A STUMP ORATOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6937, 29 October 1900, Page 2

A STUMP ORATOR.

1 ■„» ■■- — HIS METHOD OF EARNING A OTPjf < IN THE LONDON PAS-KS, I \ (By W. C. in the " Weekly Sua,V) After listening, with, more entertainment! than edification, to an itinerant lectmcw IPR Hyde Park on a recent Suwday aft^rnoo^ Ye waylaid him as he wehdedi Ws way hoop* ward, and prevailed on hjm tp furni(ffj| '«s with some details anent his /profession. ! He had doffed his Oxford gown, $$d mi\ carrying it/in a parcel under his mm. jffijf'. face wore' a. pleased , as fwif rattled the collection in his ipocketr^djoiibiU-i less it had! been a good <Jne. He rispos<des{ to our tactful greeting withXanair of awti-j oence, not unmixed with euqnoion, put pre,«j sently (he waxed mpre^coraini^icatw-e :*^ "How long have I bwfli following $jp*\ profession? Well, I've been speaking a». Hyde Park every fine Sunday alow foj tefi years. I was the first jnan to »n*spdjsd#: the gown. It impose* » I «mmm\. you. I reckon it's worth a$ least $M m week to me. ' ' i "Is the thing tiring.? Yes, rather,, when you- speak to 300 or 400 puople for • <JOUstf, of hours or more on a hot day. \ou w*Oflt a throat like leather, and the strength of •,; lion. My worst trouble is a cpugtiji WWW^ makes me useless fov sudh work. < "Do I prepare my own speeches? We11,,, sir, that's rather personal, bub aa you con-/ tributed so generously to the collecfcionr juct now, I don'i mind telling you that any] addif ■*«* are not my own composition j theyj are written for ma by ft literary froen* of mine in the city. He's a clever ch#ij I always pny him ten sMlUng* for^ foodl. original kcture, whiph 1 consider a tv» «*j muneration. . i "WTiat subject s are the most- populaa? with the public? Well, sir, the populwinood varies a good deal, and I have *o adaptt niy lectures accordingly, and be careluli to inFerb some reference to topical subjects. But my favourite lecture— the one tfcat^ goes best on Saturday afternoons— is the Working Man's Utopia : or Things as They Oughti, to Bo.' That always kee^s n ; crowd interested, and brings a good *ollectaonw IV* got a decent stock of subject* at 'home, an. ( eluding Temperance, Socialism, Legislation^ Education, etc., bub the best, of all v i the, one I 'have mentioned, because most of my hearers «re working men, «nd it promSiseß them iust what they want. „: "Interruptions? Ye*, I «ct a few ooca.j sionally, but 1 can generally manage tgt pay them back in their own coin, I bare a reply as ready and appropriate ««, my of their questions, and it'e not often tthatf the laugh goes against me. Only once WAS I knocked off my stool by a drunken awn, and then the crowd soon .took my. part, and) drove the fellow away. • j "How much do I make a year byi the orations? That's « etraight question* sir,j ( and one which I'm jiot going to answer , fully, but I can aaeur« you tha,t I get *i mod living out of it. CloKections vary, of, fourse, like people and. the weather, but I, don't mind telling you that I would noUj take 35s a week for my JhuSMibm a* Man time. But I'm not like some of the Parkj spouters. I don't disappoint a crowd 1 when they throw * good collection into the rinf —I always give them plenty for then; money —and they know it. , " The fact is, sir, a man in my profession) nnisit be -up-to-date, 6r he's nowhere. Forj the past six months it's been nothing but] the war, and I've had to make frequent al-j lusions to our great generals 'and our «al-| lant soldiers, which please the crowd «as fllj wile, and help to swell the collection. . " Royalty, also, is r safe subject at pre-J sent, and 'i find it pays to be both loyal and patriotic. Only the other day, wheffi ' Bobs ' beat the Boers, I asked the crowdto"! sing the National Anthem, and they gofceo! enthusiastic that I could hardly get auaaeej for my lecture. That brought roe a lovely collection. It was— well, I don't mind telling you—it Mas over two quid I took honw that night." __^ •