The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1884-07-17
About Laughter.

A laugh may cover all manner OF
sentiments-joy, scorn or anger; 1t may
be the most musical or most discordant
Of sounds, the most delightful or the
most horrible which can fall upon our
ears. Contrast the happy laughter of
merry children with the gibbering cry
of the maniac or the hoarse laugh of
defiant criminal, the musical ripple of
crowd at fair.
A really musical laugh is perhaps
rarer than really musical voice. The
giggle, the snigger, the half-choked
laugh are common enough; but how
seldom do we hear that melodious
sound, the laugh in its perfection. It
should not be shrill, nor too loud, nor
too long. 1t should not bear any double
meaning, any hidden sarcasm in its
mirth. 1t should not be so boisterous
as to exhaust the laughter and deafen
the listeners.
Peg Wellington is said to have been
celebrated for the music of her
laughter on the stage-a most diff
cult accomplishment, for nothing, lex
cept, perhaps, a sneeze) is harder to
counterfeit than a laugh. There are
many varieties of laughs. There is the
musical, cultivated and extremely rare
one, pleasant to listen to as chime of
bells. There is the glad, if somewhat
shrill, merriment of children, the hap
piness of which condones its noise.
There is the loud guffaw of the vul-
gar, and the laughter which appears
likely to tear the laugher in pieces,
causing him to wipe his eyes after the
explosion is over. There is the laugh
of embarrassment. when shy person
at a loss what to say next, remarks to
he," as Artemus Ward describes it.
There is the schoolgirls giggle; and
schoolboy's snigger, as he reflects on
some recently-perpetrate but still re-
| collected, piece of mischief. There is
the chuckle of the successful man.
All these laughs bear some family
resemblance to each other; they all, in
their degree, express sensation OF
pleasure. There are darker descriptions
of laughter There are laughs more
cutting than the bitterest speeches
more alarming than the cruelest
threats. Satirieal laughter is the most
offensive. A laugh can convey con
tempt which words would fail to ex.
press.
Is any one proof against being an
noyed by ridiculeP Even dog ii
sensible when he is laughed at, and
resents the impertinence. Some ami
mails are indeed quite as sensitive tC
derision as human beings. The laugh
ter of the underbred, which finds oper
hn n
their neighbors-say the ridicule Law
ished on sea-sick arrivals at pier, o.
on hapless foreigners in an altercatiol
with cabman, or an old gentleman
who falls down slide-also rank
among 'laughs offensive"
Then there is the laugh of incredu
lity. When Tom goes to his rich ole
uncle, full of glowing descriptions o
the perfections of the lady to whom h'
is engaged, or of the appointment
which he expects to obtain, does the oil
gentleman damp his nephew's ardor b,
long harangue? No, he only gives
dry laugh; and Toms hopes of a checl
fall rapidly.
Too rare laughers are as unpopula
as too ready ones. A teller of goot
: | OlOl ACfCI 1OlSlNCo t1C LA1A WI
does not laugh at his jokes. Man
persons have made their fortunes b
laughing at judicious momentss az
plauding some poor jest, or becomin
convulsed with mirth at dull pun. I
be duly appreeiative of his patron
wit was an important part of the dut
of hanger-on. With what read
J laughter are a schoolmaster's witt
cisms received by his class!
There is story of q dramatic al
thor, whose play had been accepted
being requested to make sundry alters
I tions to suit the taste of the actors
!, Among other changes, the manage
! suggested that ''a laugh" should be il
: troduced at the conclusion of a speec
! ! of an outgoing performer; sit woul
give him better exit. The authc
pleaded that to admit this chang
would spoil the whole dialogue, but tt
manager was urgent still. 'gThink
over, and do what you can, B
position in the theater demands it!
When laughs are thus priced it is nj
: wonderful that persons who rarely us
! their risible muscles are unpopular
7 Pail Mall Gazette.
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