Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-12
q GEORGZ A2E o

him one. perhaps it would be better
to say four, better and left none.
at was not my list, but the scien-
lists" said Mr.. jerome. 81 was only
quoting him in saying that there are
only thirteen original jokes That is
not my belief. / do not believe that
there are any, though whether the peo-
pie who read my books agree with me
or not 1 am not prepared to state.
"The question can be easily settled
by calm inquiry. What is a joke? You
do not answer. Nobody can. Why? Be
cause the joke is in the mind of the
beholder, or the person who laughs.
For example, I fall down stairs.
You laugh heartily and consider it a
great joke. Do I? Certainly not. Do
laugh? No; I swear. | do not mean
by this that my idea of a joke is other
peoples troubles. / mean that it is the
point of view-which, of course. must
be individual-that make the laugh.
Take the four examples that Mr.
AIDE admits are jokes, and what do we
find? The first is the married variety
when he himself says he is not mar
ried-if he were he never would ad-
nit it. / protest that marriage is no
joke, and propose a test in the interest
of science. Let Mr.. Ade marry, as an
experiment, and then, after the lapse
of two years. announce whether it is
funny or not. If his answer is affirm
ative, then L am proved wrong and
there is a joke. II it is not, my theory
is upheld; L am willing to abide by
the result.
"Nr. Ade also contends that there
is humor in love. Nothing of the kind
Apparently he does not know that the
descendants of the brigandS of old
have all become florists or gone into
the jewelry business. When he discov-
ers this fact he will change his mind.
1.-THE sixth variety-the woman joke
lis allowed in though Mr.. AIDE him
self confesses that it is possible, but
it is not funny. He is right there. 1t
is not AS a matter of fact, it is quite
the reverse. If Mr.. Ade will take my
suggestion and marry he will agree
with me. Every other married man
does
The Whisky Joke Last
"The remaining one, which is given
place on his list is the whisky joke.
will admit that this has more
| legitimate claim than any other.
Every man has at some time or other
come to the conclusion that whisky
is. very amusing thing, but
within the space of twelve hours.
and usually much less, he has found
that he was very much mistaken.
"The trouble with you Americans"
continued Mr.. Jerome, having disposed
of AIDE. and now taking us in a lump,
sis that you are too anxious to laugh.
I am quite certain that l will be only
considered here as a funny man,
though several people have told me
that they thought | might not be. It is
this passion of Americans for being
considered funny that causes your
slang, which, frankly, I consider an
abomnation. l do not believe that any
one understands it now-I am certain
they will not a hundred years hence.
whenever | ask any one the mean
ing of a slang phrase they answer me
with another. It's most confusing, Only
the other day | was discussing the
simple life with a man who was almost
an entire stranger. l remarked that
with all your hurry did not think you
Americans accomplished any more
than your leisurely forefathers. His
reply was an entirely irrelevant remark
regarding his inability TO stand up AS
we were not discussing the condition OF
his legs his assertion struck me as de-
cidedly odd"
"Did he say 4 can't stand for that'?"
was asked.
"That was his expression. When
showed solicitude as to his physical
condition he grew red in the face, and
somewhat hotly told me to quit string
ing whatever that may mean. Later
gathered that Il can't stand for that
was a slang phrase. Naturally asked
the man to explain it, He said that 1t
meant that he was from Missouri
which, as a biographical detail was
no doubt interesting, but as an ex-
planation decidedly vague. When
discovered that the geographical allu-
sion was also slang intended to explain
the former i asked for further enlight-
ment All the man did then was 10
wave his arms helplessly and repeat
meaninglessly the number twenty
three which was neither funny nor in
telligent. America is at present pass
ing through the slang stage. / hope 1t
gets through quickly"