The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-10-10
.LEAHY VICTIM
Of HUMOR|ST
Funny Man Pretends to Drown.
but Is Ducked by Would
Be ResCuer.

When the youthful boxer first gets
the idea into his head that he can win
championship fame and breaks into the
ranks of the meal ticket kids, the first
lesson he learns is to court publicity
of the right sort and to get his name
in the papers when possible.
Most big promoters hire staff of
press agents whose business it is to
collect stories about the principals in
a big boxing event and hand them out
to the press, just the same as big thea
trical companies do. The more stories
he can get published and the more
bizarre and out Of the ordinary they
are, the better it is for the willy press
agent
Now it is not to be supposed that
Joe Leahy was figuring on the press
business when he made a gallant plunge
into the water yesterday but, at any
rate, the joke was very much on him
and it is far too good to miss.
Instead of training at the Orpheum
yesterday, Joe was at the Healani boat
club where he and Nelson havel made
arrangements to do the rest of their
work. He had put on his working
clothes and was gaily skipping the rope,
when a practical humorist attired in
swimming trunks approached a group
that was standing near the float.
The humorist took that group into his
confidence and suggested that a joke
should be played on the innocent Joe.
"All you fellows that have on bathing
suits keep out of the way he said,
''and those with clothes on stand on
the float all ready to make a howl. L
will swim out little way and pretend
to be in trouble, you yell for Joe Leahy
and then watch the fun
The others all took to the idea and
those with swimming suits on kept out
of the way while the humorist SWAN
out few yards and then began to yell
for help with all his might There was
no need to yell for Joe,
His skipping rope fell on the floor
From each unclenching fist,
While in his brain these headlines
shone,
Brave Deed By Pugilist
Who rescues drowning swimmer with
Nobody to assist.
Down the float he ran and leaped
into the water with shoes and long
trunks and struck out bravely for the
gurgling humorist. Just as he was
about to grab the body in front of him,
the former threw up it's hands and +
sank. To Joe it seemed an intermin- !
able time that he swan round waiting |
for the drowning one to reappear. Then /
a horrible thought struck him, perhaps |
he had sunk for the third time.
Then he heard a noise on the float /
and great shout of laughter went up, |
for the humorist had swan under the
water to the float and climbed out and
was now sitting on the edge, his feet
dangling in the water and broad grin
IN his face.
Young Leahy took it pleasantly,
He smiled and gave wink,
Then climbed out on the float and, ere
The humorist could think,
Joe picked him up with utmost ease
And threw him in the drink.
So the last laugh was on the humor-
st after all and Leahy went back to
lis work while the crowd Uttered at
he now spluttering prepetrator of
PRACTICAL jokes.
Both Nelson and the main event man
'ery much prefer the boat house to the
)rpheum "'This is the greatest place
-et, said Leahy. ''There IS plenty Of
DOM to work in and the water being
o near for a swim after training is
When | sit around on the
loaf in the sun after my work is over
feel as though I had never been so
Il In my Life hefnre -