It was a dark and stormy night outside the gates of Paris. The Captain rose and cleared his throat and said, "It was a dark and stormy night outside the gates of Paris. The Captain rose and cleared his throat and said, 'It was a dark and stormy night outside the gates of Paris. The Captain rose and cleared his throat and said, 'It was a

As you can see, this could go on forever. It was used in drama classes in the early part of the century to learn to speak dramatically. I learned it from my mother (1906-1974) who was in high school in the 1920. That's where she learned it. They also used "Around the rugged rocks the ruthless rascal ran." It was supposed to help you roll your r's. Speech and drama classes have come a long way since then.
Howard