Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-03-25
ANTIQUITY or Jesra


The Philosophy OF the fnmnrsaiisy Of
jokes In This Mundane world.
We often hear joke or Jest referred 70
a. 'veritable JOS Miller,D as though
that well known writer Of sacetious re-
marks and bad puns were the source and
fountain head OF current wit and humor.
The truth Ia that Joe Miller, who was n
verithble parsonage, was used even in lis
own day merely as sort Of supposititious
authority, nearly all the bad Jokes OF his
time being credited TO him, and later gen.
eratious having reached the conclusion
that he shone by original instead of by re-
hected light.
Bnt whether we choose to credit one the
DRY or the other, to make Joe Miller n man
OF wit or a mere blockhead, 1t Is true that
most OF the merry TESTS found In his book.
a. wei as those credited to him by COM
mon consent. are centuries older than his
time. ana the peculiar thing about many
OF them Is that they are common TO every
known language Of the world. The only
things that can compare with them In an.
tiquity and universality are proverbs.
which possess such strong family like.
ness that they can DO followed back for
ages, the same In substance, though differ.
ing somewhat in form OF expression.
The truth IL that there In nothing newer
under the sun in the way Of jokes and puns
and jests than in anything else, The acct.
dental resemblances Of the sound OF words
having totally different meanings; the In.
oongruity Of ideas suddenly suggested: the
righteousness OF certain situations, Incl.
dents, ideas, actions and appearances--all
must have been the same or practically the
same to the people OF the earliest races as
10 those OF the most recent, the only linn.
itation being that of circumscribed vo-
cabulary
At any rate. as far back as we can trace
the stream OF literature, we find along its
shores fragments and scraps of humorous
and witty sayings, many OF which are In
current use today, and probably will con.
tinue to be ms long as the human family
shall retain the sense Of humor 1t Is well
known to classical scholars that some OF
the accepted bits Of Jest and humor Of
the Nineteenth century are literal transla-
lions from the Greek comic dramatst,
Aristophanes, and that the Latin comic
poets are responsible for many of the Jokes
which we retail today with rs much zest
as though fresh from the makers hands.
No doubt II we had n record OF the spoken
language Of the primitive man, whoever
he may have been, we should find the
same things that have become familiar to
us in the known literature of the world.
Jokes take on the character Of the peo-
pie among whom they become domesti-
Gated, becoming coarse or refined. "a the
temperament OF those who employ them de
cides. Scandinavian humor, for example
has much OF the spirit Of the Vikings,
much Of the swing and crash OF the ham
mer OF Thor, while the jests of Italy and
France are as keen and pointed a. the
gfilpt a N h,a la rs.ft ha,,
Some millionaire who Is ambitious to
benefit his fellow men should offer large
reward for the invention of new lot OF
tests. the only condition being that they
should be equal in quality to the time
honored ones which have amused the world
so long. Perhaps the quest might he in
vain, like the search for the philosopher
stone, but the experiment would be at least
worth trying. San Francisco Chronicle.