New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-05-09
SKIP ENCE TOO LITTLE.

While over in London, during the Industrial
Exposition, my attention was one day attrae ted
by small crowd which had congregated close
by the Church of St. Martins in the Fields
Now, any popular meeting has always singular
attraction for me, and whether it be two BOYS
looking for a cent which has rolled in the gutter,
or the more serious array which gathers around
the detected pickpocket, or the MANNED form of
the man run over by the butchers cart, | am
always sure to be in the midst of it, On the
present occasion the crowd was rather an insig-
nifcant one in number, but interesting in its
elements 1t consisted chiefly of a laborer out
of work and in distress; nursery maid holding
an unhappy, silent child over her shoulder until
it began to look purple and artificial about the
face; two charity boys who wero taking alter
nate sucks Mt a watery orange; pert Doctors
boy who endeavored to appear entirely above
drugs, and pale listless man dressed in fragile
black, who looked so chronically hungry, that
if St. Pauls Cathedral had been suddenly con-
verted into a seed cake, one might easily have
imagined him walking into it, and devouring it
up to the balcony. Small as this congregation
was, the temptation overlook me, and | Joined
the group. In the centre Of the little ring formed
by the spectators stood small, shrewd looking
man, holding mouse-trap with three hens
eggs in it, in one hand, while with the other he
gesticulated gracefully as he delivered the fol-
lowing address:
y
attention for the purpose Of frivolous demonstra-
tions or commonplace imposture. The little
exhibition which Twill have the honor of placing
before you, is as unpretending in its means as
it is wonderful in its results, and would long
before this have secured my independence but
for n series Of unhappy circumstances too long
and too complicated to mention. Ladies and
gentlemen, you behold this mouse-trap. These
eggs, ladies and gentlemen, are perfectly sound
and natural-for scorn artiice-and what is
more singular, they are fresh P'
A laugh from the nursery maid, and hun
cry glare from the thin man, who, could see,
had already fried them-in imagination The
speaker having thus excited the curiosity of his
auditors, went on:
Eggs, ladies and gentlemen, are it is well
known, composed Of ealcareous substance for
the shells, and albumen mingled with alantoide,
urea and other matter for the yelk You will
perceive then that these eggs contain all the
rudiments Of an animal, and would, with time
and proper treatment, develop themselves into
gallinaceous offspring, if by certain power, of
which am the sole possessor, the destiny OF
Nature was not arrested, and her designs forced
into another channel. In short, ladies and gen.
tlemen, if you will contribute the small sum
which shall compensate me for my expenditure
of time and labor, you shall see these thre,
white, fresh, real, downright eggs and no mis-
| take, changed into three white mice before YOU
| own eyes, and all in the short space Of tw,
minutes and ffty-six seconds Eggs change,
into white mice, visibly, naturally, and by ait
of no necromantic delusion whatever, upon thu
contribution Of small sum which shall COM
pensate for my laborp'
This tremendous announcement, accompanied
as it was by an air of considerable Importance
made great impression upon the audience.
The nursery maid fumbled for refractory
pocket with one hand, while with the ether sne
held the purple child BY ons leg, until I thought