Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-30
HE FUNNY ITEM.
An Excellent Plea in Behalf of an 7,
portant Element of Modern Ncvsn. nor

III IbenalI OF an Inn
Por'"ht Element of Modern Newspapers.
LII Is becoming quite common to utter
inc WORD funny sarcastically, with italic
emphasis. and as if with quoted marks.
But hundreds of poor mortals who
nave found the world one too many
Tor them, the lines about whose
mouths are deepening every year,
becoming moro and more strange
to the smile that approaches timidly
and hurries away as if it felt itself
an unwelcome guest, have had there
lives temporarily frightened (perhaps
permanently, for life is such a strange
thing that the apparently trivial things
affecting it can lot. like notes, be esti-
mated at their face value,) by this
same funny item. 1t is no light task
to dish up day after day, or ever week
after week, Il continual fund of humor.
1t is not an uncommon belief that q
humorist is so with no effort of his
own, and can dash off a funny thing
with as much ease as he can walk a
mile. Wi5h such men as Mark
Twain, Artemus Ward, Bret Hart,
and some others, it is perhaps
Just as natural to be humorous as not.
but with the majority it becomes very
much 4 mechanical effort after all.
Have you nevc: seen an attempt at
gayety when You knew that underneath
it was a pain that gaveit the pathos in
your eyes? SO it is NOT difficult to ina
CINE a so-called humorist in to
a demand writing Il piece that shall
make merry many a sober and saddened
heart, while his OWNS heavy with pain Of
a bereavement or other loss, orwith the
burden OF Il bodily sickness silently and
herolcally borne. Do YOU think humor
is rs easy for the writer rs for the
reader: DO you think there is no
pathos, no tragedy, even. in the lives of
those men whose business it is to make
fun for the multitude? Several wears
ago there was in Blackwell's Island
Lunatic Asylum an inmate who had
made mirth for thousands. He was
then Il hypochondriac of the EXTREMIST
kind. FooH was disgusting to lsm;
milk was gangrene: all meat was in the
last stages Of putrefaction. In short, the
man who had made others merry was
himself dying of the deepest melan-
choly. Think of Fox. or of Emmett.
1t is frequently noticed that q funny
writer is Il man of the gravest express
sion himself. Depend upon it here is
an illustration that humormeans work.
Savants tell us, too, that the read
ing OF the crisp, sparkling items
Of the funny column which al
most every paper now contains is in
furious to the memory. This is GER
tainly crushing evidence against the
poor paragraphs. but don't you think
that the heavy laugh these despiscd
items afford you. the dispelling for the
time OF ths morbid feelings we are all
prone to as we feel the presence oflife's
burdens, the stimulus to new activity
occasioned by the CLEAN of merry sun
shine that finds its way into the dark
ness Of your spirit, perhaps the new
lease of life that is "iven you by the
momcntary cheer in the midst of your
gloom, are more than compensation
for any trslilrg injury oyour memory?:
But You Il make these items q posi-
tive aid to your memory. Store the
good ones up for repetition. You will
have Il fund of humor ut your disposal,
will have pleasant food for meditation,
and will be Il welcome compan.
| iOn.-IOnke9s Gazette.