The Washington times., 1901-11-14
tIrerlation Statement
American Iiuuor.


The Century Magazine" has am
naunced with becoming dignity that
during the ,amjps year # VIII pay at
tenttou especially to humor 'fhts is net
a Jest 1t MAY l'e seen in large letters
across the t,r cf yee cover a Year
of American lsusear.@ The experiment
is hssas5tas ora bat Nh oilieg has
taken Sis .~,etaa-e In both hands snd
exclaimed. '>sa ,ot Let as be funny'
Il arrea1s tEat ths Century hls
been lcd io tisiS 5e. sios by sH overdose
os historical seouaseee. wsta u-Hsya sJ
has been replete durins tbc rsst yVe.ve-
month. Knights on dashiBE horses. cav
alters i'm plumed hats. and rlsTitsus iu
SAD raiment have taken headers
through its pages one after another, iu
Wild profusiUn OF adventure. After
repeated bumpers OF the wine OF me
dievalism. the Century has undevtak-
en- in the soberness Of next mornings
good resolutions. TO sort out and ar
range American humorists and give
them fair chance to show what they
can 90. Judging by the first issue IN
der the new regime there Will be a
novel brand of unconscious humor be-
fore the public in the near future.
Air- Glider has begun his weighty
task by having an article written to
order by one W. p. Trent entitled a
Retrospect OF American Humor." AS il
stands, it is a dissection Of that pecu-
liar, racy, unaccountabie thing called
American humoT. which leaves the
reader wondering whether there ever
was u funny man in this country after
all. Apparently the writer is puzzled
over the question where the various
wits of the land got their reputat ation.
His obtuseness on this point is even be-
yond that of the Briton, for an Eng
lisilnan can generally see the point OF
d joke if one is willing to wait. But
after Artemus Ward, and John Phoenix.
and SAKE. and Holmes have waited
something like half a century. this is
the appreciation they get at the hands
CT Dir. Trent:
TO sor.e extent wit and humor have eluded
1he critic, aud Ein continue 10 DO until the
Psychologists Is able thoroughly 10 analyzc the
cvpIpleS emotions that inaneAce laughter and
s'Bi1es. Yet perhaps this is I consumnatiOu not
deroHtly 20 be wished Should the physical basis
Of thes. -a1etions be laid bare. il might at once
~ppua. at our Aeiase of hunor depended upon
our food and our digestion"
Air. Trent has not even allowed him
self TO think of wit in connection with
his subject. None of the hunnor in which
he has been delving has rubbed off on
him. He is as demure as the wrong
side OF a tombstone. II Mr. Glider had
gone and got tapir 10 write his article
for him he could hardly have found a
mind more completely outside the in
tangible territory of the fan-loyer. How.
for example. could il have been ex-
peeted that any body would ever write
such a sentence as this about the author
Of the -Biglow Papers?"
'-Even Lowell. original and great hunori.t
thollgh be Is, has bic Etefary aHaiogues. His
pEei9soineia ma! gell seem t9 throw all previous
apparatus in the shade, but the similar apparatus
eststed pHeTiou1y."
This is not anything out of a Ger
man laboratory; it is a perfectly un-
prSjudiced view Of Lowell. Some may
attempt to discover its meaning; but
the wise reader will reyerently leave it
in the isolation of its own profundity.
Nobody could possibly have taught DIR.
Trent 10 write as he does; he must have
done it all himself.
Here is his characterization of Mark
Twain.
Printers apprentice, Mississippi pilot Nevada
pioneer, journalist. tTlFeler-What wonder that
Mr. Clemens with his native genius, haA evolved
from hun0rist into great writer OF picturesque
fiction and something OF an international censor
mount,
The gist OF this seems 10 be that af-
ter a faithful and Woodworking life as
humorist. Mr. Clemens has become
something else; but. however grateful
he may be for the compliment, he may
have 70 do some pondering over it 10
ind out just what it means.
Mr.. Trent, however, does not intend
to waste his whole morning saying
pretty things. He goes on. with lofty
determination to get at what humor
really is If il takes all night:
~But we are chiefly concerned with the hurnor
OF thess Iaen. BOT gith their lives; Hnd though
the task OF describing il l. difficult il must u0t
be slIifked. Il l.. on the WHOLE = broad bulEor
that frequently does not disd5in the use of bad
spelling and bad puns IN its lowest
form il can be found in almost any newspaper,
IN the shape Of what Is called comic copy
receipts icr writing which are said =, be ,5sIy
obtained and followed.
Finally, after classifying his work
ing list Of eighty American humorists'
as best he can, Mr.. Trent winds up his
critique with this ultimatgm, delivered
with becoming asinine solemnity:
II Il safe 60 lTophosy that 4 people who have
a lest i0r everything for political coirup-
iicu-Nnl sooner latcF have more need of
"iiters S'o. like Milton and Dante. rarely smile"
This induces a suspicion that Mr.
Trent means TO qualify for the posi-
tion which he dimly suggests in his |
peroration- He is going TO be violent
ly disappointed. There is no room for
the laurels Of any sprouting Milton or
Dante on his cranlum. He will 20 down
in history, as Tar as he goes at ali.
the one american who Was unable 10
See anything funny In American humor
Dialect.
A gentle protest has been entered by
rua = g..s-a,rszf., tg,.. 90 - -.