The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-03-19
However Scotch Comedian Does
Not Like Women Reporters.
He Praises Great Work Done
by British Ladies.
HE TALKS ABOUT HIS THRIFT
Admits He Has His First Dime.
and Will Keep 1t.
He Does What He Thinks Is
Right Regardless of Critics.

"Two-thirds of the labor of Great
Britain today is the labor performed
by British women" said Harry Lauder,
the greatest little Scotchman living. in
short interview today just before
the Rotary luncheon at which he was
honor guest. "And it is for that rea-
son. and for their great, loyal, patriotic
service, that they have been given the
franchise"
DO you think the English militia Mt
party helped the cause greatly?' he
was asked.
NO" he answered; "the grant of
the ballot was based on their loyal
service rather than on their fight"
The woman reporter is not a favor
ite with Harry Lauder. 88
Il have decided not to talk for
them" he began, because 1 do not
like the stuff they write about me. So
much of it is nothing but buffoonery
and this is no time for buffoonery-
/, World affairs that touch every one of
US are much too serious"
And this from Harry Lauder. the
king of comedians. who has brought
laughter to more long faces of two
war-torn continents than any other
person 1iving-the man whose songs
are to be found in the canned music
of the homes of the well-to-do all over
the country, and whose voice and
words are the delight of the humber
ones of installment circles wherever.
the talking machine salesman has car
| ried his waresi But Harry Lauder;
| off stage drops his cloak of comedy
/ when he discardss his kits for his
street garb. Similarly, the burr gets
out of his tongue, and he speaks with
| the cultivated accent of a Cambridge,
! man, tho all the world knows his life
story in which university. training
plays no part.
| Purpose of U. S. Tour.
| His American tour is made this time
! in the interests of the fund for
manned soldiers, returning from the
: war The fund is growing rapidly,
and Mr. Lauder expects it to reach the
| s5,00O,000 mark before he returns to
England. The fund is to take care of
soldiers who came back to their old
! homes disa bled for their former occu-
pations and it is a memorial to his
| only son, Capt. John Lauder, who fell
| in action some months ago. 1t is the
monument to that gallant young man,
whose body fills a common grave out
| in No Mans Land in front of what was
| once a Hun trench. Harry Lauder has
also invested millions of his fortune
practically all of it, in fact in the
British war loans. and ne has sold for
| this country some hundred thousand
dollars worth of liberty bonds.
This is the man that the world used
to sayswas most uncommonly "canny'
Ibis thrift was a subject of indul-
gent, good humored satire in extrava-
CANT America. This is what Mr.. Lau-
der says about his thrifty life:
| Il have been called a tightwad for
| three or four reasons-I do not spend
lavishly on tips; have worn the same
| overcoat a number of seasons. and I
! do not go into the barroom and fur
| nish treats for every Tom, Dick and
Victor that may be gathered there.
| The hotel is supposed to pay its wait
ers what they earn. I do not think
| should pay to them a tenth of my bill
for extraordinary service that I do
not get, Just because some chap at the
next table does SO. If I did, I would
be doing what he thought I should do,
and not what 1 thought 1 should do
AS for my coat, it keeps together per-
fectly well, it serves every purpose of
a coat in keeping the cold out and the
warmth in. If 1 bought a new one
| when l didn't think 1 needed it,
would be throwing away money to
please your taste.
Does. Not Treat PromiscuousIy.
81 do not treat the men standing
around the bar when 1 happen to be
there. Neither do 1 buy a new suit
/ for every man might meet in a
clothing store, nor a jackknife for
everyone who comes into a hardware
store II l am there Yet have given
in way that the world calls liberal
to some charities, tho 1 don't care
ito talk about that. 1 have foregone
the profits of Sunday performances,
because 1 do not, as a rule believe
in Sunday performances. 1 kept a
contract with an English book con-
Germ, when 1 could have broken it
and made twice as much money in
America In short, when 1 spend
my money. 1 mean to spend it for
what 1 think is right and not for
what someone else thinks is right
And when anyone tells you that Harry
Lauder still has his first dime, you
may say, He certainly has, and
Il when he gives it away, it won't be to
4 any bartender