Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 174, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1915 — HITS FRENCH HUMOR [ARTICLE]

HITS FRENCH HUMOR

Real Fun Is Cut Out of It by the Great War. Sardonic Representations of Alleged German Cruelty Typical of Humorist’s Exhibition —Soldiers Show Sketches. Paris. —The dreadful effect of the war on the spirit of humor is illustrated in the exhibition of caricatures organized by the “Humorists” for the benefit of their wounded comrades and of the widows and orphans of artists killed In action. The French genius for making fun of everything has disappeared and the enemy is not seen comically but horribly. The subjects are difficult for caricature, consisting for the most part of alleged atrocities.

The deteriorating influence of the subjects on style is seen abundantly in the contributions of almost ail of the caricaturists and illustrators. Forain tries to avoid topical slavishness by using side themes set at the front and suggesting amusing discomforts like rain, wind and mud in Flanders. One is a sketch of two dirty soldiers in a front-line trench reading Paris papers, with the remark that FYance will be saved if her civil population hold good. Another is one of a sentry calling to the driver of an automobile ambulance stuck in the mud to haul down the Red Cross flag in order to escape bombardment. The large number of English caricatures shown are better in spirit than the French, though most of them are bad drawings. The subjects are characteristic of English humor, “bulls” by Irish corporals, recruiting absurdities. front discomforts and some amusing notions of German types which appear to be based on knowledge and a certain physical sympathy for fatness, roundness, redness and squareness as expressed in the uniformed Teuton. The tone is genial throughout, and never sardonic in the grandiose fashion sought by the French draftsmen. The trouble with the English caricatures is that they show a deadly identity of style, variety appearing only in the choice of humorous incident.

The sculpture shown Is as poor as most topical or humorous sculpture usually it, far and away the best exhibits being champagne bottleu dressed up as drunken German ao!l----diers. Various heroic episodes from the official communiques are done Into sculpture, notably the famous Incident of the zouave prisoners who yelled to their comrades to fire when the advancing Germans used them as a shield.

A few sketches by Boldiers actually in the trenches are of interest because they give a vivid notion of the dirtiness and lack of picturesqueness of trench warfare. Sem’s “Crown Prince” is the familiar death’s head. The motive of stolen clocks is rathei more amusingly developed than most of the other stock traditions about German behavior on campaign and a few of the jokes about German lack of taste In woman’s dress are well aimed.