Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1907-12-14

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At Scranton, Pa, the "rib-tlcklin9
book Of humorous fiction, The Reiuye-
nation OF Aunt Mary" had It's first
production on the stage "Aunt Mary
Is By Anne Warner. Anne Warner
wrote "Susan Clegg" and Susan Cleggo
was praised by President Roosevelt.
Consolation for the member at the
tag-end Of a large family: "Coleridgo
was the last of thirteen childrens
james Fenimore Cooper was the eley-
enth of twelve children; Washington
Irving was the last Of eleven; Balzac,
the last Of three; George Eliot, the last
Of four; Napoleon was the eighth, and
probably the last; Daniel Webster, the
last OF seven; Benjamin Franklin was
the last Of seventeen, and the last-born
Of the last-born for several genera
lions; Rembrandt was the last Of six
children; Rubens, the last of sevens
Sir Edwin Landseer, the fifth of seven
children; Joshua Reynolds was the sey-
enth child Of his parents; Carl Maria
Weber, the ninth Richard Wagner, the
last of seven; Mozart, the last Of sew
en-; Schumann, the last Of five; Schu-
bert, the thirteenth of fourteen"
Mr.. Howells has discovered a char
acteristic in which Henry Arthur
Jones is rather like Shakespeare" He
defines it this way in the North AmerE-
can: "All In all, there are some TWEEN
ty Of Mr.. Jones' plays which have
read. None is exactly tragedy, none is
exactly comedy; but could not say
that any was not explicitly or tacitly
serious. They are very like life In
that, and they are like life in being
most clear and straight III meaning,
We pretend to be very complex as to
our behavior and the principles that
control it; but really we are entirely
simple, except when we humbug our
selves into the belief that we are very
involved as to either; perhaps we are
then still simple. Mr.. Jones, at any rate
addressed US In very plain terms, and
no matter how startling his dramatic
proposition Is or how bold It's solution
his view Of human nature is not be.
clouded by any vapors stirred up in
the juggle with his own consciousness 5
he is rather like Shakespeare In thai"
ellison Gardner asks in Putnam's
Monthly, Why Is a Joke Funny? He
proceeds to show that what is funny in
one situation is not funny in anotherS
Russell Sage is a spendthrift. (JOke(
Russell Sage is a thief. "a lie.l
Teacher said ouch as he landed on
the tack. (Funny.) Teacher said Ny
Cod as he slipped from the porch and
was impaled on the spike Of an iron
fence about the area. (Nothing very
funny IN this.) Sambo is caught steal
Ing chickens. Much humor.) Mr.
Mccall is caught stealing insurance
funds. (No joke.) Mr.. Weber hits Mr.
Field in the stomach. (Large box office
returns.) Fitzsimmons hits Sullivan
in the stomach. (Hissing and curses }
Frank Daniels poses as Queen of the
May. (He is irresistible.) Ophelfa
does a similar stunt Ut is very pa
thetic.) Bernhardt does tragedy with
a catch in her voice. Ut draws the
tears) Cissy LOTUS does the catch In
the voice, and draws a salary as a
coincidence" Mr. Gardeners instances
are amusing. We cannot agree with
him, however, that at is wrong for
Buster Brown to be 50 mischievOus, but
we all laugh at him and thank the
author" Not everyone laughs Which
leads us to suggest that Mr.. Gardner
add to his inquiry, ''Why Is a Joke
Funny?" a more pointed one: Wig
Aren't Jokes Funny?"