Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1881-03-31

and spoiled the effect of the discourse.
besides disturbing the equilibrium OF
the clergyman. Another time he was
found by one of his neighbors along the
road. lying beneath bag of flour.
launching at a terrific rate. He has
been taken while driving home from
the mill and the suddenness of the
sounds frightened the horse, causing it
to run away and dump the man. and
part of his load out in the road. For
eighteen months the father was the only
one of the household afflicted with the
malady. Several of them had COM
planned from time to time OF an incli-
nation to Join the father in the laugh.
but none of them did so until nearly two
wears after he, was taken, when Susie.
the youngest child. suddenly burst into
similar tit during one Of her father
attacks. From that time on she has
laughed at about the same hours her
father does. One by one the remaining
members fell victims to the strange
complaint, until three years ago there
was but one left free, and that was
Charles. the Oldest son. His long ex-
emption led him to believe he would
escape the contagion. But he was mis-
taken, and it is said he had his first at
tack while petitioning for the hand OF a
Harrisburg damsel. So frightened was
the lady by the queer behavior of her
sutton that she ran from the room, and
L was weeks before the proper explana-
tiOns could induce her to see him again.
She is now one of the family here, and,
escaping the malady, never minds the
hdeous chorus of laughter which twice
day resounds through the house or
grounds. 1t is regarded as rather
strange that none OF the neighbors
should have caught the infection, but
such is the case. although many of them
mingle constantly with the family.
TRYING TO STOP 1T.
Everything possible has been done to
alleviate or remove the malady, but
without perceptible effect. Several
eminent physicians from the leading
cities have visited the home and grown
exceedingly interested in the case.
They all confess themselves baffied by
the malady and want one or two Of the
family to go to the city, where they
can receive constant treatment. This
they steadily refuse to do. Their
peculiar trouble, so noticeable and odd,
has made them very sensitive. and they
will not travel where they will be sub
jected to public scrutiny and remark.
They 90 to church or the store in the
village close by. and attend social
gatherings occasionally in the neigh
bornOod in the evenings, but only
among lifelong friends. People within
a radius of a few miles are so accus-
toned to the thing that they never
mind it or mention it. Consequently
very few people outside of the imme-
date vicinity, and the physicians who
have attended them. are cognizant of
the circumstances. People passing the
house, especially in the summer time,
have been filed with curiosity by what
they saw and heard, and have carried
accounts to distant places. These re-
ports are very vague. for the passers-
BY have no definite idea OF the matter.
They only knew that it looked remark
ably strange to see father and his sons
out in field blowing and sowing many
rods apart, vet each one laughing as
though he had heard the best joke in
the world. Curious stories are told of
the travellers who went that way. Sew
eral years ago two young Men came
from Doylestown to attend party at
Erwinna, summer resort on the Penn
sylvania side, q few miles below here.
1t was q warm night and they did not
start back until late. They drove past
the house of the laughing family soon
after the regular attack had begun.
The windows were all open. and every
n 4 n
young men approached they heard the
most unearthly noise their ears had
ever received. 1t seemed like perfect
pandemonium. and they felt sure they
must have struck the entrance to the
lower regions. The horse took fright
and nearly run away with them. Com