Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1925-02-04
sEvENTY.sEvEN YEARS OF
SUNSHINE.

for Thirty-one Years a Lion of the
chautauqua, in Which Is Revealed,
\ Incidentally, New Version of Why
Booth Shot Lincoln
/ By Richard Adams in tho Liberty
Magazine,
Others have told you that John
Wilkes Booth, after shooting Abra-
ham Lincoln, did not leap to the stage
of Ford's Theater shouting Sic Semi
per Tyrannis.
/ Now comes Sunshine Hawks deny
/ ing that Booth was motivated by
desire to help the cause Of the Com
! federacy.
Sunshine Hawks says the irre-
( sponsible Booth shot the President 10
avenge John Yates Bell. a friend Of
/ the actor His story has ii that Bell
was condemned to die as traitor
and spy and that Booth appealed to
the Presient for olemeney .
This version of the tragedy Il to
the effect that Abraham Lincoln.
ever merciful issued the order which
was TO save Bells life, but that the
order came too late, Bell was hang
ed while the Presidents message was
on the way.
And then the mad Booth decided
that President Lincoln had denie&
his plea.
Arthur Wells Hawks, seventy-sev-
en- years old, soldier Of the Confeder-
acy and for more than thirty years d
star on the old lyceum circuit and
headliner on the Chautauqua stages.
knew Booth and Bell. He tells in
this story Of the John Brown raid and
the hanging Of that patriarchal yea
lot. He witnessed II.
He has Travelled more than fifty
thousand miles. In al sorts oE wealth
er. on stages, and before audiences
which would have discouraged cru
sader. He has talked three hundred
times year for thirty years and he
is still Sunshine Hawks
Arthur Wells Hawks slept peace
fully in the flood light Of the gun.
The light beat upon bis old face and
CLOSED the thin white hair Il was a
sing-sonP Sunday afternoon; the MIDI
die Of summer in Maryland A dron-
ing Of sleepy insects in the air and
plenty of fine dust from the turn
pike
The village itself was browsing,
now and then signing lazily when
hot breeze bellied drawn shades or a
motor car full Of sports from Balti-
more. sailed through, bound for An
napolis or somewhere A laugh from
either end of the village rode clearly
TO the other end. so still was the air.
and every waking person could hear
i Mis- Emmett's wheezy melodeon
/ droning the Doxology-~over and
over. the Doxology.
The shade Of the window under
which Arthur Wells Hawks slept was
drawn. but the sunlight managed to
nour through beneath II and around
It's sides. And all Of It, It seemed,
bent itself to play effulgently upon
the slight body and pnomish head,
+ making the outside Of him match the
inside. They call him Sunshine
Hawks.
I For thirty-one years he lectured
| the people of these United States,
talking about everything from John
Browns raid and execution, part of
which he witnessed, to what he said
to Vice President Tom Marshall and
what Tom said to him on the occasion
Of the inglorious flight Of the Hohen-
zollern family into Holland. He is
seventy-seven years old.
Thirty-one years of all sorts OF
platforms and all sorts of folk in big
towns and water-tank hamlets, trav-
cling fifty thousand miles every year
and appearing three hundred times
before some audience or other every
three hundred and sixty-five days
Folks? Thunderafionl Old Sunshine
knows them backward and forward,
inside and out, at home and abroad.
Folks are folks, no matter where you
find them; some little more shiny
than others, that's all
He awoke with fly taking in the
scenery from the summit of his blunt
nose. Casually, as you'd flip chip
from your sleeve with your forefin-
ger, he fastened the fly's departure.
He glanced at me, at the clock, at the
beating sun. He stretched his arms,
rubbed his clear eyes, yawned, and
slapped his chest Finding every
thing good, he spoke:
We'll. thank God for that" he
said.
And then the lecturer spoke Or,
rather. he delivered an GRAFTON. The
questions ! had prepared were not
necessary He asked my name, made
me stand in the light that he might
acquaint himself with the audience.
and proceeded TO deliver himself Of a
lecture which started nowhere in par
ticular and ended where 1t started.
In few minutes was caught bv the
old gentleman's fascination. My hope
is that ! can report him with such
fidelity as can relav to you why they
call him Sunshine Hawks.
after the war--the war between
the States" he said. 1--WE had in
Charles Town, West Virginia. lot OF
dramatic talent There was George
Saddler, who looked like Edwin For
rest and liked to play Richard And
there was George Henson, Dixie
Webster, and Jim Davenport and me
all of US rival comedians.
"Great glory Never will ] FORGET
A. 49, go x-l.xzaI The Go,1er ~