That is a good leg, but it isn't mine. It belonged once to the chaplain of our regiment; I was in a battle and happened to have a tree between myself and the whole rebel army. There was a change in the front, and I started to make a detour to another tree. Just in the middle of my march I ran against the chaplain, who was also making a detour, and at that moment came along a rebel shell, which took off one of his legs and also one of mine. We lay on the ground only a minute or two, and then an ambulance took us and the two legs on board. They carried us to the field hospital, and put on our legs, which grew just as they should, so that after a few weeks I was dismissed as cured. Well, I had been a long time, for me, without liquid refreshment, and I knew that out in the woods near the camp was an extemporized bar, in the shape of a board laid on two stumps of trees. I found it hard to walk in that direction, and had to pull my right leg along; but I thought that it needed only a little practice to be as good as ever. I got to the bar and ordered a glass of something; it might have been ginger-pop or it might have been something else. Just after it was poured out and before I could take hold ofit, that right leg of mine lifted itself up and kicked over the whole contraption—glass, and jug, and bar, and then in spite of all I could do, stumped me back to camp! And on the way I passed the chaplain who was being dragged outtothe bar, while I was being pulled away from it. Then I knew what had happened in the hospital; they had put each leg on the wrong man, and I must carry around the chaplain's leg as long as I lived. The leg took me to church; at first it was pretty tough, but I got used to it. That leg brought me to Chautauqua, and here I am to-day, brought by the chaplain's leg. Some time ago I gave by request a lecture with pictures in the Sing Sing prison, and there among the convicts sat my old friend the chaplain, wearing a striped suit. What brought him there I can't imagine, unless—well, I don't know what it was.
That is a good leg, but it isn't mine. It belonged once to the chaplain of our regiment; I was in a battle and happened to have a tree between myself and the whole rebel army. There was a change in the front, and I started to make a detour to another tree. Just in the middle of my march I ran against the chaplain, who was also making a detour, and at that moment came along a rebel shell, which took off one of his legs and also one of mine. We lay on the ground only a minute or two, and then an ambulance took us and the two legs on board. They carried us to the field hospital, and put on our legs, which grew just as they should, so that after a few weeks I was dismissed as cured. Well, I had been a long time, for me, without liquid refreshment, and I knew that out in the woods near the camp was an extemporized bar, in the shape of a board laid on two stumps of trees. I found it hard to walk in that direction, and had to pull my right leg along; but I thought that it needed only a little practice to be as good as ever. I got to the bar and ordered a glass of something; it might have been ginger-pop or it might have been something else. Just after it was poured out and before I could take hold ofit, that right leg of mine lifted itself up and kicked over the whole contraption—glass, and jug, and bar, and then in spite of all I could do, stumped me back to camp! And on the way I passed the chaplain who was being dragged outtothe bar, while I was being pulled away from it. Then I knew what had happened in the hospital; they had put each leg on the wrong man, and I must carry around the chaplain's leg as long as I lived. The leg took me to church; at first it was pretty tough, but I got used to it. That leg brought me to Chautauqua, and here I am to-day, brought by the chaplain's leg. Some time ago I gave by request a lecture with pictures in the Sing Sing prison, and there among the convicts sat my old friend the chaplain, wearing a striped suit. What brought him there I can't imagine, unless—well, I don't know what it was.
The Assembly of 1887 was fifty-eight days in length, from July 2d to August 28th. The schools were still growing in the number of students and enlarging their courses. Some of the new departments were the Arabic and Assyrian languages, mathematics, chemistry, oratory and expression, stenography, mineralogy, and geology. To house these classes and the army of students, buildings were urgently needed, and this year a College Building arose overlooking the lake. It stood until two years ago, when on account of its dilapidation as well as its incongruity with the modern plans of the schools, it was taken down.
During the season of 1887, the Fourth of July Address was given by Hon. Roswell G. Horr, member of Congress from Michigan. Dr. Fairbairn from Oxford was with us again, also the Rev. Mark Guy Pearse of England, Dr. Charles J. Little, Dr. John A. Broadus of Louisville, one of those scholars who know how to present great truths in a simple manner, Chaplain McCabe, Dr. Charles R. Henderson, on social questions of the time, and Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. Rev. Sam P. Jones was also on the platform for the second season. He gave his powerful sermon on "Conscience" with not a sentence to provoke a smile, but a strong call to righteousness. Another address, however, contained an application which called forth a smile all over the audience. It was known that Dr. Vincent was being strongly talked of as a candidate for Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the following May, 1888, he was elected to that office. Dr. Vincent was presiding at Mr. Jones' lecture. In the address Jones managed to bring in an allusion to bishops. Then turning halfway round toward the chairman, he said, "Doctor Vincent, I shouldn't wonder if they made you and me bishops before long. You see the thing's coming down."
The class graduating this year in the C. L. S. C.was the largest in the history of the Circle. It included in its membership the Rev. G. R. Alden and his wife, and was named in her honor, the Pansy class. At this time the enrolled members of the C. L. S. C. were more than eighty thousand in number.
The Assembly of 1888 opened on July 3d and closed on August 29th, fifty-eight days in length. The summer school was now announced as the College of Liberal Arts. I notice in the list of subjects taught: Old French, Scandinavian languages and literature, Sanskrit, Zend and Gothic, Hebrew and Semitic languages, and philology. It is not to be supposed that all of these classes were overcrowded with students, but those in physical culture and arts and crafts were very popular. The annual exhibition of the gymnastic classes has been for years one of the most thronged events on the program, and in anticipation the Amphitheater is filled long in advance of the hour for beginning the exercises.
Among the lecturers of this season were Mrs. Alden, "Pansy," who read a new story,The Hall in the Grove;Dr. William R. Harper, Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus, Dr. Joseph Cook, Dr. Talmage, Dr. Hale, General Russell A. Alger, and George W. Bain. Dr. Phillips Brooks, giant in body and in soul, preached one of his sermons, sweepingin swift utterances like a tidal wave. One hardly dared draw a breath for fear of losing his mighty periods. Bishop William Taylor of Africa, was also present, and thrilled his hearers, yet in a calm, quiet manner, absolutely free from any oratorical display. There was a charm in his address and the most critical hearers felt it, yet could not analyze it. I met, not at Chautauqua but elsewhere, a lawyer who admitted that he rarely attended church because he could not endure the dull sermons; but after listening to Bishop Taylor, said that if he could hear that man he would go to church twice, even three times, on a Sunday. And yet in all his discourse there was not a rhetorical sentence nor a rounded period.
Mr. Leon H. Vincent was again at Chautauqua, with his literary lectures. Either during this season or the one when he came next—for he was generally present every alternate year—it became necessary to move Leon Vincent's lectures from the Hall of Philosophy to the Amphitheater, on account of the number who were eager to hear them. Among those who gave readings were Mr. Charles F. Underhill of New York, Mr. George Riddle, and Professor R. L. Cumnock.
The Methodists, both of the North and the South, have always formed a large element in theChautauqua constituency, partly because of their number throughout the continent, but also because both the Founders of the Assembly were members of that church. This year, 1888, the Methodist House was opened, in the center of the ground, and at once became the social rallying place of the denomination. Its chapel, connected with the House, was built afterward by the all-year residents at Chautauqua as the home of the community church, which is open to all and attended by all, the only church having a resident pastor and holding services through the year, nominally under the Methodist system, but practically undenominational.
In May, 1888, Dr. John H. Vincent, after twenty years in charge of the Sunday School work as Secretary and Editor, was elected and consecrated a Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. For some years his episcopal residence was at Buffalo, within easy distance of Chautauqua, but his new duties required him to travel even more widely than before, and he needed an assistant to care for the work of the Assembly. Mr. George E. Vincent, able son of distinguished father, was this year appointed Vice-Principal of Instruction, and assumed a closer supervision of the program of Chautauqua.
In this year, also, Dr. William Rainey Harper was made Principal of the College of Liberal Arts, all the departments of the Summer School being under his direction. Another name appears on the record of 1888, the name of Alonzo A. Stagg, haloed in the estimate of young Chautauqua with a glory even surpassing that of the two Founders. For Stagg, just graduated from Yale, could curve a baseball more marvelously than any other man in America. He was one of the instructors in the gymnasium, and organized a team that played with most of the baseball clubs for miles around Chautauqua, almost invariably winning the game. It was said that the athletic field rivaled the Amphitheater in its crowds when Stagg played.
TheAssembly of 1889 opened on July 3d and continued fifty-five days, to August 26th. Several new buildings had arisen since the last session. One was the Anne M. Kellogg Memorial Hall, built by Mr. James H. Kellogg of Rochester, New York, in honor of his mother. In it were rooms for kindergarten, clay modeling, china painting, and a meeting place for the Chautauqua W. C. T. U. It stood originally on the site of the present Colonnade Building, the business block, and was moved to its present location to make room for that building. Mr. Kellogg was an active worker in the Sunday School movement and from the beginning a regular visitor at Chautauqua. Another building of this year was the one formerly known as the Administration Office, on Clark Avenue in front of the book-store and the old Museum, now the Information Bureau and the School of Expression. When the offices of the Institution were removedto the Colonnade, the old Administration Building was given up to business, and it is now known as a lunch-room. The School of Physical Culture, under Dr. W. G. Anderson, had grown to such an extent that a new gymnasium had become a necessity, and one had been erected on the lake-front. In the newer part of the grounds many private cottages arose, of more tasteful architecture than the older houses.
Chautauqua Woman's Club HouseChautauqua Woman's Club HouseRustic BridgeRustic Bridge
A notable event of this season was the visit of former President Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. Among the lecturers of 1889 we find the name of Mr. Donald G. Mitchell, whoseReveries of a BachelorandDream-Life, published under the pseudonym of Ik Marvel, are recognized classics in American literature. Other eminent men on the platform were Professor Hjalmar H. Boyesen of Columbia University, Professor J. P. Mahaffy of Dublin University, Dr. Lyman Abbott, Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus, Dr. Washington Gladden, Dr. John Henry Barrows, Professor Frederick Starr, who could make anthropology interesting to those who had never studied it, Professor Herbert B. Adams, and Corporal Tanner, the U. S. Commissioner of Pensions, a veteran who walked on two cork legs, but was able to stand up and give a heart-warming address to the old soldiers. Dr.W. R. Harper, who was teaching in the School of Theology, gave a course of lectures on the Hebrew prophets. Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, one of the great preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, delivered a sermon on one of the Sundays. The South sent us an able lecturer in Richard Malcolm Johnson. The orator on Recognition Day, of the Class of '89, was Dr. David Swing of Chicago, who spoke on "The Beautiful and the Useful." Dr. Russell H. Conwell gave some lectures, abundant in their illustrative stories.
I think that this was the year, but am not certain, when Dr. Conwell preached one Sunday in the Amphitheater a sermon of remarkable originality, listened to with the closest attention by his hearers, because he kept them guessing as to his subject until he was more than half-way through. He said in opening, "I will give my text at the end of the sermon, if I don't forget it; but I will tell you my subject. I am going to speak of a man whom our Lord called the Model Church Member." We all began wondering who that man was, but nobody could recall him. He said that this model man lived among the mountains, and spoke of the influence of surroundings upon character; then that where he lived there were two churches, one large, the other small, one aristocratic and popular,the other of the lower classes, despised; and that this man was a member of the church looked down upon; but these facts gave us no hint as to the model man's identity. He puzzled us once more by saying that this was a business man who had good credit, and we were still in the fog;—when did Jesus ever talk about credit? Then he told in graphic manner, making it seem as if it had happened the day before, the story of the Good Samaritan, and the problem was solved. But he astonished us again by saying, "There was one part of this story which for some reason St. Luke left out of his gospel, and I am going to tell it now";—and of course everybody was eager to hear a brand-new Bible story not found in the Scriptures. He told that this man who had been robbed and beaten on the Jericho road, after his recovery at the inn, went home to Jerusalem, met his family, and then took his two boys up to the Temple to return thanks for his restoration. The service in all its splendor was described. One boy said, "Father, see that priest waving a censer! What a good man he must be!" But the man said, "My boy, don't look at that hypocrite! That is the very priest who left me to die beside the road!" After a few minutes, the younger boy said, "See that Levite blowing a trumpet! Helooks like a good man, doesn't he?" And the father said, "My boys, that is the very Levite that passed me by when I was lying wounded! Let us go away from this place." And then one of the boys said, "Let us find the church of the Good Samaritan, and worship there." And Dr. Conwell added, "My text is, 'Go thou and do likewise!'" No one who heard that sermon, so full of surprises, could ever forget it.
The elocutionary readers who entertained us during that season were Professor Cumnock, A. P. Burbank, George Riddle, George W. Cable, reading his own stories, and Mr. Leland Powers of Boston, with his rendering ofDavid Copperfield, several other stories, and a play or two. Without the aid of costume or "making up," it was wonderful how he could change facial expression, and voice, and manner instantaneously with his successive characters. We saw Mr. Micawber transformed in an instant into Uriah Heep. From 1889, Mr. Powers was a frequent visitor, and his rendering of novels and plays enraptured the throngs in the Amphitheater. For many seasons he was wont to appear on alternate years. On Old First Night, when the call was made for those present on the successive years, while the regulars stood up and remained standing as each year wasnamed, it was interesting to watch the down-sittings and uprisings of Leland Powers. But we shall hear his voice no more, for even while we are writing the news of his death comes to us.
In this year, 1889, the musical classes were organized as the Chautauqua School of Music, with instructors in all departments. Inasmuch as all people do not enjoy the sound of a piano, practicing all day scales and exercises, a place was found in the rear of the grounds for a village of small cottages, some might call them "huts," each housing a piano for lessons and practice. I am told that forty-eight pianos may be heard there all sending out music at once, and each a different tune.
The year 1889 brought another man to Chautauqua who was well-beloved and will be long remembered, the pianist and teacher, William H. Sherwood, who showed himself a true Chautauquan by his willing, helpful spirit, no less than by his power on the piano. When death stilled those wondrous fingers, Mr. Sherwood's memory was honored by the Sherwood Memorial Studios, dedicated in 1912.
When we realize that Chautauqua is a city of frame-buildings, packed closely together on narrow streets, in the early years having exceedinglyinadequate protection against fires, we almost wonder that it has never been overswept by a conflagration. From time to time there have been fires, most of them a benefit in clearing away old shacks of the camp-meeting strata; and one took place on a night during the season of 1889. It swept away a row of small houses along the southwestern border of Miller Park, toward the Land of Palestine. Their site was kept unoccupied, leaving a clear view of the lake, except on one corner where a handsome building was erected, the Arcade. While the main entrance to the grounds was at the Pier, this was a prosperous place of business, but after the back door became the front door, through the coming of the Chautauqua Traction Company, giving railroad connection with the outside world, the business center of Chautauqua shifted to streets up the hill.
The year 1890 came, bringing the seventeenth session of the Assembly. This was the year when the Presbyterian House was opened, and also the C. L. S. C. building, erected by Flood and Vincent, for Mr. George E. Vincent was now a partner with Dr. Flood in publishingThe Chautauquan Magazineand the books of the C. L. S. C. Subsequently the business of publication was assumed by the Institution, and the building has been for manyyears the book-store, with rooms on the floor above for classes in the School of Expression.
An announcement in the program of the College of Liberal Arts was that a School of Journalism would be conducted by Hamilton Wright Mabie, essayist, and one of the editors ofThe Outlook. Leon H. Vincent gave another course of literary lectures. Dr. Henry L. Wayland of Philadelphia was one of the speakers. John Habberton, author of the "best seller" some years before,Helen's Babies, lectured, read, joined the C. L. S. C. Class of 1894, and was made its President. Dr. Francis E. Clark, father of the Christian Endeavor Society, came and was greeted by a host of young Endeavorers. Dr. Alexander McKenzie of Cambridge, Mass., preached a great sermon. Mr. Robert J. Burdette, at that time an editor, but afterwards a famous Baptist preacher, gave one of his wisely-witty lectures. The Hon. John Jay, worthy son of one of New York's most distinguished families, gave an address. Dr. Fairbairn of Oxford was again among us, with his deep lectures, yet clear as the waters of Lake Tahoe. The orator on Recognition Day was Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, whose term as President made Wellesley great. Mr. Thomas Nelson Page gave readings from his own stories of southernlife before the Civil War. A young man appeared on the platform for the first time, but not the last, who was destined to stand forth in a few years as one of the foremost of Americans. This was Theodore Roosevelt, whose lectures at Chautauqua were later expanded into the volumes onThe Winning of the West. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, soldier and historian, also gave lectures.
At the opening of the season in 1891, the members of the Chautauqua Circle counted more than a hundred thousand. Nine classes had been graduated, another large class was to receive its diplomas during that summer, and there were three undergraduate classes each of nearly twenty thousand members, with another class as large in prospect. Only a small section of each class could be present at Chautauqua, the vast majority of its members being far away, some in distant lands. But among those who came to the Assembly, the social spirit was strong. They loved to meet each other, held social reunions and business meetings constantly. Each of the four oldest classes, from '82 to '85, had its own building as headquarters, but all the later classes were homeless and in need of homes. It was a great boon to these classes when at last, in 1891, the C. L. S. C. Alumni Hallwas completed and opened. Its eight class-rooms were distributed by lot and furnished by the gifts of the members. As new classes were organized year after year, they were welcomed by the classes already occupying the rooms. It was not many years before each room became the home of two classes, then after eight years more of three classes, meeting on different days, but united in the general reception on the evening before the Recognition Day. Beside the eight class-rooms on the second floor of the Alumni Building there is a large hall which is used before the Recognition Day by the graduating class, and during the rest of the season by the new entering class. In 1916, after the death of Miss Kate F. Kimball, Secretary of the C. L. S. C, this hall was named "The Kimball Room." The Alumni Building with its wide porches became at Chautauqua a social center for the members of the Circle and many have been the friendships formed there. On this season of 1891 the United Presbyterian House was opened.
The section of the Summer Schools formerly known as The Teachers' Retreat, but now beginning to be called "The School of Pedagogy," was this year (1891) under the direction of that master-teacher and inspiring leader, Colonel Francis W. Parker of Chicago. He gave several lectures onthe principles of teaching, but many besides the teachers listened to them with equal interest and profit. One of these lectures was entitled, "The Artisan and the Artist"; the artisan representing those in every vocation of life who do their work by rule; the artist, those who pay little attention to regulations, but teach, or preach, or design buildings, or paint pictures out of their hearts; and these are the Pestalozzis, the Michael Angelos, the Beechers of their several professions. We had a course of delightful essay-lectures in the Hall of Philosophy by Miss Agnes Repplier. The Rabbi of the Temple Emanuel in New York, Dr. Gustave Gottheil, gave some enlightening lectures upon the principles of the Jewish faith. At that time a prominent Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Edward McGlynn, was in rebellion against the hierarchy of his church, and maintaining a vigorous controversy in behalf of religious freedom. He had been dismissed from one of the largest churches in New York, and with voice and pen was denouncing the Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops. Father McGlynn came to Chautauqua and delivered a powerful address in the Amphitheater, pouring forth a torrent of language, shot as from a rapid-firing cannon. While at Chautauqua he was entertained at a dinner in one of the cottageswith a number of invited guests. From the moment of meeting at the table, he began to talk in his forceful manner, never stopping to take breath. Dr. Buckley was present and several times opened his mouth but found no chance to interject a word, which was an unusual state of affairs for one who generally led the conversation.
Post-Office BuildingPost-Office Building
The Business and Administration BuildingThe Business and Administration Building
Another speaker who was heard with interest was Jacob A. Riis, with his illustrated lecture on "How the Other Half Lives." Mr. Riis was only a newspaper reporter, not occupying an editorial chair, but Theodore Roosevelt spoke of him as "New York's most useful citizen." The cause of woman suffrage and reform had a splendid showing this season, for Frances E. Willard, Anna Howard Shaw, Susan B. Anthony, and Mary A. Livermore, all spoke upon the Amphitheater platform. A visitor who made many friends was Rev. Dr. Percival, headmaster of Rugby School. Julia Ward Howe gave interesting reminiscences of Longfellow, Emerson, and other literary lights whom she had known intimately. John Fiske, one of America's greatest historians, gave a course of lectures on the discovery and settlement of this continent. Another historian whom we heard was John Bach McMaster, whose lectures were like a series of dissolving views, picture succeedingpicture, each showing the great events and the great men of their period. In this year Dr. Horatio R. Palmer assumed charge of the musical department, and for the first time waved his baton before the great chorus in the Amphitheater gallery.
As everybody knows, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America was observed everywhere in 1892. Chautauqua commemorated it in lectures on Columbus and his fellow-voyagers, and by a pageant presenting scenes from the history. The Chautauqua class graduating that year was named the Columbia Class, and as its members, several hundred strong, marched in the procession, Chancellor Vincent was astonished to see in the line his wife, wearing the graduating badge of cardinal ribbon. She had read the course through four years and kept it a secret from him, revealed for the first time at that Recognition service. The address on that day was delivered by Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus on "The Ideal of Culture."
Among the chief speakers in 1892 we find the names of two Presidents of Cornell University, Dr. Andrew D. White and Dr. James G. Schurman; Dr. J. Monro Gibson, a London pastor and one of the Board of Counsel of the C. L. S. C. waswith us; also Ballington Booth, Henry Watterson, the journalist, and President Merrill E. Gates of Amherst College. At this session also the Girls' Club was organized and conducted by Miss Mary H. Mather of Wilmington, Del.
In the announcements of this year, the title of Chautauqua University was allowed to lapse, and in place of it appeared "The Chautauqua System of Education."
Whenthe Chautauquans gathered for the twentieth Assembly on July 1, 1893, they found some changes had taken place. The old Amphitheater, which had faithfully served its generation, but had fallen into decrepitude, no longer lifted its forest of wooden pillars over the ravine. In its place stood a new Amphitheater, more roomy and far more suitable to the needs of the new day. It was covered by a trussed roof supported by steel columns standing around the building, so that from every seat was an unobstructed view of the platform. The choir-gallery was enlarged to provide seats for five hundred. The platform was brought further into the hall, making room for an orchestra. The seats were more comfortable, and could now hold without crowding fifty-six hundred people. A few years later, the old organ gave place to a greater and better one, the gift of the Massey family of Toronto, a memorial of theirfather, the late Hart A. Massey, one of the early Trustees of the Assembly. Under the choir-loft and on either side of the organ, rooms were arranged for offices and classes in the Department of Music.
During the previous season, 1892, a Men's Club had been organized and had found temporary quarters. It now possessed a home on the shore of the Lake, beside Palestine Park. In its rooms were games of various sorts, cards, however, being still under the ban at Chautauqua.[2]Newspapers and periodicals, shower-baths, and an out-of-door parlor on the roof, very pleasant except on the days when the lake flies invaded it. The Men's Club building had formerly been the power house of the electrical plant, but one who had known it ofold would scarcely recognize it as reconstructed, enlarged, and decorated. To make a place for the dynamo of the electric system, an encroachment had been made upon Palestine Park; a cave had been dug under Mount Lebanon, and the dynamo installed within its walls. The age of King Hiram of Tyre, who cut the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's Temple, and the age of Edison, inventor of the electric light, were thus brought into incongruous juxtaposition. A chimney funnel on the summit of Mount Lebanon, it must be confessed, seemed out of place, and the Valley of Coele-Syria, between Lebanon and Hermon, was entirely obliterated. Bible students might shake their heads disapprovingly, but even sacred archæology must give way to the demands of civilization.
An improvement less obvious to the eye, but more essential to health, was the installation of a complete sewer system. As the sewage is not allowed to taint the water of the lake, it is carried by pipes to a disposal plant at the lower end of the ground and chemically purified. The water rendered as clear as crystal is then permitted to run into the lake, while the sludge is pressed by machinery into cakes used as fertilizer. An artesian well on high ground supplies pure water in abundance, with taps at convenient places for families.Originally the water in use came from wells. These were carefully tested by scientific experts, and most of them were condemned, but a few were found to give forth pure water and are still in use, though frequently and carefully tested. Near the Men's Club is a spring of mineral water containing sulphur and iron. It has the approval of chemists and physicians, and many drink it for its healthful effect.
One who looks over the programs of Chautauqua through successive years will notice the number of the clubs for various classes and ages. Largest of all is the Woman's Club, of which Mrs. Emily Huntington Miller was the first President, succeeded by Mrs. B. T. Vincent, and carried on under her leadership for many years. When on account of failing health Mrs. Vincent felt compelled to resign her office, her place was taken by Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker of Texas, who had been President of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs in the United States. This Club includes more than two thousand members, and its daily meeting in the Hall of Philosophy brings together a throng, often too large for the building. In 1918 the Club purchased a cottage fronting on the lake, near the Hotel Athenæum, as a headquarters, a place for social gatherings and rest rooms for women.
Besides the Women's Clubs and the Men's Club, there are at least a dozen other associations of people having tastes and interests bringing them together. We will name the most important of these without regard to their chronological order.
There is the Athletic Club for men and boys over sixteen, directing the organized sports and providing all forms of out-of-door recreation. It has a club house on the lake with bowling alleys and boat room, shower baths and lockers, and a reading room.
The Golf Club has a nine-hole course, situated on the rising ground of eighty acres opposite the traction station. The money has been contributed for a Country Club House, soon to be built at the entrance. The donors, it is understood, are Mr. Stephen J. Munger of Dallas, Texas, one of the Trustees, his wife, and Mrs. Frank B. Wilcox of St. Petersburg, Florida, in memory of her husband.
Chautauquans of some years' standing will remember the old croquet ground, where now stands the Colonnade, and the group of solemn gray-beards who used to frequent it and knock the balls through the big arches all day. No matter what popular lecturer was speaking in the Amphitheater,the passer-by would find that same serious company. I used to pass them while going to my home and coming from it several times each day. On one occasion I stopped and struck up an acquaintance with a tall old gentleman who always wore a high hat and a long double-breasted coat. I learned that he was the President of a Bank among the mountains of Pennsylvania, and that he had come to Chautauqua suffering from nervous prostration, making him utterly unable to do business and scarcely desiring to live. He passed the croquet court, sat down, and was invited to play. He began and found himself, for the first time in many months, actually interested in doing something. He began to enjoy his meals and to sleep at night. All that summer he played croquet, never listening to a lecture, and at the end of the season went home almost well. From that time croquet became more than his recreation, almost his business. He told me that there were others like himself who found health and a new enjoyment of life in the game. When the ground was needed for the new business block, the courts were removed to the ravine on the other side of the grounds, near the gymnasium. About that time croquet was developed into a more scientific game, a sort of billiardized croquet, with wallsfrom which a ball would rebound, and arches a quarter of an inch—or is it only an eighth of an inch?—wider than the ball. To find a name for the new game they struck off the first and last letters, so that croquet became Roque, and in due time the Roque Club arose, with a group of players who live and breathe and have their being for this game. People come from far, and I am told, to attend its tournaments at every season.
There is also a Quoit Club meeting on the ground near Higgins Hall, beside the road leading up College Hill.
The Young Woman's Club is for those over fifteen years of age, while the Girl's Club has its membership between eight and fifteen, meets in its own Club House near the roque courts, and is enthusiastically sought by those no longer little girls, yet not quite young women.
Wherever one walks around Chautauqua he is sure to see plenty of boys in blue sweaters bearing on their bosoms the monogram in big letters C. B. C, initials of the Chautauqua Boys' Club. They too have their headquarters near the athletic field and find something doing there all day long.
Sherwood Memorial StudiosSherwood Memorial Studios
Traction StationTraction Station
For the little ones, there is the kindergarten at Kellogg Hall, and out of doors beside it the playground, where the tots make cities out of sand andfind other pleasures. And we must not forget the Children's Paradise, the completely equipped playground in the ravine at the northwestern part of the grounds. I remember hearing Jacob A. Riis, the father of the city playgrounds, say in one of his lectures: "They tell me that the boys play ball in the streets of New York and break windows when the ball goes out of the way. Good! I hope they will break more windows until the city fixes up playgrounds for them!" Jacob Riis lived long enough to see at Chautauqua one of the finest playgrounds, and to find in it one of the happiest crowds of children on the continent. One blessing for tired mothers at Chautauqua is that their children are in safekeeping. They may be turned loose, for they can't get outside the fence, and in the clubs and playgrounds they are under the wisest and most friendly care.
There are Modern Language Clubs in French and Spanish, with conversations, recitations, and songs in these languages. "No English Spoken Here," might be written over their doors, although nearly all their members elsewhere do their talking in the American patois. There was a German Club, but it was suspended during the war, when German was an unpopular language and has not yet been reëstablished.
The Music Club holds gatherings, in the Sherwood Music Studios on College Hill.
There is a Press Club, composed of men and women who write books and articles for publication. They hold social receptions for acquaintance among wielders of the quill; perhaps it would be more accurate, though less classic, to say, "pounders of the typewriter." Several times each season they have an "Author's Night," when well-known writers, some of them famous, read their own productions.
There is a Lawyers' Club, a Masonic Club, and a Grange Club, the latter having its own building of Greek architecture; also a College Fraternity Club of the wearers of sundry pins and keys.
The Bird and Tree Club has a large and representative membership of those interested in identifying and protecting the fauna, flora, and bird life of Chautauqua and its vicinity. On the Overlook, beyond the Athletic Field, they have established a herbarium for the preservation of the different forms of trees found on the ground.
We must group together, begging pardon of the members, many other organizations, such as the W. C. T. U. All Americans know, some of them to their cost, what those four letters stand for; the Y. W. C. A., which has opened a HospitalityHouse of Welcome and Rest on Pratt Avenue; the Daughters of the American Revolution, coming from every part of the land for gatherings at Chautauqua; the Order of the Eastern Star, whose secrets none but the initiated know; the College Men's Club, the College Women's Club, the Ministers' Club, and there used to be, perhaps is still, an Octogenarians' Club, whose members must swear to eighty years of life. The King's Daughters and King's Sons meet weekly at the Pier Buildings, and the Chautauqua Education Council, made up of Superintendents, principals and teachers, holds two regular sessions each week. If there are any more clubs, and their titles are sent to the author of this book, they will appear in the new edition, after the first hundred thousand copies are disposed of.
But we are forgetting the title of this chapter and must name some of those who helped to make Chautauqua successful during the quadrennium between '92 and '96. In 1893 Henry Drummond repeated at Chautauqua his Lowell lectures in Boston on "The Ascent of Man." There were still some old-fashioned "kiver to kiver" believers in the verbal inspiration of the Bible who were alarmed to find an eminent Christian leader accept so fully the conclusions of science; but theoverwhelming sentiment of Chautauqua was of rejoicing at his harmonizing the most evangelical religion with the most advanced scholarship. Jane Addams gave some lectures on modern problems of family and social life; Edward Eggleston, long before a leader of the Sunday School Army, by turns preacher, story-writer (hisHoosier School-Mastermarked an epoch in American literature, say the critics) and historian, was with us once more after many years of absence. He said in an introduction, "I am glad to be again among Sunday School workers, real crazy people, for I believe that nobody can be a first-class Sunday School man unless he has a little crack in his head on that subject." Frank G. Carpenter, who had traveled in almost every land of earth, told us stories of his experiences and observations; Kate Douglas Wiggin read charmingly some of her own stories; Mr. John Temple Graves spoke in his fine rounded periods on some topics of the time; Hon. Roswell G. Horr of Michigan instructed while he entertained us. Dr. A. J. Palmer, who had thrilled the old soldiers with his "Company D," now gave another lecture to them on "Comrades." Besides these we heard on the platform Dr. Philip S. Moxom, Professor George H. Palmer of Harvard, and his wife, Alice Freeman Palmer; PresidentHarper, Dr. Von Hoist; Dr. Conwell, and Dr. Joseph Cook, returning to the platform with restored vigor after some years of nervous breakdown. Miss Willard was with us again, and with her Lady Henry Somerset of England, the head of the W. C. T. U. in that land.
In 1894 the Department of Elocution took a new title, "The School of Expression," and enlarged its sphere under Professor S. H. Clark of the University of Chicago, and Mrs. Emily M. Bishop. The program of the years shows the school of Political Science to be remarkably strong, with such teachers as Dr. Herman Von Holst, Herbert B. Adams of Johns Hopkins, and another Dr. Adams of Yale. Professor Graham Taylor of Chicago spoke on social questions, capital and labor. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, already rising to fame, was again on the platform. General James A. Beaver, ex-governor of Pennsylvania; Professor Richard G. Moulton; Hon. Carroll D. Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor; Mr. Anthony Comstock, and Dr. E. E. Hale, Chautauqua's strong friend, were some of the speakers. Dr. Hale, always original in his methods, said that he had only thirty minutes to speak on "Poverty and Pauperism." He began by saying, "I will stand on one side of this desk andspeak fifteen minutes on poverty." He showed in seven points that every one of us belonged to the class named "poverty" and each one should help the others. Then he walked over to the other side and gave seven points on "pauperism," for which there were reasons but no excuses. Poverty was a blessing; most of the world's greatest benefactors have been poor men; but pauperism is an unmitigated evil and should be stamped out of existence. General O. O. Howard, U. S. A., was again on the platform in 1894, also President William H. Crawford of Allegheny College, whose lecture on "Savonarola" made a deep impression. There was great interest to see and hear Miss Helen Keller, the wonderful girl, blind, deaf, and dumb, who had learned to speak without hearing a voice, and had been graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University with the highest honor. Another of the lecturers was Mr. Jahu DeWitt Miller, whose private talk was as good as his public lectures, which is high praise. The Recognition Day address this year was by Dr. E. E. Hale, on "The Education of a Prince," the prince being the poorest child living in America. It is worth remembering that a photograph of the procession on that day shows at the head of the flower-girl division—which now included boys, although thegirls were still in the majority—two mites of children, one Paul Vincent Harper, son of President Harper, the other Isabel Vincent, the daughter of Professor George E. Vincent. Those same children are now Mr. and Mrs. Paul Vincent Harper of Chicago, still walking together.
In 1895, the season extended through fifty-nine days, from June 29th to August 26th. Two new buildings, besides many new cottages, were now upon the ground. One was the Baptist headquarters on Clark Street, the other Higgins Hall on College Hill, built by the gift of Governor Higgins of New York State. In the Schools during this season strong emphasis was laid on the Department of English, with such instructors as Professor C. T. Winchester of Wesleyan, Professor A. S. Cook of Yale, Professor Sherman of the University of Nebraska, and Professor Lewis of the University of Chicago. The last named gentleman bore a striking resemblance to the portraits of Shakespeare; so that as he walked around (habitually without a hat on his head) everybody was struck with the likeness. I was told that when he sat down at Shakespeare's traditional school-desk in Stratford, a crowd gathered before the windows and the word was passed around "Shakespeare has come to life again!"
Other speakers in 1895 were Professor Richard G. Moulton, Dr. Josiah Strong, President G. Stanley Hall, Professor Francis G. Peabody of Harvard, Major J. B. Pond, Dr. John Henry Barrows, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, President Harper, Prof. John Fiske, Principal Fairbairn, and the distinguished General of the Confederate Army, John B. Gordon, Senator from Georgia. His lecture on "The Last Days of the Confederacy," was one of the great occasions of the season, and it was noteworthy that many veterans of the G. A. R. were among the loudest in their applause when their foe of thirty years before came upon the platform. Another event of the summer was the visit of Governor William McKinley of Ohio, a year before his nomination and election to the Presidency. During this season also we were entertained with readings by Professor S. H. Clark, Mr. Will M. Carleton, and Miss Ida Benfey.
In the year 1895 another movement was begun at Chautauqua, which like the W. C. T. U. has swept over the entire continent and wrought mightily for the public welfare. At a Kindergarten Mothers' Meeting during the session, Mrs. Theodore W. Birney of Georgia, gave an address urging a National Congress of Mothers, and herappeal awakened a prompt response. Many of those who had listened to her carried her message to their own home-towns; Mrs. Birney at women's clubs and gatherings gave her plea over and over; and when the General Federation of Women's clubs held its convention in her native State of Georgia she presented the proposition to the members. From that convention in 1896, a call was issued for a National Congress of Mothers, to be held in the National Capital. Mrs. Birney gave a year of tireless and wise preparation for the meeting, which began on February 17, 1897. She was called to be President of the National Congress, with Miss Mary Louisa Butler as Organizing Secretary. The work was aided by the wide-reaching influence and liberal gifts of Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst, who has been rightly called the Lady Bountiful of the movement. Out of this National Congress grew the holding of State-congresses in every part of the country and the organization of local branches in almost every city. The Congress of Mothers now has its central office in Washington, D. C. It is divided into twenty-five departments of work—such as Americanization, Child Hygiene, Child Labor, Education, Mothers' Circles, Thrift, and many others, each having its chairman and plan of effective work. Out of a meeting at Chautauqua,in 1895, has grown a nation-wide movement in aid of mothers and teachers.