Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1879-08-28
ABOUT JOKES.

AoOU1 JOAEo.
DR.. Hall says: "Joke" is not slang, but
q respectable word honestly descended from
the Latin jocus, and reproduced in the French
jeu. And a joke is not a vulgar or coarse
thing, nor a thing inherently bad, but has its
place in the economy of human lite, and
only becomes a bore or a nuisance when out
of place. The organization of the human
face provides for laughter; for it will not
be alleged, we presume, that the effort to
laugh developed the muscular capacity. any
more than the effort to articulate made the
organs OF speech.
The first and best arena for the Joke is the
family, everyone is known and trusted, and
every member is or ought to be at home
with a budget Of fun collected from the
ridiculous side of human nature during the
day. Family life has many dark and cloudy
days from toll, sickness, losses, bereave-
ments. approximations. 1t is entitled to it's
sunshine and its hours of gladness., The
play of wit, the unexpected turn. the gro
tesque collection Of words, or ideas, and the
absurd suggestion, are in order. Like the
wild flowers Of the green, without arrange
ment, and without labor, they give a simple
pleasure that costs nothing, and does no
harm in any direction. If men would only
take the pains to SNAKE fun" for the 'folks
at hotne' that they sometimes take to
make the table ring" abroad, they would
add no little to the sum of human happi-
ness.
But even the grave business of life may
be helped on by a joke. Mind works on
mind sometimes as iron on iron. Friction,
sparks and abrasion follow. The lubricat-
ing oil Of a timely witticism prevents these
ill consequences. Unpalatable truths can
be sweeuened by a good saccharine witt
cism and insipid communications can be
made palatable by a %sprinkling OF "Attic
salt" President Lincoln, with a strong,
original and shrewd mind, grew up among
fresh and original combinations, and in his
varied contact with men noticed much which
he remembered. He knew we'll that an an
ecdote, a drolf saying, or even a common
saying made droll by manner, will persuade
many, when a cogent argument would be-
wilder, irritate or repelf them. 1t is proba-
Bile that he is, and will be, credited with far
more "stories'' than he ever told for the
echoes of voices in such high places are
many, fitfal, and far resounding. Dean
Swift, Sidney Smith, and other men like
them, get credit for more than they ever
said. But even allowing for all this, it is
certain that he made many a happy hit,
which had all the value of a blow without
the hurt, through '%'stories," incidents, and
quaint speeches of which he was ''remind-
ed.'> That his own mind rested, i'm some
degree, while thus disporting itself, and
was thus helped to bear the weight of care,
is an ingenious theory but it is far from
being certain. There was, all through, a
chain of grave purpose. The funny
things were but flowers thrown around it.
1t is more nearly true to say that Lincoln
a remarkable man at the outset, with a re-
markable training, such as only western
public life could giye-"broughr forth fruit
after mis- kind,' ard did his persuasion in
his own way because he could do it, and
had found it effectixe.
A joke is a useful instrument in a public