Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1886-03-06
ELSE oFrHEC HEsrNur

SOIuS VI lu0 JVA0 laws I6SSttSU 80 ll6t16
attention. 1t Is IN error Of tho vulgar
to suppose that q joke is a literary me
teor that flashes across the intellectual
sky for a moment and thed disappears
forever. Even trained observers have
been deceived into expressing much
tho same opinion; and q celebrated
scientist, whose services to mankind
justify US in c~oncealing his name In
connection with tho chargc, was heard
to declare that q j,ke Was '.an instance
Of Intellectual alteration unworthy Of
serious attention." Nothing could be
further from tho facts. Leaving aside
any discussion of tho first cause of the
joke. which would involve US in the
o%Dscurities of metaphysical discussion,
We may state boldly that the JOKE has
wcll.ieiinsd habits and p%eculiaritics.
and Il study of its history aud develop
Mont is well worthy the attention Of
the foremost minds in science.
1t Is evident to any observer that the
joke ma be accurately divided into
Faces aud nationa tiles. No Que who
hatt paul the slightest attention to the
subject c m.d possibly mistake a G. r
man joke Tor u French joke, or n
French Ike for q Births, JOKE. In fact.
they are as plainly marsed CT from
e"ci 9th. r rs amy two breeds Of dogs.
and each undoubtedly has It's different
hntits. An adequate discussion o the
ST. 'ct a nnot sven be outlined in this
c"iumn. Nevertheless, as u small con.
triuution 10 an important sun ct, ".
offer the following account of u single
m -n1&MsHs nj ffYn l,r,u mud fnA,nn-..
tamiiy known as tho American joke:
1t Is eight months or more since the
chestnut joke first saw tue light. Its
birth is involved in obscurity. in spite
OF carncst efforts to trace It's ancestry.
In the cary days Of its existence it
gave no sign Of coming greatness We
know the story of tho school at Brieu.
ne. whore Bourirnne took the prizes
over n .polcon; Bourivune is now re-
membered not as tho .'prIzs boy"
but US Nepoleon's secretary. In a like
manner the tin.pan joke or the Niger
baby Joke Of even date with the Ghost.
nut SEEMED surer of fame. At the timo
the chestnut appe; red the paint-thc-
town.rcd joke was at the height Of lis
anl Its monthly appearances . u jan
uary was twonty-six thousand seven
hundred aud for,y.six, which is sur
passed oniy by its unprecedented No
venber record OF %,hiriy-ei2ht Thousand
nine hundred, due 10 the local disturb.
ing cause Of Il Democratic victory that
month ut tho polls. For the same
month the chestnut appeared in public
but IL beggarly n hundred and eleven
times. Previous TO that date it was 50
Insignificant as not to seem worthy Of
record. Starting nom this poin. We
see the gradual rise OF tho chestnut and
the corresponding decline of paiut-the.
town-red. In February tho CHESTNUT
appeared twelve hundred and forty.
four times. and the paint-the.town-red
appeared twenty-five thousand nine
hundred and fourteen times. This do 8
not necessarily indicate any falling off
in the popularity Of the latter. for the
effect Of hard lsmes was most severely
felt that mouth, the total output Of
Jokes being six per cent under that of
January; but the increase of tho chest.
nut joke under such unfavorable cir.
cumstances is truly significant The
following month paint-tne-town.red
neariy held its own, appearing twenty.
five thousand seven hundred and niue.
teen times, but the chestnut increased
to ,hirty-two hundred. The following
mouth it increased by eleven hundred,
wni,o the paint-the-lown-rcd declined
BY nearly The same But in
tho mouth Of May the chestnut leaped
at astonishing bound to fourteen
thousand seven hundred and eighty up.
p%earances. its ouiv one rival coming
down something les. than the same
figure.
1t is scarcely necessary to go further
into details. The August rclurus give
a tota! OF moro than twenty-nine tnous-
and appearances for the chestnut, while
its rival is all but as extinct us Mr..
Crawfor'l's "dado." Tho reports for
tn" first half of the present month In.
dicato that tho total will fall little il
any below that of August, although
the return-of-t !,e-su,nmrr-b oarder has
acted as IL disturbing clement We
may assume however, from the fore.
going figures that the chestnut has
rcacned its full development, and Is
doomed to q speedy decline. 1t Is dan
ger"us to %gcneralizn from but two or
three instances. but from the obvious
similarity Of the careers OF the succcss-
full Amrr.can ike, it is almost certain
that their existence is determined by
fxeh and iminutablo laws. We have
not the figures ut had to verify this
statement, but We pronounce it Ia nj
confidence.
We may suppose. therefore. that the
chestnut must follow the path already
trodden by paint-tne-town-rcd and its
Predecessors, and. after seeing the rise
OF some successful rival that Is even
now in the obscure throng. viii! become
extinct in about eight months. Its rise
has taken an equal length Of time. In
spite Of u few wcll-known exceptions
wnere q joke has been able to survive
in a %toothIess, mumbling condition for
two or three years, we may safely
state that the average life Of the sue
cessful American joke is sixteen OF, at
tho most. eighteen months. The sub
ject is M Of much interest. and should
attract some young and enthusiastic
social scientist.
Some lsrtimbl. 9.xns,
When two or females board Q
car ut the sa,ne time, IL, "a sign that
%kH1, n,o ..,i~..,o ,,,srl .L~