CLASSICS FOR THE MASSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19892, 10 March 1928, Page 7 (Supplement)

CLASSICS FOR THE MASSES.

AMERICAN "SLANGUAGE."

If any constant reader of 0. Henry thinks that he has mastered all there is to know about American slang, then, in the racy'idiom of the great continent, he's got another guess coming. H. C. Witwer, the discoverer, inventor, or reporter of the new variety, is said by his publishers,' Putnams. to be one of the halfdozen most popular living writers. " His lans are numbered among the thousands . . . A few yoaro ago he was earning a few dollars a week. He began one day to write stories in American " slanguage," and within five years he made over £50,000 from his writings."

" Tho Classics in Slang," is his latest production. The idea is not new. C. J. Dennis, author of " The Sontimenttal Bloke" for one, turned Shakespeare into the idiom of tho Australian hoodlum. But Mr. Witwer's young prize-fighter, " OnePunch" McTaguc, who falls in 'love with a pretty " book-stall clerk," and forthwith begins to assimilate culture in the concentrated American fashion, speaks a language of which Mrs. Malaprop must have had a prophetic vision when she spoke of tho " oracular tongue." Mcl'ague having confessed his_ ignorance of classical literature, Miss Kingsley il flung me a glance like X have just coilfessed to bein' Jack tho Ripper, and says is it possible a human bein' exists which hasn't read Shakespeare, Victor and Hugo, 0. Shaw, Henry Kipling and the etc., at least a dozen times. Well, I says. 1 don't know whether I'm a human bein' or not but I exist and 1 ain't read 'cm." Soon, however, ho began to remedy the .deficiency and " Macbeth" was ono of bis firstlessons." Ho conceived a great admiration (or " Mrs. Macbeth," who was " the one combination iu the world that can't bo beat, i.e., and viz., a good looker which wants something. She gets to work on the ranidly woakenin' Mac., using every trick sho hadst, and she hadst plenty! She shows him how easy it'll be to sneak in and stab Cyclone Duncan, blaniin' il on the stewed sparrin' partners and then he'll bo world's champion able to bet a auarter of a million a fight, not count in' tho sweet movie money and the like." Robinson C'rusoo takes on a now sparkle under the same hand. " With the aid of tho raft this boy scout managed to get his saxophone, food, gadgets, ammunition and game in season from the ship. . . Right after that the noble but unseawortliv vessel sunk in deadly earnestThough Rob hadst. never used tools of any kind before in his life he found when it got down to makin' furniture lie hadst Grand Rapids lookin' like a novice what I- mean. . . They was no stoppin' the kid and a simple ax to him was the same as a fully-equipped machine shop to anybody else." . , rr . T , And so he plodded through lhe Last of the Mohicans," " Les Miserables, " Don Quixote." and " the etc.,' till Ktliel finally succumbed to his persistence. They were married and now ho is a teacher himself. " I'm learnin' my sup. and air that thev is scant if any nourishment in his chubby little thumbs."