Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1855-04-14
BARNUl1's N S ',:,E SPEECH / on i, HH7UMBUGs. H
DELIVERED AT STANFORD ON THE occA-

.
circumstance that I should be. selected
to speak on Humbug, as looking on the
ladies, whose profession it peculiarly
| lis, / find it hard to express myself in
their presence. Everything is humbug;
the whole state is humbug, except our
Agricultural Society-that alone is
not. 7" H''t+9' fH' ~" fIe'ig5
Humbug is usually defined adeceit
or imposition. A burglar who breaks
into your \ house, q forger who cheats
you Of YOU. property, Or o rascal, is.
not q humbug; q humbug is not an
imposter; I; but in my opinion the true
meaning Of humbug is management,
tact, to take an old truth and put it in
an attractive form.nA ,saa7g 3f f.5me
But nohumbug is great withouttruth
lat the bottom. The woolly horse was
a reality. He was really born with q
woolly coat. bought him in Cincin-
natl for $500, and sent him on to Con
necticut, but for o long, time ! doubted
what I Should do with him, and feared
that he would die. on my hands. Just
at this time, in 1s49, Col Fremont and
his party were reported to have been
lostin the Rocky Mountains; the pub
lie were greatly excited, but shortly
news came that he was SAFE. Now
came the chance for the woolly horse.
Il was duly announced that after
three days chase upon the borders Of
the river Gila, an animal had been cap
tured by the quartermaster Of Col. Ere
mont's party, which partook in . sin
,gular degree Of the nature Of the buf-,
.falo, antelope and cameL The story
was so far true, that I was myself the
quartcrmaster who captured him, and
i charged q quarter for the sight,
The picture outside the exhibition de-
picted the animal as jumping over
ledge Of rocks; now if the animal had
really leaped, as shown in the picture,
he must have passed over q space Of
FIVE miles. To have, believed that he
could have survived such q leap, would
have been the grossest humbug. IN ii
But Col. Benton, who understands
no shumpug but his own, errested my
scheme, and prosecuted me for obtain-
ing money under false pretences, as the
horse was not what it professed to be-;
but I think wrongly, as the peoplewho
saw it we're satisfied, and they got the
worth Of their money. .... .,.'''' 4
Now the scientific h,imbug should
know the precise. moment to act as |
did, or the world would never have
been blessed with a sight Of the woolly
horse. "Hrt W. jasi# ~
When the wo6lly horse arrived from
Connecticut, he was put into a stable
near Loyejoy's Hotel. One of the
boarders who came to see him recogniz-
ed him as on animal he had seen ut
Bridgeport. "Good heayens!" he ex-
claimed, 81 have seen that animal be-
fore; it is most extraordinary hum
bug" He took up friend from the
same hotel, and after he had seen the
animal, lot him into tile secret, and in
succession thirty-seven persons were
carried up, all of whom took the hum
bugging in perfect good humor except
the last man. ys
I have not the vanity to coll myself
a real scientific humbug, 1 am only in
humble member Of the profession.
Ny ambition to DO the Prince Of
Humbugs I willresign, but I hope the
public will take the will for the deed;
1 can assure them that if L had been
able to give them all the humbugs l
have thought Of, they would have been
amply satisfied. ....'. 5.s '...'2 =. y,
Before | went to England with Tom
Thumb, l had a skeleton preparcdfrom
various bones. 1t was to have been
made Is feet high; it was to have been
buried q year Or SO in Ohio, and then
dug up by accident, SO that the public
might learn that there were giants Of
old. The priceI was to pay the person
who proposed to put the skeleton to-
gether was to have been S225.
But finding Tom Thumb more sue
ccssful than ! thought, l sent word not
to proceed with the skeleton. My man
ager, who never thought as highly Of
the scheme as it deserved, sold the
skeleton for $50 or SIS.
Seven years aftcrward I received
from the South an account Of gigan-
tic skeleton that had been found. Ac-
companying il were the certificates Of
scientific and medical met as to the
genuinencss Of it. The owner asked
$4,000 or $1,000 a month; | wrote
I'd him if lie brought it on would take
IL if I foliitd ii as r6DreseuteQ. or would