f Freak Sentences.

When _Polonius_, addressing _Hamlet_, asked, "What do you read, my lord?"
and _Hamlet_ answered, "Words, words, words," _Polonius_ didn't pursue
that particular line of inquiry any farther. If he had, _Hamlet_ might
have given him a vast deal of interesting information.

Words sometimes have a trick of expressing more than is intended by those
who write or utter them. They have strange customs, too, and of these the
man who interrupted _Hamlet_ doubtless had much to learn.

For instance, _Polonius_ might have asked:

Grave prince, in thirty-one words how many "thats" can be
grammatically inserted?

And _Hamlet_ might have replied:

Fourteen: He said that _that_ that that man said was not
_that_ that _that_ one should say, but that _that_ that
_that_ man said was _that_ that _that_ man should not say.

This reminds us of the following "says" and "saids":

Mr. B----, did you say or did you not say what I said you
said? Because C---- said you said you said you never did say
what I said you said. Now if you did say that you did _not_
say what I said you said, then what did you say?

The following is an example of that form of humor which is known as
"word-twisting":

While parents pay May rents, it must be admitted
They pay rents for houses that they have not quitted;
If parents pay May rents then may rents pay parents
And May rents and pa-rents will be voted rare "rents."

Idle minds which conscientiously seek employment are willing to take
almost any odd job that comes along. Some have devoted a few hours to the
formation of sentences in which each word begins and ends with the same
letter. Here are a couple of samples:

A depraved tyrant seeks devoted slaves; a growing empire
seeks rather loyal subjects; America, a nation, growing
yearly richer, secures equitable legal exchange.

Ships, gliding seawards, scatheless that endure
High seas, excessive storms, that sailors dread,
Experience, ere gaining destined shores,
A rougher tempest grasping doomed dead.

Pugilism's Invasion of the Drama.

A Characteristic Article from the New York "Sun" Affords a Striking
Example of the Sort of "Higher Criticism" That Is Now In Order.

The appearance of a former pugilist as a star in a Broadway theater, which
for many years was the greatest temple of the Shakespearean drama in the
United States, has given a se