Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-05-09
SERIOUS, YET FUNNY
UNCONSCIOUS HuMoR THAT HELPe
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.

Some Examples OF DeushtuA ihcoh-
sruities 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
tionaI. 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 Il fun loving peo-
pie. and we must and will have our
1ollity. 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 n 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 hu-
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 t Svittiest men
of his day. saws in his b. Why We
laugh" Eliminate from me liteKa-
ture and conduct of any one people the
amusing and the amused faculty, and
YOU produce a sterility as dull and un-
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, nectarine and orange, such
as makes the wales of Portugal peren-
nial smile, is adequate to emphasize the
contrast"
One could not we'll instance 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
red velvet sofa fondling cat with one
hand, while with the other she is pour
ing coffee from a silver coffeepot
This is as amusing as painting in
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 a pitcher of
water on the pan of the pistol, thereby
saving Isaac.
The writer once saw crude painting
of King Herod with pair of specta-
cles painted on his nose. There Is
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 blunders
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 a religious paper as
the author of so many blind poems"
And it was a great metropolitan daily
that one morning gave its readers the
following information regarding the
wrecking of Il ship the night before
E"The captain swan ashore and sue
ceeded in saving the life of his wife.
she was Insured fn the Northern Ma
rine Insurance company and carried a
cargo of cement"
Equally amusing as an instance of
unconscious humor was the statement
made by another paper regarding the
capsizing of a 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
sign like the following seen in the win
dow of Il shoemaker: ANY respectable
man. woman or child can have a fit in
this shop" 1t was an enterprising fur
rier who placed a card in his window
stating that tor the benefit of the la
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: "The countess fell back in
deadly swoon. When she revived her
spirit had fed"
Another young writer places her her
oine in n 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
sne pan:' ''Sne was clad in some SOFT
clinging, fleecy, vapory stuff of purest
white that gave the appearance of
bit of detached cloud floating in the
sky. She wore no ornament with the
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 great English coal mine. At
the mouth of the great central shaft !
hundreds of feet deep was a placard |
bearing these words:
please do not tumble down the |
shaft"-Detroit Free Press