Evening star., 1923-09-02
Gibbs Declares United States Holds
Future Of Whole World in It's Power

| men tried to pull him out of his chair
in scattered groups in the stalls were
ladies who seemed to be screaming al
me. Other ladies seemed to be
| arguing with them, hushing them
down. One lady struck another over
the head with a fan. People were
darting about the floor or watching
the scrimmage up above. From the
! front row of the stalls friendly faces
were staring up at me and giving
me good counsel which could not
| hear.
over and over again / tried to
! " speak above the tumult ] carried
on about that Austrian doctor and
!, then abandoned him for another line
! of thought. 1 stuck it out for some
| thing like half an hour before there
| was comparative silence-the police
| had come in and dragged out the
! most turbulent ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
| then | continued my speech, inter
| rupted frequently, but not over
I whelmed. Everything I said was
applauded tremendously. Some ref
| erence / made to England'S place in
! the world brought the audience TO
! it's feet. cheering and cheering way
ing handkerchiefs and fans, ana
| when / finished, there was a surge
up to the platform, and thousands
of hands grasped mine, and gener-
| ous, excited splendid things were
said which set my heart on fire.
! As j have said it was not my do
! ing. and it was not any eloquence
| of mine which stirred this enthusi-
! asm. But that audience rose UP To {
me because they were passionate 10
| show how fierceIy angry they were
! that friendly visitor to the United
| States should be howled down like
| this in the heart of New York Again.
! it was my luck, and I was glad of it,
| 1t was not the last time l had to !
face hostile groups. 1 decided to give
a lecture on the Irish situation in .
which 1 would tell the straight truth /.
fair to Ireland. fair to England. The s
Sim Feiners rallied up again. The
1 fairer l was to Ireland. the madder
I they became. while the other part of
the audience cheered and cheered. In
! the midst of the commotion. a tall
! black figure jumped on to the plat
1
die" But it was a Catholic priest
| Father Duffy, a famous chaplain of
| the American Army, who announced
himself as an Irish republican, but
! pleaded that I should have a fair
hearing. I broke through the storm
and said most of what / wanted TO
say.
| The next morning 1 was rung up
on the telephone by an emotional
lady. She had a great scheme, for
! which she desired my approval and
| collaboration. She had arranged to
raise a bodyguard of stalwart societe
girls who would march to the hall
with we, on the evening of my next
lecture, and in heroic combat put to
flight the Irish girls who were to
parade with banners and insulting
placards. 1 utterly refused
| to approve of the suggestion.
! My lecture agent. Mr.. Lee Keedick,
enjoyed those "Sinn Fein tea parties
as they were called, with such enor-
nous gusto that there were some
friendly souls who suggested that he
had melted them for publicity pur-
poses! But he missed the best, or
the worst. In Chicago, on st. Pat
rick's eve, il was three quarters of
an hour before l could utter single
sentence. 1t was what the press
called next morning near riot"
For the first time in my life I had
a police bodyguard wherever I went
in Chicago. Two detectives insisted
on driving in my taxicab. and they
! were both Irishmen, but, as one ex-
planned in friendly manner, Its
not your life we're troubling about
boss It's our reputation"
| x X
IDOSTON. from Mr.. Keedick's point
! ~ of view, was disappointment.
A great row was expected there, being
the stronghold of the Sim Fein
cause. and when L appeared behind
the stage there was a large force OF
police stripped for action. The po
lice inspector came to my dressing
room and demanded permission to
precede me on the stage and an
nounce to the audience that if there
was any demonstration he would put
his men on. to them. l refused to
give that permission. 1t seemed to
me the wrong kind of introduction
for an Englishman to an American
audience. As a matter of fact, they
behaved like lambs, in the best ira
dition of Boston. and 1 was quite dis
concerted by their silence, having be-
come used to the other kind of thing,
which T found exhilarating.
shall never forget how in the mid
die of a speech to the City Club of
New York l was thrust into a taxi
cab, hurried off to the Forty-fourth
Street Theater. received with tre-
mendous explosion Ca f1ashlight
photoD in the dressing room of Al
Jolson. the funny man, thrust into
the middle of a harem scene (scores
of beautiful maidens), and told to
make a speech on behalf of wounded
soldiers while the audience rafffed for
an original letter from Lloyd George
to the American nation.
Surprised by my rapid transmit
grafton from the City Club and by
my presence in an oriental harem
overhot. rather fiustered, and not
knowing what to do with my hands.
kept crumpling bit of paper which
had been given to me at the wings
and by the time I had finished my
three minutes speech it was bit of
wet, mushy pulp. When i left the
tstage, a white-faced man in the wings
who had been making frantic signs.
to me, informed me coldly that I had
utterly destroyed Lloyd Georges let
ter to the American nation which had
jjust been raffied for many hundreds