A party of ladies and gentlemen, on a tour of inspection through Durham Castle, were escorted by an elderly female of a sour, solemn, and dignified aspect. In the course of their peregrinations they came to the tapestry for which the castle is famed. “These,” said the guide, in true showman style, flavored with a dash of piety to suit the subject, and pointing to several groups of figures upon the tapestry, “these represent scenes in the life of Jacob.” “Oh, yes,—how pretty!” said a young lady; and, with a laugh, pointing to two figures in somewhat close proximity, she continued, “I suppose that is Jacob kissing Rachel?” “No, madam,” responded the indignant guide, with crushing dignity, “that is Jacob wrestling with the angel.” Amid a general smile the young lady subsided, and offered no further expository remarks, but groaned under a sense of unworthiness during the rest of the visit.
A Carson (California) editor thus speaks of “Climatic Influences:”
Last evening, after the dusky shadows of night had cast a mantle over this part of the mundane sphere, we strolled out upon one of Carson’s beautifully shaded avenues for a walk. While pondering upon the uncertainty of everything human, we came suddenly upon two persons, both of whom were not of the same gender, standing one upon either side of a gate, which seemed to require a pressure of forty pounds to the square inch to keep it from falling; but, strange to say, it remained upright when they separated at our approach. Further on we came in sight of a kind young man who was assisting a poor lame girl with his arm around her waist. Not wishing to investigate the matter further, we turned into the next cross-street, but had not proceeded more than a block when we heard a sweet voice exclaim:
“Ed, if you kiss me again, I’ll call ma.”
Thinking how such things could be, we returned to our sanctum, where reference to the “Chronicle” of yesterday explains it. It is all in the climate, you know.
Mr. S. S. Cox, in his illustrations of American humor, refers to the newspaper fashion of giving a comic account of a catastrophe, and then, by a sudden and serious turn, leaving a suggestive hiatus, making a conclusion which connects the premises. Among the examples given is this one:
Mr. Jones was observed by his wife through the window to kiss the cook in the kitchen. Comment: “Mr. Jones did not go out of the house for several days, and yet there was no snow-storm.”