Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-09

D~efenslspf init Means Of Adding to
-, fhs Gaiety OF Nations.
What has become Of the punt whether
it's merits or it's dement's be the greater,
whether Il be the lowest form Of wit or
when judiciously used one OF the highest,
need not be debated The fact remains,
says the New York Tribune, that the pun
u no longer what Il used to be-a royal
road to fame as q wit. At best, q pun is
made nowadays by a variety team on the
stage apologetically, and II there is any
laugh raised It IL At the apology. The wits
Of today are famous by virtue Of their
slang or their brogue. and It is doubtful
n q book full 81 Conversational bon-mots,
such rs have been collected from the say
inss OF Foote or Hook, could be collected
from any ten Of them. Perhaps our pun
STEERS, too, have become commerciaiize6,
and keep their bright thoughts for the
press. b best q looks cold and nat
enough In print. Perhaps the gentle art Of
punning has died with the decay Of the art
of conversation. ia - ~ tssft ~
Several. New. York men were discussing
this question the other day, and one OF
them. who Is one Of the veteran public
school principals Of the city. recalled the
memory OF a man who. he said, was prob
ablys the last sotsthe old school Of punsters
In the country. afThe memory OF this man
caused him to grow eoquent in the d9fehee
of the pun. The day will come, he de-
ciarad. when the pun will once more regain
the place Il deserves, and clever men will
play oleveriy on words without shame and
tof the pleasure of all. He said:
Prof. b. +. Tweed who died a few years
ago In Cambridge. Mass. and who was n
schoolmaHter, a professor In Tufts college
and later in the University Of st. Louis, 4
charming eonvefsationalist and a brilliant
man. was probably the last OF q generation
Of men Mho were sfamouB-not infamous
becauBe gbf their puns. 8 Tweed fpunned
carly n Oftsu.' andithe common question
among his friends was. Have you heard
Twsed's latest pung' But he seldom made
e pun merely fromHhablt; there was point
to all the double meanings that he perpe-
tratOd. Once aefellow professor In et.
Louis stopped. AimeAS they were walking
along the Stteet 10 point out q curious
sign. sfs ~ 500
Look at that name. Joseph REX"
How oddi' he sais,
"'oh, come along Tweed answered.
he's only joking ,
II remember another occasion, when he
was a"pubilcn school teacher IN Charles
town. There was to be an election OF
teaeherF Mht night, and in the Afternoon
Tweed met James Adams, who was later
mayor Of boston, Hello. Tweedi' said
A .,..,,ss ,sd,sk, T. !. yOu should fan Of re
. Then said Tweed. Il should be put
orr ~ s. s- y
~Agaih. he was Aata dinner Of the Bos-
ton schooimasters' club in the days when
Ben Butler, was GOVERNOR. The. dinner was
partly In honor Of George A. Walton, one
Of the agents Of the Board Of Education
in Massachusetts. Butler had a few days
before In HIS characteristic fashion spoken
Of the board a. can aggregation Of old
vernon andTw1 ofnthem wear bonnets.' The
presiding oahcsf introduced Mr.. walton as
zone OF nose dId women
rsgqnfpossibIe,' cried Tweed; he's agent
Of the board
Tweed used himself 10 defend the pun
on the grounds Of. It's antiquity and re-
n0wnod ancestry. az well a. lie intrinsic
worth. The Egyptians started punnins.
80 far. % We. know. be used to say, for
they represented = doctor by the outline
OF { duck. Aristotle. Cicero, Erskine.
Swift. Johnson. Hood and good DR.. By1ss
Of Boston were noted for their puns, he
declared. and shail 1 sc6Fn the weapon
that served them so eRectivelyf' He said.
with Addison, that the seeds Of punning
are in all men who have . sense OF soms-
thing more than the bald. face value Of
words. and he would no more think Of re-
Stating his instinct IN this respect than
to refrain from tatting q child on the
head. His friends enjoyed bis puns az
much a. the children aid his afiection."
But" said one Of the other msp IN the
group. IF Tweed we're growing up With
az yrtaent seneratlon would hA mot follow
the trend Of the times, which. they tell Vi.
Is utilftaranT III
II think not, verbally"
'"But he WAS such q bad e~xAinple." said
another. some men can make good puns,
but they start so many people making
bad ones that they should all Be sup
pressed"
isn't that said the old schOolmastsr.
mildly, "a little Ike condemning the violin
because % many people make a nddle OF
90 1