interest. A
more direct, vivid impression Of the
men and women who are graphing