The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1862-10-17

Fun ON A MISSISSIPPI STEAMER.-Every-
body who has ever Travelled upon the Up
per Mississippi, especially those who have
visited St. Paul, within the last four or five
years, must have formed the acquaintance
of that prince of wags and practical jokers,
Hank Tyrrell, the clerk of the Lacrosse
steamer, Moses McLellan,-will appreciate
the following story abundantly when they
remember how they have been made to
set up the liquids in payment for being
made the victims of "sell" of his devils
ing. We tell the story us it was told to us
by an eyewitness:
About three weeks ago, the Mcclellan
left her levee at Lacrosse, for St. Paul,
with as choice a crowd of passengers on
board as one generally sees together, and
crowd, too, that evidenced by its hilarity
that it felt it was getting away from the
theatre of war and politics, and fast near
ing the realms OF peace and fresh air, only
to be fonnd in the congenial chimes and
glorious scenes north of Maiden's Rock
and Lake Pepin. Once under way, as is
usual on such occasions and with such
crowds, the passengers went at the work
of killing time in more ways than can here
be conveniently told. Euchre,' whist,
"old sledge," checkers" backgam-
mon, '-everything but "poker,' had its
devotees, while Billy at the bar was kept
particularly busy mixing" and "dispens-
ing 1t was while thus engaged that
Tyrrell commenced his pranks. He had
prepared small blackened cork, to re-
semble great black spider, attached it to
one end of a long hair, which, by means
of small stick, he would cause to drop
down in front of some semi-drowsy player,
starting to his feet in deadly fright, or per-
haps causing him to clutch or slap at his
unwelcome intruder, with vengeance only
to be witnessed when one is startled half
out of his wits by some horrible apparition.
Scores of passengers had been "sold" by
the dodge, and new victim was about
being tried on, when all at once a cry
came up from below, clear and distinct-a
cry that always will startle all on shipboard
horrible in contemplation and fearful in
reality:
"Stop the boat stop the boat! Man
overheard IMAM overboard!"
In an instant the cabin was cleared-men
dropped their cards and glasses; women
turned pale with fright; walters left their
,half-prepared tables the bartender left
his lager running to waste the captain let
fall his pen; and Tyrrell for the nonce sub
sided from his sport, and all rushed in pro-
miscuous confusion to the guards and low
er decks, to see and render help to the
poor wight who was supposed to have TAX
en- so unceremOniOus bath in the Father
of Waters OF all the frightened ones, no
one was more so than our friend Tyrrell
He went through the dining hall, into the
ladies' cabin, out on the stern, down be-
low, and up into the pilot-house, with a
velocity ofmovement that would have done
honor to Stewards Virginia Cavalry, and
in less time than it takes to tell it. But
what of the voice? None had heard the
terrible cry save those who were in the
cabin. The darkies below were as inno-
cent of any knowledge of the cause of the
hubbub as human beings could be, while
the deck-hands swore that the whole fuss
was raised by Tyrrell, who had rushed
down below in state of mind bordering
on insanity, and insisted on getting out the
life-boat, in which to reconnoitre the cooks
galley for the missing man, or upon doing
other as strange and incomprehensible
things, in order to fathom the mystery.
But the crowd soon became convinced
that they had been sold, and an investiga-
ton was entered into in order to ascertain
who was the vender. The heaviest pur-
chaser had evidently been poor Tyrrell.
They came back into the cabin and re-
sumed their avocations-a but Tyrrell,
who was afterwards found sitting abaft the
hen-coop, tanning himself with bottle.
We had almost forgotten to explain the
joke. It seems that among the passen-
gers on board who had witnessed the
"spider trick, was Chapman, the war cor
respondent of the New York Herald, q
wag, by the way, and ventriloquist of
the first water, who thought it was most
too bad to let Tyrrell have all the fun to
himself, so he went in on his "vocal."