The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-08-21

! comedian Dy the paper SIAeAGs
sYn other words. this comic man
from New York, dressed in an ordI.
nary lounge suit, walked up and
down the stage chewing gum, at tue
came time keeping up running IRE
European crisis. His remarks through.
cut were insulting. insolent, provoca-
Slyg and In the worst OF bad taste .
s.He jibed at France: he sneered AZ
kha British constitution; he was bla-
!. taatly rude to elgium. What they
wEut In france he said, 1s q Musso-
iinf! II he went there with his big
stick. most of the French deputies
WOULD be running out and Jumping
remark about the House of Commons
aaa the coal strike. If you can't get
c0Gf' he flouted, you use gas A
cheap and nasty joke which even the
red-nosed comedian Of q decade ago
-. FORGOTTEN. Further, dealing will
tie coal strike. Rogers stated that ne
vas here during thu time OF the gen
eral strike. In his great magnanimlty.
e PAID t5sn; e e 1 iss and ea-
Bridge who came 70 the rescue wnsa
public services were threatened. But
there had to be q sting in the tai:
'Tsnotfce. however, ne drawiea. r.
would be difficult to imagine more
childish and fatuous observation than
this. n-a.,H.r+
aR~the senate, he referred in patroniz-
inKs tones to Britainie debt to Amer
To- You came to a settlement IN
- honorable little way he SAID;
and now you are grumbing about IL.
HAD any susceptible Engnsnrnsn .hi ~
ff9 audience hurled q brick at tnis
iffaiiertinent Ametican's pate. ! think
ha-would have been full justifiedI
lit seems incredibIe that a man
IKE Cochran. whose sympatniss
should be with this country and with
France, because he has earned mucn
bread and butter from each. should
allow his STAGE to be used as plat
form for foolish American propa-
,Eanda of this sort. Mr.. Cochran
WIDER Of amusement Will Rogers
has been doomed as an entertainer.
and has no right to take advantage
or the privileges accorded to MIN Dy
and adopting the role OF an Irrespon-
sfbIe street-corner tub thumper. ]
should like to ask Mr.. Cochran what
might happen If, during a time OF
great industrial strife. George Rooey
were to go to New York and spout
me incompetence and incapacity OF
tie American people in conducting
their own affairs. He knows as wen
as~I do that Robey would be mis-
SIZED off the stage. The analogy -
exactly the same here, except that
We do not make IL q habit OF throw
Ing brickbats.
But before one blames the
English for misunderstanding
the purpose of the Rogers
. humor and getting only the
sting, it is interesting just now
to recall that the late Presi-
dent Harding openly resented
the comments Of the lariat-toss-
ing comic.
Rogers was playing at the
. Shnbert- Belasco here, when
that house was devoted to
vaudeville. In the course of his
running patter he remarked:
"The American people will
never get anything done at the
White House until they get a
President who gets seasick or
. who cam play golf" The re-
mark was aimed at President
Harding, who at the time was
= making frequent trips on the
Mayflower and regular trips to
: the golf links.
The Washington correspond
ents were all aware that Presi-
dent Harding was sensitive
. about comment on his golf, and
. were personally requested not
to. mention his links expeditions
. any more than was absolutely
. necessary.
When the President heard
: about the joke, word was con-
veyed indirectly to Rogers that
the White House would appre-
d. ciate it if he dropped the COM
ment from his routine. But
the comedian felt that it was
one of his best auibs and the
i. advice to remove it was ig-
nered. That ended the incident
then.
Some months later Will
Rogers came to the National
Heater with Ziegfeld's Mid
night Frolic. 1t was during the
week that the White House was
holding one of the three big
receptions of the winter season.
Rogers sent word h would like