Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16
FAR SOUTHERN JOKES
INSTANCES OF HUMOR OF PEOPLE
IN NIsH-AMERICA.
Much CT the Fun and Wit of an Obso
lete Type-Hcrseplay at
Carnivals.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
Spanish-America lacks a sense of the
ridiculous Wit and humor of a certain
kind its people possess, and they are not
slow to direct it against the eccentric grin
go. but it is of a simple, obsolete make and
may be compared to the old fashioned ar
tillery that ornaments some of their for
tresses-all three cannon, forts and jokes,
being herlooms from colonial days though
not always unsuited to local conditions
The enemy are running" a general is
said to have reported to Bolivar Then he
placed d dash and added after US"
Gen. Crespo has left us at least two
monuments laughs the Caraquenian, "a
viaduct to walk under and a tunnel to walk
over, and the visitor to Caracas finds this
actually to Oe Che case, and marvels, not
at the stupidity of the builder, but at the
discernmert of the people.
He has broken his saw" was the popular
joke wher Hernandez. the Venezuelan rev.
dictionary chi&f. defeated by Gen. Cas-
tro. 1t gains its point simply from the
fact that Hernandez was formerly car
penter, all manual labor among South
Americans being regarded demeaning.
Even the title Eel Mocho." by which Her.
nandez is known, is a joke upon his MANNED
hand.
Strangers to Spanish.
One matter in which South Americans
show great forbearance is with the stranger
who is learning the language. The Span
ish-American may in this particular be
keenly appreciative of the humor of the
situation, yet he will seldom indulge even
IN smile.
One may go to Bogota and never hear of
our former consul, who used to shout to the
tailor who occupied the store beneath the
consulate. .''Cante, sastre, canten' (Sng,
tailor, singh when i'll reality he supposed,
and every one knew he supposed that he
was telling the tailor to stop singing. OF
course, the foreigners like to tell of it and
have a dozen other stories of similar kind
but the Colombians will respectfully hold
their peace.
From a like motive, or possibly from
modesty the people of Buenos Ayres will
refrain from mentioning the young woman
missionary who informed public audience
that 1.-The Lord is in our stockings" mean
ing ''in the midst of u.s." the words me
dias' and medic" being very nearly alike
One of the best instances of native wit
is the story of the Mexican vigilante which
dates from the time when Gen. Grant made
his tour of the world. Many Spanish
American municipalities in those days were
accustomed to meet extraordinary ex-
penses by deprivlng the police postmen
and other city employees of one or two
days pay, and this method was resorsed
TO to provide suitable entertainment fer
their distinguished guest. Now, 1t hap
pened upon the day of their most import
ant feast that the letter ''W'' fell from TIE
leaving ''elcome" which In Spanish means
''he eats" Gazing upon this inscription, a
rather sour-looking vigilante remanked:
He eats! Sure enough, he does. but l
pay the BILL"
Grewsome TESTS.
or grim, even grewsome, humor there
are more frequent examples, such as the
expression in Uruguay, ''tocar ell violin
Ito play the violin), meaning. in revolu-
tionary times to cut the prisoners throa:s.
This reminds of the frequent inter
change of prisoners that Bolivar aad
the Spanish generals resorted to. though
the Anglo-Saxon is about as unappreciat-
i've OF this kind OF humor as were the I'M
fortunate victims.
of president Of Colombia, who, after mar
rying his mistress, was ineensed that Boz
gotta society would not receive her.
I'll make them receive her," he Is quoted
as saying; whereupon he had her features
stamped upon new issue of silver cur
rency.
Other dictators are credited by historians
with similar jests. particularly Guzman-
Blanco Of Venezuela, though his humor
took more courteous form. Just why a
dictator should Indulge more than other
men in pranks of this sort is not apparent
till one understands how quick the Span
ish-American cabaflero Is to take offense
and consequently how dangerous the pas
time would be to the ordinary citizen.
That the people enjoy practical joking.
and even horse play. Is amply proved by
the pandemonium that reigns during car
nival week. 1t Is no longer the custom III
the larger cities, as II was a generation
ago. to throw buckets OF refuse or orick-
bats upon 1.-The passer-by, but even yet one
will see and experience much to suggest
to him medieval Europe.