Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1915 — INDIAN HAD SENSE OF HUMOR [ARTICLE]

INDIAN HAD SENSE OF HUMOR

At Least Enough to Get Off Good Joke on the Cross-Examin-ing Lawyer.

From Fenimore Cooper and other authorities we have gained the impression that the Indian is a stolid, severe Individual, with no sense of the white man’s humor, but one red brother showed himself quite a civilized Joker the other day in the United States court at SL Paul. He was a witness in a hotly contested case, and a lawyer was after him in the most approved style? to cast discredit on his testimony. After apparently frightening the Indian with the awful consequences which would follow the slightest deviation from the truth, the lawyer solemnly said: “Now, sir, I want you tp tell me the exact truth, without any shufllng or evasion. I want you to look me square in the eye and tell me how you get your living?" The Indian looked straight at the lawyer and, with that grave air familiar to all acquainted with the red man, simply said: “Eat.” The courtroom roared and the lawyer let the witness, go.