Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-11-15
AMERICAN nuMoRrsrs.
a Criticism Of rheir WRITINGS by ono of
onr Ikln neNnnd tho sen


nal, signed with that nom de plume. Ac-
tually there was very little IN them he.
yopd the bad spelling and the homcly
wisdom which even this artificial stimu-
les 10 alaugh could not always conceal.
what he said WAS expressed IN the Ian ca
guaGe 81 everyday life, and was neither tr
peller nor worse than the professional nj
persliluse with which an auctioneer koeps he
alive the biddings OF his clients. AS I'm
Q matter of fact, ''doSh Biliuusn ,f
was an auclionecr in Poughkeepsie, AZ
town on the Hudson Riyaraud continued II,
TO follow this calling until the success of G,
his humor enabled him 20 devote himself a,
more completely TO The amusement OF his ol
by no means inconsiderablc world. 10 I,
The last he continued popular, and the hl
best proof OF this was the host of initial q.
ors that followed In his train Nothing M
+ more curious than the rise aud spread ci
OF the so-called "hpmorous" literature l,
OF the United State. ltcau hardly be due I,
to the climate or the condition Of lifu IL u
is unknown In Mexico among y
the men who claim to BE- the country d
men OF Ccryantes, and rcdun. =
daut humOr has never boon "A Il
characteristic Of the Canadians. Indeed, v
there was very little of It In the great re- /,
public prior TO the civil war, which turned +,
everything upside down aud ended in re- II
constituting the nation, Before that
period travelling was limited IN the now .
world. The Mississippi and It's trlbutar- !
les were the great railroads of travel.
! Day after day motley company sat on
tue decks of the floating palaces sailing
out OF New Orleans, swapping stories,'
and, IN the enforced lcasure of an easy
journey, displaying IN various ways the
ftf al fattu
even more than now, to be seen
in "DiNicS land" Thus, much
of the old American humur relates To
Southern men aud southern Incidents
OF that date Is the story OF the Traveller
who, on asking Il Mississippan whether ,
il was worth while 10 carry pistol, was
told that "lou mout move around here
morc'n year an never need a pistol;
but If you should happen TO need one
you'd need It powerful" Half the tales
when not relating to the ru1anly "moan
whitcSn or the "pldutatiop negfo,n
turned on the dignity OF the Southern
gentlemen. "Remcmber, John, who you
arc" one kontuckim Is represented as
= telling another who had disputed the bill
at Boston hotel; remember you are
keltuckian Pay the bin aud shoot the
Scuuudrcl
1t was the correct style of The humorist
OF these days TO describe the planter Ms
travelling with dusky valet, a silver
headed cane, two rullled shirts, and a ease
o OF hair-trigger. His life, II we may Judge
n from such ante.belum literature as Long
0 streets Georgia Scenes" or Meals
a "Charcoal Sketches WIS spent ia fight
{ lng game-cocks and relating the last good
= story from "Geor"yn as the litc-boat wns
uu'uS uuuC',V'l VIZ l's ,e.'NlaS' a. a..
= ways deScrlpvu ny llv V"llcaNuIlstoi I'oSo
tleS Ms tonslSlls % a W., VuoN,A.iS ''i'u
), "claw OF teroachtr, Anis was simple sor'
ol lun' but " SuiHceo LOT iohS uhe,
n anu Ia 'ulDouieu III seI,es ol SNeUhve'
winch tnouSli alhaHinsiy lauSllaoiv W. .ile
uthS' rc'u rnI'cl ~ '',u'1'lI 80 tN's .i''o
- Oh gay ING M"I nl"u-l1 iul" 't''l
ana lreHcneS men l'3li cNV'! pui. % Wv
country, lhuy oNoh'i.-e,, 'Nl'el'S''o ..,,'
anu ~ VIZ l'i"so "rs| o%"tl'rS e.T
II ries." Moreover OUT OF thH' Ehteu3
+, struggle emerged ah nnlnohSe MaSs
u oi war hu!h"r, IN" o,PHeuh
Kerr Fapers. ahu 'tetrolru'i - Nus Nus
ny were u'c p,itl'c Insoli'es ~ ','rS
-, cieS OF iun' ana tho experience Oh .luIoh-
ing ana couhttr-haichiis Hate EiNVt
Tone To the huuhoIls'h W WI, i"Nu 9p'.'
then come 10 inc 'front.' Iney Lay nov
W. ever drawn on Il laI Wluer 'lrIu .nLu
u their predecessors 'N"rh ! "alU' WIZ I
Is Is, perhaps, thc inort Wlueiy reaG o. w
MS class, unH'@ Ihose oNou'ucS WI'th y
~ delighted Mr.. Darwin Wl'n uiuch 81 tu'
=, old hnhor oi lnt Missi'N,ppl' on VIM" t
lu ne was porn Ahu p'eu. bVt l,Nt h,I
u, llarte, ne also tnlN tne il'eNnaVatlpI'
W reservoir OF taillolnia dIouciN; anu liVu
"a the observation suSGeS'eu oy tlat Ml"e
oi roaming whlch u inc oNar"'I'I'S'''
AT the new American ,.,
- Sometimes American huih'f rs II my,
nc strained, ana oitoh il Is very l'aai' II
or every case IL IS diherchO Aolh 'haL
" England. II has nothing IN coi3'nol
with Fielding or Smollctt OF hacAd.y
~ or, happily, win haDc!ais OF mon ~
ell difference between opera boGhc ana Al
Anglo-SaNon farce Is inc olhtreite oe
oo tween the liumor oi the ffenchihah an
OF the English in America Ihe Sno0 an
4 the husband are MOI saurIru: IN
American dcyoies ms domestic loco'lt
m TO the whlmsicallties OF me sliai
boy the widow thc mo'uer-i.I
ed law, the bully, the visionary specu.a
an tor, the gamcsicr, and the comuefcl0
traveller. Fighting and lnoney-ecllltn
"a afford the principal auojccis ana ~ th
az South III mainly confined to tle iorihcl
lao N