Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 193, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 August 1916 — NELS DARLING IN ABLE ADDRESS [ARTICLE]

NELS DARLING IN ABLE ADDRESS

Second Day of the Chautauqua Finds Large Audience On Hand to Greet Chautauqua People. Tonight’s Program. 7:30 p. m. The opera “Martha,” in costume, by the Chicago Artists Quartette. There will be no union vesper services at the court house Sunday evening on account of the chautauqua. Mr. Richard Pearson Hobson, “hero of Santiago,” a statesman of national reknown, will be in Rensselaer Tuesday, August 15. Mr. Hobson is an ardent preparedness man, and at the same time a peace advocate, believing the only way to maintain peace is through preparedness. Mr. Hobson’s arrival in Rensselaer will be greeted by a patriotic parade ‘ in which the citizens of Rensselaer are all urged to take a part. The details of this parade will appear in Monday’s Republican. Don’t fail to here this man.

The second day of the Lincoln Chauatuqua found even larger audiences on hand to greet the Lincoln chautauqua people at Milroy Park. The quality of the day’s program even exceeded that of the first day. The Arden Dramatic company and Nels Darling were the entertainers Friday, the former company presenting vocal numbers, cartoons and readings in the afternoon and vocal numbers and a Shakespearean comedy entitled, “The Taming of the Shrew” in the evening. The work of this company was very commendable and highly entertaining. The feature number of the chautauqua to date, however, must be credited to Nels Darling, known as the Oklahoma doctor.

Mr. Darling is a man who talks straight from the shoulder, tells you exactly what he thinks, is sincere, a booster, a hustler —a man of truly magnetic personality, a constructionist, a community builder, a humorist of rare ability, a mixer and general good fellow, who talks to a man of any rank. Mr. Darling talked over two hours last night and we will venture to say that there was not a single person in .the audience that wearied of his talk. Mr. Darling did nut praise the community—farmers, merchants, business men and the community in general all “got theirs.” Mr. Darling also related the workings of the big mail order houses and how they were eating up the small town merchant, and how this could be curbed. He presented statistics showing how much money went out of Rensselaer in a month to these big mail order houses. The figures were appalling, but neverthless they are true, for Mr. Darling has made a study of this particular line of work for years. He urged that the farmer End the business men of the town get together and push and pull. One is dependent on the other, said the Oklahoma lecturer.

Darling played no favorites. Some people may harbor in their minds that Mr. Darling is prejudiced in favor of his home state. Mr. Darling is not a knocker, or a fault finder. He simply states facts as he find them, and if the shoe fits, alright, if it don’t alright. Mr. Darling told us that we had the cleanest and prettiest town that he had yet visited in the state of Indiana. If he had not meant it he would not have said it, for anyone that heard his lecture knows that he expressed his own views just as he thought them. Mr. Darling’s lecture in the evening entiled, “The Village Storekeeper,” was the most interesting talk that it has ever been our pleasure to hear and we believe that anyone’else who heard him will say the same thing. In his noon address at the College Inn, Mr. Darling told his opinion of the farmers and in the evening he turned his attention to the merchants, told them they were asleep and urged them to get busy, citing instances of other towns where clubs and told of the good work they were doing for the merchants and the community in general. Following the principal address of the evening Mr. Darling talked to the business men concerning the forming of a community club in Rensselaer. A committee of two, J. N. Leatherman and Mose Leopold, were appointed to start the organization of such a club which will be started immediately. Mr. Darling is a warm personal friend of J. Frank Warren, former citizen of Rensselaer, and now a prosperous business man in Oklahoma City. Mr. Warren was paid a tribute by this eminent speaker that would have made him swell up with pride,

if he could have heard it. Mr. Darling was born in Laporte, Ind., and is a brother of Harry Darling, of Laporte, editor of-the Laporte Argus. Mr. Darling lectures at Monticello today, where the Lincoln Chautauqua is also holding forth this week.