VOL.~~~~~~~~ II ANNC oxCUT.S .EDNESDAY DECEMBR1,18..T.1 THE R ISE OF UEt CrESTNUT It is a matter ofl reproach to our so cial scientists thag the habits and cus toms of the joke have received so little attention. It is at error of the vulgar to suppose that a J ke is a literary me teor that :inhes a --oss the intellectual skv for a moment ind then disappears forever. Even trained observers have been deceived inti expressing much the same opinion; and a celebrated scientist, whose services to mankind justify us in conceiing his name iV connection with the charge, was heard to declare that a joie was "an instance of intellectual abeitation unworthy of serio, attention." i Nothing could be further from the fiets. Leaving aside any discussion of tik first cause of the joke, which would ivolve us in the obscurities of metauysical discussion, we may state boldi that the joke has well-difined habits nd peculiarities, and a study of its hotory and develop ment is weil worthithe attention of the foremost minds i science. If is evident to an: jobserver that the joke may be accuirsely divided into racas ad-nationat. i No one who had paid the slighte- attention to the subject could possib mistake a Ger man joke for a F ach joke, or a Frenen joke for a Br h joke. In fact, they are as plainly arked off from each other as any .t breeds of dogs. and each undoubted has its different habits. An adequa iscussion of the subject can not eve outlined in this column. Neverthel as a small con . tribution to an imp ant -subject, we offer the following - int of a single member of the nr ad interesting family known as tiie Crican joke: It is eight months. more since the chestnut'joke first s the light. Its birth is involved in o urity, in spite of earnest efforts to . e its ancestry. in the early days of, s existence it gave no sign oI coMi: greatness. We know the story of tiv hool at Brien ue, where Bourieine k the prizes over N.poleon; Bou- ne is now re membered not as "prize boy," but as Nepolcon's se ~ V. In a like manner tie tin-pan j or the nigger baby joke of even da ith the chest nut set med surer of i At the time the-chestnut appeare e paint-the town-red joke was at height of its lame. Its monthly a ance in Jan nary was twenty-six usand seven huudred and forty-six,' hen is sur passed only by its unp edented No vember record of thirty lit thousand nine hnndred. due to th ocal disturb ing cause of a Democra victory that month at the polls. r the same month the chestnut app d in public but a beggarly one hund and eleven times. Yrevious to that to it was so insigninant as not to worthy cf record. Starting from -t point, we see the gradual rise of t hesnert and the corresponding declin f paint-the town-red.; In February e chestnut appeared twelve hundr. and forty four times. and the paint e-town-red appeared twenty-five sand nine hundred and fourteen tim This does not necessariiy indieate a falling off in the popularity of the I r, forL the effect of hard times was t severely feltthat month, the tot output of jokes being six per cent u er that of January; but the increase the chest nut joke under such unf rable cir cumstances is truly sig ant. The following month paint- -town-red nearly ield its own, appe twenty ,ive .thousand seven hundre ad nine tegn times, but the chestn increased to thirty-two hundred. Th ollowing monthi it increased by elev hundred, while the' paint-the-town-r declined by nearly the same numi But in the month of May the ches' leaped at one astonishing bound t fourteen thousand seven hundred an ghty ap pearances, its only one riv coming down something less than e same figure. It is scarcely necessary to further into details. The August as give a total of more than twenty- thous and appearances for theches it,while its rival is all but as extin as Mr. Crawford's "dado." The rts for the first half of the present uth in dicate that the total will fa ittle if any below that of August, though the return-of-the-summer-b- .'cr has acted. as. a disturbing ele t. We may assume however, fron: e fore going figures that the ch ut has reached its full de'velopmea and is doomed to a speedy decline. I is dan gerous to generalize from bt two or three instances, but from try brious similarity of the careers of tl uccess ful American joke, it is almo ''ertain that their existence is dete d by fixed an4d immutable laws. have not the -figures at had to v this statement, but we pronounc in all confidence.p We may suppose, therefo at tae chestnut -must follow the pa- Ircady troduden by paint-the-town-re ad its predecessL and, after seein ' e rise of some sful rival that even now in the obscure throng, w' come extinct in about eight months. s rise has taken an equal length of in spite of a few well-known e tions where a joke has been able to rvive in a toothless, mumbling con a for two or three years. we ma afely state that the average life of suc cessful American joke is sixtee , at the most, eighteen months. sub ject is one of much interest.an ould attract some young and en - tic social scientist. "I am a very timid man," tes a subscriber in Ohio. '4 rnm ous. constitution:ly timid; a very ard, in fact. I am ashamed of it ut I can't help it. Now, what pr sion or occupation can I adopt in ti rac tice of which I will be most p ctly safe from harm or danger?" to France, my son; go t-o Fmnce be a duelist. 'Or you milht rem in America and be a pugilist.-E lyn Eagle. -There'll he a pretty hio -do amon, Ne w jersey intwyers the Scourts folow un the pre ant ab lished by V~ic.:-Chamncellor lsird his decision'that a lawyer who ind 4 a client to give :mu 6.000 liortg. for $975 and then sels it hi:net for 00 must turn the prolii: overto the .nt instead of pocketinz it vitelf. ey pettfogerswidfah to seg~ the of beig awyrsifthey hale to as honms as &ner men. -AUeltown ) Mr. James Flurewaiter. having e come tired of machine politie-. to a permanent oflicial position a the Federal GoverL'nen. and h::i::' had several vaars' exnerience as a:: expert. he applies for the oie Sugar Inst)ector in the Customs sCrv In due tiMe he is summnonedui btfor th Civil Service Examinin- Board:. Fe - ing confident of is 'eeral i.1. geuce, and of his spec 1 qifi': for the position. h presets m for examination, wearmg- -a easy : benignantsmile. Mr. Fiurewalker rapiuiiy eolice- his thoughts together and tries :o cune trate all the fai&ties of hi, mi:i readiness for the first qist:on. 'Chiea he is a little fearful may be a poer. THE FIRST QUESTION. "In sailing from Mozaiue I the Straits of Malabar. whl -tre tlhe vaia tious in the magnetic nedie, ond wV;aI is the 6ause of these variation?" Mr. Fiurew.iker requests : repeti tion of the questioU. IL is repeae twice-three times--ut Mr. F. is t'o flurried to repv. "Perhaps you Can1 tei u-t her Mozambique is?" says one of the ex aminers. --Oh, yes! Of course. Why, it is off to the eastward mewrC-8n archipelago or a peninsuia, or some thing. It is somewhere near Mewpo taina. "That will do, sir." "What is the rule in Shelly's case?" "Eh! in Sheily's case?" "Yes. sir." "Well. I suppose it's the same rule as with any other man. If le is squarely elected,