Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 90, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1909 — The Retort Courteous. [ARTICLE]

The Retort Courteous.

A Marblehead fisherman reports hearing, while out one day in the bay, this bit of repartee between Thomas Lawson and a young woman, evidently no respecter of persons. As Mr. Lawson, In a naphtha launch, passed the rowboat containing the girl she called out: “Hullo, Tom, how’s copper?” Instantly came the retort: “First rate. “How’s brass?”—Boston Herald.