Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20sHam, George H. (George Henry)
History
Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20s
Ham, George H. (George Henry)
Canada; Ham, George H. (George Henry), 1847-1926; Journalists -- Canada -- Biography
On the other occasion, Mark had quite a different audience—the faculty
and the graduating classes of Columbia University in New York. On the
platform with him were several eminent men of international reputation.
Knowing the company he would be in, Mark decided that this occasion
would be a suitable one at which to show an intellectual audience that
he was something more than a humorist—to show them that he was a
philosopher and a man of parts in a literary way. He selected for this
purpose the beautiful poem which he had written in memory of his
daughter Susy, and which had not then been published. He decided to read
this to the gathering, at the close of his talk. Mark’s turn came, and
he delighted his audience with one of the most delicately witty speeches
he had ever made. They thought he had finished, but he kept on his feet,
and they continued applauding. He raised his hand beseeching silence,
and then said: “I would like, now, ladies and gentlemen, to read you
some serious verse that I composed recently. It is an appreciation of
my—”
The applause was renewed with fourfold force, the laughter fairly shook
the building. Mark looked visibly pained; he appeared to be (as he was)
deeply distressed. This served only to accentuate and prolong the
demonstration. Finally they quieted down, and very solemnly Mark said:
“But, ladies and gentlemen, what I wish to read to you is sacred in my
eyes. It refers to—”
But it was no use—the shrieks of laughter drowned his words. After
exhausting themselves, the audience waited for more, waited for “the
joke.” But Mark merely said, in as grieved a tone as he truly felt: “I
see, my friends, that you are in no mood this evening to treat me
seriously, so I will not burden you further.” And he sat down, amid a
deafening demonstration. Such wit, they thought, was delicious. He could
have cried with chagrin. Few, if any, in that audience yet know of their
unwitting _faux pas_.
So it was with Harry Lauder, two years ago, when speaking in a
Congregational Church in Montreal. He charmed his audience with a few
quaint sayings, and then referred to the Great War, and to the loss he
had sustained through the death of his son. It was very pathetic, but a
number of people sitting in front of him shook with laughter. They
thought he was still funny, to Sir Harry’s utter disgust and to the
disgust of others, who like myself felt the man’s sorrow and tearfully
sympathized with him in his loss.
Mark was a very shrewd investor. Whenever he made a few thousand dollars
on a book or lecture tour, he would put the money into some sound
enterprise. It is not generally known that he was the man who developed
what is now the linotype, the first type-setting machine.
The Human Cash Register.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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