The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-10-08

By Beau Esprita
ON LAUGHTER

man with the stick. Now, as Hamlet
would have said had he tarried to
witness the game between Gelhor's
Colts and the Green Sox, "Wheth-
err 'twere better in the body to suf-
fer the pangs of an attenuated an
atomy, or by opposing, miss the
movies is a question about which
philosophers might wax worm in
controversy.
However, l am but plain, unas-
Stunning jail bird, and not much CIV
en- to the strenuosities of heated
controversy; so let that pass. Per-
haps an easy solution of the problem
wonld be to do your laughing while
the laughing is good. i. e., Saturday
afternoons, and Tuesday and Thurs
day evenings.
At any rate. laugh and the world
laughts with you." as my friend
Ella Wilcox has so unsteady sang.
All the world loves laughter. from
the cradle to the grave. Lives there
a man with soul so dead that to him.
self haiti never said by heck,' or
some equivalent phrase of ejacula-
tory appreciation at the google. 90
goo-ing cry of happy infant? Nay,
my friend, never a google in this
world shall pass but it's seed shall
multiply and flourish in the deeper
soil of appreciative adult hearts.
And to the romping school boy
and his demure-sparkling sister,
what achievable boon can we deny
when their request is heralded in on
the wings of smiling, deep-rooted
faith in the inexhaustible treasure
store of big brother, daddy, or
uncle Remus? Truly. laughter is
the key to world mysteries, as well
as to many not less important
If of narrower scope.
That the tinkling tlntinabulations
of the school girls giggle hath
charms to soothe the savage muscu-
line breast, magazine fctlonists have
left no possible doubt. Or If there
be such in your heart, bark back to
the litter of certain Mary, Madge,
or Vella Grace, when first you ask
ed her for the pleasure of her COM
pany in the new yellow wheeled
springer top buggy, or perhaps-and
oh. the rapture in that upturned
face, and catching, breaking Taught
the tiny. shiny, little Ford runa-
bout! Oh, that vas a laugh! How
we'll | remember But you
know that l remember. Do you
not remember the same thing, in es-
sential, yourselfs
Or lie it the laughter of boyish
comeraderie. the bubbling overflow
of excess vitality; the spontaneous
combustion of sheer joy of living
congregated in unquenchable mass;
boisterous mayhap. but sincere,
wholesome? Some there are who
have missed this; wantonly. per-
chance, perchance through no con-
scious fault of their own; nay, in
despite of their most eager, earnest
strivings. Here we first glimpse
the outer border of that pitiful,
mysterious realm, known as Person
atty. Too long to strive, and to
fail, through no conscious, through
no lack of jealous endeavor Truly
this thing called personality is one
of the great mysterious forces that
make up the master force which we
call Life. Yet even here, to the
soul whose personality is alien to
laughter; laughter is the master key
with which to unlock the mysteri-
GUS chamber. But here, as no where
else, must we search for the key
within the depths of our own ma
ture. rather than accept it as a gift
from without. To him who in the
love of laughter holds communion
with her visible Spirits as the poet
very nearly said -for is not laugh
ter second nature to the average
person. may give pause for
thought. To those beyond the pale
it may give rise to that slang phrase,
pertinent to so many topics viewed
in faulty perspective, 1t is to
laugh" q can fairly hear the
composition saying, yes. indeed"
when he comes to this passage, so
will hasten along.)
But after all, is the laughter of
thought inspiration the laugh
ter of natured mind, conscious in its
creation, conscious in its purpose;
yet withal holding somewhat of
that tantalizing mystery as to the
manner of that creation, of the
working out of that purpose which
lends zest to specific cachinnation.
La oE La ,,1oeh4ox LII, O. f,,.oo