The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-20
A Baron's Unconscious Humor.

constantly saying and doing funny
things without intention, and usually
at their own expense, says the New
York Times. Convinced of the worth
lessness of all doctors save those of
Hungary, the Baron makes it rule
to take his own physician with him
wherever he goes; but on recent &C.
casion he was unfortunate enough to
fall and break his leg when in Vienna
without this useful functionafy.
Photographic orders were sent for the
physician to follow Immediately, hut,
DESTROYS of sending Instructions for the
treatment of his aristocratic patient
until his arrival, and ignorant of the
point at which the leg was broken.
the doctor telegraphed this question:
Where did you break your leg?"
To this Baron Mikosch replied: ION
the Stephensplatz."
On another occasion Mikosch had
made a long railway journey, and was
afterward complaining that it always
made him i'll to ride backward in the
train.
We'll, why didn't you request your
vis-a-vis, then, to change places with
you?" asked the recipient of his COM
plants.
why, I didn't have vis-a-vis,' he
replied, innocently.
Being on a visit to a fellow-noble-
man at Gratz, Mikosch was much i'm
pressed by the cleverness of his host,
who, IN presenting his three daughters.
made this pun: Baron, these are my
three Grazien" (graces).
go to-" said the Baron to himself;
Il will remember that and get it off as
my own joke"
la ln-ft n S1AY~f -
tunity to perpetrate the joke came.
when several friends arrived TO visit
him at Pest. When, therefore, his two
daughters entered the room, he turned
to his guests and said:
Gentlemen, thes are my two Pests. y
On the occasion of his first visit to
the Austrian capital the Baron re-
ceived some good advice from his ia
Their, who closed with this warming
And now, my son, be careful of
those Vienna girls. They're as pretty
as you need wish to see; but every
third one of them IS a fake.
The young man took the warning
| only too well and too literally to heart
as he proved in the course of the first
court ball which he attended.
Baron Mikosch Countess Auers-
perg; Baron Mikosch, Fraulein Won
Hugel," said the master of ceremonies,
presenting him to the ladies of the
court; but as he was about to present
him to the third lady the Baron
| checked him and said:
Yes, yes, / know, that's all right;
but the third one. she's fake
Great official Importance is attached
to ones religious belief in Europe,
| generally, and more especially in Aus
| tria. To Mikosch's request for his mail
at the Vienna postoffice, the official,
who desired to know whether he had
, ordered his letters addressed simply to
the general postoffice, made this sem
tentious inquiry:
Post restante?'
NO replied the nobleman promptly,
Catholic"
Again Baron Mikosch essayed to win
reputation as a wit by repeating as his
own another's bon mot and again he
came to grief. A German friend with
| whom he was dining separated a sim
| gle bean, which in German is 'bohne,
from all the others on his plate, and
then asked him what celebr ated Cen
eral was thereby represented. In re
Spouse to his confession of ignorance,
the friend explained that it repre-
scented "Bohn-apart."
In order to perpetrate the same pun
the Baron gave a large dinner party
| at which one of the courses was beans
and at table having gained the atten-
| ton of the entire company, he sepa-
| rated the bean as he had seen it done
and asked his riddle. No one supply
ing the answer, he declared triumph
antly that the General represented was
Napoleon"
After the death of his father Baron
Mikosch was shocked by the discovery
! that he possessed neither photograph
| Of 10 nd So
| his embarrassment he repaired to the
celebrated painter Munckaczy.
Il want to have a picture painted OF
my father" he explained to the artist
"Well, that's simple enough" was
the reply; "all you've got to do is to
bring your father to my studio and
! I'll paint him."
'Ah, but alas. my father is dead!
ooh, l see. But doubtless you have
a photograph of him?"
No, that's exactly why 1 come to
| you. 1 want to have you paint his
| picture for me because 1 haven't a
| likeness of him.
! By this time the artist saw that he
had to do with an oddly, and he pro-
| ceeded to make MikOsch describe his
fathers appearance in detail, and al
the end told him to come back in a
weeks time. On his return Munkaczy
leu MN 10 canvas on Wnlch, TO carry
| out the joke he had painted the elder
Mikosch according to his sons de-
scription With clasped hands and
streaming eyes the young man stood
for long time silently regarding the
painting, and the artist actually be-
gan to think that by miraculous
chance he might have produced a like
ness of the deceased.
why do you weep" he asked at
length.
'Ah. my poor father" replied MI
kosch. how greatly you have
changed"