“Dr. Claude Chambers, recently returned from a visit to New York City, was a guest of Will Rogers while in the ‘big town.’ Bill is still the greatest attraction in New York City with ‘The Follies.’ In the course of one of their chats, the world’s greatest extemporaneous comedian said he had heard a rumor that he intended selling his interests in Claremore. ‘That is not so,’ said Bill, ‘I intend always to keep them. It is my home and who knows but that some day when I have worn out at this stuff but that I may want to go back home.’
“Mr. Rogers again mentioned with great feeling the banquet given him upon the occasion of his last visit to Claremore by the old Pocahontas Club members. ‘I’ll tell you Gunse there is nothing like those folk back home for real friends. And they sure do know how to put on a feed. Why the other night I was the honored guest at a banquet given by one of New York’s most exclusive clubs but the New Yorkers were amateurs in putting on a spread when compared to the one given me at home.’
“Last season ‘The Follies’ without Bill drew only fair sized houses. One could always get a seat. This season with Bill playing again, one has to speak almost a week in advance to get in at all. But Bill never forgets the folk at home. Somewhere in his vest pocket he always carries the little pasteboard which entitles his friends and guests to the best seats in the house. Truly Bill’s star has not waned one little bit. He is still the greatest drawing card in the metropolis and one of the reasons is that a joke a minute old is too old for Bill.”
Kates, W. C. The Claremore Progress (Claremore, Okla.), Vol. 30, No. 36, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 19, 1922. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc183088/) The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.
