The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-19
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

-
 light car.
 Some of my friends. recognizing me.
 came up. and after greetings. asked me if I wouldn't stop over on my return and
 give an address Now, they were un-
 aware that it was my life rule to talk
 every time I got a chance, and ac-
 ccpted so quickly that they had to make
 arrangements.
 | went on down and spoke at the Board
 of Trade dinner in Aliceville, and when l
 got back to Carrollton I found that the
 town had been informed by pink hand
 bill that was to speak. I give the
 wording on 1t: Just for fun. No politics
 Dr. Frank Willis Barnett of The Age-Her-
 aid will speak to the people of Carroll
 ton at the courthouse tonight Every
 body invited"
 l. was Up to me to make good. I had
 not anticipated being called upon. and
 was a bit up in the air for a proper
 subject, but was put at ease by one of the leading citizens, who said: We have
 been all torn up for months by politics.
 and some feeling has been engendered,
 and we want you to see if you can't talk
 us into good humor and make us forget the eection.'
 l. I confess it was some job they had cut
 out for me, and I was fearful that I wxuld fail, for it's no easy task on a "cold collar to be put up to amuse a
 crowd; but I made up my mind that
 would die a-trying Eight o'clock, the
 kour set, rolled around, and the thermom-
 eter was making downward shoot as
 So it was with the fear that no one would
 venture ont that I strolled over to the
 courthouse.
 i Very much to my surprise and pleasure
 found that quite a crowd of venture
 some spirits had prayed the inclemency
 of the weather to come out and hear me.
 had expected to enter dimly lit room, ! but to my great relief the courtroom
 was we'll lighted. There is nothing which
 casts damper over me as does a poorly 1 lighted building, for when talk want
 to be abe to watch the changing express
 sion on the faces of my hearers. | I said that the joke was on Carrollton | in asking me who always responds when asked to speak, but this did not tell the whole story of what they had to suf- l fer, for having been for four years linn | :4 of Sam's -four minute men," l saw a chance 1 to even up the average, and so made dp my mind that I was going to talk as 1 long as | I could hold my crowd without causing riot.
 | Benjamin Israel Rapport, who an- nounced at a Birmingham dinner that his name gave him away as Sein Feiner, and who is the professional intrpducer of Pickens county, having introduced all of the senatorial candidates who visited Fit, presented me to the audience in such
 an extravagant and humorous way that Ee got the audience to laughing and thereby made it much easter for me to talk to them just for fun," as I had peen auVertlsed 10 do
 | I am not going to boast that I succeed ed. but I'm going to brag the balance of my life that I held one crowd an hour and thirty minutes without losing a man
 woman or child. and thew all weren't sleepy. either. I will, however, give to. the Carrolltonians the blue ribbon for be- inor hn not +I,o <,. people I have ever addressed I do not take it all to myself for having listened Ito the/"long'' and "shortY term candidates for the Senate they had been well trained in endurance
 am sure that jhere is no place ,n all the world where the people ars more given to speechmaking and speech-hear- ing as are the people of the south. We are race of takers. for it's the part of
 the education of every southern man to ] be able tc get on his feet and be able to "orate.' The statesman of the old school in ante-bellum days before the wide reach of magazines and newspapers, in
 structed the populace in statecraft and politics in series of public addresses. used to think that stump speaking" was indigenous to our soil until the Mc- kinley-Bryan campaign, when I hap pened 70 te in Chicago at the close of the campaign and got to hear Mark Hanna make ( talk to the German-Amer- jeans (ths was before the term became a by-word and reproach) at the Acad- enIy of Music. It was the only time ever saw CT heard him. but believe me, lie was the real thing when it came to hodlrG and swaying crowd
  I am sorry the custom of holding pub lie debates seems to be on the wane, and I vas glad that during the campaign Just closed a series was held in which eN-Senator Frank s. White and exsGov-, ernor E.mmet O'Neal had chance to bring before the electorate the great is- sues championed by them. I was anxious tc hear them, as both are men of un- but it so happened that other engage ments denied me the pleasure.
 Having practiced law for five years be- fore entering the ministry, the thing which struck me most after the first ser mon preached was that no one arose to pick it to rieces and show the crowd that did net know what was talking about. I had been accustomed to have fopposng counsel do this. and I rather missed the excitement and the chance to come back and fight for what I had preached am glad, however, that re- iigious debates are growing less and less. I can remember when they were the order of the day. Lawyers. as a rule. are good sports"