The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-01-18
SERIOUS, YET FUNNY
UNCONSCIOUS HUMoR THAT HELPS
TO PUT SPICE IN LIFE

fMlnfiuE mat Appear 1Aroo8Ay 70
the sense Of the Ridteuious.
Nothing has added more TO the merri-
ment Of the world than the unlnten
tiOnal. unconscious humOr Of writers
public speakers and. In fact. all classes
and conditions OF men and women.
And there 10 none so delightful. II far
exceeds IN mirth provoking quality the
cold bloOded humor Of the professional
wits.
We Americans are q fun loving peO-
Die. and we must and will have our
jollity. Some one has said with GER
tain truth: with all our vanity. ener-
~ 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 a
speculation. as fond OF a joke as an
ONCE"
And the joke is all the more enjoy
able when 1t is spontaneous. The great
or the stress and strain OF life the
greater the need aud demand for hu-
NOR, aud 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, WIN
grape. olive. nectarine and orange. sucn
as makes the wales of Portugal peren-
nial 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 ola
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
lng coffee from silver coffeepot.
This is as amusing as painting in Il
German church representing the sacfl-
fee of Isaac by Abraham. In this
painting Abraham is about TO as
charge a huge pistol at Isaac when an
angel descends and pours 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 Tor
them will find many amusing blunders
in the daily papers and in perlodlcals
Of all kinds. 1t was but the other day
that the writer saw Miss Fanny Cros-
by referred to in religious paper as
the "author of so many blind poems"
And 1t was a great metropolitan daily
that one morning gave its readers the
following information regarding the
wrecking Of ship the night before:
THE captain swan ashore ana sue
ceeded in saving the life of his Wite.
She was insured In the Northern Ma
rlne 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 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
low of shoemaker: ANY respectable
man. woman or child can have a tit in
This shop" 1t was an enterprising fui-
rier who placed card in his window
stating that for the benefit or the Ia
lies 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 VI
her heroine: The countess fell back In
deadly swoon. When she revived her
spirit had fed"
Another young writer places her her.
pine In a very perilous situation and
then says Of her. Her lips qulvered;
her cheeks grew pale; her breath came
n short pants"
A third writer gives this amusing
description OF the appearance OF some
one she referred TO as 1.-THE bell or
the ball" "She was clad in some soft,
ellnging, neecy. vapory stuff OF purest
white that gave the appearance OF
DIT of detached cloud floating In the
sky. She wore no ornament with the
exception Of several bits Of rare brio
a.brac gathered in foreign cline
A charming bit of purely unconscious
humor was that noticed by some us
TORS to a great English coal mine. AZ
the mouth OF the great central shaft
hundreds of feet deep was placard
bearing these words.
please do not tumble down the