Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-10-30
SKET [OF M. QUAD"
ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE AND
 GENUINE OF OUR HUMoRlSTs.
Beginning His Career by Being Blown Up ou a steamboat-Three Noted Char fer. n, Ht. Crsa,Ion-In Ills Den" or ssS.ncfur,n

Beginning His Career oy Oes Up on A steamboat-Ihree Noted Char
 ters of His CreatIOn-In His Den or 'sanctum-"
 C. B. Lewis better known as "M Quad is perhaps the most unique anu genuine humorist this country mas pro duced, excepting only Artemus Waru anu Hosea BiglOw.
 sM Ouadp is not a humorist artist boss mechanic who manufactures IokeS as a carpenter does packing boxes, with saw and Jack plane and much emulation or precipitation He is naturally ana spon- taneously funny. HumOr gushes rom him like champaign from an uncorkeo bottle bubbling and effusive. and drench- ing us. whether we will or not, with laughter And there Is wisdom with his wit-strOng, hOmely common sense mixed with a racy, unctuous humor which makes his wisdom as grateful to our taste as whale oil Is to the palate of an Esqul- mau He is not product of the soh' with local flavor He Is of universal relish. as is witnessed by the wide popu- larity of his newspaper contributions.
 BROWNING OF HIS CAREER
 It Is not generally known when or where he was born, nor is it matter or 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 man who has been lifted into fame by being tossed a hundred feet into the air, and coming down. more dead than alive, to tell the story He did this. Standing at his print CTS case, when he was so far recovered as aLg h. mt inf Feels To Be Blown Up," and the whole west burst into laughter. That laugh made M Quad" famous. He was then transferred from the composing groom to the editorial department. and ever since short extracts from his writings have been copied into every journal through out the country.
 About ten years ago he invented-or rather created-@His Honor" and ~BiJah,' and Brother Gardner. of the @Lime-Ktln Club--characters totally dissimilar, but each as natural, original, individual, and ludicrous as any in American literature. His Honor" presides over police court, and makes sage reflections upon men an q things as they come into his field of view. Brother Gardner" is a shrewd and quaint gentleman of color. who has all the idtoms and characteristics of his race, but Is not a burlesque on our cOlOred fellow citizens, he handles his own people gently, but satirizes the foibles, frailties and weak nesses of the whites inimitably. His say ings might be termed explosive wisdom the reader is sure to imbibe a wise thought but it is certain to explode with him. AArtemus Ward" created one character; M Quad" has given birth to three, and each one has, during period of ten years, given delight to millions
 The man k precisely what we are led 10 expect from his writings. He is by turns His Honor ~Bljah" and Brother Gard | ner,' with the dry humOr and quaint wis ! dom that is peculiar to each character. | If there is an Odder man than he in the l country said Detroit gentleman to me | not long ago, eve would like tO have him l sent along with the circus" His looks, | his manner, even the tones of his voice, | are peculi:,.' and eccentric. He talks as l he writes, and always without any seem l ing reconciliation.
 AT HOME IN HIS DEN
 His "den,- as he calls his ~Slnctum,' in ! an upper story of The Free Press build | ing is a curiosity shop filed with odd | mementOes and knick knacks. Here is a bit Ot rope that helped tO hang a mur- derer, and pair of shackles of the old I slave time: there are bullets from Gettys- burg. powder fasks from the Merrimac and swords, sabers, muskets, and shot and shell from a score of battle-felds. while around the walls side by side with pCg.-.lits Gf Sheridan ana Caster and busts of Grant and Lee, are pictures of a dozen of the most noted criminals. But | the oldest thing in the room is 6 slender man of about 4O, with close cropped gray LaFv .Ir. and an earnest, somewhat eager express ion, who sits at an old-fashioned table, and looks up with smile of welcome as q stranger enters his appartment. This Is M. Quad known among his personal acquaintances as c. B. Lewis; and he works away at that table eight hours in a lay, writing at high pressure, and now and then seeking relaxation in little merri- ment with "Biiah7 and Brother Gard ner,' for his best work Is done as a relief from the daily drudgery of journalism.
 The revisers have not been able Go amend the text. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you,' and if it tt Is to be taken literally, M. Quad Is in | bad way, as all his acquaintances unite in saying that he is temperate, social, do- mestic. kind hearted, a lover of hIs friends and hater of nobody. He is, also. they say, open handed, and so given to charity that, though imposed upon seven times in a day by fraudulent mendicaucy. he again seven times in a day empties his pockets 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 audience of a million, nearly One-half of whom are matter-Of-fact Englishmen. | who take him with their beefsteak and ! ale as a sure help to a healthy dicestiOu | He is spoken of as odd and eccentric, and that he may be, but l incline to the opin- ion that this peculiarity is due to the fact that Nature produced him in one of her genial moods, when she would do the world kindly turn by bestowing on it a gentle soul, who should do us good by spreading for us a wholesome feast of ! mingled wit and wisdom. -Harper's Mag |