Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20
IT. LEAVES FROM A LECTURERS NOTEBOOK

H. LEAVES FROM A LECTURERS NOTEBOOK
TN travelling about the country, and especially in the
4 South have been impressed with the wisdom OF
the character in Owen Wister's delightful story of
"'rhe Vrginian," who when another man applied an
unspeakable name to him 1cvecd revolver in the
speakers face and said, when you call that, say
it with srnie!" Ct quote from memory A moment
on the road is made cheerful difficult by the manner
in which things said, and the wanderers homeslck-
ness is either relieved deepened by the manner OF
chance remark which brings cheer it be smiling and
a deeper sense of loneliness if it be otherwise
Throughout the South have never felt quite so tar
away from home in some parts OF New England less
than a hundred miles from my own roottree, and L
think that this is due largely to the positive effort on
the part of the average Southern man or woman to
maintain the traditional courtesy and hospitality of the
South toward the stranger within its gates 1t Is only
enthusiastically that finds in some sournatured
relic of other days other attitude than that OF stn-
ing welcome and even with the thermometer ranging
close to the zero mark have learned why the South
land is in spirit anyhow the Land of Roses.
Ii must be admitted, however, that when the de-
parurc from the attitude of cordially made 1t done
thoroughly, and with sort of reckless turbulence
which the wary traveller Will be wise TO aScrloe soleN
to its individual source.
In the winter and spring of 1913 there was great
deal of work cut out for in the Southern territory
and during travels there which involved the cross
ing and rccrossng of every State in the section except
Kentucky, from the Atlantic coast to the Mexican
border | encountered much in the way of human
pcrence that delightful to remember and very little
that would rather forget 1t upon this trip that
two incidents occurred which showed very clearly the
difference between cutting retort smlngy admin
iscred and that other kind of peculiarly rasping
partce born of sourcd nature that has confirmed Its
acid qualities by picking itself in mixture of equal
parts of gloomy self-sympathy over tancled wrongs
and-well, not grape juice.
There is kind of tonic dispensed in certain OF our
prohibition States by licensed drugstores and carried
bv suffering patients in small black bottles secreed IN
their hip pockets, like deadly weapons-which indeed
they are (whence, possibly, we get the term hpped
as descriptive of the ailment of the sufferer which
does not exactly mellow the disposition OF the con-
suncr whatever glow it may mpart to his counenance
n\E morning found myself on my way from Natch1-
~ tochcs, in Louisiana, lovely survival OF plctur-
csquc old French trading post perfect home OF roses,
both human and floral which will remain garden
SPOT in nv memory Shreveport. 1t was in the middle
OF Nav and the whole country delight to the
eve with its lovely greens and lush spring colorng. L
was returning from a lecture before the State Normal
School, and when sitting i'll the smoking ENJOYING
nv weed was introduced to gentleman Il use the
word carclcsSy and without positive convicton) whom
everybody had been calling Judge. | am glad to say
that did not catch his last dc not even know
whether or not he really Judge or, If he were,
what he was Judge of. He reminded me more OF the
Judges have read of in fictonal hunor than any |
have ever seen the bench and from his general at
tude toward his fellows the train | gained tocr
ably cleancut impression that he tried his ceases III
solitary state rather than in that open fashion
which is such bad example to the young and roduc-