The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1885-11-07
JOSH BILLINGS.
The Man Who Made Fame and For
tune hv Bad Spelling,

The Man Who Made Fame and For-
tune by Bad Spelling.
All English speaking countries will la
ment the death of Henry w. Shaw, alias
"Josh Billings" His decease literally full
fills the rhetorical utterance of DR.. johnson:
it eclipses the gayety of nations.
Mr.. Shaw was more than As years old be-
fore he began the career which brought him
wealth and honor. While he was struggling
for living rs an auctioneer and dealer in
real estate at Poughkeepsie, New York, the
suggestion was made to him by it's editor
that he should contribute to local newspa
per. He did 30 for a time but without Gre
at1ng the interest which he thought his mirtil
and wisdom ought to create. His manner
of treating subjects was the same then as
afterwards when he had become famous,
with one difference only, and that to all
appearance non essential one. The re-
verse of this was true, however, for after
Henry w. Shaw had become "Josh Bill
ings, " and his productions had appeared i'll
the guise of most atrociously bad instead OF
good spelling, the essays of the Poughkeep-
sic auctioneer became so famous that he
adopted literary work as a means of liveli-
hood. "Josh made good deal of money
by his writings, and his lecturing tours,
which we're begun after he had attained lit
erary renown, proved to be mine of finan-
cial sufficiency to the author. During the
ten years between 1873 and 1883, Mr.. Shaw
made $50, 900 as his share of the profits of
the series of Farmers Alminax issued in
that time. The total value of his estate is
estimated at $4,000.
Previous to his becoming professional
writer Josh" had pretty hard time of it.
He was born at Lanesboro, Massachusetts,
i'll the year 1920. When he was only IA years
old he began roaming life, the details of
which, are not known. After his marriage,
when he was q years of age, to a young
woman of Massachusetts, he returned to the
West, where he did not do we'll, and when
40 years old he settled at Poughk keepsie, the
place at which his good fortune began.
Mr.. Shaw was on lecturing tour when
he died at Monterey, California, October
IA. 1885. He leaves widow, two daughters
and several grandchildren. His daughters
were both married to wealthy men.
Every reader is acquainted more or less
with the productions of "Josh Billings" }"
There is nothing to wonder at in the pop
ularity of the man who wrote the following
bits of concentrated humor and sarcasm.
Speaking of the "see sarpent," he says:
The see sarpent snaik beats all the snaix
that have ever put in an appearance yet.
There amt but one ov them, and he haz
only been seen times az yet" Much good
sense and sagacity appear in the following:
':It is highly important when man makes
up his mind few bekum a raskail that he
shud examine hisself clusly, and see if he
aint better konstructed for a phool." OF
marriage he writes: Marriage IL a safe
way to gamble-if yn win, yn win a pile,
and If yu loze yu don't loze emmy thing only
the privilege ov living dismally alone and
soaking yure own feet" And of death,
how truly and sadly: "Finis is the best
and only friend that menny man in this
world ever haz."