Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1922-02-27
SKETCHES many
FAMOUS MEN
Peter Clark MacFarlane
Gives Address, ''Us Am
ericans,' . on Lecture
Course.
IN THE M. E. CHURCH

IN THE NJ. E. CHURCH
Speaker Talks in Humorous
Vein of Variety of
Experiences.
Interesting and intimate pictures OF
William Jennings Bryan, who does not
wear pajamas,' Of Henry Ford, "who
invented the automobile because he
did not like the smell of a horse" and
of Col. e. NJ. House. "wio attended to
the nomination of Woodrow Wilson one
Sunday morning OH the front porch
Of his home with his slippered feet
upon the rail-" We're among those paint
ed humorOusly or seriously Thursday
night by Peter Clark MacFarlane. who
spoke in the Methodist church as tie
fourth number on the Chamber Of Com
merce lecture course. His subject was
"Us Americans"
Started as Ditch Digger.
Mr.. MacFarlane started life as 2 dig
ger of bitches and achieved his great
est success as digger of facts from
public men who had no particular de-
sire to dissemble the information which
it was his purpose to get. The quest
of the elusive interview has taken him
to queer places and thrown him into
the company Of famous citizens In mo.
ments of dishabille when they were
very unlike the naughty people which
the public had painted them to be.
Stories of these interviews, told in
half-humorous fashion, make up the
lecture "Us Americans" Mr.. MacFar-
lanes delivery is not spectacular. For
the most part he tells his story in
conversational tone which gives the
impression tnat he is merely relating
interesting anecdotes III the parlOr of
YOUR own home. Occasionally he shows
feeling as his theme grips him, or
moves about tho platform to Illustrate.
some bit of action.
Does Not Show Retreat.
He PAGES pompously across the rOs.
trum to show how he marched down
the road to the front line trenches
but ncglccts to show how he crawled
back toward the rear-which would
have been more entertaining.
Mr.. MacF'arlane. in opening his ad.
dress. attributed his success in getting
public men to speak to the fact that
mature abhorred vacuum" and his
subjects, finding one, attempted to fill
it up out Of their own vast knowledge.
This dia gnOsis, he said. was made by
an editor. and editors, he continued.
'.are smalI.minded folk
Thumb nail sketches of variety of
great men were included in the lecture
General GOethals. w. J. Bryan.
Woodrow Wilson, Henry Ford. George
B. Seldom, Col. House, Theodore Roosc.
welt.
Tribute to Wilson.
He paid a stirring tribute to Wood.
row Wilson. declaring at its close that
the former president was today 'bent.
not broken" had never made retrac-
ton and was figure (which appeals
TO my sympathy and challenges my ut
oI,,,; eo inv,
He spoke Of Theodore Ro0sevelts ILL
fated venture in South America III
search for the River Of Doubt" and
depicted his faithfulness to mis- maga-
zine contracts, even when wracked
with fever and believed to be u dying
man. He told of his delirium during
which his constant cry was II must
make good with Scribners"
''The greatest lesson taught by Roosc.
velt," he said, sis to make good in the
smallest obligations of life. and w-.n
the big ones come, the habit is already
formed"
Tells Of War Experiences.
He closed his lecture with story Of
his experiences as a war correspondent
who went to find the front line trench.
es, found them, and left hastily without
seeing the lines he had come in search
of. Mr.. MacFarlane got many laughs
from the crowd with his recital of his
trip to the front while a German bat.
terry played hide and seek with him,
and Il Lieutenant Riley from South
Carolina invented n new form of mi
grafton in a clover patch. He declared
that this movement. being set on its
feet and brought to an American ball
room had become ''the shimmy."
Picture of the Attack.
He closed his address with picture
Of the first American attack. just be-
fore the dawn Of September morning.
telling OF the long line Of men. of his
last picture of Il corn fed boy" as he
,nucaI Gov a n,omenf IN rho YN1 rl rct