The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-07-02
SERIOUS, YET FUNNY
UNCONSCIOUS HuMOR THAT HELPS
TO PUT SPICE IN LIFE.

Some Examples of Delightful Incon-
gruities In Speaking, Writing and
Painting That Appeal Strongly to
the Sense of the Ridiculous.
Nothing has added more to the merri-
ment of the world than the uninten
tional, unconscious humor of writer's
public speakers and, in fact. all classes
and conditions of men and women
And there is none so delightful 1t far
exceeds in mirth provoking quality the
cold blooded humor of the professional
wits.
We Americans are fun loving peo-
pie. and we must and will have our
jollity Some one has said with GER
tain truth: with all our vanity, ener-
gy and unrest. we are not dull. cheer
less people. Sour faced fellows. yellow
and dyspeptic, are to be met with in
our cars and on our streets. but they
are not the type of the American, for
he is as ready for a laugh as for
speculation. as fond of a joke as an
Office"
And the joke is all the more enjoy
able when it is spontaneous, The great
er the stress and strain of life the
greater the need and demand for hui
NOR, and no one deprecates the value
of humor excepting those who have
none of this good gift to their portion.
Sunset Cox, one of the wittiest men
of his day, says in his book, why We
Laugh" Eliminate from the litera-
ture and conduct of any one people the
amusing and the amused faculty, and
you produce a sterility as dull and I'M
interesting as the cinders and ashes of
the volcanic fields of Iceland. But in
clude the amusing element within
the experience and history Of mankind.
and no description of luXuriance, with
grape. olive, nectarne and orange. such
as makes the wales of Portugal peren-
NAL smile, is adequate to emphasize the
contrast"
One could not well instance a more
amusing blunder than that in paint
ing of the BLESSED Virgin" in an old
church in Spain. In this painting the
Virgin is represented as sitting on a
red velvet sofa fondling a cat with one
hand. while with the other she is pour
ing coffee from a silver coffeepot.
This is as amusing as painting in a
German church representing the sacri-
fee of Isaac by Abraham. In this
painting Abraham is about to dis
charge a huge pistol at Isaac when an
angel descends and pours pitcher o.
water on the pan of the pistol, thereby
saving Isaac.
The writer once saw a crude painting
of King Herod with pair of specta-
Giles painted on his nose. There Is q
very old painting of st. Peter denying
the Saviour, and several Of the Roman
soldiers in the background have pipes
In their mouths.
Those who are on the lookout for
them will find many amusing plumbers
in the daily papers and in periodicals
of all kinds. 1t was but the other day
that the writer saw Miss Fanny Cros-
by referred to in q religious paper as
the "author Of so many blind poems"
And it was great metropolitan daily
that one morning gave it's readers the
following information regarding the
wrecking of ship the night before:
"The captain swan ashore and sue
ceeded in saving the life of his wife.
She was insured in the Northern Ma
rine Insurance company and carried a
cargo of cement"
Equally amusing as an instance or
unceascious humor was the statement
made by another paper regarding the
capsizing of boat at sea. 1t said that
"but one life was lost, and that was
found afterward."
He must be sadly deficient in humor
who does not find himself amused by a
sign like the following seen in the win
dow of Il shoemaker: ANY respectable
man, woman or child can have fit in
this shop" 1t was an enterprising fur
rier who placed a card in his window
stating that for the benefit of the Ia
dies he would make 'muffs, boas, ETC..
out of their own skins"
A prolific source Of amusement to
manuscript readers is the surprising
way in which aspirants for literary
honor and glory often put things
We find one young woman saying OF
her heroine: 1.-THE countess fell back in
a deadly swoon. When she revived her
spirit had fed
Another young writer places her her
oine in very perilous situation and
then says of her. Her lips quivered
her cheeks grew pale; her breath came
in short pants"
A third writer gives this amusing
description of the appearance of some
one she referred to as "the bell OF
the BALI" "She was clad in some soft,
clinging, feecy, vapory stuff of purest
white that gave the appearance OF a
bit of detached cloud floating in the
y, In
exception of several bits of rare brio
a-brac gathered in a foreign cline.
A charming bit of purely unconscious
humor was that noticed by some WIS.,
itors to a great English coal mine. AT
the mouth of the great central shaft
hundreds of feet deep was placard
bearing these words:
please do not tumble down the