Embedded in Mr. Money's book of anecdotes (Humours of a
Pariah, John Lane, 6s. 6d.) there are an extraordinarily large number of really delightful stories ; but the book on the whole suffers, as do most books of good stories, in being too long. Many jokes and anecdotes, the humorous should remember, are the stones of a house rather than the flowers of the field. They are striking, and show to advantage only in• their places. They shine as jewels Bet in the monotony of a clerical meeting or an afternoon's district visiting ; but aurround them with better jokes and they show neither life nor colour. Some of Mr. Money's jokes, however, are funny in any setting, and they are all well told. " A boy was once asked who were the Apostles, to which he replied, The husbands of the Epistles.' " " Two American girls were in a crowd in which two unwashed-looking Jews were snaking themselves very objectionable by the way in which they shoved and jostled against people. One of the girls said, ' I guess those are two of the children of Israel who never picked up any manner in the wilderness.' Yes,' said the other, and I guess these are two of the children of Israel who passed through the Red Sea, and the waters never touched them.' " A parson was killed by the bite of a horse, and the following epitaph was composed for him :- "Horse bit parson ; how it came to pass, Horse heard parson say all flesh is grass."
" A certain little boy was very fond of bananas. He was at a boarding school, but always went home to luncheon on Sunday. One day a prying eye examined his diary, and against the following Sunday was found written Remember to leave room for bananas.' "
" A country couple brought a child to be baptized in long clothes. When he [the parson] had poured the water upon it, the baby opened its eyes, looked up at him, and said, ' What are you up to l -' I know that I should have dropped the child for a bogy. The explanation of the wonder is this. The child was old enough to talk and was very small for its age. The parents, partly to conceal the delay in the baptism of the child, partly thinking that it was the proper thing to do, had put the child into long clothes for the occasion."
After a very convivial party of men Jones was so far gone that his friends put him into a taxi and told the man to drive him home. On the way the driver thought he heard the door bang, but looking round he could see nothing wrong. On arriving at the house he opened the door and found that Jones had completely undressecrhimself and had folded up his clothes and put them in a corner. But his boots were nowhere to be found.
Evidently the sound of banging which the man had heard was Jones opening the door and chucking his boots out as he would have done in his bedroom. Mr. Money is a famous cricketer, who brought off a memorable victory for Cambridge in the University Match, and some of his cricket stories are perfectly delightful. We thoroughly recommend the collection as a holiday book.
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