Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1864-07-09

write on the pyramids of Ghiza, in huge
letters, Buy Warren's Blacking. 80 Strand
London, he was not Cheating the, travel.
eTs upon the Nile. His blackng was really
q superior article and we'll worth the price
charged tor it, but he was 'humbugging
the public by this queer way of arresting
attention. 1t turned out just as he antici-
pated, that English travellers in that part
OF Egypt were indignant at this desecration.
aud they wrote back to the London Times
(every Englishman "writes to the Times,
if any thing goes wrong), denouncing the
"Goth', who had thus disfgured these an.
cient pyramids by writing on them in mon.
strous letters: Buy Warren's Backing,
80 Strand, London The Times published
the letters, and backed them mp by several
of those awfully grand and dctatorial edit
orials peculiar to the great "Thunderer',
in which the blackiug- maker, Warren,
30 Strand ;, was stigmatized as q man Who
had no respect for tho ancient patriarchs
and it was hnted that he would probably
not hesitate TO sell backing on the sar.
cophagus of Pharaoh, or any other
mummy, if be could only m Ike money by
it. In fact, TO cap the climax, Warren
was penounced as lunbug', These in
.dgDant articles were copied inio all Prov
incial journals, and very soon in this man.
ner, the columns Of every newspaper 10
Great Britain were teeming with this od-
vice: Try Warten's Blacking, 80 Strand,
London. The curiosity Of the public was
thus aroused, and they did try it and
finding it a suprior article, they continued
to purchase it and recommend it to their
friends, and Warren made fortune by its
lie always attributed his success TO hi.
having humbugged the public by this un
ique method of advertising his backing in
Fgyptl But Warren did not cheat his
customers, nor practice an imposture under
fair pretences. He was charlatan, a hum.
bug, but he was an honest upright man
and no one called hun an impostor or cheat.
BY this Illustrating what believe the
public will concede to the sense in which
the wo;d ''bumbug" is generally used and
understood at the present time, iu this
country as well as in England, do not
purpose that my letters on this subject shall
be narrowed down to that definition of the
word. On the contrary, expect to treat
OF various faIlaces, delusions, and decep.
lions in ancient and modern times, which,
according to Webster's definition, may be
! called "hunibug" as uch as they were i'm.
positions under fair pretences
ln writing of modern Lumbugs however,
/ l shall sometimes have occasionIto give the
names Of honest aud respectable parties
now living, and l fel: it but just that the
public should fully comprehend my doctrine,
that man may, by common usage, be
termed "humbug", without by any meaus
impeachiDg his integrity.
Speaking of backing makers reminds me
that one of the first sensatioDalsts in I'D
veriislug whom remember TO have seen,
was Mr.. Leonard Gosling known as Mon
sieur Gosling, the great French Backing
maker. He appeared in New York nj
1880. He flashed like a meteor across the
horizon; and before he had been in the
city three months everybody had heard of
Gosing's Backing. | well remember bis
magnificent four in hand. A splendid team
of,Olood bays, with long black tails. and mau-
aged with such dex'erity by GoSling him
self, who was great whip, that they al.
most seemed to fly. The carriage was EN-
blazoned with the words Gosug's Black
ing in large gold letters, and the whole
turnout was so elahorately oinamented
and bedlzzened that everybody stopped and
gazed with wondering admiration. A
bugle player or band of music always
accompanied the great Gosling, and, OF
course, helped tonttract the public atten'
lion TO his establishment. At the turning
OF every street corner your eyes rested upon
Gosling's Backing. From every show
window gilded placards discoursed eloquent
| nj ha of
The newspapers teemcd with poems written
In its praise, and showers of pictorial hand
bills, illustrated almanacs, and tinseled
souvenirs, n lauding the virtues of Cos
ling's Blacking, smothered you at every
point.
The celebrated originator of negro de-
iineations, Jim Crow Rice, made his first
appearance abont this time The crowds
which thronged there were so great that
hundreds from the audience were frequent.
" admitted upon the stage In one of his
scenes, Rice introduced negro boot black
ing establishment.
| Gosling was too wide awake to let such an
opportunity pass unimproved, and Rice was
paid for singing an original black Gosling
dtty, while score of playcards bearing the
inscription, Use Gosling's Backing, were
suspended at different points in this negro
boot polishing hall. Everybody tried Cos
ling's Backing; and as it was really good
article. his sales in city and colntry soon
became immense Goslng made a fortune
in seven years, and retired; but, like thou,
sands before him, it was easy come, easy
go. He engaged in lead mining specula
tion. aud it was generally understood that his
fortune was, 10 great mersure, lost as rap
idle as it was made
Here let me digress, in order'to observe
that one, of the most difficult things in life is
for men to bare dscreetly sudden prosperity
Unless considerable time and labor are de-
voted to earning money, it is not apprecia-
ted by its possessor; and, having no practic'
al knowledge of the value of money, be
generally gets rid of it with the same ease
that marked accumulation, Mr.. .Astor
| gave the experience of thousands when he
said that he found more difficulty inearning
an saveing his first thousand dallars than
in accommodating all the subsequent millions
which finally made up bis fortune. The
very economy, perseverance, and discipline