Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-25
JOSH BILLINGS ON HuMoR1srs.
The Work of the American Wits anC
Newspaper Funny Men.

Henry n. Shaw, or, as he is known the
world over, Josh Billings. He is a pecu.
liar, man says the Mail and Express. The
brOadclOth Prince Albert, the long gray
hair flowing over the ears down the
shoulders, the brOad-brimmed SLOUGH hat
the features, rOugh-hewn. withal regular
and refined, give the impression of g
clergyman. The closely-trimmed iron
gray beard, the aquiline nose, and the
firm look of the deep-set eyes deny this
impression, however, and indicate rather
the military man. Mr.. Billings was
seated on one of the soft sofas the Other
evening when Nail and Express re-
porter approached him. The conversation
turned upon American wits or humOrists
America is full Of humOr," said Mr.
Billings. ''and yet great deal of it is
false humor. 1t has no purpose. The
Danbury NelgS man is played out because
he had no purpose at the bottom of his
articles. All humor must have truth al
the bottom. Humor is, in fact. a mixture
OF truth and pathos. True humor will
never die. HumOr in the best sense is
shOrt-lived. The funny articles in Amer.
lean newspapers are but drOllery. IneveI
write paragraph without a purpose.
desire to benefit mankind. That is why
my sayings are always addressed TO men
and about men. / cannot bear a man who
seeks to tear down. Intidels are my great
est aversion. l am intensely religious
though l have no creed. can talk to
any man except one who believes nothing
l always take every occasion to attack
intidels. They destroy without building
up. The devil himself did not deny God,
but only rebelled. | have often said |
would rather be an idiot than an infidel,
because it an idiot I'd know that God
made me so; if an infdel that l made
myself So"
"You have met most of the American
| humoristsY"
eighteen years ago | sat at the dinner
table with a remarkable set Of wits and
| humnrists. Henry CiaPP, george Arnold,
O'Brien, Mortimer Thompson DOesticks J,
Dawson Shaudley. Robert Newell COR
pheus c. Kerr, and Charles +. Browne
Artemus Ward). All died destitute
/ with the exception of Kerr, who is living.
Another set that l dined with once is
| Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Lewis, OF the
| Detroit Free Press, and Burdette. of the
Hdlckege. They are all living and doing
WELL"
'What is your opinion Of these living
| humOrIsts?"
''It is hard to judge numOr, and have
| paid but little attention to their writings.
/ Still, as far as my limited knowledge of
/ them goes, l Will answer. Bret Harte's
humOr? Bret made a point in his Heather
/ Chinee,' although the scheme Of the two
sharpers being taken in by third appar-
| entity innocent man is old. / have never
read much of Bret Harte's works. but do
not think him of the highest order of hu-
m0rists. Nothing ever equaled the humOr
of Mark Twain's des riptiOns. He is, in
/ fact, the greatest descriptive humOrist
/ America has produced. Lewis, of the De-
! trOit Free Press, does not command nv
! highest admiration. He shows great tact,
! and often produces very praisewOrthy
/ bit Of humOr. Burdette, Of the Burling-
/ ton Hdrkeye l enjoy very much. He has
/ purpose in his humOr, and is very pathetic
! besides. True humOr is always allied to
! pathOs. He might be called the pathetic
! humOrist of America. Nasty is the
| gre attest political satirist since the days
! of Jack Downing"
| rs Peck's bad boy genuine humor?7
! 'lt is species, though a poor species.
/ Of humor. You read one article and you
/ know the bad boy. 1t is an eXaggeratiOn
/ and lacks a principal constituent of hui
mor-sense. Nonsense that is not based
| on sense soon palls.'
DO you think that the American news
| paper humOr possesses the quality of
senseg'
mot generally. The reason why so
many funny men spring up and disap-
pear is because of this very lack. A per
u =
then be ashamed of himself because he
has laughed, if he finds no truth in the
story. True wit and humOr never make
you laugh, at least at first. You see the
| truth in it, and then the ridiculous side
strikes you afterward.'
"Then you think the outlook for Amer
lean humOr is not bright?'
ION the contrary. John Phoenix was
the founder of the American school of
drollery, of which Artemus Ward was
the greatest light. The newspaper humOr
is OF that school, only the writer's have
exaggerated the eXaggeratiOn of the
school to nauseOus extent, losing sight
of the main object of humOr to inculcate
a moral or physical truth. Still, once in
while, come across a newspaper para
graph that is really humorous
do Mark Twain and kindred humor-
lists display their humOr in conversation 2"
by no means. That is popular mis-
take. HumOrists are the saddest and So
berest of fellows. Humor is pure thought.
After YOU have your thought you can
twist it in any ridiculous shape YOU like
Mark Twain does not know how to laugh,
and Nasty never laughed in his life"
'DOes humorous writing pay?"
Not to-day. Before Artemus Ward no
humorist made any money. He made some.
| followed and have made money. But
the profitable days of humOr are past. !
can remember when I would get 500 a
week for writing few paragraphs for one
paper. Now l could not get One-third of
that. II a young man thinks he is going
to get rich by becoming a humOrist he is
mistaken"
'How do you rate the German humor-
ists?7
"Never read them"
1.-The French humOrists?v
"DOn't know anything about them"
1.-The English humorists?"
"Only read a few of them. They have
more wit than humOr. l am not reading
man."
"What of your own positiOnY'
81 am essentially a paragrapher. l
never wrote an article over a page in
length in my life. The art of cOndensa-
ton is a gift. Any man can turn para
graph into a page, but few men a page
into paragraph"
did you possess the art OF cOndensa-
ton in your younger days?"
IF did, did not know it. 1 never
wrote line until l was 40 years old. 1
am now Sc, and have been writing ever
since. Practice makes perfect, but you
can't get apples off a pear tree"
s'Why did you begin writng!"
Il only began writing to please friend,
an editor Of a Poughkeepsie paper. was
an auctioneer. He said a man who could
write for his paper, but my articles at
tracted no attention. Why did l adopt
the phonetic spelling? Only to arrest at
tentiOn. | rewrote one of these unnOticed
pieces one day, using bad spelling. 1t
was copied all over"
8 Do you think there is any humor in
bal spellingI'
NO. 1t only arrests the eve. Still it
lends a homely air to the paragraph that
takes"
where do you get the materials for
your sayings?"
Through my eyes and ears. As | said
before, never wrote till was 45 years
old. Up to that time l had been seeing
and thinking without knowing 1t myself.
The world was my college and men my
books. L observe everything uncOn-
sciously, and Immediately appropriate it
for use"
''Then you do not really INVENT"
"All l do is to present the few truths
that so exist in a new and condensed form
that stands out before the eyes. For in
stance, when in my lecture l desire to
| convey the idea that one must not spend
the whole time on dress, and that one
who does make dress a success is good for
! nothing else, l do not talk on it an hour;
l simply say: The man who can keep a
collar clean a week is good for nothing
! else.' The people have all seen just