The Washington herald., 1914-03-02
WIT OF PUNcH's EDITOR.
Impromptu Joke. of Veteran Humor
ist Who Delights In Puns.

Il
The wit OF Sir Francis Burnand. the
l grand old man Of Punch. Is proverbial.
As a boy at Eton he distinguished him
self for the smartness of his repartee.
and II was at the famous public school
that he perpetrated a classic In explaining
his unwillingness to play football-that
he was more Skinned against than shin
ming"
Sir Francis Joined the stan OF Punch in
1853. and was known as ''the new boy
on account of his youth He succeeded
Tom Taylor In the editorial chair in 1850
and In regard to that enviabIe post he
once said that ''the life OF the editor of
a comic journal was not exactly a happy
one. For many people seem to imagine
that a Joke was only to be made. and 1t
| becomes good enough for Punch"
And talking of Jokes, Sir Francis Is still
fond OF telling story OF a conversation
he once had with the late Sir W. S. Gil
things sent to you sometimes for the
paper" said Gilbert casually. "oh. yes,
occasionally replied Sir Francis
Then" said Gilbert caustically. why
don't you put them in?"
II is an old story, Sir Francis will tell
you. but he regards 1t as one Of the best
things that Gilbert ever said. although 1t
Is against nimSelf.
Sir Francis, by the way. IL credited
with knowing almost every witty saying
or joke under the sun. He told a visitor
that the now famous TO those about to
marry-Don't"' came from a hitherto un-
known contributor. and was seized upon
with joy by the editor. who remunerated
the author with the handsome sum Of SO
for a line and a half.
Once Sir Francis had thoughts Of join
ing the priesthood, but after mature con-
sideration he came to the conclusion
that he would rather be an actor His
change in plans necessitated a visit to
Cardinal Manning, who was told by Burn
Burnand that he thought the stage and
not the church was his vocation. Man
ning's reply was frigid. You might as
well say that to be IA cobbler Is
vocation
'Whereupon." says Sir Francis, merry
ously inspired. blurted out. Well, IA
"A cobbler has a great deal to do with
the SOLE
1t is recorded that even the cardinal
smiled.
An imposter once claimed to be Sir
Francis brother. He promptly wrote to
say that he had no brother. 1t was true
that he had two half-brothers, but two
halves In his case did not make a whole
Il see you don't know me from Adam
remarked some on who came up to Sir
Francis at a certain reception and shook
him effusively by the hand. My dear
sir" replied Sir Francis, Il didn't know
ADAM
On another occasion he wrote: There
was a dead pause in the room. How
long it had been there it is impossible
to say"
Sir Herbert Tree keeps among his pri-
vate correspondence a letter which Sir
actors daughter. Viola. who had
been taken i'll with measles. The letter
concludes with these words: 1t is a
cowardly distemper coming in the plural |
and attacking a defenseless unit The
case, however. can never he singular ,
Ours being a large family, We had the |
measles divided among five children-a1
measle apiece. This lightened the at
tack, but increased the doctors bill"
An inevitable punster himself, Sir
Francis naturally delights In the puns Of !
others. He mentions particularly a line |
In a burlesque entitled. Conrad and Ne |
dora" uttered by the pirate Birbantio
a character most smusingly played by |
Toole. who scowingly declared, night !
after night, ''Whate'er / sees upon the |
seas 1 seize upon
In another burlesquc. written by the !
brothers Brough. as a comic version of |
The Tempest" Prince Ferdinand stag |
gers, clutches at two sailors, and family |
TAKE me below At once ! will 10 bed:
! feel heavy that I must hc lead.
New York Times