The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-07-04

h"uSiitf ana 5ihiA'9'
ny oro. HucsLEr.
That ancient poet, Peter Pindar, wisely
said that Every time a man smiles, much
more so when he laughs, he adds some
fragment to his small portion of life"
Men and women have various ways oil
Laughing, and | am inclined to think that
in many cases it Is almost as clear an m
dex of character and disposition as can be
deduced from phrenOlogy or any other SCI
ence.
/ shall not, however, enter into n sCien-
tidc dissertation ON the subject, nor try to
explain why man laughs, nor how he
laugns.
One thing we know-thnt mau does
laugi =; and Button, or Cuvier, or some one
else, has said that he Is thc only animal
tnat laughs.
IN all our intercourse with dumb ami
mas, perhaps not one of us ever saw any
thing like a smile, or heard anything like
n laugh amongst them. They have va
Iousw ways of showing their happiness and
gratitude; but the beimlng eye, the smil-
ing lip and the Joyous peal belong not to
them.
The horse neighs in anticipation of his
oats; but / lave seen some human beings
do the same thing as they fled oil 10 din
ner TO the tune of "The roast beef of Mer-
rio England"
The mastiff ways his tail when his mus
ter pats him On the head that may be his
way of laughing, and a very quiet and {
! sible way II is.
The hog gives short, spasmodic grunts
of appreciation, when he buries his nose
in his food-a rather unpoetical langh, no
doubt; but for all that, / have known
some fat old gentlemen who laughed some
what in the same mnnner-deep and gut
~terally-hlSe the rolling intouations of dis
tant thunder.
[ nm not quite certain whether bears,
! tigers, or hyenas laugh or not; they show
their teeth at all events, but not in q very
pleasing name / believe.
The laughter of the birds is music-sweet
rs the smile of childhood and pure us the
song of angels in grove and in bower they
carol forth their happiness, calling all ma
ture to witness that their little hearts arc
oycrtowing with joy
"rhe rcd-breast from his yellow beak
Trills out the JOY he cannot speak"
"Chick-a-de-deem cries out one little fell
low not bigger than II thimble, and anon he
is answered by another little jay from u
~ncighhoring bush, with whom he is play
ing bo-pcep.
- sANatN ~ WV NAANt" a'AANA wv ~
fatherland, the cuckoo %gladdens hearts Of
old and young with his pleasnut voice:
Sweet bird thy bower is ever green,
Thy sky is ever clear;
Thou hast no sorrow in thy song,
No winter in thy year
1 do not know how it may be with some
people; but to me the mention Of the
word "cuckoo' brings visions Of ltlppy
days and fairy scenes long passed away,
when l. wandered tTuant and alone, DER
hills and through valleys melOdiOus with
the song of birds.
But what" in the name of folly, you may
ask, has all this to do with laughter ~
| You know it is hard to speak of birds,
babies or bOnnets without getting scnti-
mental aud feeling a kind Of all-oyerish-
ness about onc's self. Why | once heard
of n man who spent srwhOle week apOstrO-
phizing a kid-glove he had picked up, UNI
der the impression that the owner Of il was
n charming creature with golden tTcsses,
rosy lips, pearly teeth and all that sort of
thing; but after all, she turned out to he
Il "colorcd person. with Il fat, caTtilrgin-
GUS nose, and most cNcrucintiug heels and
TO crown all, an old woman called him n
daft LOOM
Laughter, like language, is the prcroga-
tive of the human family it enables us
to express our joy and approval, and SOME
times our hate, more completely than by
words alone.
"Here's a sigh for those who love ms,
"And Il smile for those who hate"
Laughter is the salety-vnlvc to the pent
up happiness of the heart it is a visible
manifestation OF the thinking mind the
electric flash OF passing thought-the Ian
guagc of love, and the chord that more
closely binds friendship.
Conversation derives half it's charms
from the smiles that il wit
and rcpartee, no matter how brilliant,
would be ]powcrless 10 please II we could
not see each other smne and hear each
other laugh social intercourse would be
dull and insipid if we could not indulge
in q hearty laugh once in n while.
Just observe what II happy effect the ar
rival of some Jolly visitor will have on II
whole family when he enters with Il broad
grin of delight upon his face, and good ma
ture in every tone of his voice. The little
ones all catch the smile, and old grandpa,
in his arm chair beside the fire, welcomes
the stranger with laughing tones, and the
whole house rings with mcTrimcnt. They
cannot help themselves laughter is con
tagiOus, and infeCts all who come within
Its happy influence.
Lord Chesterfield condemned audible
laughter rs being vulgar but how can we
help ourselves from bursting into a round
of haw-haws, when our ncighbor is well
nigh bursting with funH
Laughter" says DIR. johnson, lis con-
vnlsive merriment y and | agree with him,
for when one does get fairly started to
laugh, it is hardly in his power to pull
up" have seen peoplc-aud l dare say
you have seen people-laugh until the
tears streamed from their eyes, aud their
ilccs swellcd and became of a purple hue
from what might be called an agony OF
fun
There are various ways of laughing and
Smiling in the world, and / will now Hen-
ton and ondcavur to illustrate sone of
them.
The smile of the sleeping infant is per
haps the purest of oil smiles. Wrapt in
innocent slumbcr, smiles break over its
face without a seeming cause, and from
this is derived the beautiful idea that in
fants hold converse with the angels. You
have all heard or read the beautiful lyric
Of the Angels Whisper, in which the poet
peaks OF a young mother watching beside
tue cot of her sleeping babe, while her hus-
band was far OF ION the wild raging sea, -
and the fond parent, fancying that the an
gels were whispering TO her child, told it to
tell them to watch DER its father who
was then en]couutering the perils of wind
and wave.
st looks so fair, the infant with its smile,
It's soft, sweet trust, its voice that knows
no guile;
Letting its pleased and wondering glances
roll
Offering to life, on all sides, its young