Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-03-01
A Bright Paragrapher.


II is all right for man to publish a
presumably humorous paper, and write
articles presumably pleasant, hut the
man who yearns for a reputation and
fortunes exchanges with please copy"
requests, is an evaporation unto his
more sensible contemporary. 1t is we'll
enough for the funny man-the most
deSpisable appellation in the language
to mark an occasional paragraph, in
volying some interesting current discus
sion, but the practice of getting off
good thing and framing it with blue
marks, is below the man who actually
possesses merit Nine times out of ten
man marks his weakest work As Il
rule he is incapable of judging. Repro
duction is not the result of favoritiSm.
Favoritism may stimulate local celebri-
ties, but the papers published for the
public carefully select their reprint
regardless of the existence of friend
ship. A young gentleman. evidently a
graduate of some coiege, who publishes
small paper in a western town, marks
every paper he sends to this office On
the margin of recent number he says;
Il don't see why the photographers
should not have ring unto themselves.
| can aid your paper and you can aid
mine. All | need is for some one to
start my paragraphs ON the rounds
The following are few marked para
graphs:
Coal stoves should not be used in
winter for then we want warm stoves.
Say, is the blacksmith a forgerP--EU
Don't know, for we are not shoe-er.
a mitkman may be true, but still he
is a coward
These, YOU will at once perceive are
very fine fragments Of humor. Circu-
lation is all they need. is in fact more
| than they deserve In several respects
the young gentleman seems to have
pretty fair sense. For instance, he
missed an issue Of his paper several
weeks ago on account of u rush OF Job
work. In this he displayed ability, for
job work pays better than "humor."
! If you are requested to choose between
puns and Job work. take the Job work
il you are called upon TO decide upon
the Imaginable merits of castor oil or
puns, render your decision in favor OF
the oil. The English language has been
a great sufferer. Verbs, nouns. and
pronouns have been twisted into the
corkscrcws of lingual distortion.
The punsters day of greatness Is
gone, young man. There was time, p
| iitful, nervous, cphemeral time, when
the punster could secure q lecturing en-
gagement, but now he is neglected and
| is compelled TO work or tramp for his
living, When punster is particularly
worn out Inc may SECURE position on
the London Punch. but American pub
lications which glow in the spirit of that
! true humor which some great writer re-
marked ripens slowly do not want him
to camp in their neigaborhood.
There is difference between q para
| graph and sentence containing a
mashed word, young journalistic gem
tleman. A column of thought, bub-
bling, boiling spring of humor can be
expressed in paragraph, but very
little of anything can be expressed in a
pun. Charles Lamb, Theodore Hook,
the poetic Hook, and the immortal
Shakespeare, to say nothing of a few
celebrated Americans, have made puus
dance in portrayal and amusing glec
but the average distorter of words can
only come to grief ANY man who
would be so old in attempting fun aud
so eXcruciatngly bucolic in the manner
| of presentation rs to say that in the
winter we do not want coal stoves,
/ meaning cold, of course, should be com
PEELED TO ride lame steer. -1rk. 1r0U.