The Monitor., 1886-12-03
sAuCBERs AND LAUGHTER.

Il. p. p. thus writes in the st. Louis
Globe Demoerot: have one boy who can
rot laugh. He makes attempts at it.
but he might as well attempt TO bray.
Otherwise fine chap, with a capital head
and makeup, lie lacks the native gift Of
laughter When he does try it sizzles on
the end of his tongue in a te-he-he. The
fact is furthermore that he does not laugh
inside. Jokes are not at home anywhere
in his soul. Machines are. ] don't know
one machine from another; can hardly tell
a pump from churn. but like the deli
cate ''peach-blow' shades of good story.
If old Falstaff were Eere in this room, this
boy of mine would walk around him three
or four times and give guess at his
weight, or tell me he thought aim about
one-half horse power "Knickerbocker' 5
New York | am obliged to translate to
the chap.
What, after all, is laughter? Here is a
friend of mine up in Michigan with such a
gift of laughing that he shakes your raft
ers. Jokes snap and crackle as they fly
out Of his mouth, while he clasps his hands
to his back and roars. Backward and for
ward he runs, only stopping long enough
to catch breath. The last time | saw him
was at the depot in A. Unfortunately
the platform was not long enough to cover
his backward strides, and over he went.
But he climbed on again, With the last half
of joke still good in his mouth, and he
fired it at me as the train moved out.
Curieusly, laugh is infectious, and such
man keeps crowd IN roar without ex-
actly knowing why.
John B. Coughs best thing was to tell
an audience that be intended very soon to
make them iaugh-laugh at something
silly lie gave them preparatory notice
that what he was geing to say amounted
to nothing; was not worth laughing at; yet
they would all laugh themselves tired.
Then he went on coolly to do it. And they
always did laugh, and then looked at each
other to see what they were laughing at.
No one ever found out, and John said TO
them: Il told you SO.
He had the art Of making laughter. He
was not himself a good laugher by any
measure. In private he was decidedly
sober, matter-of-fact man.
Can you then get at the difference in folk ?
A judge holding court for sometime in wait
ing for a witness named Sarah Money. an
nounces al last that as the witness is
not forthcoming lie will adjourn court
is amazed to see every one laughing, but
on the way home the joke penetrates him,
and he stops and holds on to a fence while
the wave passes over him. Reaching home
he repeats it to his wife, ''the greatest joke
ef the season. THE judge adjourned the
court without Mary-money.' II don't
see the point OF that" insists the poor
woman. ''You will in about five minutes,
he rep lies. Il didn't at first" You say
what are We to make of such dolt as that?
No more than he makes of you. People
come to more misunderstanding on this
subject of laughter than on any ether.
W ny 10 IL Ludb ptOpic USH Ike 70 DC
laughed at? What is laughter, anyway?
Apparently a very innocent affair; a mus
cular centortion- rarely comely twist of
the features. Could You imagine anything
more laughable than to have Charles sum-
ner and Tom Corwin brought into social
contact for an hour? Sumner always felt
of joke as he would the handle of bat
terry, and the result was shock. He hated
a joker. Corwin was corruscating with
wit and fun in spite of himself. He was
the greatest statesman aad wit combined
the country has produced. He died at last
as you have seen vast discharge of rock
cts flashing and Illuminating, and then
suddenly all was darkness forever. Liu-
coin, however, was more grim. He was
not SO reyally laugher as Corwin. But
what would you give to see the span in
Paradise?