Captain Jack Crawford, the poet scout

              Captain Jack Crawford
The Poet Scout
A Monumental Success 
Ross Crane
In the New Studio Program
“From the Eyebrows Up”
MR. A. C. COIT, PRESIDENT COIT LYCEUM BUREAU, says: "We have been associated in Lyceum uplift for twelve years. In all that time you have given the best of satisfaction to committees everywhere, and have never lost an opportunity to boost the Lyceum. Committees everywhere love you for your platform excellence and your untiring efforts in their behalf."
IN HIS NEW PROGRAM, Mr. Crane substitutes the vigor and  splendor of oil paints for the crayons, covering big canvases with posters and landscapes.
RALPH PARLETTE, LECTURER, EDITOR LYCEUM MAGAZINE, says, Ross Crane's every move and every word  is in  perfect poise  and  with  the sure touch  of mastery.
SOMETHING NEW in the Lyceum—"FROM THE EYEBROWS UP," the result of twelve years of platform success and constant study. An offering which combines all the elements of the ideal Lyceum entertainment;
Stimulating    Thought,    Sound    Philosophy, Happy  Imagery,   and  a  constant   play of witty and humorous invention all illustrated   and illuminated   by the Arts of Painting, Sculpture and music.
-FROM   THE   EYE¬BROWS   UP" is a title which  is   happily   sug¬gestive of the subject matter.
Other Subjects
" Looking   Human Nature in the Face," "Strawberries   and Prunes."
One Metropolitan dramatic critic describes it as, “A sort of intimate glance at the souls of people as revealed by an artist, humorist and poet who has devoted a brilliant mind to the study of God’s greatest creation—Man.”
DOCTOR EDWARD AMHERST OTT, LECTURER, AUTHOR, CRITIC, says, "Ross Crane's platform work is entertainment plus. He never forgets that the highest joy is the pleasurable excitement of the mind.    He gives the legitimate Lyceum pleasure."
MUSIC ALSO, plays a part in illustrating "FROM THE EYEBROWS UP." In the illustrated poems, Tennyson, Mendelsohn and Kipling place the crowning touch of beauty upon a program filled with Sweetness and Light.
And THE PIANO TAKE-OFFS are uproariously funny.  Here the Artist slaps a touch of red in the program.
CLAY MODELING is always fascinating. The audiences delight to watch the swift development of feature and expression as the artist portrays the faces of men the nation loves, as well as laughable creations and racial types.
DOCTOR PAUL M. PEARSON, LECTURER, EDITOR, PROFESSOR at SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, says, "ChaTm of personality, authority of manner, distinction of performance and manifest sincerity are the four outstanding characteristics of Ross Crane's platform work.
Wallace Bruce
Capt.   Jack  Crawford   has   captured   Western Florida.    No platform speaker has won warmer love or   more   sincere  affection.    Wherever you place him you will find him a success. President Florida Chautauqua.
Sam P. Jones Jack Crawford is all right—he shoots straight, he is a combination circus, wild West show, poet and preacher. He is mostly backbone, the rest of him is hair. Come out and hear him. If you don't think he is worth the price, write to me, and I'll write back and tell you you're a fool.
Atlanta News, Atlanta, Ga.
No lecturer has appeared here in the last ten years more unique or entertaining than Capt. Jack.
Capt. Crawford stands alone in his peculiar field of usefulness and he is an inspiration to all men and boys who come in contact with him. Although he has never received a college educa¬tion, his manner and speech are polished and would give pleasure to the most learned and critical.
Rev. R. S. Mc Arthur, New York
Capt. Jack's personality is attractive, his con¬versation is instructive, and the entire atmosphere of the man is inspirative and ennobling. His entertainment is as unique as the man himself. Poetry or story, history, biography, patriotism, wit and religion beautifully blend in his work on the platform. Without the art of elocution as taught in the schools, he often recites with beau¬tiful elocutionary effect. He charms boys and girls and inspires men and women to nobler aims, kinder deeds and diviner ideals. Pastor Calvary Baptist Church.
Dr. W. L. Davidson, Washington, D. C
As a public entertainer, Capt. Jack Crawford is almost my ideal. He is the most picturesque character on the American platform. Few men have passed through such thrilling experiences full of human interest. He reveals wild western life just as it is. He talks of himself, but that is what gives interest to his portrayal, and there is no offensive egotism apparent. He is as brave as a lion, yet as gentle as a child. His heart is true and tender. His voice is full of sympathy and he has an unusual dramatic delivery. He has high ideals. His homely poetry abounds in beautiful sentiments, and he recites it with marvelous effect¬iveness. He has high purpose in all his work and always leaves his audience better than he found them. Few men can hold and please a crowd better than he can. He never loses an auditor.
Largest Audience of  the   Week   (ireeted   the
"Poet Scout" at the Centenary Winter
Chautauqua,   Last Evening
\.Binghamton, N.   V.,  "Herald," from a four-column retort of the lecture. ]
Every road was thronged with an eager crowd bent upon hearing the most fascinating speaker who had as yet spoken to an audience composed of Binghamton's most intelligent element, CAP¬TAIN JACK CRAWFORD, OF NEW MEXICO, THE POET SCOUT.
The Centenary church has never in its history been so jammed as it was last night, and among the crowd were noticed many familiar faces of Binghamton's Grand Army men, some of whom had known Captain Crawford during the war of the rebellion.
Cardington (Ohio) Independent
As a mirth provoker he is the peer of any lec¬turer, and in upholding the truth surpasses many of the sermons preached and printed. He delighted the audience and went beyond their highest expec¬tations. He was invited to speak at the M. E. Church Sunday evening. The church was crowded to overflowing, other churches having abandoned their evening service to hear him, when he again greatly pleased everybody, including the children. We must have the Poet Scout again.
Daily Express, San Antonio, Tex.
The stories of the wild life in the western mining camps were rounded off with verses writ¬ten as the occasion suggested, and recited by the author with dramatic fervor and elocutionary effect. It was throughout a continuous interchange of grave and gay, and better than the average comedy as a mirth provoker, and as good as a sermon in its moral aspect. If the lyceum could always present as enjoyable an attraction as Capt. Jack Crawford, the Opera House would not hold the audience that would want to hear them.
Daily Democrat, Danville, Ills.
Danville just now is entertaining one of the best fellows on earth, namely, Capt. Jack Crawford, the Poet Scout. He has earned his title, first as captain, for he served his country well in its wars. Secondly as poet, for his verses are the best that ever came out of the West. Third as scout, for he served Uncle Sam long and faithfully as a frontiersman. And while other men have posed as Indian killers and heroes, grossly misrepresent¬ing the West, and ruining reckless boys by mis¬leading them, Capt. Jack has stood by the truth and is receiving his reward in being patronized by the best people on earth.
In the East 1 am represented by A. C. COIT, Citizens Bldg., Cleveland, O., who is my manager and business representative. Also booked by Geo. W. Britt, 6 Beacon St., Boston; Bible & Scorer, Box 529, Philadelphia, Pa., and The Dickson Lecture Bureau, Pittsburg, Pa.                                                                           CAPT. JACK   CRAWFORD.
THE  HONEST  KNOCKER  IS  THE PIONEER  REFORMER.
Elbert Hubbard in The Philistine, March. 1906.
Please do not confuse Jack Crawford with Buffalo Bill. Bill is a picturesque figure on horseback, and is a good fellow who can act on the stage nearly as well as John L. Sullivan, but the "Essay on Silence" tells the rest. Jack Crawford is another proposition. He is an orator, an actor, a poet—a man. Jack has never touched strong drink; he uses no tobacco; he breathes from the bottom of his lungs, carries his chin in, and the crown of his head high. There is only one poet in America who can read his own stuff with an equal pull on our heart strings, and that is James Whitcomb Riley. I'll go you a "Stetson" against a stogie that Har¬vard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton have not a man on their roster that can hold an audience of two thousand people for two hours, and not a person leave, or want to leave. Captain Jack can do it, and moreover can adapt himself to any kind of an audience, from Chicago newsboys to a parliament of religions. The man is a marvel of manly strength, fluid intelligence, flowing wit and oratorical grace. Platform freedom is the rarest thing in ali the realm of human per¬formance—did you know that? Talmage, a commonplace man, had it and won out. But often great men fail for the lack of it. Studied poses and memorized sentences will not take the place of soul freedom. Who taught Abraham Lincoln, James Whitcomb Riley and Captain Jack Crawford how to throw the lariat of their imagination over us, rope us hand and foot, and put their brand upon us? Yes, that is what I mean—who educated them ? God educated them. We are a sail on an ocean of Intelligence—let down your buckets. Man is the highest expression of Universal Energy, which for a lack of a better word we call "God", or the Divine Spirit. God speaks thru us. That is to say, man is the instrument of Deity. All men are di¬vine, but some are better conductors than others—better mediums thru which Divinity can flow. That is what I think. And so perhaps the sum of wisdom is to cultivate the receptive mind and hospitable heart, and thereby allow the Divine Spirit to act upon us. Do they show you how to do this at Princeton? Not exactly, else Princeton would have produced one man the equal of Franklin, Lincoln, Ingersoll, Edison, James Whitcomb Riley and Jack Crawford.
Unique  Personality
Of all the peculiar types of nature's resources forproduc ing original specimens and weird personality, I have no hesitation in placing Capt. Jack Crawford at the top of the list. One might as well try to paint a sunset in advance or photograph the forked lightnings as they rip their deep cut furrows on the darkened cloud, as to try to describe him. Hear him if you can, and you shall never forget his great nervous energy, pathos and power.
JAMES LIVINGSTONE, D. D. London, Ontario, Jan.3,1906.       Chairman London Institute.
Big Door Receipts.
Anson, Texas, Feb. 23rd, 1906. EDITOR LYCEUMITE:—"Capt. Jack" Crawford was an ex¬tra on our course and course tickets were not recognized Everybody paid. Door receipts were $125.00. Anson being a town of about 1,000 population the audience was the largest and most representative that ever turned out to a lecture entertainment. Capt. Jack gave one of the best all round satisfactory entertainments ever given in our town. We were more than delighted, while his voluntary talk to the children at the school was delightful and helpful. Long live the Poet Scout.                                           JAS. P. STINSON.
Young Men's Christian Association
MARIETTA, OHIO DEAR CAPT. JACK:—We have not forgotten your visit with us, and our men are still talking about the Sunday afternoon meeting when we had the largest attendance that ever came out for a Men's Meeting in our building, and no man ever held an audience for two hours as that one was held by "Capt. Jack." In spite of the fierce storm of Monday evening the attendance at the Star course for your entertainment was the largest of the season, and the receipts from door sale were better than for any attraction in years. "Capt. Jack", we are glad you came among us, and I am sure men have been made better because of your visit here.
Very sincerely yours,
W. V. HAYES, General Secretary.
From Geo. W. Britt, Manager, Boston, Mass.
Dec. 15,1905 DEAR CAPT. JACK:—Check and statement received, but I find your arithmetic is bad. I return my check for $1.81 which you overpaid me. From everywhere comes good words. Mr. Bosler, of W. Cornwall, writes: "Capt. Jack held our audience for two hours and fifteen minutes and we are simply carried away with him. . . . His 'Toast to Woman' brought forth marked applause. ... I haven't the least doubt but that he will .draw a much larger audience upon his next appearance. . . . His earnestness and straight¬forwardness spoke volumes for him, etc." The committeemen of the other places have all written and told me similar things about you. With love from us both to a man we love and admire.                Very truly yours,     GEO. W. BKITT.
Superintendent Public Schools.
Corry, Pa., Jan. 26, 1906 DEAR CAPT. JACK—I enclose clippings from our local papers of Jan. 25, both of which have given you a splendid writeup. They are quite different in their phraseology and the one clip¬ped from the foumal has the most of originality. I am of the opinion they will make pretty good "stuff" for a circular. Your entertainment gave excellent satisfaction. I have heard nothing but commendation and the treasurer rejoices over the receipts of the evening -which were nearly double the admission receipts of any other evening in the course, and which puts our balance on the proper side of the ledger. We shall hope to have you with us again. With kind regards and best wishes I am.   Yours cordially,        V. G. CURTIS.
3?   9?
From Corry, Pa., Evening Journal, Jan. 25, 1906
Picturesque, much-touted Capt. Jack has come and gone and a pleasant memory of his evening's entertainment will linger in the minds of the large audience which nearly filled the High School Auditorium last night. Capt. Jack is a poem in buckskin. He was at his best and, from the time he struck the platform until the end of his two and one-half hour stunt, he had his lariat on the audience and the interest never flagged. It would be difficult in a brief mention to adequately characterize the entertainment or the man. It was a me¬lange of story, eloquence and song, in which the chief of scouts preached several sermons, delivered a powerful tem¬perance lecture, recited a number of exquisite poems, spun many thrilling anecdotes from his own life history, and in turn convulsed his hearers with the piquancy of his wit. Capt. Jack Crawford is a unique, sturdy and versatile speci¬men of manhood, a diamond polished by erosion, an orator who exemplifies Nature's own handiwork.
9?    3?
Brig. Gen. U. S. A.., Retired.
San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 10,1905. I have known Captain Jack Crawford, "The Poet Scout," for more than a quarter of a century, and as a frontier scout, guide and courier, he was the peer of any man I have ever known, and as chief of scouts during the Apache campaign in the Southwest he was most efficient. His courage, good judgment and intelligence make him the special guest of the general officers under whom he served, including Hatch, Buel and McKinzie. Captain Jack was my guest during the visit of President Roosevelt to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and entertained as no other man could have done all of the offi¬cers of the post, including General Lee, commanding the de¬partment. He was also the guest of the president at the Rough Rider dinner, and on Sunday morning gave to the officers, ladies and men of the garrison the best entertain¬ment, sermon and temperance story that was ever heard in the garrison. He then went out to the Sisters' College, and for more than an hour gave them a perfect whirlwind of hu¬mor, pathos, song and story. The girls have never ceased to talk of that Sunday afternoon. I wish that every boy and girl in America, as well as every parent, could have heard him, this scout in buckskin, this real honest, truthful son of the great Southwest.   Sincerely,              JOHN L. BULLIS.
CAPT. JACK'S PERMANENT ADDRESS ALWAYS AND FOREVERMORE CARE THE LYCEUMITE
THE  SELFISH  KNOCKER IS A THIEF AND A COWARD.
I PREFER BEING THE PUBLIC'S HUMBLE SERVANT,
"The Lyceum is a place for the best, not for the worst"—The Lyceumiteman
In Self-Defence
To the Honorable, Truthful, Justice-Loving, Real Manly Men and Womanly Women of the Platform, and to all "Square-Deal" Committeemen:
CJ When the other cheek has been turned—and it has been smashed, forbearance ceases to be a virtue. ^ The time has come when the real men and women of the platform andthe real committee¬men must stand together in a fight against the thieving thuggery of dishonest Bureaus and un¬principled agents, who are driving out many of the best attractions and killing- the courses by lies and deception, and by selling to committees a lot of cheap stuff which costs the fakir managers in salaries from $4.00 to $10.00 per night. *I Then, whenever a man arrives upon the scene who dare call his soul his own, these lyceum-killing agents proceed to spread broadcast any story that will help them to get their hands upon more dollars—the committees' dollars, fl I submit herewith one of the many similar letters in my possession. This is only the beginning-, and later I will give the names of these outlaw hirelings of scheming, dishonest Bureaus, the dishonorable terms and dic¬tations of which I refused to submit to, and thereby become a party to the robbery and dishonest dis¬crimination against honest committees—who pay the freight. <JI hope the many good men and women of the platform, who have told me how they have been brow-beat, coerced and knocked, will help put the guilty managers and agents where they belong: outside the lyceum. <I I have entertained the largest and best audiences in America and Europe, enjoy the friendship of the leading citizens of the land, from the President down, draw larg-e door sales and please the people, and I want to say that everyone who knows me knows that I never knew the taste of intoxicants, and I brand as an infamous Annanias any and all who say to the contrary.
"CAPT. JACK" CRAWFORD.
Poor selfish, narrow-minded elf, His gain is loss. I bear no cross While Annanias wrongs himself, Takes in his breast a hornet's nest-Besides, a silent Justice Court— Poor.tool he sfirung a boomerang. Committees, you will please report, and oblige
Yours in clouds or sunshine,
J. W. CRAWFORD "CAPT. JACK"
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ARTHUR L. GANTZ, Supt.                                      Reynoldsburg, O., Jan. 24,1906.
On January 5th our citizens were treated to an entertainment which will long be remembered for Its uniqueness, brightness and general helpfulness, by Capt. Jack Crawford. It was a source of peculiar satisfaction to the Executive Committee that the entertainment was characterized by such a high moral tone. The Committee had been told by a person representing other talent, when Capt. Jack's name was men¬tioned as one who might come to our village, that "CAPT. JACK WAS ALL RIGHT AS AN ENTERTAINER, BUT THAT HE WOULD GET DRUNK." Upon this statement, sup¬posedly true, the Committee put so much faith that they decided to cancel this name from their list of talent. Before doing anything definite the Committee stated to the representative of the Colt Bureau their reasons for their proposed action. The Com¬mittee found in this representative such an ardent champion of "Capt. Jack" and his life that they decided to prove the matter for themselves and keep this attraction as at first planned. The result was a most pleasing and profitable entertainment. If anyone had any doubts as to "Capt. Jack's" soberness and temperance principles be¬fore coming to this entertainment, the misgivings were certainly dispelled before the speaker left the platform. His plea for temperance was the strongest feature of his work. We are convinced. We hope there may be no diminution in his preaching of this doctrine.                         ARTHUR L. GANTZ, President Executive Committee.
Young Men's Christian Association
TARENTUM, PA. Jan. 17, 1906 MY DEAR "CAPT, JACK":—Wasn't it grand? I mean the lecture and the crowd last night. You know that there were so many counter attractions last night that I was afraid we would not have a corporal's guard. The new Opera House opened with a big "show," there was a "fashionable dance," and two churches were holding meetings. That is a great deal for a little town like Tarentum. But in spite of all mese other attractions and the bad weather we had the largest audience last night that we have had this season. How does that speak for the popularity of "Capt. Jack?" Everybody that heard you last night said that your two hours and a half entertainment was too short, and I really believe you could have kept the whole audience there for two hours longer if you had not had to make the 11:22 train. // was great, and personally I am so glad to know that I have heard you, and I hope that the committee will some day soon have you oack again to stir up our souls and make us all laugh and cry as we seldom do on the same night from any cause. Wishing you abundant success and God's blessing on your work, in which Mrs. Humphrey joins me, I am,             Waiting to see and hear you again,
RUBENS HUMPHREY, General Secretary.
Warren, Pa., Season's Series
Warren, Pa., Jan. 19,1906. No greater privilege has been mine since engaging in the concert and lecture work in 1902, than to have the honor of presenting to my patrons Capt. Jack Crawford, who for nearly two hours held his hearers as a unit, swaying them like the leaves in the breeze with his wonderful wit, humor and pathos. The Capt. stands in a class by himself—none other like him—and is doing untold good. A prominent Warren woman said after hearing the Capt's "Toast to Woman," "The best temperance lecture I ever heard." A seventh grade boy, whose teacher sent her entire school to
hear the talk, said the next morning: "Mrs.--------, I was glad
that Capt. Jack forgot his watch. I only wish he hadn't thought of it for another two hours." We want Capt. Jack again, and for a matinee, if possible, so that every boy and girl may be given the ooportunity of hearing from one of their best friends. The Capt. loves the children and terms them an ideal audience. May his years of health and strength be many to continue in the grand work of building for taller Christianity and higher ideals.    Sincerely.
MARY O. KING, Manager Season's Series
RATHER THAN THE BUREAU'S ABJECT SLAVE.
A   GIST   OF   IT   ALL
LIFE began in Ireland, and its memories follow him ever. The green fields of the Emerald Isj are a beautiful setting for many of the Poet Scout's recent verses, which nestle in the heal of it like a dewdrop in the green leaf of the lily plant. And in his Scottish heart the love \ Ireland as his birthplace is only second to the love of America, his adopted land.
All was not a path of roses. His early years in America are a lullaby in minor chorJ the careless laughter of childhood mingling with the sobs of a heart-broken mother, over tj waywardness of husband and father and over the wee boy whom poverty compelled to labor in the mind Then the rythm of the song of life changed but too soon to the martial swing of war and
The Sound of Fife and Drum.
The boy marched away from the darkness of the mines to the deeper gloom of battle, lighted now an then by the flare of flame and the flash of sword. Then the hospital bed, the loving care of sisters of eharitl the struggle of the poetic muse, who fought for light, up through the very rocks of ignorance and lack q opportunity. Then came the sound of dirges, as both father and mother were torn away, and the cripple] boy soldier knelt by his mother's death bed to register an oath to her which he has kept and will keel forever.    Then a business life and peace for a time.    Suddenly upon his quiet came
The War Cry of the Red Man.
The spirit of war which had been so recently born in the heart of the boy, was not dead in the liean of the man, and with the patriotic fervor of the Scotch-Irish blood within him, he responded to the needd men and turned his footsteps westward. The plains and mountains became his school. He learned thetrJ lore of nature and gave it back to the world in his songs.    Following the red skins
On the Trail
the scout learned in quieter moments the heart secrets of the birds and flowers, the call of the wild wolf ail the cry of the eagle.
As Sheriff and Officer of the Law
he sought the hearts of runaway boys and learned  the true inward secrets of their waywardness, andhl heart and hand went out to save them.    As
Chief of Scouts
He became the friend and comrade of many an officer of high rank, for the pen can open many adool closed to others, and his rank made no difference, where his genius appealed.
Thus on through a useful life he went his way, treasuring up a storehouse of experience; garnering pictures of life few have had the opportunity to see; catching the melodies of nature few have had ■ opportunity to hear; and out of the West he came with this raft of treasure to dispense its sunshine to tM multitudes who have laughed and wept with him wherever he has appeared; for
As Lecturer and Entertainer he has Excelled.
As in all things, Nature has been his teacher in the art of oratory, and he is past master of realism, posj sessing a dramatic instinct such as only one who has lived side by side with nature can know. His tears all like the April showers, but his sunshine is the sunshine of the summer. It glints through his life, his char! acter, his poetry, his talk. It lightens many a path and trails back over the vista of years, where as boy! soldier, scout, poet and lecturer it lights up a pure life and an earnest one.
This is the sum total of what he gives his hearers. And the simplicity, beauty and nature of it earrjj you to the distant prairie, the woodland and the mountains, and for the time you are listening, you are livj ing another life, breathing the perfume of the prairie and the woodland, joining in the chase, sharing tnj danger and rejoicing in the triumphs of this sunshine poet and prince of entertainers, who in the honiell dialect of the camp-fire and the trail writes:
Do I like the city, stranger?    Tisn't likely that I would; 'Tisn't likely that a ranger from the border ever could Git accustomed to the flurry, an' the loud unearthly noise-Everybody in a hurry, men an' wimmin, gals and boys. All a rushin' like the nation 'mid the rumble an' the jar, Jes' as if their souls' salvation pended on their gittin' thar
Like it?    No.    I love to wander
'Mid the vales an' mountains green, In the border land out yonder,
Whar the hand o' God is seen.