The morning news., 1889-03-03

Perhaps one Of the best natured laugh
ers is Charles e. Coon, ex-ASsistant Sec
retary of the Treasury. He has had years
of practice and can fairly hold his sides
after listening to an antique Joke Of the
| Silurian period. He does not believe in the
| loud guffaw, but TT es to force his voice to
a moderate pitch with falling infection.
| If he has on is Eyeglasses he makes a
| strong point towards complete naturalness
| by shaking them from his nose. The glasses
have string attachment and so do not fall
far. 1t is believed by Mr. Coon's intimate
friends that his life in London had some
thing to do with his abandonment of the loud
guffaw.
is that new joke to you9' asked friend
! one day recently Of Mr.. Coon when the re-
later had departed
"No, have heard it often for the past
ten years but what could | do but laugh
when he said it was funny joke" he re-
piled.
Ex-senator t. C. Platt has quiet, Sc
rious looking face, but he is a good laugher
and quick to see humorous
or absurd point. Few men have more
perfect perfunctory smile, and for common
everyday jokes, related by the average
politician, it is more than Chesterieldian
in its natural but apparently unconvention-
al style. 1t is refreshing because it is not
cosmopolitan. Mr.. Plat first acquired his
habits Of laughing in the northern tier Of
counties and since his residence in the me-
tropolis' environment has toned it down
somewhat, but not robbed it of its virile
rural charm. He is fond of jokes with
points to them sharp enough to tickle,
whether they are well told or not
The Herkimer statesmen, ex-senator
Warner Millersh has at long intervals spo-
radio outbreaks of the genuine polite guf-
faw. As rule he is conservative and
~
ha, ha, is somewhat tame and colorless, but
his friends make excuses for this defect on
the ground that for many years he has had
to listen to ex-Congressman Burleighs
funny jokes, and not wishing to adopt the
perfunctory snicker, he strained his natural
gamut. Mr.. Miller is fond of broad humor
and that is one reaso why the farmers like
him. Hr does not care anything for the
pun style of humor. The recent contro-
versy about Sappho and who sac was did
not interest him.
The Plumed Knight, James G. Blaine,
has magnetism in his smile. and music in
his well modnlated he, he, la, La. Like all
public men he has had to listen to some pre-
historic bits of humor and his recognition
of them has been invariably in a courtly
and pleasing style Of laughter. He has the
faculty of remembering the bores aud
knows how to switch them off when they
begin to relate time worn cnestnuts. There
are times when he does not smile at an
alleged joke, but simply beams good
naturely from his eyes There is nothing
from the rich humor of Fielding TO the ra Y
paragraphs in the daily newspapers but
what reaches some responsive chord in his
mental nature Even his residence in
Maine where humoris supposed TO be sterile
and not at all indigenous has not affected
him.
Gen. Russell A. Alger, of the Wolverine
state, has breezy, western guffaw, that
stamps him at once as a healthy, robust
laug ter The perfunctory sIicker is not
in his repertory. Last year the genera an
nounced himself as candidate for the
presidency and said he really wanted the
nomi alton irrespective of tne urging his
hosts Of friends would do, il he only desired
to come out in that familiar way. One day
a farmer stepped into his Office and said he
was impatient to shake the hand of one man
who was running for the presidency because
he wanted it. The general ins antly recog-
nized the humor and laughed heartily with
out the least effort. de Is fond Of fun that
has h practical turn in it like the incident
related. The effete jokes Of the east, while
he thinks they have a boudoir aristocratc
coloring, he enjoys more as burlesque on
the real western article, than for the points
they may convey.