John D. Rockefeller tells this story on himself:
"Golfing one bright winter day I had for caddie a boy who didn"t know me.
"An unfortunate stroke landed me in clump of high gra.s.s.
""My, my," I said, "what am I to do now?"
""See that there tree?" said the boy, pointing to a tall tree a mile away. "Well, drive straight for that."
"I lofted vigorously, and, fortunately, my ball soared up into the air; it landed, and it rolled right on to the putting green.
""How"s that, my boy?" I cried.
"The caddie stared at me with envious eyes.
""Gee, boss," he said, "if I had your strength and you had my brains what a pair we"d make!""
The late Marshall Field had a very small office-boy who came to the great merchant one day with a request for an increase in wages.
"Huh!" said Mr. Field, looking at him as if through a magnifying-gla.s.s.
"Want a raise, do you? How much are you getting?"
"Three dollars a week," chirped the little chap.
"Three dollars a week!" exclaimed his employer. "Why, when I was your age I only got two dollars."
"Oh, well, that"s different," piped the youngster. "I guess you weren"t worth any more."
Here"s to the man who is wisest and best, Here"s to the man who with judgment is blest.
Here"s to the man who"s as smart as can be-- I mean the man who agrees with me.
ELECTIONS
In St. Louis there is one ward that is full of breweries and Germans. In a recent election a local option question was up.
After the election some Germans were counting the votes. One German was calling off and another taking down the option votes. The first German, running rapidly through the ballots, said: "Vet, vet, vet, vet,..."
Suddenly he stopped. "_Mein Gott_!" he cried: "_Dry_!"
Then he went on--"Vet, vet, vet, vet,..."
Presently he stopped again and mopped his brow. "_Himmel_!" he said.
"Der son of a gun repeated!"
WILLIS--"What"s the election today for? Anybody happen to know?"
GILLIS--"It is to determine whether we shall have a convention to nominate delegates who will be voted on as to whether they will attend a caucus which will decide whether we shall have a primary to determine whether the people want to vote on this same question again next year."--_Puck_.
One year, when the youngsters of a certain Illinois village met for the purpose of electing a captain of their baseball team for the coming season, it appeared that there were an excessive number of candidates for the post, with more than the usual wrangling.
Youngster after youngster presented his qualifications for the post; and the matter was still undecided when the son of the owner of the ball-field stood up. He was a small, snub-nosed lad, with a plentiful supply of freckles, but he glanced about him with a dignified air of controlling the situation.
"I"m going to be captain this year," he announced convincingly, "or else Father"s old bull is going to be turned into the field."
He was elected unanimously.--_Fenimore Martin_.
I consider biennial elections as a security that the sober second thought of the people shall be law.--_Fisher Ames_.
ELECTRICITY
In school a boy was asked this question in physics: "What is the difference between lightning and electricity?"
And he answered: "Well, you don"t have to pay for lightning."
EMBARRa.s.sING SITUATIONS
A young gentleman was spending the week-end at little Willie"s cottage at Atlantic City, and on Sunday evening after dinner, there being a scarcity of chairs on the crowded piazza, the young gentleman took Willie on his lap.
Then, during a pause in the conversation, little Willie looked up at the young gentleman and piped:
"Am I as heavy as sister Mabel?"
The late Charles Coghlan was a man of great wit and resource. When he was living in London, his wife started for an out-of-town visit. For some reason she found it necessary to return home, and on her way thither she saw her husband step out of a cab and hand a lady from it.
Mrs. Coghlan confronted the pair. The actor was equal to the situation.
"My dear," he said to his wife, "allow me to present Miss Blank. Mrs.
Coghlan, Miss Blank."
The two bowed coldly while Coghlan quickly added:
"I know you ladies have ever so many things you want to say to each other, so I will ask to be excused."