Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — Exquisite Witticisms. [ARTICLE]

Exquisite Witticisms.

Of Douglas Jerrold, the late Ed* mund Yates graphically related that, as he was escorting the wit one night to the Bedford .Hotel, “up New street we met two or three drunken roisterers, one of whom, after tumbling up against me, apologized and asked the way to the ‘Judge and Jury,’ a popular entertainment of the day. Instantly Jerrold bent forward and addressed him: ‘Straight on young man; continue in the path you are now pursuing and you can't fail to come to them!' It was to Peter Cunningham, mentioning his fondness for calves’ feet, that Jerrold said ‘Extremes meet’.’ To Mrs. Alfred Wigan, expressing her fear that her hair had been turned gray by the application of some strong stimulant, he said: ‘I know, essence of thyme.’” One evening Yates and Jerrold were at a ball, when Pates inquired: “Who is that man there, dancing with Mrs. Jerrold?” “God knows, my dear boy,” Jerrold replied, looking around for an instant; “some member of the Humane Society, I suppose.” A week before Jerrold died, Yates met him at dinner, where also was Albert Smith, whose engagement to the lady he afterward married was then rumored. The host having asked Smith to ring the bell for dinner, Jerrold said: “Yes, Albert, why don’t you ring that belle?” Of his godfather, Edmund Byng, Yates told this anecdote: Byng once asked a guest at his own table: “How did you like that dish?” “It was very good.” “‘Good,’ sir? Of course it was good I Everything is good that comes to this table. I didn’t ask you if it was good; 1 asked you if you liked it”