ALWAYS LAUGHING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXI, Issue 338, 22 November 1887, Page 4

ALWAYS LAUGHING

Thb story of New Jersey's laughing famiiy is certainly One of the oddest \thab ever reached tne ears of thnt State. That a family with such a peculiar malady, and one to evidently interesting to tho medical profession, should bare lived so long in a thickly populated community without attracting public .notice 1 »»nd getting into (he newspapers, exofipfc in a brief and remote way years aero,' is strange. Tim family, says th« New York Mail and Express, reside in a laree^'BuWaoti->l house not far fr>im tbe Delaware river, in Hamerdon county. The father and bods are well-tj-do farmers. Tbe entire family ace chronic; laughsrc, having; an ftffec ion of toe muscles of the mourn and thioat that compels them to give vunfc to apparont: merriment at staed intervale. Thu malady first appeared in the father about, twelve years ago. He was usually a very qaiet man, enjoying fun, bat manifesting ms enjoyment without muob noise, He was seated at the dinner table one day, eating etoaijily, and not engaging in the conversation which, the other membra of the family wero carrying od. Suddenly, and without, ea'ufl^he bnrat lnto a load fit of laughter, ao&Etrejndly different from his acenstomed laugh, ;, that all were attracted by it. Wueri asked for the reason for this sudden outburst he made no r-ply. Some of the boys thought he hnd hysteria, and pounded him on the back, but in vain, After a few moments ho made motions £<r pencil and paper, wrote that he was unable to control his risibility, and asked them to send, f©r a doctor. The rural physician came, but could give no remedy that stopped the 'laughter. Peal after peal of what' sounded like the heartiest kind of laughter came from him, and nothing would avail to prevent it. The doctor finally came to the conclusion that he was the victim of a nervous attack, and leaving a nervine, departed. The father continued laughing until sundown, when he suddenly stopped, and fell to the floor completely exhausted.' He soon grew better, however, ate a supper, and spent the evening much as usual No signs of a return of the trouble appearing, he went to bed, and was soon asleep. About two o'clock his wife was awakened by his laughter, and the same symptoms as before again manifested themselves. He kept it up until seven o'clock, when the affiiotion suddenly ceased and did not' return again until dinner time. Then it continued, recurring each day shortly after noon and in the night shortly after two o'clock, and has done so ever since. As weeks passed he grew so accustomed to the disease that he was caused but little inconvenience. He did not get fatigued as at first, and soon was able .to go about his •farmwork, while laughing immoderately. He could not talk while under the spell, but carried a slate and pencil with him, after the fashion of a deaf and dumb person. The trouble was very regular in its advent, and only occasionally broke forth at unlooked-for seasons. Once the old man was taken in church, and just as the minister was exhorting his hearres in the most solemn atrajns, spoiled the effect of the discourse, besides disturbing the equilibrium of the clergyman. At another time he was found by a neighbour on the road, lying beneath a bag of flour, laughing. He had been taken while, driving home from the mill, and the suddennesss of the outbreak frightened the horse, causing him to run away and dump the man and part of his load out. For eigh - teen months the father was the only one of the household afflicted with the malady. Several of them had complained from time to time of an inclination to join the father in the laugh, but none of them did so until nearly two years after he was taken, when Susie, the youngest child, suddenly burst into a similar fit during one of 'her father's attacks. From that time she laughed at •bout the same hours with her father. One by one the other members fell victims to tbe . strange complaint, until two years ago only Charles, the eldest son, was free, and long exemption led him to beliove that he would escape. But he was mistaken, and it is said he had his first attack while proposing for the hand of a girl in Wilkesbarre, Pa. So frightened was the maiden by Charles' queer behaviour that she ran from the room, and it was weeks before an explanation could induce her to see him again. She is now one of the family, and never minds the hideous chorous which twice a day resounds through the house. Several eminent physicans from New York and Philadelphia are understood to have visited the house and become interested in the caße. They all confessed themselves baffled, and wanted some of the family to cometo New York for treatment. This they refused to do. Their noticeable misfortune has rendered them very sensitive, And they will not travel where they will be subjected %o publio scrutiny and remark. They go to church or store in the village clone by, and attend social gatherings ocoaaionaly in the evening, but only among life-long friends. People within a radius of a few miles are now so accustomed to the thing (hat they have ceased to discuss it ; consequently few people outside of the immediate vicinity and the physicians who 'jave attended them are cognisant of tbe circumstances. People passing tbe house, especially in summer, have thought it exceedingly strange to see a father and his sons in the field, ploughing and sowing rods apart, yet each laughing as though he had just heard the best joke of the year. Several years ago two young men came from the inferior of the State to attend a party at Eaßton, Pa. It was a warm night, and they did not start until late. They drove past the house of the laughing family soon after the regular nightly attack had begun. The

windows were all open, and it was early Summer. As they approached they heard the most unearthly noise. The horse took fright and nearly ran away. Gomirig tot theconolusion that, at least the place was haunted, they -hurried home, and the next morning ■spread the news. Parties were formed to investigate ' the matter, but none of them solved the matter until informed by a man in the village near as to the nature of the case.