The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1883-02-17


ty-positively ugly-nature avenging
herself General amplitude is, indeed,
far from ungracious, but, on the contra
ry, carries dignity that is pleasant to
look upon, but shor5 violent curves are
eminently ugly. II 4
Josh Bl Jugs.
Josh Billings wa lorn in Lanesb9ro,
Berkshire county, Mass, sixty three
years ago. Both his grandfather aud
father were members Of Congress. His
name is Henry w. Shaw. His father
was an intimate friend Of Henry Clay,
and his political manager in Now Eng.
land. Josh went TO school until he was
fourteen, when he started ont on his
own hook for the West be spent the
next twenty five years mostly out West.
He turned his hand to everything, but
fortune turned its back on him. At the
age of 40 he moved East in order to ed
ucate his two daughters. He found
good schools at Poughkeepsie, On the
Hudson and settled there. As he had
no regular profession, he took up the
trades OF auctioneer and dealer ia real
estate. He had dabbled in both of
these callings in the West.
There was little nine-by-soyen daily
paper published in Poughkeepsie. The
editor called on Mr.. Shaw one day and
said that the man who could talk ought
to be able to write we'll, and he wanted
him to contribute something to his pa.
per. Mr., Shaw told him that he had
never written line for publication in
his life. But the idea pleased him and
he thought over it, and then wrote q
series of between twenty and thirty Of
the short pieces that have mnde his
name q household word in America
since then. For six months he oontin-
ued his contributions every week. Nc
body noticed them outside Of Pough.
koepsie. One day Mr. Shaw read one
OF the essays Of Artemus Ward on a
subject that he had treated in one OF
his short essays. He read it over and
over and over again; and the more he
read it the less he understood Why Ar
temus Wards articles should bo popu-
lar, and his pieces had fallen still. born
from the press. is it the bad spell
ing2" he asked himself. He made up
his mind that it was the bad epelling
and nothing else that had lent wings to
Artemus Wards humor and made him
famous, and that it was his own loyalty
to Webster's Unabridged that had
weighted his humor down and kept his
name in obscurity. So he took his es-
say on the mule. "The mules favor
ite animal with me-" josh once said to
me. he has treated me psetty rough,
and I've treated hir. pretty rough; we
understand each other"-and without
changing a word, he "slewed round the
spelling" as he expressed it, and sent
it to the New York Era, weekly pa
per OF not large circulation at the time.
Before mailing it he signed 1t Josh
Billings" Josh" was in honor of an
old comrade Zone Josh Oarew) of his
Western life; Billings came by inspi-
ration as it were.' His Poughkeepsie
pieces vero anonymous. The mis-
spelled Essay on the Mule" was
printed, and instantly went the rounds
OF the press" and the name Of Josh
Billings became famous before he had
written single essay excepting those
he had printed in the Poughkeepsie
paper. He simply translated them into
his peculiar phonetic system of spell
ing. AS soon as he saw that everything
he wrote was widely printed, no
thought he ought to make money by
his pen, and he sent one Of his very
best short essays to Boston paper.
The editor wrote that he could not af-
ford to pay more than Sl.50 for it
Josh regarded this sum as rather snail
pay. But" he added Il thought L
should like a nest-egg, aud told the
editor to send it on. Then opened an
account with Josh Billings, and / made
my first entry with this item: Essay
in Boston, $780, AS soon as he be-
came famous he was engaged by the
New York Veekly-a rival OF Bonner's
Led9er-at 500 O week for half col.
umn of his essays and sayings. He has
published his books with rare shrewd-
ness.