Spillman Riggs

              LIFE'S MOTTO:

Speed on thy way, Nor Stay
To note the critic's frown,—
To heed the flatterer's smile;
But if in some sad heart
Thou canst smite sorrow down,
Then tarry there awhile.

—S. R.


Spillman Riggs

'An Artist Favorite' in the realm of delightful entertainment.—
Dayton (O.) Journal.


Humorous Lecturer Solo Whistler And Musical Impersonator



SUBJECTS:

1.
Musical Fits and Misfits.
2.
The Humorous Side of Life.
3.
Heads (Yours and Mine).



Each lecture requires one hour for delivery, and is followed by a program of such varied and delightful character, as to make it absolutely unique.




Figure





In word painting Mr. Riggs is an artist.—
Nashville (Tenn.) Banner.



Under Exclusive Control The Central Lyceum Bureau

MANAGEMENT.

H. H. RICH, Rochester, N. Y.
S. B. HERSHEY, Cleveland, O.

FRED PELHAM, Mgr. Western Dept., Chicago, Ill.
So. Western Department, A. E. PALMER, Kansas City, Mo.



REPRESENTATIVES.

New York, K. M. WHITE, Rochester, N. Y.
New England, E. W. REW, Springfield, Mass.
Penna., Del., N. J., Maryland, and Virginia, J. S. ARNOLD, Harrisburg, Pa.
Eastern Ohio and West Virginia, C. M. PARKER, Cleveland, O.
Western Ohio and Indiana, G. W. HENNEBERGER, Indianapolis, Ind.
Michigan, CHAS. T. MAINES, Flint, Mich.
Ontario, Canada, C. W. HARTMAN, Toronto, Ont.





Introduction
WE are now entering on our third year in the management of the lecture and entertainment business of SPILLMAN RIGGS.  We desire to commend to our patrons the work of Mr. Riggs as being unique in that it presents so many charming phases of entertainment.  It will be noticed that the subjects of his lectures indicate a humorous character.  However, they are not exclusively such, but they bestow marked emphasis upon many important but neglected truths belonging to the avenues of every-day life.

The half-hour programs which follow his lectures constitute no small feature of the evening's entertainment.  They furnish an opportunity of introducing other varieties of talent that are as rare in the possessor as they are enjoyable to the hearers.  The whole effect of the evening's work is to impress the hearers with wholesome and hope-inspiring conceptions of life.

No man for whom we have made dates during the past year has received a larger percentage of recalls—and in many cases the committee has insisted on having a return date the same season.  The Come Again testimony is the most convincing evidence, and on the strength of this argument we cheerfully and confidently endorse Mr. Riggs.

THE CENTRAL LYCEUM BUREAU.




In many respects Mr. Riggs is a perfect platform speaker.—
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.



POSTLUDE SAMPLE PROGRAM—SUBJECT TO CHANGE.


1.
Whistling Solo—The Bells—Gavotte,

Carlo Moro


2.
Reading—His Mother's Song—Dialect Poem,

Original


3.
Vocal Solo—Swinging in the Grapevine Swing,

Samuel Minturn Peck




(This song has been sung by Mr. Riggs in every program he has given for seven years, and because of his unique rendition of it, it is in demand wherever he appears—it is a gem of beauty as he gives it).



4.
Whistling Solo—Popular,
Samuel Minturn Peck
Selected


5.
Reading—A Banquet of Excruciatingly Funny Stories.




6.
Vocal Solo—The Old Fashioned Home,

Original


7.
Whistling Solo—Slumber Sweetly—Classical,

Paul Beaumont




GOOD NIGHT.




NOTE.—Mr. Riggs will have the assistance of a competent local pianist, who will play his accompaniments.



A FEW RETURN DATE ECHOES.

Spillman Riggs gave last night a most delighting lecture on The Funny Side of Life.  His audience gave often an evidence of appreciation in hearty applause.  His return to this city was his second appearance here this season and as before, he leaves a train of happy memories, awakened by brightness reflecting from his views on The Funny Side of Life.  The charm of melody mingled with his merriment, as given in a number of songs and whistling solos.—
Dayton (O.) Journal.


A large audience greeted Spillman Riggs at the Opera House last night on the occasion of his return date here.  His subject was The Funny Side of Life, and he handled it in such a forcible style that everyone present was both pleased and benefitted.  After his lecture he rendered a program which was fine.—
Uniontown (Pa.) Daily Standard.


Riggs is a whole orchestra.  His lecture bubbles over with humor.  He has been here three times.—
Geneva (O.) Free Press.




Condensations of Commendations of Spillman Riggs

He seemed inexhaustible in his power to please.—
Muncie (Ind.) Herald.


The best entertainment given here in two years.—
Columbus (Ind.) Herald.

If I had tongues enough to speak for all who heard him here I could perhaps tell how well Mr. Riggs pleased our people.—H. S. ANDERSON, Sect'y Y. M. C. A., Greenville, Texas.


Mr. Riggs made his second appearance in Toledo last night.  His lecture and entertainment pleased everybody.  He was greeted by a packed house.—
Toledo, (O.) Commercial.

Riggs has few equals on the American platform.—H. S. LEHR, Pres. Ohio Normal University.


As a humorist Mr. Riggs is all right and as a solo whistler he is above par.—
Uniontown (Pa.) Press.

I have enjoyed no entertainment more than the one given by Mr. Spillman Riggs.  His mission upon the platform is a grand one, elevating, as he does, our thoughts and aspirations while we laugh.—REV. JOS. STOCKTON RODDY, Pastor Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, Pa.

Of all the attractions on our Assembly program this year, Mr. Riggs is the only one who will be asked to return next season.—WELLINGTON VANDIVER, Supt. of Alabama Chautauqua at Talladega, Ala.

We had Mr. Spillman Riggs here recently and want him again next month if we can get him.—REV. H. O. BREEDEN, Pastor Central Christian Church, Des Moines, Ia.


Spillman Riggs is a delightful entertainer.  His voice, even in speaking, is music to the ear of the listener; so sweet, clear and distinct in enunciation it is, and when applied to the elegant phrasing and poetical imagery of his lecture the effect is pleasing in the extreme.  A fine vein of humor runs through his lecture, and the illustrative stories call forth loud bursts of merriment and applause.—
Canonsburg (Pa.) Daily Notes.



Don't Let Your Song Die Down.

No matter how the winds may blow,
Or how life's storms may rage;
No matter how affairs may go,
In youth or life's old age;
If this advice you all will heed,
Your sorrows you can drown:—
When you are sad or in sore need,
Don't Let Your Song Die Down.
Behind the clouds the sun still shines,
Tho' dark the day may seem;
A silver sheet the cloud-rift lines,
And all may see the gleam—
If this advice you'll closely heed;
E'en tho' the whole world frown,
No matter how your heart may bleed,
Don't Let Your Song Die Down.
What if the tune be sad and low,
Or bright and glad and gay?
What if the tune be quick or slow,
If it drive dull care away?
Take this advice, you'll find it worth
More than a kingly crown—
More than half of all the earth,
Don't Let Your Song Die Down.

Spillman Riggs.




He gilds the moments with the tinges of sunshine and makes the air redolent with ripples of laughter.—
Alexander (Ind.) Daily Record.

Spillman Riggs causes sunshine to take the place of clouds, and makes laughter take the place of tears.—The late GOVERNOR IRA J. CHASE, of Indiana.

It is a pleasure to recommend such a man as Mr. Riggs.  He so delighted our people that we hope soon to have him here again.—REV. C. M. OLIPHANT, Wheeling, W. Va.


Two of the most pleasing features of the entertainment at Y. M. C. A. Hall last evening were the impersonations and whistling solos by Mr. Spillman Riggs.—
Cleveland (O.) Plain Dealer.


His entertainment has that fascination that charms.—
Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Journal.


Spillman Riggs entertained a large audience at the Auditorium.  His brief lecture, followed by his impersonations and unique musical numbers, proved him to be a very versatile man, and captivated the people.—
Northampton (Mass.) Herald.

We consider H. Spillman Riggs one of the best entertainers we have ever had in Cynthiana, Ky., and we have had the best the land affords.  We would not hesitate to recommend him anywhere.—M. G. LAND, Manager Cynthiana, Ky., Lyceum.


Spillman Riggs held the close attention of his large audience in the delivery of his famous lecture, Musical Fits and Misfits, which was followed by a postlude program of singing, impersonating and solo whistling.  No entertainment in Gladwin ever gave more general satisfaction.—
Gladwin (Mich.) Record.


Unlike not a few platform orators, Spillman Riggs proved himself all that is claimed for him, and surpassed our highest expectations.  He speaks with the elegance of a well graced actor.—
Ligonier (Ind.) Leader.




Condensations of Commendations of Spillman Riggs

No Piqua audience was ever more highly delighted than was the one that heard Spillman Riggs last evening.  There are few men on the American platform who can do so many things with such uniform grace and success and furnish so great a variety of entertainment.—
Piqua (O.) Daily Herald.


H. Spillman Riggs' talents are varied.  He is a splendid speaker, tells a story charmingly, sings well, and does a professional whistling turn.  In fact he is an all-round entertainer such as is seldom seen in Birmingham.  He is an artist of the most refined type and the audience applauded him almost continuously.—
Birmingham (Ala.) Age-Herald.


Mr. Riggs is an entertainer with a personality which wins its way into the hearts of his hearers from the moment he greets them.  He is gifted beyond the ordinary humorist in that he possesses a pleasing voice and sings more than commonly well.  He whistles exquisitely, with notes of liquid melody that rival the woodland songsters in rich sweetness.  With facile ease he turned from speech to song and then to whistling, in a way that charmed his listeners.—
Philipsburg (Pa.) Ledger.


A large audience greeted Spillman Riggs at the Fifth Presbyterian church last night.  Mr. Riggs took as his theme Musical Fits and Misfits, and made it the instrument on which he seemed to touch with equal ease all the keys and stops of pathos and humor.  In many respects Mr. Riggs is a perfect platform speaker, for he has presence, voice, versatility of treatment and grace of gesture that only the masters of oratory possess.  He treated his subject in an original and unexpected way that held the close attention of all to the end, and he was frequently interrupted by applause.—
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.


The splendid audience that greeted Spillman Riggs last evening was so delightfully entertained that the frequent encores resulted in stretching the program over two hours.  In word painting Mr. Riggs is an artist.  He is a student of human nature, a close observer, a splendid imitator and gifted with the power to entertain.  As the evening grew older he and his audience came steadily closer together, and had he consented, the delighted audience would have held him indefinitely.  When he gave his whistling solos the audience simply could not be restrained.—
Nashville (Tenn.) Banner.


His voice, even in speaking, is music to the ear of the listener.—
Canonsburg (Pa.) Daily Notes.


Spillman Riggs' lecture was singularly unique in every respect, refined and humorous, and kept his audience almost continuously laughing.  He surpassed all expectations, and it was the unanimous expression that he was one of the very best entertainers that ever appeared before a Sodus audience.  After his lecture he turned himself into almost a whole orchestra.  His whistling solos and singing were very pleasing.—
Sodus (N. Y.) Alliance.


Mr. Riggs won his way into the hearts of his hearers at the very start, and the charm lingered throughout the entire program, which gave evidence of his great versatility of talent.  The delivery of his original forms was exquisite, the delineation of characters captivating, and the power of his genial personality seemed to breathe with the spirit of rich humor and wit in the rendition of his Musical Fits and Misfits.  Mr. Riggs sustained the reputation made for himself in other cities and he will always be welcomed here as An Artist Favorite in the realm of delightful entertainment.—
Dayton (O.) Journal.


Riggs was excellent.  His lecture last evening, on Musical Fits and Misfits, was easily the Banner attraction on our Y. M. C. A. course this season.  The lecture covered a field never worked before and its arable condition found in Mr. Riggs one who has developed it to its full worth.  As a word painter we have not heard his equal, and the lessons conveyed are bound to work out material good.  It was an hour of solid sense and an hour of mirth, two hours as pleasantly and profitably spent as one could wish for.—
Mt. Carmel (Pa.) Evening Star.

It has been my good fortune to hear many of the best lecturers in the United States, and I do not hesitate to affirm that as a keen, wide-awake, observing entertainer Spillman Riggs has few equals upon the platform.  The lessons which he teaches, if heeded and practiced, cannot but make the world brighter and better.  With that sharp introspective glance, characteristic of the man of brain, he descerns the corruption beneath the venus and has the courage to uncover it to the world.  But so kindly does he perform his task that not even the most sensative can take offense.—PROF. W. E. WENNER, Fredericksburg, O.



CENTRAL BUREAU PRESS, ROCHESTER, N. Y.