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 Spirit of KiiPdnis 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 to 
 
 A Great Builder 
 
 DR. S. S. CURRY 
 
 Founder and President 
 
 of the 
 School of Expression 
 Boston, Mass 
 
Copyright 1921 by the 
 KIWANIS CLUB, LEXINGTON, KY. 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 SEP -> 1921 
 
THE SPIRIT OF KIWANIS 
 
 A PATRIOTIC PLAY 
 IN ONE ACT 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD SAXON 
 
 Head of the Department of Expression in Transylvania College 
 and Professor of Public Speaking in the College of the Bible 
 
 LEXINGTON, KY 
 1921 
 
"The Spirit of Kiwanis" was first produced at the Lafayette 
 Hotel, Lexington, Ky., on Ladies' Night, May 31, 1921, by a cast 
 composed of the following Lexington Kiwanians: 
 
 Professor. G. Allison Holland Banker. E. D. Veach 
 
 Doctor. G. Z. Faulconer Judge. John T. Kincaid 
 
 Merchrnt. Pv. B. Hayes Kiwanis. Edward Saxon 
 
 At the International Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, it was pre^ 
 sented in Masonic Temple, Wednesday evening, June 22, 1921, 
 by the following gentlemen, members of the Lexington Kiwanis 
 Club: 
 
 Professor. W. T. Rainey Banker. E. D. Veach 
 
 Doctor. G. Z. Faulconer Judge. John T. Kincaid 
 
 Merchent. Pv. B. Hayes Kiwanis. Edward Saxon. 
 
 SCENE PLOT 
 
 o o o 
 
 WATER COOLER HAT RACK TELEPHONE 
 
 FOOT LIGHTS 
 
 o o o o 
 
 'CI.D 588 LI 
 
P-R-O-L-O-G-U-E 
 
 To be spoken by a young lady made up as an Indian Maiden to 
 represent the Kiwanis Idea of Justice. She should hold in her left 
 hand a small pair of silver scales. A red spot light should be thrown 
 upon her face as soon as she appears, and held there until she has 
 finished speaking the prologue. 
 
 JUSTICE 
 
 I Represent 
 
 The Kiwanis 
 
 Idea of Justice — 
 
 The Embodiment 
 
 Of a Square Deal 
 
 To Everyman. 
 
 The Purpose 
 
 Of Kiwanis is: 
 
 To teach men 
 
 Everywhere 
 
 The Value 
 
 Of the Golden Rule; 
 
 Applied to Business 
 
 It will put 
 
 The World 
 
 In Poise 
 
 By Correcting Evils 
 
 That Now Exist. 
 
 To Him 
 
 Who Accepts 
 
 This Guidance 
 
 It Shall be 
 
 As a Pillar of Cloud 
 
 By Day 
 
 And a Pillar of Fire 
 
 By Night. 
 
 It Will Lead Him 
 
 Into a Safety Zone 
 
 Where Honesty 
 
 In Business 
 
 Is Its Own Reward. 
 
 The Message 
 
 Of Kiwanis 
 
 Is a Vital One. 
 
 His Heart 
 
 Is Beating 
 
 With Anxiety 
 
 To Give 
 
 His Thoughts 
 
 To You. 
 
 Listen! Listen! 
 
 To What 
 
 He Has To Say. 
 
 A Smile or Two 
 
 And Then— 
 
 To Serious Business 
 
 Is the Purpose 
 
 Of our 
 
 Little Play. 
 
 Before Justice speaks the Prologue a short strain of Indian Music 
 might add to the effectiveness of the play. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF KIWANIS 
 
 SCENE: Club Room of Kiwanis Club. Door R. and door U. L. 
 
 Ottoman It Hat Rack U.R. Water Cooler U. C. Mantel and 
 
 Fireplace L. Divan in front of fireplace. Telephone on stand 
 
 U. L. Discovered at rise of curtain Merchant and Banker 
 
 seated on Ottoman; Doctor on Divan, reading a book. 
 
 (Telephone rings. Nobody answers. It rings again.) 
 MERCHANT to BANKER— Somebody is wanted at the 'phone. 
 
 (Telephone continues to ring) 
 BANKER— Evidently! (Pointing to Doctor) I'll bet my hat that it 
 
 is the Doctor who is wanted. 
 DOCTOR (Lazily) — Yes, I guess it is. Merchants and Bankers have 
 
 their hours for play, but a Doctor has to keep going. 
 (Telephone stops ringing) 
 BANKER — ^Well I've been in the banking business a long time, and I 
 
 don't yet know how to bowl or play golf; don't even have a 
 
 chance to see a baseball game. 
 MERCHANT — I was a baseball player before I became a merchant, 
 
 and I have to see a game occasionally, if my business goes to 
 
 the dogs. 
 
 (Telephone rings again) 
 
 DOCTOR — (grumbling, throws book on divan and goes to telephone) 
 Hello! (Telephone continues to ring, Doctor yells) Hello! 
 Hello! (Telephone stops ringing), Yes, this is the Doctor. 
 Wait a minute. (Puts hand over receiver. Speaks to Merchant 
 and Banker) It's Billy Smith. He has a case of nerves. (Re- 
 moves hand from receiver; speaks very pleasantly) Now, 
 what is it? (Listens) Yes. (Listens) Well, my dear boy, you 
 must get some sleep. (Listens) Yes and take a tepid bath, and 
 go to bed. I think you will rest better tonight. (Listens) Try 
 it and see. I'll see you in the morning. Good-bye. (Comes 
 back to divan) He wants some dope, but he will not get it 
 from me. 
 
 (Enter Judge L.) 
 
 JUDGE— Hello, Boys! 
 
 BANKER and MERCHANT— Hello! Hello! 
 
 DOCTOR — (Picking up book again, sits on divan) Hello, Judge. 
 
 JUDGE — (Taking off overcoat and hanging it on rack at U. R.) Has 
 the Professor arrived? (Goes to cooler and takes drink). 
 
 MERCHANT — Not Yet. I guess he is communing with the spirits? 
 
 JUDGE— With what? 
 
 MERCHANT — Spirits. He is going to hold a seance here tonight. 
 
 JUDGE — That's news to me. I didn't know he was a spiritualist. 
 
 DOCTOR — Bah! _ Do you fellows think that he can communicate 
 with the spirit world? Do you think anybody can? 
 
 MERCHANT — I don't know. I went to a Medium once and was 
 advised ito buy some oil stock. 
 
 BANKER— Did you buy? 
 
 MERCHANT— Yes. 
 
 JUDGE— Wh,at happened tben? 
 
 MERCHANT— I am ashamed to tell you. 
 
 ALI^Ha, Ha. 
 
 BANKER — O, there might be something in spiritualism. Prof. 
 Charles Elliott Martin, of Harvard, was an enthusiastic spiritu- 
 alist, I've been told, and he was a great thinker and educator. 
 
MERCHANT — There are a great many thinkers and educators who 
 don't know much about the business life of the town in which 
 they live. Th,ey know more about the Appian Way than of the 
 way to success. What became of that Professor? 
 DOCTOR— He died, and was buried. 
 JUDGE— Yes, he's dead. 
 
 DOCTOR — But he promised bis followers before he died that as soon 
 as he reached that "undiscovered country from whose bourn no 
 traveler returns" he would communicate with them. I suppose 
 he thought he would make some startling revelations. Has he 
 done it? No! He did all the communicating he could while 
 he was on Earth. 
 BANKER — Well, I, for on'C, am willing to give oar Professor a 
 
 chance. He might furnish us a little amusement at any rate. 
 DOCTOR — I, too, am willing to give him a chance, and just to prove 
 my willingness, I'll propose an easy test, I'll ask him to siim- 
 mon the spirit of Kiwanis. 
 JUDGE — That is an easy test; for the spirit of Kiwanis is always here: 
 
 "I pledge Allegiance." 
 ALL — "I pledge allegiance." 
 JUDGE— "To tbe American Flag." 
 ALL— "To the American Flag." 
 
 JUDGE— "And to th^ Republic for which it stands." 
 ALL — "And to the Republic for which it stands." 
 JUDGE— "One nation, indivisible." 
 ALL — "One nation, indivisible." 
 JUDGE— "With liberty and justice to all." 
 ALL— "With liberty and justice to all." 
 
 MERCHANT — Good, we ought to take advantage of every opportu- 
 nity to give expression to our patriotic principles. 
 DOCTOR — That's right. I believe in principles. Is there a single 
 principle in spiritualism upon which we can rely? Not one. I 
 believe that fundamental principles in life are eternal, and those 
 of us who can identify ourselves with these principles, or truths, 
 are usually successful and happy; those of us whiO do not iden- 
 tify ourselves with truth, fail — fail to realize our own powers; 
 fail to get into rhythm with life; fail in everything. 
 BANKER — The Doctor has expressed my sentiments exactly. Suc- 
 cess depends upon the man. 
 JUDGE — Few of us believe that we can hold intercourse with de- 
 parted spirits; but Kiwanis is not a departed spirit. He is here, 
 breathing this atmosphere, growing every hour. 
 DOCTOR— I agree with, Hut ton that "What is called spiritualism, 
 
 should be called a mental species of materialism." 
 MERCHANT — You fellows are getting too deep for me! (Goes to 
 water cooler.) Can't we discuss the markets, freight rates, or 
 something else that is of real interest to the business man? 
 DOCTOR — Telephone rates are going up. 
 JUDGE — House rent is coming down. 
 MERCHANT— Why not add that eggs are dropping? 
 
 (Goes U. R. to water cooler) 
 ALL— Ha! Ha! 
 
 MERCHANT— (Indicating door L.) The Professor is here, and he'll 
 put an end to all our arguments. 
 
 (Enter Professor L. goes to C.) 
 PROFESSOR—Has there any old fellow got mixed with the boys? 
 
DOCTOR— (Reading Book). If there has, throw him out without 
 
 making a noise. 
 JUDGE — Hang the almanac's cheat and the catalogue's spite. 
 BANKER — Old Time is a liar, we are twenty tonight. 
 MERCHANT — We are twenty, we are twenty! Who says we are 
 
 more? Ha! Ha! 
 DOCTOR — (Pointing to Merchant). He's tipsy, young Jackanapes, 
 
 show him the door! 
 JUDGE— Gray temples at twenty? 
 BANKER— Yes, white if we please. 
 PROFESSOR— Where the snowflakes fall thickest. 
 There's nothing can freeze, 
 Was it snowing I spoke of — ? 
 Excuse the mistake, 
 BANKER — Look, close, you will see not the sign of a flake! 
 MERCHANT — We want some new garlands for those we have shed. 
 DOCTOR — And these are white roses in place of the red. 
 PROFESSOR— (To Audience). We've a trick, we young fellows. 
 You may have been told 
 Of talking in public 
 As if we were old. 
 That boy, we call Doctor, 
 This, we call Judge. 
 DOCTOR— It's a neat little fiction. 
 JUDGE— Of course, it's all fudge. 
 MERCHANT— (R. Laughs). 
 PROFESSOR— You hear that boy laughing? 
 
 You think he's all fun. 
 BANKER— But the angels laugh too 
 At the good he has done. 
 DOCTOR— The children laugh loud 
 
 As they troop to his call. 
 JUDGE — And the poor man that knows him 
 
 Laughs loudest of all. 
 PROFESSOR— Yes, Holmes was right, 
 We are boys. 
 
 Always playing with tongue or with, pen 
 And I sometimes have asked shall we ever be men? 
 Shall we always be laughing, and youthful and gay 
 *Till our last dear companion drops smiling away. 
 MERCHANT— Then here's to our boyhood, 
 DOCTOR— Its gold and its gray, 
 JUDGE — The snows of its winter, 
 BANKER— The dews of its May. 
 PROFESSOR— And when we have done 
 With our life lasting toys 
 Dear Father take care of thy children — 
 The Boys. 
 (Goes to water cooler). Merchant and Banker cross to L.) 
 JUDGE — (L) Now, Professor, we are ready for the seance. 
 The Doctor there is doubtful of your power 
 To converse with spirits. 
 He has therefore proposed a test 
 To which we've all agreed. 
 PROFESSOR— A test? (At water cooler.) ... 
 
DOCTOR— Yes, that KIwanis, our great Indian Chief, 
 
 Be petitioned to appear. 
 PROFESSOR— (C) The test is not a test at all: 
 
 For our beloved Chief is here. 
 He is here! He is here! 
 Kiwanis, our beloved Chief is here! 
 
 (Lights out. Spot-light thrown on Door L. Kiwanis, during 
 the moment of darkness, enters and stands inside th,e door, 
 where the spot-light strikes him full in the face.) 
 ALIy — (Whisper). — Kiwanis! Kiwanis! 
 KIWANIS— Are you surprised that I am here? 
 Know you not 
 
 That wheresoe'er good-fellowship is found 
 I dwell, and serve, and build? 
 PROFESSOR— That principle we adore: 
 
 That's why we gather here — to plan, to build. 
 This Club, our rendezvous 
 ^^^..r . ..^« ^ -^^ ^° "^ ^ happy half-way place to heaven. 
 KIWANIS — I perceive in you 
 
 The choicest spirits 
 Of these times, 
 When the world needs men 
 Of constructive minds 
 To build. 
 PROFESSOR— But how, Kiwanis, how? 
 
 How shall we build? 
 KIWANIS — Create within yourselves a spiritual Poise — 
 
 Character worthy of a woman's love and trust. 
 This is the first requisite 
 Of manhood 
 
 And of home-life, undefiled. 
 Pollute not your imaginations 
 By thinking unclean thoughts. 
 Give not expression to the carnal mind. 
 The fleshly-minded man 
 Knows not the joys of home — 
 The unhappy wife 
 Recoils from his embrace; 
 His children; blush 
 At mention of his name; 
 And in the silence of the night 
 Or in company with his friends 
 His conscience whispers: 
 "I am filthy, filthy to the core." 
 (All Eights Out.) 
 KIWANIS— Despair! Agony! Death! 
 
 (Bell tolls) 
 
 Oh, the blackness 
 
 Of this darkness — 
 
 It is— Hell. 
 PROFESSOR— We know such men, 
 
 But their fellowship we shun. 
 (Eights On.) 
 KIWANIS— Then Wisdom 
 
 The great Architect of character 
 
 Has instructed you. 
 
 Eet Wisdom build your homes. 
 
PROFESSOR— What of our community— 
 
 Our business life? 
 KIWANIS — Your business life comes first: 
 
 For it is there your virtues will be seen. 
 With sober zeal, integrity, and worth, 
 Conduct your business. 
 On the Highest Plane, 
 Remembering this: 
 The man who cheats his neighbor 
 Robs himself 
 Of moral fiber 
 He can ill afford to lose. 
 Th;e Grafter and the Profiteer, 
 Disloyal 
 
 To their Country's Flag, 
 Selfish and Unrepentant — 
 Are human Rubbish 
 Fit for nothing 
 But the flames 
 That Rise 
 In Hellish Fury 
 From a lake of Fire. 
 PROFESSOR— Horrible! Horrible! 
 What shall we do 
 To save our business men 
 From such a fate? 
 KIWANIS— Tell thern 
 
 To identify '■ 
 
 Themselves with Truth. 
 Teach them this: 
 "Whatsoever ye would 
 That men should do to you, 
 Do ye even so to them." 
 Square dealing then, 
 Should be your aim 
 While mingling with your fellowmen 
 In all the marts of trade. 
 PROFESSOR— Thanks, thanks, Kiwanis, 
 
 Square-dealing has brought success to us. 
 But what of the community 
 In which we live? 
 KIWANIS— Of that community 
 
 Be a wholesome part. 
 
 Unite constructive forces. 
 
 Co-operate in every movement 
 
 For the Public good. 
 
 The principles of Kiwanis 
 
 Will prevail. 
 
 Co-operation is the harmony 
 
 Of Neighborhoods, 
 
 The poetry of a city's life. 
 
 The expression of a brother's love — 
 
 His willingness to serve. 
 
 The glory of united eflfort 
 
 Is seen 
 
 In clean and well-kept streets, 
 
 In public schools, 
 
Hospitals, Libraries, Parks, 
 
 Monuments and other works of Art 
 
 That inspire and educate the young. 
 
 Be not afraid to serve. 
 
 Employ your talents for the Public Good. 
 
 Capacities unused 
 
 Will go to waste. 
 
 Service is not sacrifice 
 
 It is the ndblest form 
 
 Of self-activity. 
 
 Serve your City and your Country well 
 
 And you will add 
 
 A strength, a Power, 
 
 To what you have 
 
 That will win 
 
 The Approbation 
 
 Of God himself. 
 
 ♦ ♦ ♦ 
 
 My message is delivered. 
 
 But of the future 
 
 I would speak before I go: 
 
 With optimistic vision 
 
 I foresee 
 
 This great Republic of the West 
 
 Leading all the nations 
 
 Of the Earth 
 
 To Liberty and Peace! 
 
 In reverence then 
 
 Salute your Country's Flag!* 
 
 (Spot Light on Flag.) 
 
 Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! 
 
 Remem;ber the principles, ofKiwanis! 
 (Lights go out as American Flag is shown in background). 
 ALI^-I pledge allegiance to the American Flag and to the Republic 
 for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and 
 Justice to all. 
 
 *NOTE— An electric flag placed on the wall at back is very effective; 
 but if this cannot be secured, an ordinary American flag 
 will do.