The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-04
MooDYs LITTLE JOKE.

T HE ANNOUNCEMENT that Secre-
L tary Moody was only joking when
he announced in the tabernacle a few
DAYS ago that one of the new battle
ships to be built in the near future
would be named Utah, is very interest
ing to Salt Lakers. We are told that
true art is a successful cOncealment OF
art. If this is a fact, then Secretary
Moody is entitled to rank as the great
est humorist OF his generation.
Certainly nobody i'm the great audi
ence that heard him speak in the tab
ernacle had any idea that be was Jok-
ing As plainly as the English Ian
guage can be spoken the secretary Of
the navy declared that a battleship
would be named for Utah. and he con-
veyed the impression. with great de-
1ibera teness. that this action would be
taken within the next few years. A
stenographic report of his talk shows
that he said:
II hope you have in your heart a
warm spot for the American navy
Cloud. prolonged applause) see you
have. (Cheers0 And expected that
the people would have that sent these
splendid volunteers to the Philippines
such short time ago. We want the
same kind Of product to walk the decks
of our battleships. CCheers) His ex-
cellency the governor. expressed the
wish that one of our larger and more
powerful ships should bear the name
of your state CCheers.) L see you wish
st. too. (CheersO So far as I have a
right to do so. I say to his excellency,
II by the help of your representatives
In the two chambers of the nations
council we get next winter, as we got
last winter. five splendid. powerful bat
fIeships one of them shall bear the
name of your state. prolonged ap-
plause) And if she does her work as
well as the people of this state have
done theirs, I am sure neither you nor
the nation viii ever for Oneainstant re
gret it,
The audience was unanimous in so
interpreting his remarks seriously, for
1t applauded them vigorously. Secre-
1ary Moody must have known how the
peap}s understood him, but he made
no effort to dispeI the false impression
created by his words. He carried out
his little joke to the end. as all jokes
should be carried. And what a scream
ingly funny joke it was, to be sure.
Let us all join in laughing at it; let
our ha has be heard even from Logan
to St. George. Let the horses laugh,
also. and the swine and the sheep upon
a thousand hills, and all the rest Of
the livestock. 1t is rot often that a
man so prominent in public life as Sec
rotary Moody gets OF so ludicrous a
thing. as this. Once more we rise to
hail him as the greatest humorist Of
his time.
He is as great a joker as the idiot
who tells his poor friend that the lat
ter has just inherited a large fortune,
when there is no fortune for him to
inherit. He is as amusing as the miser
who tells the widow that ne viii de-
stroy the mortgage on her place, and
next day sends the sheriff to take it
away from her
Should the time ever come when
Utah viii be in a position to return
the secretary's pleasantly. she should
not overlook the opportunity. We
might invite him out here to a ban
uuet and then kick him hard from one
end of the state to the other That
would be about as bright a joke as the
one of which Secretary Moody has
Just been delivered