The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1917-01-11
LAUDS AMERICAN LITERATURE
Gives Glimpses Of BE auty of Riley's
Poetry In Address Before Mems
Club and Reads acked Poems
Sympathe' dcally.

"Americans laeB literary patriot
ism, y was the char ge made by Walter
II. Marla4t against his compatriots be
fore the st. Maj tElew's Mems Club
Tuesday night in q paper which kept
his audience intera aed from it's begin
ming and convinced them that literary
America is quite asl deserving of lauda-
tion ais commercial America.
GIVE strain AR voices singing
America and twi &c our throats out of
shape in an effort to encompass The
Star Spangled Ban ner and then we go
home to quiet evening of Daudet,
Balzae, Dickens or Thackeray or some
other across the Waters writer, quite
ignoring the fact hat Richard Harding
Davis, 0. Henry +, and other American
writer's could furn ish just as good en-
tertainment. We pride ourselves be-
cause of taste br foreign literature
as we do for the foreign wines in our
cellar or the antiq pe furnishings in our
houses"
Then Mr. Maria tit came to his sub
iect, that of the Hoosier poet, James
Whitcomb Riley, b eloved of the speak
en- as a friend and admired by him as
q writer of exqusi tely appealing verse.
"Over in a littl city in Illinois the
other day, said \ ar. Marlatt, "a bard
of unknown fame { nng beautiful song
of commemoration in paying tribute to
sweet singer Of another state. He
sang:
Where have YOU gor e, Jim Riley, an why
did YOU 80 ava =
The world is sad without you, an our
heads are bowed tday.
we seek YOU where we knew you in tn
DAYS Of long ages
But Won answer not our callin'-where are
you? Let us kr low.
Have toq gone ,t I "@olgp4qqnt, Annie" or t
Are you out at go Id Aunt Mary's," or
settn on tn rim
OF that dear "Old wimmin' Hole" where
I'VE went in times of yore,
A drcnmin' Of "Th,s Days Gone By
won't you come back no more?
Perhaps you're closely snuggled where tn
honey suckles tw inc, y
Reside her whom You told MS was THAT
Old Sweetheart or Nine
An maybe workin' near you in his good
"The Raggedy Man is mowin field of
wondrous nay.
when you gathered all tn sunshine an
mixed it with tx mirth
or tn children an tn fow'rs of this cold
an dreary EARTH,
You won our hearts Jim Riley, an that's
why we loved Y gu So
But we know you II make folks happy,
whereer you've chose t go
So, fare thee well. Jim Riley, we can guess
where you have gone.
May angels lull you off t sleep an waken
A-piayin' on their harps of gold with
notes as sweet an true
AS til tinkle OF tn drippin' Of tiny drops
OF dew.
"This little song by another 'Jim -
James M. Woodman, editor of the Wau-
kegan Daily Gazette, is characteristic
Of what the world thought of James
Whitcomb Riley.
etWe men who were born in Indiana
and who must ever remain unrecon-
structed Hoosiers' take an infinite
pride in the contribution that old Hoo
sierdom has made to the world While
we may realize that we ourselves may
never be great we know that the old
state who tenderly mothered us has
contributed much to the success of a
great nation and much to the world at
large.
s'We recall the fact that she moth
cred two presidents-the Elder and the
Younger Harrison, that she brought
forth Dan Voorhees,, The Tall Sycamore
of the Wabash, who contributed much
of poetic beauty and legal lore and of
craftsmanship. That Old Man Holman
of the Fourth Indiana District watch
logged the federal treasury for more
than forty years, that Mirandy Means
came out of old Posey Corner to de-
light world by her acting, that Will
liam LeSeuer who was the founder of
the Smithsonian Institute at Washing
ton got his inspiration--down Indiany
way. That George Rapp dug a. grave
for German Socialism along the banks
of the Wabash when he placed an en-
barge on marriage and that his colony
gave way to Robert Owen and 1.-THE
Dale Owens who Graded American
Socialism and gave the world its most
unique failure in the solution of the
problems especially effeeting the fabric
Of society. We naturally perk up a
little al the mention of George AIDE
and the McCutcheons, and Judge Ian
dis and the Houghs and the Neff boys
for we know that all Of them saw the
light first down in Indiana. We even
feel q thrill when they refer to jim
Watson and-that other Jim Goodrich
ard the fact that some fellow may
have found out that Jim Watson could
work both ends from the middle does