Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-12-22
A CHAPrER ON PUNSrgRs.
Fssssssisu 's q ss ssassI. s,.A'.E

The Weakness for PuszsnR Pak,n,
fossession o. Journalists.
To reach the pOint-of being consid
cred a wit is the hight Of ambition o,
more than u person in Memphis, buI
many mistake a jest for a witticism and
a pun for either or both. PunninR il
the lowest order of wit. but to this asser.
ton il was wit6Iy replied that there.
fore il was the foundation Of all Wit"
An %atrocious pun, however, has no re.
deeming quality, aud when Analysed il
presents a ghastly skeleton without at
traction. Conversationalists sometimes
use puns with effect by way Of relieving
a tedious discussion, and in such cases,
whether the pan be good or bad, It passes
muster on the theory that the end justi-
hes the means; but for a writer Of puns
no punishment is too severe, because the
eye is far more critical than the al
Hearing a pun uttered is pardoned and
forgotten in a few seconds, whereas see.
ing it in print creates a lasting impress
SION OF regret, if not Disgust. News.
paper editors and reporters Of the
present day are much given to
punning, this being the era Of j~ournalis-
tic punsterS, both professionals and
amateurs. The Josh Billings era has
about overwhelmed newspaper life, aud
managing editors have to frown down
atrocious puus sought to be published
by city editors as well as river reporters.
1t is even more p~ardonable TO publish a
good pun that you may have heard than
to c%onjure up from the back part Of your
head an original one, So great has this
weakness become in newspaper life that
many members of the profession lie in
wait for something at which to hurl a
bad pun, and vanity, that most par
dsnable yet weakest Of human weak.
nesses, hstters the utterer Of this false
coin with the alluring promise of fame.
1t is with regret that we notice the nam
Der of puus that daily adorn the edito.
rial columns Of our neighbor and cotem-
porary the Avalanche. When leading
editors, who have to grepple with great
political aud financial problems, begin
to have a weakness for bad puma,
should not charity throw its veil over
punniDg expressions evolved from the
brain of the reporters? In yesterday
mornings Avalanche we end the follow.
ing editorial Josh Billingsism
An exchange says England is watch.
ing the Bosphorus. Nobody was watching
the Boss for US when be slid out of the
second-story Of his wife's mansion.
That's the reason he got away.
We have heard that il is an imperative
rule in the Avalanche Office to try, con.
denim and discharge any city editor, river
or commercial reporter who wanders of
from the beaten reportorial track into
the region Of puns. We never knew why
this was, but it is now clear that zeal.
ousy was the cause, as it seems that the
editorial paragraph writer has a patent
right to commit the crime Of throwing
into the faces of the public vile puns.
The original author Of the above what.
d~o-you-call-it had to travel to the Bos.
phorus, make a voyage across the At.
lantic and attack the Pillars of
Hercules, as well as threaten the
Porte, in order to drag to
the banks Of the Mississippi river
a pun in order to produce a rhyme with
the nickname given to Tweed. THE
Boss for usl" Shades Of Sydney Smith,
Tom Hood, Joe Miller, George D.. Prem.
tice and other celebrities in this domain
Of lettersl what punishment should be
meted out to the author of such far.
fetched play upon words2 The prOprie-
tors Of the Avalanche should hold a
court.martial, make the criminal repeat
the pun until he talked himself to death.
A high respect and regard for onr pro.
gives us hope that our talented
neighbor will never again be guilty of 80
grave an ofFense against legitimate jour
nalism while trying to become "a fellow
o f%ininite jestand most excellent fancy"