A Four-Minute Speech

I've already talked a bit about the "four-minute men" enlisted by the federal government as part of its pro-war public relations campaign; locally, John Killigrew was just one of them.

My understanding is that, for the most part, the four-minute men composed their own speeches, taking suggestions from the government bulletins regarding themes and rhetoric. But in August 1918 the Gazette printed the entire text of a scheduled "four minute men's speech" — written by some unknown hand — and so we know what patrons of Hobart's Gem Theatre could expect to hear before each performance for several nights.


(Click on image to enlarge)

The men scheduled to deliver that speech at the Gem over the next two weeks were attorney John W. Thiel (Aug. 28), the Rev. A.H. Lawrence (Aug. 31), attorney Franklin T. Fetterer (Sept. 4), and the Rev. R. Warren Main (Sept. 7).


Sources:
♦ "Four-Minute Men Schedule." Hobart Gazette 23 Aug. 1918.
♦ "'Where Did You Get Your Facts?': A Four-Minute Men's Speech." Hobart Gazette 23 Aug. 1918.