On the occasion of the death of a chief of one of the department bureaus in Washington, a clerk in that bureau was dashing madly down the street when he was stopped by a friend, who asked: "Why the deuce are you in such a tearing hurry?"
"I am going," explained the clerk, "to the funeral of my chief, and there is nothing he hates like unpunctuality."
"I'm sorry to find the baroness out. Don't forget to tell her I called, will you?"
"No, sir, I'll tell her at once."
PRONUNCIATION
"Wasn't it fearful about the Reims cathedral?"
"Don't say Reems; it sounds horribly ignorant."
"Well, how do you pronounce it?"