[Ads-l] Bat Masterson Quote

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks, Peter. The citation below asserts that Congressman Frank
Lawler coined the saying. However, this citation is not the earliest.
The citation in the "Atchison Daily Patriot" (already posted to this
mailing list) occurred a month earlier

Date: December 18, 1886
Newspaper: Kansas City Times
Article: Congressman Lawler's Philosophy
Acknowledgment: Cincinnati Commercial Gazette
Newspaper Location: (Kansas City, Missouri)
Quote Page 2, Column 4
Database: GenealogyBank

[[Begin excerpt - as always, double-check text]]
Congressman Lawler's Philosophy
[Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.]
Mr. Lawler is a philosopher. It was he who originated the famous
saying, worthy of Seneca's morals or "Poor Richard's Almanac." Said
Mr. Lawler:

"Gentlemen you should not get impatient with nature. All things
equalize themselves—the rich man gets his ice in summer and the poor
man gets his in winter."
[[End excerpt]]

Below is another citation pointing to Lawler:

Date: December 18, 1886
Newspaper: The Cecil Whig
Newspaper Location: Elkton, Maryland
Article (Short untitled item)
Quote Page 2, Column 1
Database: Chronicling America

[Begin excerpt]
Congressman Frank Lawler is a philosopher if not a genius. “Gentlemen”
he cries "you should not get impatient with nature. All things
equalize themselves—the rich man gets his ice in the summer, and the
poor man gets his in winter." Lawler evidently keeps in out of the
cold. He fairly typifies modern chanty.
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 6:15 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> If the saying originated in November 1886, it could have been a corollary of an earlier anecdote:
>
>
> "[T]he rich men die in winter, and poor men in summer. . . .  In the summer time rich men as a rule take it easy.  They keep in the shade, and spend their time at summer resorts, where they get plenty of fresh air.  Poor people, on the other hand, remain at home.  They work in the sun,live in the basements and hot rooms, and enervate themselves until they take sick and die. . . .
>
>
> "Rich men die in the winter because they are subject to dangers they take no precautions to avoid.  Poor men suffer from exposure, yet their very hardships fit them for the sudden change4s of the weather, which are almost constantly occurring.  Rich people,wearing furs and heavy overcoats, crowd into overheated and badly ventilated theatres.  When they come otu they catch their death of cold. . . ."
>
>
> Springfield Globe-Republic, May 20, 1886, page 2 (citing St. Louis Republican).
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2017 1:33 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Bat Masterson Quote
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Bat Masterson Quote
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here is the quip more than a decade earlier. (Apologies to list
> members who do not wish to see research in real-time.)
>
> Date: November 18, 1886
> Newspaper: Atchison Daily Patriot
> Newspaper Location: Atchison, Kansas
> Article: Untitled short piece
> Quote Page 2, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
> Quote Page 2, Column 2
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> It is on the Emersonian doctrine of compensation illustrated by one of
> his disciples, who said all things are about evenly divided, as for
> instance: The rich have ice in summer and the poor have it in winter.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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