The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-09-09
"M. QUAD"
An Interesting Sketch of the well-Known
Humorous.


Humorous.
C. B. Lewis (better known rs M.
Quad,) is perhaps the most unique and
genuine humorist this country has pro-
duced, excepting only Artemus Ward
and Hosea Biglow.
'.M Quad" is not humorous "artist"
"a boss mechanic who manufactures
jokes as a carpenter does packing
boxes, with saw and jack-plane and
much exudation of perspiration. He is
naturally and spontaneously funny.
Humor gushes from him like champagne
from an uncorked bottle. bubbling and
elusive, and drenching us. whether we
will or not, with laughter. And there
is wisdom with his wit-strong, home
ly, common-sense mixed with a racy,
unctuous humor which makes his wis
dom as grateful to our taste as whale
oil is the palate of an Esquimau. He is
not product of the soll," with
local flavor. He is of universal relish,
as is witnessed by the wide popularity
that the Detroit Free Press owes to his
contributions.
1t is not generally known when or
where he was born, nor is 1t matter of
much consequence, since his career did
not begin till he was blown up, some
fifteen years ago, on an Ohio river
steamboat He is, perhaps, the only
example of q man who has been lifted
into fame by being tossed hundred
feet into the air, and coming down,
more dead than alive, to tell the story.
He did this. Standing at his printers
case. when he was so far recovered as
to limp about he put into type "How it
g., L h, nj ~ an1 ho ,yha1o
West burst into laughter. That laugh
made m. Quad" famous He was then
transferred from the composing-room
to the editorial department, and ever
since short extracts from the Free Press
have been copied into every journal
throughout the country.
About ten years ago he invented-Or
rather created-"His Honor" and
..Biiah," and Brother Gardner" of
the .Lime-kiln Club"-characters to-
tally dissimilar, but each as natural,
original, individual, and ludicrous as
any in American literature. ..His
Honor" presides over a police court,
and makes sage reflections upon men
and things as they come into his field
of view. Brother Gardner" is u
shrewd and quaint gentleman of color,
who has all the idiOms and character
| istics of his race, but is not burlesque
| of our colored fellow-citizens; he
handles his own people gently, but
| satirizes the foibles, frailties. and weak
nesses of the whites inimitably. his
| sayings might be termed explosive wis
| dom-the reader is sure to imbibe a
| wise thought, but it is certain to explode
| within him. ''Artemus Ward" created
one character; M. Quad" has given
| birth to three, and each one has. during
a period of ten years. given delight to
millions.
| The man is precisely what we are led
to expect from his writings. He is by
turns Ills Honor" and '.Bijah," and
Brother Gardner" with the dry humor
and quaint wisdom that is peculiar to
each character. ''lf there is an odder
man than he in the country" said
Detroit gentleman to ME not long ago,
1--WE would like to have him sent along
| with the circus" His looks, his man.
ner even the tones of his voice, are
peculiar and eccentric. He talks as he
| writes, and always without any seeming
generalization. His ''den," as he calls
his ''sanctum," in an upper story of the
Free Press building. is curiosity shop
filled with odd mementos and knick-
| knackS. Here is bit of rope that
helped to hang a murderer, and pair
of shackles of the old slave time; there
are bullets from Gettysburg, powder
flasks from the Merrimac, and swords.
sabreS, mliSkets, and shot and shell
from score of battle-iields; while
| around the walls side by side with por=
traits of Sheridan and Custer and busts
of Grant and Lee. are pictures of a
| dozen of the most noted criminals. But
the oddest thing i'll the room is Il slender
man of about forty. with close-cropped
| gray hair. heavy mustache, keen, intent
eyes, and an earnest, somewhat eager
expression, who sits at an Old-fashioned
table, and looks up with a smile of well
come as stranger enters his apart
ment. This is IN. Quad" known
among his personal acquaintance as G.
b. Lewis; and he works away at that
table eight hours in a day, writing, at
high pressure, short paragraphs or
political leaders, and now and then
seeking relaxation in little merrinient
with .'Bijah' and Brother Gardner" !"
for his best work is done as relief from
the daily drudgery of journalism.
The ReviserS have not been able to
amend the text, ''Woe unto you when
all men shall speak well of you." and if
it IS to be taken literally. M Quad" is
in a bad way, as all his acquaintance
unite in saying that he is temperate,
social, domestic, kind-hearted, lover
of his friends, and hater of nobody.
He is also. they say, open-handed, and
SO given to charity that, though i'm
posed upon seven times in a day by
fraudulent mendicancy. he again seven
times in a day empties his packets to
the pleadings of distress. He is also
said to be modest, and not at all puffed
up by the fact that he has a weekly au-
dience of a million. nearly one-half of
whom are matter-Offact -Englishmen.
who take him with their beefsteak and
ale, as sure help to a healthy diges-
ton. He is spoken of as odd and
eccentric, and that he may be, but in
cline to the opinion that this popularity
is due to the fact that Nature produced
him in one of her genial moods. when
she would do the world a kindly turn
by bestowing upon it gentle soul,
who should do us good by spreading for
us wholesome feast of mingled wit
and wisdom. Edmund KtrEe. IN Hdr-
per's Magazine.