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Show BILL NYE'S FIRST WORK IN LARAMIE. WYQ. ZZL"9" ,n " f LARAMIE, Wyo . Oct 21. This pretty little plains city will always hold deep In- terest lor most Americans, for the reason thnt In It Edgar Wilson Nye began the I work which put him m the fore-front of American humorists When a visitor come t0 Laramie he is shown the State university and other buildings which sk, prkU tO Uio local residents, but he js pretty sure to ask: "By the way, Isn t Bill Nye's old newspaper newspa-per office around lu re somewhere'"' And then the Laramie resident will have to swallow his pride In his public Institutions Institu-tions and pilot the vlsitt r around to the quiet street where front:- the blacksmith shop thai was on. - the Laramie ' Room-eiahg" Room-eiahg" office The ' 1 BOOmCrS n g i.s till b ailing a lively existence, tml it in on an-ol an-ol her street, and in a far better office than Nye ever dreamed of when he put up the famous sign reading: "Lull the mule's tall and take the elevator K few months ago there died In Lai anile the man who was credited with knowing more about Bill Nye'.- early careei then any ollu r Individual. He was .1 ll Ma; -ford, a pioneer editor and Judge of Wvo mlng. Judge Hayfonl was the owner of the I.ii-.amle S ntliiel when In s;r, the population of the Wyoming settlement yvas Increased by t h addition of d tall, pleasant-faced chap named Nye who didn t know exactly what In wanted u, do. but wl o con. lode. I Wy oming would be a good place fo start something Besides being tall. Nye was awkward, and be had strangely mated r yes, one being blue and the other hazel To his new friends in Laramie and he made friends with u rapidity ra-pidity that is still the talk of the town-he town-he remarked that one blue eye and one hazel eye could bo nothing Shorl Of the dlstliiKulshlng mark of genius. Few of those who laughed at this Je,t sver thought any truth lurked I" the remark, and probably the modest Nye was b ,.st of all Inclined td think he had tittered a fact. Nye was given a .ol. on tin .Sentinel, under Judge llay ford The Judge himself was a first-class editorial paragrapher, something that usuuMy cabs .,r a saving sense of humor, and he could appreciate the Miluc of Nye's work. The local stories that Nye turned out soon began to con- , vulse Laramie, and people began to look i for the Sentinel to see what the good-na-' tured new reporter was saying about people A distinguishing characteristic of Nye's humor then, ns In later years, was his faculty of writing stingiest) jests Not a line that BUI Nye ever wrote conbl give ' pain to any Individual unlesn that p un came from excessive laughing If there was any abuse to be heaped, Nye always heaped It on himself, and liberally "It Is lots funnier to call yourself names he ald, "and besides it's lots h althlcr in Wyoming Indeed, the Wyoming Of those days was a poor place for a Journalist who Indulged in flippant personalltit s. for when that Stale yvas In Its Territorial youth tin revolver re-volver made all men equal, und It yvas ; hardly safe to poke fun at a man unless ' yon were ready to poke a gun ut him af-ti af-ti i w.nd. But Nye never had any trouble with I he Wyoming residents, who w ere "sudden and quick in quarrel ' He wrote his ( beery "locals," and had the privilege ,.f seeing them copied in other Wyoming papers, and one day. Inspired by the thoughl that perhaps bis humor might he appreciated outside the oonflnes of the ; Territory,, he sent a lttr to the Denver Tribune. His Denver Letters. Nye s b tter to the Denver paper marked the turning point of his career This letter let-ter is preserved In the files of the old Tribune fo this day. It Is a rambling, J gossipy account of affairs In Wyoming. and every other- line, as the press notices 1 aay of a now book. Is good for a hearty laugh The Denver Tribune was at thai lime conducted by the most brilliant CO? t rb m newspaper men that ever gathered gath-ered in the West Th.-re was Kno r... Field, who was doing paragraph'- and poi no . F J V Skiff recently director of exhibits Of the Louisiana Purchase exposition; expo-sition; F. J Rothacker. a short-lived ge-niu! ge-niu! whose editorial work was attracting national attention whin he died; E. l. Cowan, Fi. id s closest frend; and v O. I ih kin 'a-, i . ., thorough newspaper man. who Is now In charge of the news destl-in destl-in of the Denver Republican the bapei whtoh absorbed the old Tribune. These nun Instantly recognised the yaluc of Bill i . ; ; J -''."":S:.v;f;f;;'; ' v, ; BILL NYE Prom phptogl 0.h takn ut Cbeyiffline when the humorist was xtaitliii; un his crtr t Laramtf, WVo , . Nye's copy.'' Negotiations were opened With the humorist ut Laramie for a weekly week-ly letter from Wyoming, treuting of af- j fairs In the Territory In the same spirit I of levity. Nye was asked how much by ' wanted for such a series or letters The delighted humorist replied thai about fT yvould be ail right Inasmuch as tin letters let-ters were considerably over a column In length, ibis would give Nye less than a , column a ligure that would n ake a modern mod-ern spaii write i snort in disgusl Bui a-Ny- afterward expallned, "the leven del-Jars del-Jars looked mighty b! tu nic " The Nye letters In the Tribune made an instantaneous hit Their appeal seemed : to be universal. It is a fact t hH t the printers In the Tribune office used to fairly fight for the privilege pf getting a Bill Nye "take ' off the hook when the humorist's copy was sent up to the composing com-posing room. The letters were stolen I right and left, and soon negotiations were i opened with Nye i an Eastern newspa1 1 per the humorist being offered a salary 1 which fairly took his breath away. Banquet at Denver. ! When Nye decided to leave Laremle. his friends at Denver gave him n banquet i which Is still talked of In the newspaper i circles of that city. W L Vlsscher. whj , afterward achieved some fame along the very llm s followed by Ny.- and Field. sas i the toastmaster. and Introduced Nye i Cowan spoke of "The Denver Press. ' and other Journalists "talked shop. " The guest of the evening wa assigned the : ; subject "Wyoming," and It was expected , ! that he would deliver a warm tribute In I praise of the T. rritory be loved so well j But, Insl-ad of launching forth Into a flowery speech on the subject of Wyoming's Wyo-ming's beauty and greatness. N'yr drew forth s ihlrk pamphlet devoted to statistics sta-tistics ami proceeded, yvith gnat solemnity, solemni-ty, to quote figures l. the yard. Ai II r I tn banqueters were puss-led, and then tie-Joke tie-Joke dawned on them, and they laugh- i InglV admitted thai their guest f, ,.,, Wyoming had scored a clever" "heat." This banquet lasted until far Into the morning. Even when Nye had been es- COrted to his room al the old Windsor ho- I tol the funmaklng did not cease. Field I f.imed a line of the banqueters, audi marched them oack to the hotel. Then, one after another, th. cards ol the purtv were sent up to Nye. who had tumbled Into bed and had just b. gun to sleep. Nye tiled t-. bub. tie bellboy to let him abuie. and then he tried cajolery and threats' but all In vain. Finally ho gave up ami confessed that he was beaten, He tires-., I and came downstairs and the fun wont on until i ii it is o slgnlflcanl fact that al this banquet John E Leet, a Denver j 'enspaper man prophesied ihar Ei;gii Field, then practically unknown would soon achieve a fame l(tial to that of Bill Ijl Nye never forgot hi friends in Laraml. through all his SUCCSSS In after years His life iii the little Wyoming town was plefls- despite the facl that much of the time he hud to struggle against poverty He was a social favorite in the town, gad ( he and his clever ami pretty wife figured many entertainments. He was mar- t ied to Miss Fannie Smith. Bishop Spald- mm ing of Denver offh luting at the ceremony. ajBBV and probably the fact that his happv ; married life began In Wyoming had much , to do with Nye's fondness for Laramie. Th. humorist entered heni-tlly into the so- eial affairs of the town, and It Is a trndl-! trndl-! Hon that ho was the originator of th "changing babies" joke which was sp cleverly worked Into "The Virginian" bv Owen Wlster in Inter years. Nye was appointed I tilted States Com-missloner Com-missloner at Laramie, the only public L office ht. ever held, and his letter of res- iH Ignatloil Is th funniest communication IH the I'nited State: Government aver re-celyed. re-celyed. in this letter which was som-thing som-thing oyer a column lu length. Nye ex-pressed ex-pressed the hope that he and the Govern-ment Govern-ment would continue to be friends, despltt his resignation. He said he was prompt-. prompt-. .I to resign merely owing to his tnoral-n tnoral-n ite appetite for food and clothes en at.-p. at.-p. tiie which ths emoluments of the offlc would not satisfy "J might die suddenly-while suddenly-while n the bench." wrote Nye in his hlmsl.al fashion, "and It would sound harsh I. th- telegraphic dispatch were to state that the United States Commission-. Commission-. i had died from exposure and t"mporar stagnation of underclothes. I resign while ha c the manhood still left to overcom nr fiendish desire to embezzle the coal hod and the front door of the office." Nye lectured in Laramie several nm after bis rise to fume, and no hall could in- secured that would hold the audiences that I iirned out to hear the humorist. To- J dav Laramie says nothing Imt pleasant thinfl Of the genius It gave to the World. but then there art only pleasant things to he said of the man whose work In Wyo- mlng was tin preliminary of a long 1 i . chtrerl il im I he t:neflt of ii BLsBll SB .;" I , J "t |