Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1907-06-06
SERIOUS, YET FUNNY
UNCONSCIOUS HuMoR THAT HELPS
TO PUT SPICE IN LIFE.

|, Nothing has added more to the merri-
ment of the world than the uninten
tional, unconscious humor of writer's
public speakers and. i'm 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
jollty. Some one has said with GER
tain truth: with all our vanity, ener-
gy and unrest. we are not Il 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 u laugh as for a
speculation, as fond of joke as an
Office"
And the joke is all the more enjoy
able when it is spontaneous. The great
or 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 Il sterility as dull and un-
interesting as the cnders 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 luNurance, with
grape olive. nectarine and orange. such
| as makes the wales of Portugal Il peren-
nial SMILE is adequate to emphasize the
| contrast"
One could not we'll instance more
amusing blunder than that i'll Il 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 Il silver coffeepot.
| This is as amusing as q painting In q
German church representing the sacr
flee of Isaac by Abraham. In this
| painting Abraham is about to dis
charge II huge pistol ut Isaac when an
angel descemds and pours n pitcher o:
water on the pan of the pistol, thereby
saving Isaac.
| The writer once saw a crude painting
of King IIerod With Il 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 pipe.
| in their mouths.
Those who are on the lookout fol
them will find many amusing blundcr.
in the daily papers and in periodicals
of all kinds. 1t was but the other da,
that the writer saw Miss Fanny Cros
by referred to In Il religious paper n
the author of so many blind POEMS
And it was Il great metropolitan dali,
that one morning gave it's readers tn
following information regarding tin
wreclling of ship the night before
1.-THE captain swan ashore and sue
cceded in saving the life of his wife
She was insured in the Northern Ma
rine Insurance company and carried ,
cargo OF cement"
Equally amusing as an instance O
unconscious humor was the statemen
made by another paper regarding thu
capsizing of n boat Mt sea. 1t said tina
but one life was lost, and that wa
found afterward."
He must be sadly deficient in hume
who does not find himself amused by
sign like the following seen in the win
dow of IL shoemaker: ANY respcctabl
man, woman or child can have Il fit IL
this shop III was an enterprising fur
rier who placed card In his window
stating that for the benefit OF the la
dies he would make "mulIs, boas, etc
out Of their own skins"
A prolific source of amusement t,
manuscript readers is the surprlsn.
way in which asprants for literar.
honor and glory often put things.
We find one young woman saying o
her heroine: 1.-The countess fell back IL
a deadly swoon. When she revived he
spirit had fed"
4 Another young writer places her her
oine i'm Il very perilous situation ant
then says of her Her lips quivercd
her cheeks grew pale; her breath cam
in short pants"
a third writer gives this amusin
description of the appearance of som
one she referred to as "the bell 0
the ball:" "Shc was clad in some soft
clinglng, fleecy. vapory stuff of pures
white that gave the appearance of
bit of detached cloud honting in TIL
sky. She Wore no ornament with til
exception of several bits of rare brio
a-brac gathered in foreign cline"
4 A charming bit of purely unconsciou
humor was that noticed by some Wis
itors to a great English coal mine. A
the mouth Of the great central shat
hundreds Of feet deep was placar
bearing these words:
please do not tumble down til
, Shaft. "-Detroit Free Press.