Show W ak ri LI 71 about an immortal oration EVERLY HILLS CALIF athe BEVERLY the future has a rotten trick of mussing up the judgments of the present what a pity it is that we cant wear our hind sights in front when I 1 read where some ponderous performing pachyderm of the literary elephant quadrille says this story will live forever A I 1 get to thinking about a time yel lowed copy of a metropolitan newspaper I 1 saw once a paper that was printed on Nover november tiber 20 1863 it devoted g great r e a t gobs of praise and nine solid columns very s soli 0 I 1 I 1 d to the eloquence of 0 f the t h e hon edward everett of massachusetts who on the day before after months of had on irvin S cobb preparation a battlefield down in pennsylvania spoken two hours and turned loose enough oratory to fill about nine gas balloons but of the subsequent and incidental remarks of another man an awkward shy man from illinois who had spoken just two minutes it said the president was also heard briefly the applause was formal and scattering 0 0 0 prejudices of critics aften OFTEN atwould seem the professional fess ional reviewer makes up his mind beforehand that he like you and behaves accordingly A friend sent me a clipping from a small city it dealt with the opening of the picture old man the writer was quite severe in his analysis he like the film passionately he care for me the joke was that the theater where the picture was to have been shown burned down just about the time the paper went to press and the picture ever shown in that town the next best illustration of the point im making dates back years ago I 1 was discussing various novelists with that gentle wit the late oliver herford ouie ollie I 1 said what do you think of so and sos books my dear cobb he softly murmured som something I 1 once wrote about him in a critical way so prejudiced me against the man I 1 could never bear to read any of his books self anointed dukes OUT here were waiting for that spanish baron and that french count back in new york to form the mother branch of their noble mens club for the protection of holders of genuine titles in america and presumably as a guarantee to our own home grown heiresses that when they marry foreign princ elings or what not the goods will be as de described bed theres been a lot of title legging you know As soon as the organization gets started were going to open the hollywood division since only the authentic nobility may qualify it its figured that the active roster will be confined to a very limited group 0 0 the state of the nation fist FAR AR be it from me to turn alarm alarmist right on the heels of the hot wave but I 1 feel it my duty to warn my fellow americans that this fragile and crumbling republic is doomed that is its doomed if you can believe what comes out of our sainted political leaders in the way of predictions hark to the quavering chorus which already has started up A crisis exists every professional crisis breeder in the land openly admits it I 1 cant remember when a crisis existing but they come larger in campaign years we are facing a dread emergency which has had no parallel since the last occasion when we faced a dread emergency this very hour the nation totters on the b rink brink of an a n abyss miracles Alir acles and misdemeanors ONCE NCE upon an early time there was a man so holy that even the wild creatures would not harm him he drew a thorn from the paw of a tame lion lioa and the grateful beast followed after him so he became a saint t only the other day in a court in tanganyika Tanga which is in africa a black man a savage by our definitions was on trial it seemed the lions were raiding the stock so the native authorities set traps for f or them the accused found a lion in one of these traps and made a ladder and went down and helped the great brute to escape being arrested he explained simply that the lion was his friend so they fined him 1250 in the olden times it was a miracle nowadays its a misdemeanor IRVIN S COBB 0 service |