A Sharp Wit

A musical joke, by J.F. Rowbotham, 1908:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ehgDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

… wrote a musical wit to a friend of his, and in these terms conveyed an invitation to dinner. What is the explanation of it? “One, sharp. Beef and cabbage.” His friend, who was not behindhand at a joke, though by no means so witty as his host, replied:–

http://books.google.com/books?id=ehgDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

… which reads off by the same hieroglyphic: “Not a bad feed. Naturally (natural E) I will be in time.”

Rowbotham also offers this rather mean-spirited message for a vain lady:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ehgDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false

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