Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1903 — LAUGHING [ARTICLE]

LAUGHING

Tht VMi MffsraaM that U Nstlcsd Amoai Various Mat hod a. In all tha wM* range of •volotion■ry ■todies there Is noting quite so Intereating to me aa the vide difference In the matter of laughing," said a thoughtful man, M and I have often wondered why eome man with cbancea to observe the differences, not only among Individual! belonging to. the same racial group, but among races, had not developed the more striking difference. We have dealt with other important differences, the difference In vocal range and tone. We have developed In our evolutionary studies the marked difference between the music of primitive and civilized peoples, the broad difference, for Instance, between the simple monotonous scale of the Figian, and that complex bit of sublimated harmony, the symphony. Why not develop the range of laughter among Individuals and races? It would be an easy matter to do this. Besides, what more cheerful study can one pursue than the study of laughter? What more alluring theme can we find In the whole category of subjects relating to human kind? Laughter! To think of It Is to smile, to enthuse, to become'cheery, to see things of the world through the rosy glasses of optimism.. Laughter la music. It la the bubbling forth of the finer things of the human voice. It la perfected music. It la the sum total, the final all, In the matter of wedded, rhythmical tones. Yet, men and women laugh in different keys and different scales. Often laughter Is as the silvery tones of the oriole. Sometimes It is the clear brass ring of the black-bird calling to her brood In tbe black gum tree. Laughter is sometimes sharp, cutting; sometimes deep, heavy, guttural, sounding a sort of basso profundo; sometimes It is the one voice In the scale of harmony, and sometimes another, but It Is always musical; always rhythmical; always associated In some way with the parting of lips, and the showing of teeth, and the playing of dimples, and all that sort of thing. Laughter is good to think upon. It is a good theme, a good study, and one which may be pursued with much profit.—New Orleans Times Democrat.