The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1913-05-06
HONOR FOR OLD JOKES
REALLY. HAVE They NOR a
GOOD CLAIM To FRIENDSHIP
Old Books, Old Wines, Old Friends
Held Up to Reverence, Why Not
the Memory q Laughter cf
Past fears7


why should Ne hail with such an
appreoiatlve and sympatheti0 gusto t0
poetic sentiment, old books. old wine
and Old friends. and vet hesitate 60
admit to that loving companionship
and old jukea Why should not the
crown of immortality be openly placed /
upon the honorea hero Of an ancient
anecd0teq Why d1 VIE insist upon
having our factious stories served like
our bucAWheat cakes. hot and fresh
why do We snearlngly stigmatize a
'twicetoldH jest as chestnut" and
br0mideg Why do We shun the
companionship 81 the unfortunate
wretch who repeats his Htories2 Why
II such a repetition regarded as q
certain symptom Of senile dementiag
why has the name Of Joseph Miller
become bywoTds
A man mav repeat thousand times
4 gem from Milton or Shakespeare,
and society applauds his bvilliancy, a
writer iii the Boston Herald asserts
let him repeat an ancient bit Of Nit
and youth shakes its plying head an1
whispers. He has fallen into his
anecdotage As the poet says,
There's something more than nat
urai In this IL philosophy could find
It out For a good joke Is az i'm
mortal as a good book Nay, il Is a
rarer gem For there are very few
tests Of the FIRST order Of the world.
But whenever you find al anecdote
redolent with the exquisite aroma Of
true comedy, you will almost always
hnd. after chemical analysis, that II
is an old friend til q new disguise.
Old Jokes, like rare old masters. are
being constantly restored for the JOY
Of an unfamiliar age. we are laugh.
ing today over iests that shook the
sides of Shakespeare and rare Ben
Johnson: nay. that wrinkled the face
Of jolly Aristophanes; and have come
to us as precious heirlooms through
4 Rabelais and Boccaccio.
The very humorous journals that
despise the chestnut and the bro
midee are serving us in the inter
stices stories. disguised In modern
slang. that are centuries old A very
acute observer has confidently assert
ed that there are only seven original
funny stories IN the world The whole
brood 81 modern witticisms spring
from those few progenltors. Another
common trick Of the joke mechanics
is to take story and foster it upon
some individual who has secured
passing reputation for humor
The higher critics say that Solo
mon did not compose the book Q
Proverbs. He established a local rep
utation and every obscure fellow il
the kingdom who wanted to float hi
scanty stock Of wisdom put the king
label on it. And the modern funn,
man takes an ancient Joke and sad
dies il upon Lincoln, Read, Depew 0
Mark Twain
Our genial philosopher, Ar. Doolel
says; The last man that makes
joke owns II" NOW. as the scriptur
says, These things ought not to be-
Why should these royal and imperi;
Jokes be disowned. stripped Of thei
kingly robes. and sneaked in throug
4 the back door Of modern life? Whs
crown jewels could equal in preciou
ness one of these original seven gen
OF mirth, that were born when tt
world was young? Why should we n'
honor the Old men who can recall Il
lmperishable jests that filled the va
ished with aune1tingulshable laug
ter?" Let us add to the Joyous tri
ity OF old books, wine and frien'
the sweet companionship OF o.d st
riea.