Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1916-07-28

moves on in company to the next. fol
lowed on the last day by the equip.
ment, which jumps ahead to serve an
other Chautauqua community. II it
is a five-day Chautauqua six tents are
used, or, if six, seven tents, and so on,
that each tent has day in which to
move. The mechanical side of the
Chautauqua is certainly not its least
interesting feature.
R. L. Smith, to whom we are In
debted for the collation. of many facts
concerning the Chautauqua, records
the feat of a crew in Missouri which
in less than two hours tore down a
tent, packed it into trunks, hauled all
of the equipment one and half miles,
and loaded it on a train. The tent
was crowded with 1890 people at
1910 p. M, when the entertainment
closed, but at 1903, less than two
hours later, that same tent, 134 feet
in length and SO feet in width, was
aboard the cars The incident is cited
here as an example of the efficiency
that makes the circuit Chautauqua
possible.
The Chautauqua, by the way, brings
into the community for it's stay very
high type of young men to look after
the business and mechanical details.
They are largely college men, gradu-
ates or undergraduates, school men,
men of every creed and professional
occupation. 1t is splendid training for
the future attorney, teacher or minis
ter, and gives him close contact with
the real people who are the bone and
sinew of the country. No young man,
with such training, can ever think
thereafter in smaller terms than Of
the whole nation; and his influence on
the youth of the community is as good
as the community's influence on him.
The growth of the Chautauqua as
an American institution of such mag
nitude enables the Chautauqua to COM
mand the best talent of the present
day. These lecturers, musicians, en-
tertainers and others are brought to
the people and, because of the eff
cheney of the management and econ
emy Of the plan, they are made posi-
BILE at cost extremely low when the
One may enjoy an entire week, or
nearly so, of the most enlightening
entertainment for the price of a sim
gle admission to many metropoli-
tan amusement" in the matter
of value received as well as in the
matter of cost the difference is all
in favor of the Chautauqua.
AS the late Ebert Hubbard said
Of the Chautauqua audience: THE
frivolous seeker after frills is not
there, unless by accident. In a Chau-
tauqua audience you see the mothers
in Israel, and the men of purpose.
These are the folks who have ever
fought freedoms battles-they are
spiritual and mental descendants of
the people who gathered to hear
Abraham Lincoln debate with Steph-
~ A. Douglas" The leaders and the
-.,;-Aers are eager to reach an audi
a.-1e such as this town and other
ms afford The Chautauqua has
been powerful force declared
Speaker Clark recently, in directing
the political thought of the country"
And William Jennings Bryan has
said: Il know of no better oppor-
tunity for the delivery of message
to the people than that furnished by
the Chautauqua platform
The Chautauqua is the connecting
link between the men and women who
by open and honest discussion Of pub
lie questions make their solution pos
sible and the people of the smaller
communities of the country. away
from the communicating influence of
urban life, who sit as jury and de-
eide the solution that is best, and then
put that solution into effect
Yet public questions are but an in
cident of the customary Chautauqua
program. The best of the new and
the best of the old in literature are
discussed from the Chautauqua plat
form Announcements in science and in
all the arts are reported in the Cnau-
tauqua lecture in popular and under
standable and authentic way. The hui
morist comes, exploding with the
sharpness Of his wit many of the fol-
bles of the day. Musicians entertain,
and in entertaining give US an in
creased knowledge of the best in mu-
sic. The Chautauqua ranges every
field of progressive human endeavor
and then presents it's opponents on
the platform.
Generally we lose all interest in a
book when someone tells us that it
will improve our mind, just as the
child dislikes to eat thing after it
has been told that that particular thing