The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-05-24
Irs a .Bum,. STORY ed That.

It's n fSuEn StOfy at INIT.
Sir-what 1 really want to know is.
have you heard the latest English
man. story. but. parentheticaily as it
were, speaking of stories what do you
mean in today's column? If man
knows a good one and tells it at din
ner and then somebody drops in. and
he takes his wife to a card party, and
then they stop in at a cafe, must he
think up a new one for every bunch
they run into?
We'll. anyhow. this EngIishman
heard. one something IKE this; Sol
dicr back from the war getting civil
ian outfit in a department store. His
wife keeps running around bringing
him q pair of shoes to look at, then
pair of trousers. then a hat. He claps
the hat on his head and it comes
down over his ears Says, That's me
all over, Mabel.n
Next night the Englishman tries to
repeat it Soldier back from the
! war. you know. getting civilian
clothes. His wife. her names Mabel.
YOU know. brings him hat and shoes
and things to try on, and he pulls on
pair of pants lots too big for him.
Mabel says he. them's me over
ais" A. B.
Having laughed our head off, as
the saying goes. at A. BIS joke. we
proceed to resent the imputation that
I
1t is a slam in great favor in this
country. but there's nothing to it.
The fact that an Eng1ishman cannot
comprehend the comedy of the light
musical and vaudeville stage is no re-
/ Election of his sense of humor.
You give an Englishman a good pun
or an attrac tive rebus and he will see
it as quickly as anybody.
"It is we quote from the esteemed
/ New York American, mo disgrace to
! be an also-ran in a limerick contest"
| The American amazes us. We were
reared in an old fashioned household
! in which inability to write limeTicks
was considered the browning disgrace.
Standards of conduct no longer are
what they were.
! A Playful Lot.
Sir-Mr James H. Collins, writing
! for the Public Ledger, says Peruvians
are fun-loving. They love the spark
i of wit that sets everybody roaring. If
the bull fight is not exciting enough,
they try 20 burn the grandstand"
I Why should Adelaide despair over
the burning of three or four cigars?
Here is nation that burns down
grandstands for excitement.
~ .s..,-ss r. D c.
1t IS interesting to note that the
ItTuNldnS nave caught the real amer
lean spirit. In no respect is this
country more marked than in its wish
to have a good time and its disposition
to destroy the other fellows property.
VIC Don't Know, But 1t Sounds Fa-
miiiar.
Sir-I. too, am a seIf-confessed hui
morist, but / make childrens socks
for living. l have a wife who says
I'm only funny TO strangers. Does she
mean I look funny or act funny? Is
it compliment or slam?
In one particular c. c. s., sr. is
Fortunate: he is not compelled to de-
pend upon his humor for a living. He
knows how to make socks. For us
humor is the main reliance, and it is
most unstable prop.
But it is our own fault. Uncle
Abner always wanted us to learn the
barber business.
We have at various times diagnosed
the trouble with the country. We
shall now extend the diagnosis to this
mornings column? 1t is down with
spring fever.
In his attitude toward the peace
treaty, Mr.. Bryan seems to have sacri-
feed what has hitherto been his chief
distinction Over the stretch of the
years Mr.. Bryans chief distinction was
that he was always wrong