The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-05-29
Women and HumOr.


very first American women to pay tribute
to humor Her Offering was Topsy, that
woolly headed classic who has been trans
lated into more languages than any other
character of fiction 1t was Topsy who
said: 81 wasn't born. growed. " Topsy
will never die. Topsy is invincble. Fan
ny Fern was another pioneer in this field
Her familiar, confidential style is now OBJ
solete But her crisp, tart utterances re-
main as vital today as in their first youth
1t was she who said, "The silliest man
who ever lived has known enough when
he said his prayers to thank God he was
not born n woman"
Close upon the heels of Mrs Stoves and
Fanny Ferns debut came that of Mrs
Wtcher the author of the inimitable
"Widow Bedott Papers" In Difference to
the times which decreed that women
should be silent citizens, this extravagant
satire upon the garruous provincial busy
body was published anonymously. Only
accidentally did it leak out that the author
was the wife of well known minister In
Elmira 1t was Widow Bedott who said:
"Why want theref Cause don't 'soci-
ate with such company as the coons.
want invited, to be sure-she'd as soon
| although of invitin the gov nur as me-
Then there was the sparkling spirit of
| Phoebe Cary. Her fun bubbled up in verse,
covering the wide range from keen edged
satire to rollicking nonsense.
Gail Hamilton's epoch of popularity
| may serve here as connecting link be-
tween the times which involved the first
mentioned group of witty women and
| those of moro modern writer's Miss Dodges
name is seldom seen in current literature.
But in the old days she was caustic. She
was breezy. She was original. She was
as biting to the mental senses as red pep
per is to the physical. 1t was she who said
in her sermons to the clergy, "Grace and
greenbacks are the two horns of the al
tar" And, "If ever I am on speaking
terms with Joseph, 1 mean to ask him
why it was that during the twenty odd
years of his prison and palace life he never
| communicated with his father"
For score of years Josiah Allen has
| been entertaining large audiences. In his
name, and Betsey Bobbit's Marietta Hol-
ley has done some excellent work of the
broader sort. The spontaneity of the
earlier books is missing in the later ones
but still Josiah remains the laughing gas
| of the masses. 1t was he who insisted that
q certain poem was as long as Paradise
Lost'-not that he had read Miltons mas
terpiece, but he had 'hefted it,"
In the first days of the mo Name
Series burst into prominence the author
of the "Colonels Opera Cloak" 1t was
she who created Pomp, that absurdly
amusing pivot around which the shiftlcss
st. John family revolved. Upon this ne
gro servant fell every household duty, do
nestle or moral, from cooking and deliver
ing the family wardrobe from pawn to adj
ministering the parting benediction upon
the heroine bride: "An now go forth an
take y'u place among de nations OBJ de
'arth an flourish like green baize tree.
Amen"
Early in the eighties Charles Egbert
Craddock sent forth her Tennessee noun
tain folk to SOW smiles broadcast. A pure,
deep, irresistible humor runs through ev
cry volume of Miss Murfrees dramatic
and often equally pathetic work
Sarah Orne Jewett, Rose Terry Cooke
and Louise Alcott, among New England's
women writers, have all made appreciated
offerings to humor.
As has also Octave Thanet, in great
variety of tales of the west and south.
Florence Courtney Baylor's contribution
has been the brilliant and satirical, son
Both Sides"
In the same category, and in the fore
most ranks of women humorists the world
over, stands Sarah Jeanette Duncan. In
"The Adventures of Memsahib" she
gives us, among other delicious scenes
the woman traveller shaking her parasol at
an approaching tiger and calling Shoe. F"
In "a Social Departure" we have the in
terview with the Japanese reporter and
his subsequent translation to the Victims
of the printed interview, which contained
such startling news as, "Miss Younger
Rady measuring ten stone and wearing
six shoes and half "
Among the more recent story writer's
who have made us laugh more than they
have made us cry, though they have done
BOTH are Mary wilkins and Ruth Nc
Emery Stuart. Miss wilkins whimsical
New Englan, creations take varied forms,
but we find her quiet, delicate sense Of the
ludicrous oftener satisfied with the OBJ
stinate old man character who figures in
Pembroke, "The Revolt of Mother, "
Sin Gentian, "a Christmas Jenny" and
many other of her delightful stories.
Mrs Stuart's fun Is more robust. The
middle aged fathers monologue over his
first son Is the most subtle and altogether
charming of her amusing work. To the
attending physician this simple parent, in
rhapsody, says of the half hour old baby on
his lap: Hes slep, an walked up, an
yawned, an snez, an wunk, an shifted,
'thout me sayin word. Opened an shet
his little fist oncet, like ez eff he craved to
shake hands, howdy He cert my does
perform is functions wonderful. "
Among our humorous verse writer's we
find many women prominent. A few of
those who have been most noticeably pop
ular in this field are Madeline Bridges,
Louise Imogen Quincy, Bessie Chandler
and Helen Gray Gone. When collection
was made of lighter American verse few
years ago so severe a critic as Mr.. Howells
declared that the work of the women,
clever as it all was, surpassed that of the
men.
With newspaper women wit seems cpl
demic 1t would be impossible to mention
all who have won laurels in this branch OF
journalism without rivaling the census re-
port. But some names that swing most
persistently through the memory are: That
brilliant critic of the Pacific slope, Betsey
b., who was and is no more; her successor,
Geraldine Bonner; Helen Follett of Chi