The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-08

-
!: British Humorist Who Is Visiting the ::
= United States. 3
=: ~
New York Herald Special Service. '2sit=
New York, Oct III erome K. Jerome
please. pronounce Jerum- erum) :,
lokesmith, arrived in America for the
first time in his life today. He came
on the. American line steamship St..
Louis, from Southampton. He is going
to lecture in this country fol: six month
if his health will permit "a. - 's..@ !
Mr.. sJerumO wore very aorid face
today, which he always wears; full
blue necktie which he wears only at
times; soft brown hat, no moustache,
gray tweed suit, spectacles and a very
merry twinkle in his brown eyes. :.
And how do, you like America
asked some bright person. when the au-
thor Of "The Idle Thoughts Of an Idle
Fellow, was at last at leisure on the
pier and ready to be interviewed. s...
HIM.. they asked me that at South
ampton,' answered the author, adjust
ing his spectacles. g I can say at pres
ent that I admire your, tall Buildings
His Definition Of Joke. il. i'~@.
Mr.. Jerome,'', asked another, inter
viewer eonfidentially, 5s'giyeaus a def
milton Of a. joke, will you 9''.sel-,.,.. sz &c
" HIM, definition Of a joke9 I've been
trying to do that for twenty years. I
can It. Jokes comes from heaven, you
know @
English jokes9'' inquired third in
Eyes, all jokes. Jokes belong to no
country. They are bounded by no To-
calty, pronounce my name 'Jerum'.'
",Oh, 'Jerum,' / beg your pardon,
Not Responsible for Name. :
| eyes, that's tie way we've pro-
!nounced our name for more than a hun
dred. years. I claim no responsibility
fqr i, tho; That $ the way my father
prbhounc ed- it. - a. '.<s
T "Your first is the same as your last,
ism It it," remarked some one else.
that eber lsR fahea eans f9e
and I didn' argus the. point at the
Do you have any trouble living up
| to your reputation aS hunrorist9''
| ~ tried to at first, but I have given
it up. It's too much work. Everybody
| expects me to be laughing and crack
ing JOKES a put n really very serious
~; tsCan't you crack joke for US
nowY'' =" :. -,
! ..Ix Walk and Be Funny. 81.
elm, we'll. 2 HIM, might after a
| fve-mile walk in the country. I advise
your American humorists to try long
walks in the country. A long walk Is
great help.''. 49, ;
joke, Mr.. jerome. How about that9'
HIM. well. ! think any average in.
telligent Englishman can appreciate an
American joke he ought to, for we Dor
row angood many of our Jokes from
Glow about American appreciation
Of British humor?' r.
Got Ahead Of Him. -
IT expect to find that out. If my
American audiences treat me the way
! the one I read to aboard the st. Louis
last night, I shall feel very much flat
tered. They seemed to anticipate every
Tquip I attempted to make before I go1
to the last word. I was =.
"Do your English audiences laugh
before or after you get to the las
wordY' interrupted, one Of his ques
TONERS, impertinently II
have been will, it is feared, never b,
known, for. just then somebody else in
4 terposed with: z"Don't you find j
I rather hard to find new jokes9" =
Sad-Faced Humorist. BIZ
/ MI. Jerome 8 face was now assumin,
an expression Of infinite patience AM
sadness, but he gave this answer:
Well, [ I'll tell you. AS somebody ha
said, there are just thirteen good joke
and probably every one Of these ha
thirteen variations My recipe is, us
the thirteen jokes for thirty-two year
and then start all over again. Thirty
two two years, j; think, is generation, don
Jerome?''
fOh, yes, indeed, he has .dined a
my home several tines
; I suppose those dinners were regu
lar feasts Of wit as well as reasonq'
Il Feast Of Seriousness.
d No, we did not crack single joke
It was a relief to. both Of us not t
have to crack jokes and then M
I Jerome added: GIVE talked on yer
serious subjects, such as the future Q
: woman.
S. What Y do Englishmen think Of XII
. ling s humor9D
Why, we do not consider Mr. Kiir
ling Shumorist, don It. you know. w
! regard him rather as realistic poet.
s Mr.. Jerome's mouth relaxed into
! very broad smile.