The Wit and Humor of America, Volume I

The Wit and Humor of America, Volume I

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Title: The Wit and Humor of America, Volume I. (of X.)
Author: Various
Editor: Marshall P. Wilder
Release Date: May 28, 2006 [EBook #18464]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Library Edition
THE WIT AND HUMOR OF AMERICA
In Ten Volumes
VOL. I

[Illustration: MARSHALL P. WILDER Drawing from photo by Marceau]

THE WIT AND HUMOR OF AMERICA
EDITED BY MARSHALL P. WILDER
Volume I
Funk & Wagnalls Company New York and London
Copyright MDCCCCVII, BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY Copyright MDCCCCXI, THE THWING COMPANY

CONTENTS
PAGE Anatole Dubois at de Horse Show Wallace Bruce Amsbary 152 Billville Spirit Meeting, The Frank L. Stanton 188 British Matron, The Nathaniel Hawthorne 192 Champion Checker-Player of Ameriky, The James Whitcomb Riley 156 Colonel Sterett's Panther Hunt Alfred Henry Lewis 98 Cry from the Consumer, A Wilbur D. Nesbit 190 Curse of the Competent, The Henry J. Finn 14 Darby and Joan St. John Honeywood 166 Day We Do Not Celebrate, The Robert J. Burdette 134 Deacon's Masterpiece, The; or, The Wonderful "One-Hoss Shay" O.W. Holmes 9 Deacon's Trout, The Henry Ward Beecher 212 Disappointment, A John Boyle O'Reilly 191 Distichs John Hay 65 Down Around the River James Whitcomb Riley 29 Enough Tom Masson 213 Experiences of the A.C., The Bayard Taylor 116 Feast of the Monkeys, The John Philip Sousa 183 Fighting Race, The Joseph I.C. Clarke 214 Grammatical Boy, The Bill Nye 16 Grizzly-Gru Ironquill 174 John Henry in a Street Car Hugh McHugh 177 Laffing Josh Billings 171 Letter from Mr. Biggs, A E.W. Howe 69 Medieval Discoverer, A Bill Nye 31 Melons Bret Harte 1 Menagerie, The William Vaughn Moody 24 Mrs. Johnson William Dean Howells 74 Muskeeter, The Josh Billings 181 My Grandmother's Turkey-Tail Fan Samuel Minturn Peck 219 Myopia Wallace Rice 151 Odyssey of K's, An Wilbur D. Nesbit 209 Old Maid's House, The: In Plan Elizabeth Stuart Phelps 60 Organ, The Henry Ward Beecher 217 Partingtonian Patchwork B.P. Shillaber 20 Pass Ironquill 91 Pettibone Lineage, The James T. Fields 196 Psalm of Life, A Phoebe Cary 207 Purple Cow, The Gelett Burgess 13 Quarrel, The S.E. Kiser 68 Similar Cases Charlotte Perkins Gilman 56 Simple English Ray Clarke Rose 19 Spelling Down the Master Edward Eggleston 138 Stage Whispers Carolyn Wells 195 Teaching by Example John G. Saxe 91 Tragedy of It, The Alden Charles Noble 194 Turnings of a Bookworm, The Carolyn Wells 182 Wanted--A Cook Alan Dale 35 What Mr. Robinson Thinks James Russell Lowell 131 When Albani Sang William Henry Drummond 92 When the Frost is on the Punkin James Whitcomb Riley 169 Why Moles Have Hands Anne Virginia Culbertson 202 Wouter Van Twiller Washington Irving 109 Yankee Dude'll Do, The S.E. Kiser 136
COMPLETE INDEX AT END OF VOLUME X.

FOREWORD
EMBODYING A FEW REMARKS ON THE GENTLE ART OF LAUGH-MAKING.
BY MARSHALL P. WILDER.
Happiness and laughter are two of the most beautiful things in the world, for they are of the few that are purely unselfish. Laughter is not for yourself, but for others. When people are happy they present a cheerful spirit, which finds its reflection in every one they meet, for happiness is as contagious as a yawn. Of all the emotions, laughter is the most versatile, for it plays equally well the role of either parent or child to happiness.
Then can we say too much in praise of the men who make us laugh? God never gave a man a greater gift than the power to make others laugh, unless it is the privilege of laughing himself. We honor, revere, admire our great soldiers, statesmen, and men of letters, but we love the man who makes us laugh.
No other man to-day enjoys to such an extent the close personal affection, individual yet national, that is given to Mr. Samuel L. Clemens. He is ours, he is one of us, we have a personal pride in him--dear "Mark Twain," the beloved child of the American nation. And it was through our laughter that he won our love.
He is the exponent of the typically American style of fun-making, the humorous story. I asked Mr. Clemens one day if he could remember the first money he ever earned. With his inimitable drawl he said:
"Yes, Marsh, it was at school. All boys had the habit of going to school in those days, and they hadn't any more respect for the desks than they had for the teachers.