Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1892 — Saved a Town with Laughter. [ARTICLE]

Saved a Town with Laughter.

It was in 1808, after a battle, and the streets of Madrid were tilled with angry crowds bent on detroying everything and everybody. Suddenly an unknown man, tall and dark anq strong, appeared at the city hall. “Give me a band of musicians,” he’ said, “and before nightfall I shall control all Madrid.” He must have been a man of rare personality to have been able to persuade the authorities at all in that dark hour to give him anything of the kind, but he did. Going out with the musicians, he wandered through the town. While they played he sang—folksongs or some national air. When these bored the people he mounted old boxes and told funny stories, and by and by the people forgot to be angry, followed their new leader wherever he went, laughing over his stories and songs. By nightfall peace reigned in the city and the mob broke up and went home to bed The man’s name was Felipe Ducazel, and he was only 22 years old when he did this clever thing. We hear a good deal about heroic things in saving countries by long and terrible rides at night, or by the sacrifice of one’s self by dying in somebody’s stead, but few of us remember before of any one who saved a town by laughter.