Evening star., 1927-06-02
MEMOIRS OF UNCLE JOE CANNON
A, Told to L. WHITE BUSBEY Secretary Many
CHAPTER XXXII.
ut may he that the neglect OF
the gift of the Creator and the
turning almost universally to

turning almost universally to
i mechanical invention for music
has had something to do with unrest
and dissatisfaction" said Uncle Joe
Cannon, in commenting on modern
tendencies. "We have the victrola ana
radio in the home and everywhere else
and We sit silent listening to the grind
ing of the machine and looking at the
moving pictures as though we were
tongue tied. would prefer TO get
hack to the old custom of singing at
home, in the congregation ana IN the
concert hall, and have the singing
master come back to give us conn
dence in ourselves by standing up win
his command, Everybody. ready sing
7 believe we would have a more hope
full view OF life.
1.-THE debating society was another
institution we had in the pioneer DAYS
that has been permitted to fail INTO
disuse except in the colleges. what
ever success / have had in legislative
life and in defending legislation on
the floor 1 owe largely to the debating
society we had in the Quaker settle
ment on the Wabash. My father in
sisted Oh lilt bOs hleNuSSAhS NN~NN'N''N
at home, and often we assembled in
the living room, took up some ques-
tion of the day and debated it-I on
one side and one of my brothers on
the other. while father acted as um-
nire. Then we had Il debatipg society
in the settlement and there took sloes
and debated questions that were be-
yond our intimate knowledge, but we
learned to think on our feet, to think
and to talk at the same time. some
thing that is not always observed by
members of Congress.
"Some years ago Representative
I.andis had an old Hoosier constituent
visit him and took him to the gallery
of the House while was having some
difficulty with an appropriation bill.
/ suppose was kept busy with ques-
tions and replying to them with some
spirit. Mr.. Landis' friend asked MN
who it was speaking, and when the
Representative replied, Mr.. Cannon
he said, L was sure / knew him.
have not met Mr.. Cannon since ne
was elected to Congress many years
ago. but I was a member of the same
debating society down on the Wabash
and he has the same manner OF oepat'
ing now he had then
OId-Fashioned Parties.
ga house raising was a frolic, and
a. quilting bee was a social gathering
in the same way that an afternoon
tea is today. The ladies had an oppor-
tunity to gossip while they put in the
stitches and there was better oppor-
tunity for real confidential gossip over
a quilting frame than any other con-
trivance ever invented.
ssThe circuit rider, the religious re-
vival and the camp meeting were
conspicuous part of pioneer life. Ihey
not only ministered to the relsious
and emotional side of mans nature
but they also helped along social IN
tercourse by furnishing place LOT
general assemblage of the people with
ont regard to sect or doctrine. some
Of the sermons and some OF the prac-
tices of these gatherings might not
appeal to people now as saneiy rell-
rious, but the frontier had no more
seIf.sacrificing men than the OLD CIR
r,,it riders who rode through the
woods and across the prairies Winter
and Summer. preaching and exhorlng
the people to better life and lnsplf-
ing hone in a future. They were
ayanrelists of the old type, devoting
their lives to labor of love, without
money and without price.
"Old human nature sometimes
manned up. There was an old circuit
rider who loved hunting game as well
as souls, and he could not always for
get his sport when engaged In the
Divine calling. One morning as ne
proceeded to he camp meeting he saw
signs of a fox and set trap wnere
he could keep his eye on it during the
sermon. While preaching he saw the
tran fall; without changing the sing
song tone of his delivery. he said
Brethren, keep your minds on the
text while I go out and kill that fox. "
Had Natural History Shows.
'Did you have circuses on the Wa
bash?"
mot exactly circuses, but the great
moral natural history show which, ac'
cording to the bills, presented an Illus
trated history of the world from crea-
tion, with the wild beasts from the
tungles Of Africa and the mountains
Of Asia, and samples of the aboriginal
man from the islands OF the South
Seas. Van Amberg's Great Moral
Show was an institution Of that day
SPECIAL NOTICES.
np DApT TnAn