Grave, Gay, and Epigrammatic
The Pipe That Failed
This story is told about ex-Senator J. S. Clark, of Calais, Maine: One day, while awaiting his turn in a barber-shop in Calais, he was talking with a friend, and was so deeply interested in the conversation that he allowed his pipe to go out several times. Each time he would ask Melvin Noble, a local practical joker, for a match.
About the time he wanted the fifth match, Noble said: “I don’t begrudge you the matches, Jed, but I think it would be cheaper for you to put a grate in your pipe and burn coal.”—Boston Herald.