FRED STONE BEGAN BEING SERIOUSLY FUNNY IN BARN

"To be accounted as funny is about the most serious business in the world", said Mr. Fred Stone, famous comedian now starring in "Stepping Stones" at the Colonial Theatre at a luncheon in his honor at the Union yesterday, which 200 people attended.

"When I was still a young boy I was bitten by the stage bug", Mr. Stone admitted, "and I started my career in my father's barn on our ranch in Colorado arrayed in a red flannel shirt and red woolen under-drawers."

He declared that he was very proud of his profession and the progress that it had made because actors had risen by their own efforts from travelling mountebanks to members of a recognized profession. He attributed a good deal of this success to the efforts of Keith in popularizing good, clean, wholesome amusement.

After his speech Mr. Stone sang several songs, starting with a Chinese lullaby and ending with a humorous ditty on the "gentle game of football."