The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-02
wANDERINGs OF A PARAGRAPH.
A Kentucky Yarn That Called Forth All
the HumOrIsts' Ell orts.

A reporter on q Louisville newspaper
wrote a few weeks & q harmless fake
story and his paper printed It the next day.
IL 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 people
oil 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 a.
juryman.'
Chicago made that up. In fact most Of
the Chicago papers commented In n way
or another upon the somnolenoe Of tho
Kentuckian. >
The st, Joseph, Mo-; paragraph man
handles 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
time the newspaper waif shows up It Ia In
a Denver paper thus disguised:
"A veteran Kentucky citizen has been
sleeping twelve years. Probably only
snoozing of a real old Kentucky jag
A spirit OF envy may have inspired the
next text on the subject. Il comes from
a New Orleans paper:
"A Kentucky man has been buried In q
sound sleep for the last twelve years Most
likely he started in to read M OF Marse
Henry Watterson's editorials.'
Hot on the heels OF this unkind cut comes
the deliberate insult OF q Detroit q
paper:
See that a Kentucky man has been
asleep for twelve years. Don't blame him.
That's about all there 10 TO do nowadays II
you nave to live in Kentucky"
There Ia probably some allusion to local
conditions in this from st. Louis:
"A Kentuckian OF some standing has
been asleep for the last twelve years. In
all likelihood the gentleman is dead and
some Of those highly efficient ambulance
hurried diagnoses Of his oase.'
Still hurrying OF its way, the scrap OF
intelligence slips into a Columbus, Ohio,
editorial ROOM, where the man takes it and
hurls it back In this shape:
There's a TAI in Kentucky who's been
asleep for twelve years. Is 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 for twice
twelve years.
One might be inclined to wonder sus-
~pioiously about the habits Of the Harris
burg man who fixed it UP this wav:
We learn with interest that a Kentucky
man has been asleep for twelve years. He
probably came in at . A. M, too muddled
TO make excuses to his wife, and now he's
simply sidestepping the morning after
explanations"
When the Cincinnati writer starts in we
see how far a man dare go for a pun:
That Kentucky chap who has been
quietly sleeping for the last twelve wears
must have filed himself full Of still whis
KEY"
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's novels"
The handling OF the theme In Cleveland
shows tendency TO get gay with the police.
The paper says:
a man in Nentucky has been asleep for
twelve years. This naturally brings up
the pertinent query, why isn't he on our
police fOrce2"