American wit and humor; Newspapers -- Sections, columns, etc. -- Excerpts
Only a little while ago
The pallid poet had no show--
No gallery that he could use
To hang the product of his muse.
But now his sketches deck the walls
Of many hospitable halls,
And juries solemnly debate
The merits of the candidate.
* * *
TRADE CLASSICS.
Every trade has at least one classic. One in the newspaper trade
concerns the reporter who was sent to do a wedding, and returned to say
that there was no story, as the bridegroom failed to show up. Will a few
other trades acquaint us with their classics? It should make an
interesting collection.
Sir: The classic of the teaching trade: A school teacher saw a man on
the car whose face was vaguely familiar. "I beg your pardon," she said,
"but aren't you the father of two of my children?"
S. B.
Sir: The son of his father on a certain occasion, when the paper was
overset, objected to adding two pages, but in a moment of economical
inspiration agreed to permit one extra page.
C. D.
Sir: Don't forget the classic of dry stories. "An Irishman and a
Scotchman stood before a bar--and the Irishman didn't have any money."
L. A. H.
To continue, the Scotchman said: "Well, Pat, what are we going to have
to-day? Rain or snow?"
Sir: "If you can't read, ask the grocer." But I heard it differently. An
Englishman and an American read the sign. The American laughed. The
Englishman did not see the humor of it. The American asked him to read
it again; whereupon the Englishman laughed and said: "Oh, yes; the
grocer might be out."
3-Star.
* * *
You may know the trade classic about the exchange editor. The new owner
of the newspaper asked who that man was in the corner. "The exchange
editor," he was informed. "Well, fire him," said he. "All he seems to do
is sit there and read all day."
* * *
Divers correspondents advise us that the trade classics we have been
printing are old stuff. Yes; that is the peculiar thing about a classic.
Extraordinary, when you come to think of it.
* * *
"Timerio," which is simpler than Esperanto, "will enable citizens of all
nations to understand one another, provided they can read and write."
The inventor has found that 7,006 figures are enough to express any
imaginable idea. But we should think that a picture book would be
simpler.
"You can go to any hotel porter in the world," says the perpetrator of
Timerio, "and make yourself understood by simply handing him a slip of
paper written in my new language." But you can do as well with a picture
of a trunk and a few gestures. The only universal language that is worth
a hoot is the French phrase "comme ça."
* * *
DENATURED LIMERICKS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account