The Washington herald., 1918-08-01
AFIELD WITH
THE
OBSERVER

Portsmouth. N. H. July Slack
of sense of humor on the part of
the Prussian warlords. and their
followers brought on the world war.
II the Prussians had possessed a
real sense of humor they would
have stayed out OF war. would not
have been behased and prostituted
themselves and would not have
coveted the balance OF the world.
Nor would they have indulged in
licentious practices and cruelties
which have horrified and disgusted
all civilized peoples.
That Is what New England folks
believe. Accordingly they point 70
the abundant sense of humor which
Americans have. founded on the
Yankee sense of humor which will
always be one OF the splendid and
ennobling traditions Of our kind.
Yankee humor will not die. II
will live on with the Yankee spirit
which surrounds 1t and out OF which
come men OF might and men of
fight, men who are today taking
his Hellishness. the Hook One.
through the most cripling nightmare
he has ever been called upon to en-
dure.
Long live Yankee humor. We are
for 1t. 1t has spread into every viii
lage of this great nation. It has
grown with the great national spirit
Of America. 1t Is an indispensable
part Of us, and must always remain
so.
Here, there and everywhere about
New England one sees evidences of
it-some of them grewsome perhaps,
but all of them examples of the
spirit which made America the most
beloved of nations and Americans
most honored of all peoples.
We have always lived in the West
but when We came here we confess
we had some most extraordinary
Impressions of New England-all Of
them edifying, however.
For instance. we recalled our own
railroads signs out West when we
saw those here. Out beyond Chicago
they read: Railroad crossing-Look
out for the cars" Or sometimes
they are slightly modified to read.
Railroad crossing-Look out for
the train"
But here they are more precise
than that. They put it more tersely.
Their signs here read, Railroad
crossing-Look out for the engine"
They know here that IL a man
doesn't look out for that implement
OF destruction he need not worry
about what follows behind. Indeed
were the warning amplified It might
read: If you don't look for the en-
gine IL won't be worth while to look
out for anything else"
Tha fnrafotA1,.
must nave worked hard. You see
tne PROOF of 1t In the thousands and
thousands of miles of stone fences
here. Which recalls to our mind
that most of the sprain and back
ache remedies originated in mi. ser
ton or the country. After all II
was only natural that they should.
For, pray. who would need the rem
edies more than our fathers here
when they got through putting up
these stone fences. We haven't time
to figure 1t up. and we haven't con-
suited any of the many statisticians
here, but we'll wwager a rotten
apple against a steamboat that there
are many, many sprains and bruises
and backaches tied up in these
fences.
In most parts Of the country. and
We say 1t with the utmost regret. the
rolks do not take the interest they
used to in the old-time card games
they pronounce 1t "cayhd' here. OF
course, there are a multitude of
ladies' in society and some of the he
vampires with them, who love to plav
hifalutin games in which thew don't
take much interest, but in which thcv
drop considerable roll of their prin-
cipal. But these don't count. We
mean the old-time games that folks
will play all day and half the night
II they get the chance-and do II all
for no gain In pocketbook what
ever.
"Sixty-three" Is the game here
abouts. 1t is just like high five, in
fact, except the king counts twenty
nve points, the tray fifteen points and
the nine spot nine points. And what
infinite enjoyment is tied UP in this
game for the home folks. Ladies ana
gents play 1t and fillitheir souls on IL.
and an afternoon of it will make the
most aristocratic person in the world
feel like eating supper where every
thing Is put on the table in big dishes
and where some Of the company may
be guilty Of coaxing peas onto a knife
before they transport them to interior
points. That is. this feeling will
come to any aristocrat who is really
more Of Democrat than an aristo-
crat.
Another sign Of covilization here IN