The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-29
BILL NYE AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF
JOKE.

Hur, and though 1t was shrevdIv adyer-
tised that the maicstay and chief attrac-
tion of the panorama would positively
make his first appearance in Wichita, Ben
has been Hur and gone without so much
as decent apology for the wanton trifliBg
with the public's purse and feelings But
Bill will be here in person and will draw
Nye unto US, as advertised.
There is to be a man at Bills show who
says he has not laughed in seven years.
There seems to be something the matter
with his risibles, or rather the connection
between these and his laughing apparatus,
by which the joyous shouts of mirth
used TO own are transformed into
inetf able smiles turned wrong side out
Notwithstanding be loves 20 make az
effort, and when bis risioIes are left I'M
touched, as we all have experienced on
certain occasions when the speaker merely
| rouses the adumbrations OF, but scarcely
as Bill puts it, saves his pedro" on Joke,
he can then, on account of his sympathetic
nature. burst forth into peal after peal of
merry laughter in order TO carry the
speaker along.
This odd friend of mine says joke is
the most serious thing in the earth; in
And he wanted TO prove it to me the other
day after this wise: "a joke" says he,
sis founded in the relationship and uni
versal scheme of things in general; it is
any fact. mind you, of human nature or
affairs put into the slot of the universal
scheme, as we have it, and remorselessly
projected to its logical conclusion. Any
less than this is simply ''crack," mere
imitation relationship which we recognize
at once: pseudo comparison cleverly put
up TO dazzle US when we are weak or to
anluse the simple" Now Bill" he ex-
| planned further, 'rarely descends to the
Lpurilities of this Marshall p. Wilder or
/ Howard Fielding school of alleged humor-
! lists. The nearest thing o. this kind l have
recently noticed is where Bill says on his
I placards, you pay us the dollar and I'll
make you laugh, the puerility of the joke
appearing when we consider the nonsense
of the latter end of the proposition; the
absence of any serious and deep rooted
fact hooking the limits of human expert
ence leaving our deepest lying risables
entirely unwrung" Now, Mark Twain"
he went on to senture, evidently wound
up, belongs to a peulIar and special
class of so called humorist, and
is somewhat deceptive to the
uninitiated. 1t is clear he never
made joke in all his writings, and his
best attempts in that line are beaten hol-
low by such men as Bret H8rte. At the
same time, also, the whole trend aud bent
of his works are atrociously immoral, II
there is sucn thing, and remind one of ii
certain paralleism with the vicious effect
produced on our imaginations by reading
the Confessions of Wicked Nell,' or Sly
Sally's Sumptuous Secrets, etc"
| was startled indeed to hear this and
instantly reached for my question blank,
but he motiOned me to be quiet and re-
sumed. Just read his latest production"
said he, The 100, 000, 900 Note and get
n sort of resume on yourself of its general
and specific effect on your moral constitu-
tion. Then turn To Sally's works aud per !
use the concluding chapters, and you Will !
be surprised TO observe this difference and |
likeness. Sally never undermines; she !
boldly assaults virtue on her perch, makes /
her begin to cackle, and at last to fly |
boisterously down. But Mark ingratiates /
himself by the clevereSt of the sycophantiC |
you and Z sort of business. and then pro- |
ceeds to undermine the precious citadel Of |
mans natural contempt of wealth, power. |
etc, which is the mainstay of the spirit of /
independence and the bulwark of liberty, /
leaving the wretched pulling who is |
foolish enough to follow him in an |
ecstatic state of bedazzlemeut at the un- |
fathomabe power of wealth to excite all /
satisfying effects on the poor fools egotism /
-piling it on there, where it ought not |
and must not WORK, and skilltully avoid |
ing those places where it's not III IL. |
When writer like Mark approaches the |
camp of your intelligence, anu you say |
who goes there he answers FRIEND aud |
when you tell him, advance friend and give
the countersign,' he can't give the sign,
IL L = e.,
smoothest of ways, until, If finally you
admit him, he does an infinite deal of loaf
ing around at your considerable expense.
But when Bill comes around you Just rush
out and drag him in bodily, and as he al
ways seems more inclined to go than stay
lie has right to remain inside awhile. 80
you see Mark is subversive in taking
nervy holt where he has 10 warrant,
while Bill and the other humorists never
do-and neither does Sal.
But" saiI !, willing to save something
out o. the wreck, 80 far as his jokes are
concerned. he's not such an utter SLOUGH
there, Is he?'
You forget" he demonstrated, "there
are only about three jokes in the world,
aud all attempts in this line must
be measured according to this stand
ard and considered in this re-
lation | don't see where he is any strong
er in this regard than in his morals. 70
give you an idea, now, Shakespeare knew
how to joke somewhat, and has given US
Hamlet and Jacques AS the supreme effort
of his genius in handling jokes OF the NOR
al and psychological sort, and Thersltes,
the full equal OF them, in cleverly dealing
with the more physical affairs OF love,
beauty. hatred, envy, wisdom and the like
in profoundly jocular manner, showing
the infinite taffy each of these are giving
us when pressed as an essenSiality and re
Quested TO make decent reality OF itself
when we take the trouble to follow it up
quite "a ways. But il remained for great
er than Shakespeare TO both live aud re-
late jokes that transcend the efforts OF all
these. Tohnathau Swift both lived and
told Jokes in a manner that left little TO
be desired He touched chords in
The reliable apparatus that Shakespeare
never suspected were there, and with the
free abandon of a virtuosO recitiug a Wag-
merriam storm symphony in II major
So Il would appear this uIau has an ade-
oua,e idea of a Joke When | urged him
TO 20 and hear Nye he hesitated. You
know said be. I've never sat out per
Torrance in ten years, or since ! Lett Bos-
ton. There in the east where its not outre'
to have % brandy smash or Its equivalent
il beer TO dull the edges OF these things
one can Ill still and suffer without much
trouble. uut tac whitewiEged pUrveyors OF
these essential reiufuVcements and com
fovsiug cordiaIs seem nos to have pene-
trated auy farther west than Topeka,
hence there's never an equal choice be-
tween two evils. and l feel constrained, as
a man Of sense. to choose the lesser"
Not liking 10 give up M cherished
project. however. / thought hard, briefly
aud TO he point and quietly uIfy.4ed the
"You see. said |. all OF rs boys are 20
ing and yuaJ IA The world can Be the
matter with this arrangement We've ,
got front seats all ;o-atael. % about the
time Of tie secorI art we'll arise IN unison
aud 80 e r. @r4F arr- uy-rcuat- and mean