Arizona republican., 1921-12-16
BEING FUNNY IS COSTLY.

"Never make people laugh. If you would succeed in life you must be solemn, solemn as an ass" That ad- vice to young and ambitious member of parliament is quoted in Ralph Nevill's "Mayfiar and Montmartre. It is advice which every young man who wants to make himself a great figure in the world must take to heart. and act upon.
 When I read that instruction I thought at once of a man whom was privileged to know a few years ago. He was member of parlia- ment Although few realized the fact, there were in the heart Of him some flaming enthusiasms, some deter minations to right wrong, and to make for the following generations a better world than his own hamper ed youth had known He was a man who might have made this world better saner, and cleaner place to live in-but comparatively early in life he had made the mistake of dis playing himself as a funny man.
 That man was the late Spencer Leigh Hughes. There will always live in my mind the memory of one talk I had with him when putting aside the cap and bells of the jester, he spoke of the things which lay near his heart, and l realized the nature of the man who was usually so thoroughly disguised. He had vis- ion and-which is still more rare-he had the constructive mind. But he | had shown himself to the world as | a jester, and the world, which will
 never forgive a jester who turns | from his testing to serious affairs, ! compelled him to remain "a jester to | the end.
 The world has so deep. so insati- | able a need for laughter that it be- 1 lieves it cannot spare any of its | clowns. It is compassed about with
 serious people, and it has a cranky
 belief that serious people are alone | to be trusted with its serious work.
 But once a man has revealed his | possession of trace of the spirit of
 the clown it will not allow him
 thenceforward to appear as anything
 else
 You have only to look round the i, life of today to see how violently true | this is. There is w. w. Jacobs. He l began to write funny stories. and the ! world will take none but funny stories | from him. Tn the Monkeys Paw" l he showed that he could equal if not
 surpass Edgar Allan Poe in grimly | tragic writing, but the world does not | want him to write such stories a $ that ! It wants him to write yarns about fat
 sailormen and impossible villagers. Then there is the case of the late R. G. Knowles. The world which ] wants to laugh knew him as an ad- ] mirable music hall comedian. only
 a. few were aware that he was an
 explorer of note, and that he only
 went on the stage to earn money
 enough to finance the eXpenitions
 which earned him the fellowship of
 the Royal Geographical Society.
 If you are born that way the world
 will quite possibly pay you a lot ot 1 money for being funny. But 1t is 1 perfectly certain that it will forbid
 you to follow any other trade than | that of the clown, and will forbid you any enduring fame. Shakespeare is venerated for his tragedies, not fol r his comedies. Hogarth is honorec ] as an artist and not as a humorist
 John Sebastian Bach, funniest of all musicians, is praised mainly because . in odd moments he wrote solemn ? music.
 Q The funny man may earn rdoney al Q 1 the moment. He never earns any
 thing else.