Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1849-05-04
VERMONT PHOENIX.
BrattIeboro, Friday, May 4, lS4s.
Editorial Correspondence.

NEw YORK, April 25, 1919.
have been 10 see the Elephant" and rs all
the readers Of the Phooir may not have been
20 fortunate, must tell them something about
the "crittcr" Perhaps you may have seen, in
tho New York papers, an advertisement Of an
extraordinary animal, caught somewhere In Cal
iiornia, and exhibiting at present in New York
-" admission 25 cents, children half price,
Il was said to he unlike any other animal ever
known, being somc vbat in the shape Of a horse,
but covered with WOOL instead of hair, and hav-
ing tail like an elephant Ofcoursc was Gu.
rous to sec such prodigy, especially as Il was
whispered about that the prodigy was Of domcs-
tic and Yinkcc manufacture. So ! made one
Of about hundred gaping and staring bipcd',
in for two shiings' worth Of ;" curiosity"
The animal was about the size Of horse, was
just about the figure and shape Of horse, bad
exactly the ears, nose, mouth, head, legs, and
feet &C horse, and no one would have doubted
its bring horse, but for a short, curly WOOL, all
over It's body, and long, taperipg hairless tail.
like On elephants The crowd, looked, and
wondered, aud calculated their astonshmcn,,
and lcf, in the full belief, no doubt, that they
had seen the sirAngest animal in the WORLD
The cream Of the joke is, that the animal was a
common horse, shaved all over and coat Of
wool put on, and the hair extracted from bis
tail. !, was quite profitable speculation, how
ever, until some Of the newspaper reporters who
were "taksn in," exposed the trick, ahd spoiled
Yankee adventure.
remember similar Yankee speculation in
this city, some years since. One day, large
flaming handbills were stuck up all over the city
announcing the arrival from foreign coun,r,
of the mos, extraordinary natural curiosity ever
seen, which wa, nothing les than "a horse rclos,
tail ras iclere Ais head should Be-" Such a pho
nomcnon Of course drew unuuual crowds, ant
the exhibition room was ibronged. Those VII,
were fortunate enough to get in, were loud Aut
enthusiastic in admiration, aud urged every on,
they me. by all means to see Il. The fever con
tinued for several day., and tho owners Of tn
animal were reaping golden harvest. when !
unluckiy leaked on, that the exhibition consis,
ed merely in placing horse in stab, with bi
tail to the mangerl To avoid being laughing
stock, those who were dupeJ concealed the fact
aud aided to dupe their friends.
Being in the mood to see wonders, ,isite'
the exhibition Of the celebrated Monsieur Ad
rien, who boasts tia, he is The King Of Msgieian'
Some Of his performances were truly wonderful
One of them, should say was impossible, had
not been a witness Of Il.
4 little girl, abou, Eve years Of age, W. ruise'
10 position nearly horizontal with the floor, anC
remained there for nearly minute, with no 9th
er support than resting her right elbow upon ih'
end Of an upright pole, Of the dimensions Of !
common boc.hsndle, with her hand to the sid'
Of her head. IL this there was no delusion oil
slight Of hand. In the first place, the child wa
brought upon The stage, with two short poles, AMI
steps about Eve feet high She assembled The
steps, and one Of the poles was set upright, 81
that. lying partly on the sfeps. her head ant
shoulders were ssPportci by placing her elbow
on the end Of il, and her head resting on hei
hand. The other pole was placed convenient
for her len hand, she lying on her right side.--
When thus placed, she was lying at an angle o.
forty-6sc dcgrrcA
The Magician then went through some mag
nciic passes, which did not seem to affect her il
the least, as her eyes were open, and wanderin,
about the room. He then took bottle, uncork
ed II, aud passed around her head, 30 that 81,
inhaled from il. Very soon her eyes closed, anc
there we're convulsive witches about her mouth
When she appeared to be asleep, he removed
FIRST the steps, and then the pole upon which be-
lefi hand rested, and her left hand, which wa
perfectly flexible, he laid naturally on her side
Neither the removal Of the pole or the steps al
fccied her position in the least, and there wa
no visible support to her in tha, horizontal posi-
ton but thai of her elbow extending beyond he
head, and resting on the end of the pole.
To convince the audience that there was n,
invisible cord to support her, he passed lon,
stick over, around and under her. There wa
absolutely nothing to support her, that could b,
discovered, and she was placed but = step o
two from us. This really wonderful perform
anee draws crowds Of the most respectable PEG
pie, and although there arc various conjectures
| have heard Of no satisfactory explanation
One thing Is very evident, it is not by any o
the common arts Of legcrdemain.
] have devoted so much space to this affair
that ! have room for nothing else, or woul,
take you 10 the Museum, and give you anothe
dose of sights aud marveis; but this must do fo
the present.
ANOTHER CALIFORNIA IioRsE AN ANNA
answering the description given above of thu