Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-29
WANDERING OF A PARAGRAPH.
A Kentucky Yarn That Called Forth
All the Humorists' Efforts.
From the New York Sur

| From the New York Sun
| A reporter of a Louisville newspaper
| wrote a few weeks ago a harmless fake
story and his paper printed it the next day.
| 1t told of a Kentucky man who had been
asleep for twelve years.
| Since that time the pleasant bit of fiction
has been earning bread and butter for peo-
pie all over the land. Thus we read several
days after the thing was published:
"A man in Kentucky has been asleep for
| twelve years When he wakes up he should
| be assured of a permanent job as jury
| man
Chicago made that up. In fact most OF
| the Chicago papers commented in one way
| or another upon the somnolence of the
Kentuckian.
The St. Joseph, Mo, paragraph man han
| dies it thus
Down in Kentucky "a mans been asleep
twelve years. Won't he be mighty glad to
! find out all his debts are outlawed?
| Somebody in Denver has evidently had
experience in Kentucky, because the next
! time the newspaper waif shows up 1t Is IN
| a Denver paper thus disguised:
"A veteran Kentucky citizen has been
| sleeping twelve years. probably only
| snoozing off real old Kentucky jag.
A spirit of envy may have inspired the
| next text on the subject. 1t comes from
| New Orleans paper:
"A Kentucky man has been buried in
sound sleep for the last twelve years. Most
Henry Watterson's editorials.
Hot on the heels of this unkind cut comes
the deliberate insult of a Detroit news
paper:
See that a Kentucky man has been
asleep for twelve years. Don [ blame
That's about all there is to do nowadays if
you have to live in Kentucky"
There is probably some ailusion to local
conditions in this from St Louis:
"A Kentuckian of some standing has
been asleep for the last twelve years In
he Hon iS tea
some of those highly efficient ambulance
surgeons have made one of their usual
hurried diagnosis of his case.
Still hurrying on its way. the scrap OF
intelligence slips into a Columbus. Ohio,
editorial room, where the man takes 1t and
hurls il back in this shape
There's a man in Kentucky who's been
asleep for twelve years. As long as he
keeps his eyes shut and lies still it's all
right He's a blamed sight honester than
a lot of other Kentuckians who have been
walking around sound asleep Tor TWICE
twelve years.
One might be inclined to wonder sus-
piciously about the habits of the Harris
burg man who fixed it up this way:
1--WE learn with interest that a Kentucky
man has been asleep for twelve years. He
probably came in at am. too muddled 10
make excuses to his wife, and now ne
simply sidestepping the morning after ex-
When the Cincinnati writer starts in we
see how far man dare go for pun:
THAT Kentucky chap VINO mas Deeh
quietly sleeping for the last twelve years
must have filled himself full OF still
whisky"
Pittsburg shows it still manages to keep
an eye on literary affairs
"A Kentucky man went to sleep twelve
years ago and he's asleep yet. This shows
us the terrible effects of reading one of
Henry James novels.
The handling of the theme in Cleveland
shows a tendency to get gay with the
police. The paper says:
"A man in Kentucky has been asleep for
twelve years. This naturally brings up
the pertinent query, Why isn't he on our
police force?"