Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-03
HUMOR|STS WILL
COMMEMORATE NYE
EXPECT TO BUILD MONUMENT
TO FUNNY MAN
National Organization Will Hold Con-
vention Here During Middle of
Observation-Disclosures
Asked for Work

1t is not many years ago since every
American with any claims to a sense of
humor eagerly awaited the next effuslon
of the shiny-pated laugh-provoker,
Edgar Wilson Nye, or, to speak in plain
English, Bill Nye. "Baled Hay wasn't
nearly so dry as it's name seemed to in
dictate; even the "Chestnuts" had GER
tain piquancy and flavor far from
ancient And then came those witty,
and withal sensible, Remarks" Inc
strange weird caricatures which the
talented humorist drew of himself
and always the omnipresent cat-Were
known from one end of the land to the
other.
The veteran fun maker is now no
more, but his books seem destined TO
escape the limbo of forgotten Van1tles
to which so much pseudo-humorous
work departs. Bill Nye is dead, but
there are a hundred or more American
press humorists who have decided that
their old pal shall not be forgotten. In
the little village of Laramie, said to be
somewhere in the wilds of Wyoming, a
monument will be erected to the memory
of the man who by his utterances from
| that place, both by pen and mouth,
placed it on the map for in Laramie
Bill Nye passed the best years of his
life. From Laramie came those Won
derful decoctions of brain and no-brain
which made the name of Nye famous
wherever the mother-in-law joke had
penetrated.
Asked to Contribute
The boys who are boosting the nonu-
ment scheme are humorists-hence,
unselfish. About fifty million people in
the United States have each had from
$23 to $500 worth of laughs on Bill Nye.
These people are now urged to con>
tribute to the monument fund to build
a lasting memorial to the man who by
his droll homely humor helped them
keep healthy and get fat. The mails of
the American Press Humorists head
quarters at 325 West First street are
never so full but that subscription to
the fund will receive as kindly recep-
ton as a bill for rent.
From all over the country subscrip-
tions to the fund are coming. The
grand amen will come during the week
of September Is. At that time the
humorists will meet in convention in
Los Angeles, and the week will be ended
with a monster benefit at the Aud
itorium theater. Frank Thompson Sea-
right of Los Angeles, secretary and
treasurer, is cooperating with Robert
]. Burdette to make the program the
biggest thing Los Angeles has ever
seen.
The American Press HumoriSts' asSo-
citation claims everybody with faculty
for saying printable funny things. Mark
Twain, Bangs, Loomis, Outcault, ''Zim."
Flagg, Day, Brown, Chapman, Dudley
Comfort, Culver, Huff, McAdams, Me-
Kinsey, Ormsby, Wells, Harrison, Cline,
Davis and McDougall are some of the
new additions to the membership roll
Eli Perkins is another member of the
select bunch of professional funny men.
The coming convention, which is the
fifth annual affair, promises to be the
biggest ever. The prospect of complet-
ing the fund for the Bill Nye monu-
ment seems to be installing additional
yigor into q convention which even at
normal pressure is never dull. The
visitors will be shown the southern sec
ton of the state in true California STYLE
and everybody will be in fine fettle to
make good when the big beneht per-
formance is held.
Angelenos are particularly interested
in the American Press Humorists be-
cause of the prominent members of that
organization who hail from the Angel
City. The president, Thomas Augustin
DAILY, is from Philadelphia, and the vice
president comes from New York, but
the secretary and man who holds the
money, Frank Thompson Searight, is a
LOS Angeles HILL. IlODClI
perpetual parson and pastor emeritus,
hangs his silk tile in a Pasadena man
sion. MIR. Burdette began making the
country laugh long before some of the
present members of the association had
ever perpetrated Weary Willie joke on
an innocent world, and his effusions
have continued to improve with age till
now the little "R. j. Burdette" scrawled
at the bottom of manuscript is pass
port into the best and most respectable
laugh making publications of the coun-
try. Robert j. Burdette jr., a chip off
the old block" while not so widely
known or prominent in the profession as
his hire, has nevertheless perpetrated
sufficient mental exhalations to be
classed as humorist, and he is also
member of the association. "R, j., jr.,"
too, lives in Pasadena. Other Los An
geles members are John S. McGroarty,
Harry C. Carr, William Hamilton Cline
and Arthur j. Burdick.
Robert j. Burdette and Secretary Sea-
right are making preparations for the
benefit program. Subscriptions for the
fund will be received up to September 1.
Before the convention book, The
American Press Humorists Tribute I'D
Bill Nye," will be published and will be
presented to all Subscribers to the fund.