The Washington herald., 1918-06-07
The THINGS AT WHICH We LAUGH
Bv DOROTHY DIX,
THE WORLDS HIGHEST PAID WOMAN WRITER.

that will cheer us up. We go TO see
one that holds up to ridicule the most
sacred institution in the world, ana
the one that is the very foundation
stone of civilization. In actual HE
Heaven knows, an unhappy marriage
and an unfaithful husband or wife Is
no merry Jest. 1t is heart-break.
tragedy. tears, but on the stage mat
rimonial infellcity is a subject thar
is invariably provocative OF Wild
mirth.
The hero of the average comedy Is
a gay dog who spends his life in de-
ceiving his elderly and trusting WIFE,
and telling her improbable stories
which she swallows without even the
proverbial grain Of salt He tells her
that he Is summoned TO Mexico on
business, when he really goes OF on
a spree: he represents the chorus girl
with whom she catches him dining as
his long lost and wealthy aunt; he
conceals his feminine visitor in the
office safe when his spouse comes
down Unexpectedly to his place OF
business, and We shrek with JOY and
amusement over his cieverness, and
the ease with which he pulls the wool
over his wife's eyes.
Apparently, not a InOuSnl OF lHt
immortality OF the thing. and OF the
disgusting duplicity of a man who
lies to his wife. enters the mind OF
the audience. Nor does It stop to
consider that the inevitable effect of
the public attitude, thus expressed
in hilarious mirth. must be to teach
every young man in the audience that
wives were made to be hoodwinked
by clever husbands, and that it is
perfectly proper and legitimate TO de-
ceive them Nor does il appear to
occur to anyone that one of the
reasons why wives are unduly Jeal-
Gus and suspicious is because they
have seen men laugh at all that is
beautiful, sacred, and holy in the re-
lationship of husband and wife.
Perhaps the real answer to the
problem of why divorce Is on the in
crease may be found in the fact that
we have made marital fidelity sub
ject for mirth. We condone it when
we laugh at 1t.
BY their laughter shall you know
them. There is no better way in the
world to measure people than by the
things at which they laugh. Men and
women may pretend to cherish sentt-
ment and hold opinions that are real
" foreign to their natures. They may
even shed crocodile tears that arc
faxed to appeal to our sympathy, but
laughter is spontaneous. 1t is the
real mirror OF an individuals soul.
and II shows what he is, deep down
in his inner self.
Nor can II be initiated. A forced
laugh, a manufactured laugh. Is so
different from the genuine rnirth IN
spired article that even a child can
tell the difference.
| There are the obscene minded VINO
only laugh at disgusting vulgarltS'
They find no story funny that mas
not a double entendre meaning. They
60 to see broad plays where the VII Is
coarse and every suggestion rlpalo.
Ohtwardly these people may seem 10
| lead decent lives, but sooner or later
YOU will find that they have been In
dulging in the sensuality they fouhd
SO deliciously amusing to hear ABOUT
Then there are those who only
laugh at pain. They adore the Wit
that stabs like a rapier. They are
conyulsed with mirth at the spec
tacle of some poor. defenseless crea-
ture being held up TO radicule.
They divert themselves by teasing
/ children and playing practical jokes
and they grow hilarious over twit-
ting a cripple with his deformity.
or an unmarried woman about her
age and being an old maid. These
people are tortures at heart. and
they would have enjoyed operatins
the rack and the thumb screw. They
are cold. canous and mean. Watch
out for them. =
! And there are those who laugh q