The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-24
..rELLIrAs YOU HEARD IT."

theirs had been recently very sick, and had D1i- |
rdbHe dictu, vomited three black crows He 20 |
whom this story was narrated being OF skep- |
tical turn and possibly imagining that the teller |
of the story was a little of a humOrst, and dis |
rosed to Cmbelish somewhat, asked for the |
authority on which the truth rested Of the strange
statement
Having got the name of the informant, and
resolving to investigate the matter, he found, in
the first stage Of his inquiry, that the story, MS
told to him was inaccurate only In one little par
cular There were not three, but two black
crows. Following the clue, and determined TO
get to the bottom, he found to his astonishmcnt
and relief, that the two became one, and that poor
crow was changed into something as black MS n
crow merely; burnt toast, it might be-a bit of
iudigcstiblC swne'5 lcsb or some stewcd prunes.
The terrible tale, when stripped Of the lies that
had gathered around it in It's travels, was found
to he a small allair-a very ordinary occurrence.
Not long ago we happened 20 hear friend
Cautiouug his son against receiving rs accurate
the reports that were in circulation respecting
certain matters, and urging him 10 habits of strict
attention and inquiry. Among other iudicous
observations, our friend expressed his conviction
that apart al OgcthCr from mems wish tOde Give,
which must be taken into consideration and
allowed for, there was not one man in twenty
who could give an accurate account of what he
heard and consequently facts we're, and could
not but be- distorted as the narration Of them
travelled from one TO another.
The youth, who was fresh from his first session
nt college ard was besides naturally sClfrcliunt,
-
and uDjustly on human nature. To test the
sOundness OF the opinion, and TO afford little
diversion, IL was resolved 70 make an expert
mcnt, and in few days afterwards favorable
opportunity presented itself Our friend having
invited twenty Of his acquaintanCcs 10 his house,
to spend an evening with him, suggested that one
of them should write few sentences, narratng
an incident, and should read these sentences
slowly IN the hearing Of two of the company,
whose business it should be 20 write from rccOl-
lection the story they had Just listened 10. Each
Of these two was then directed to read his version
in private 10 other two, and so on till all the COM
pany had been gone oyer-a result which was ac-
complishcd in half an hour.
The original statement was then read aloud in
the presence of all the hicnds-who had been
put ON their honor to do their best in the matter,
and who were, moreover, persons Of more than
| average eduCatiOn-and then the various versions
| in the order OF descent, or departure from that
| original. The reading excited not little sur
prise, and humiliation, and fun. The stOry rs IL
! had been originally given, was as follows, and it
may be observed, by the way the writer said it
! was entirely iablc:-
"In an inn at Lockerbie, in 1926 woman
murdered her husband, by poisoning him with an
| infusion Of lON glove. The evidence, though
| entirely circumstantial, was deemed sufficient,
! and the Jury, by "A majority convicted her. She
! was executed in Dumirics, and her body given
! to the surgeons of the town for dissection
| When the accounts given by those who first
| heard this story were examined, was discovered
| that neither of the two had related the CrCum-
| stances that the woman was convicted by the
| verdict OF majority, and that Dumlrics was the
| place of execution.
/, OF course these being lost at the commence
! ment, were not found in any of the manuscripts.
! The sub, equent reports showed some curious de-
| yations, and furnished very amusing evidence of
the relative intelligence, aCutCncss of hearing,
&C., on the part of the writer's Thus, at "LOCS-
erblC' was changed into NEAR LOCkerplc;' the
CirCumstantiul nature Of the evidence was given
! by some as the reason Of the COnyCtJn-the
"hough' of the original being altered into "bc-
! cause" In the manuscript Of one whose powers
/ OF hearing bad apparently not been very acute,
! the words poisoning by tONglOye' were changed
! into "passing by tON-gloye,' and the story was
I thereby made absolutely uninteligiblC.
The last and most material change was in an
| account in the final series, which actually repre-
scnted the husband as killing his wife, instead of
! being killed by her There were other important
! changes in some; as, for example, 1873 was made
/ 1915 in several an "nlGsOn' was IN one case
/ changed into a "deCoctiou." The last version
! read thus :-"In an inn near LOCkerbie, in 1910,
J q man murdered a woman, by poisoning her with
! fox glove. The evidence, being circumsanta,
was sufficient, and he was convicted aud exc
cuied and his body given for dissection"
| Another trial was afterwards made, the original
! this time being as follows "A parOchial school
/ MASTER called Alneas Macintosh, in the county
of Midlothian, claimed, about thirty years ago,
] to be the author Of the famous ode on the death
( of Sir John Moore, at COrunna. The fraud was
discovered, and the poor man was rendered an
object of general and deserved contempt" The
curious as those Of the other.
! The heciTcumstance that said A3neas was "paro-
! Chial" sChOOlmaster was soon lust,then "Mactn-
tOsh" was changed into "Mclntyre" by some
one who, attracted for the moment by the
Trojan prRnomen, had not had sufficient attention
ready TO lay hold precisely of the Celtic patro-
! pymic; "MidlOthian" turned up as East Lothian,
| West Lothian, and Linlithgow; "thirty" years
were diminished gradually 20 ten, and a few
! more cautious used the word ''sOme" indefinitely.
In several manuscripts the ode on Sir John
Moores death was changed into lifc-a biogra-
! phy-of the gallant soldier and that which had
in thought diyergGd most widely from the Origl-
, nal ran thus-"A sChoolmaster, called Asneas
Macintosh, in East Lothian, ten years ago,
wrote Il life of Sir John Moore. The author was
discovered, and he became the Object Of great
contempt"
Our excellent friend took occasion, from the
experiments, TO give us some wholesome instruc-
ton and counsel. "Y0u may see" he said, chow
great need there is for close attention TO the
statements Of a speaker, II you are TO derive any
real advantage from them. When you read, You
have the opportunity of going over more than
once what rs specially important or deficient in
precision, hut il Is different when you are listen
ing 90 oral communications Ministers and pro-
icssurs often say that large part of their labor
in lccWing does not prove OF much direct benefit,
and we can easily believe 1t.
"Aud If hearers should be careful TO acquire
habits OF fixed thought, concentrated attention,
is also nccItUl for those who teach orally 20 he
distinct u their CnuucatiOn, precise and simple
in their language. If they are incorrectly re-
porcd, they may be more blamcworthy them
selves than any one else. I'm reporting what we
have heard we should be very cautious, and
there is much room for the exercise Of charity,
Many say what is not truci but it is their ears
their understandings, rather than their hearts
that arcGt fault. We should try 90 cure them
Int il is not 10 be done by lccturing against
lying. When men arc called 10 judge Of the
accuracy Of reports TO weigh evidence In cases of
SANDER, how necessary rs 10 TO exercise O nice
discrimination, and how natural seem the rise
and progress Of various readings iu the manu-
scrns of the Sacred Scriptures, and the Greek
and Roman classics,
Tossibly, also. The Bnumcrahlo religious
legends that have acquired currency I'm all c1uu-
tiles and ages may Go some extent, be the result
OF q process, voluntary and involuntary, o, re-
touching, Transforming, or mamityiuE narratives
originally founded ON lgct.' These remarks iIr-
uishcd material for most interesting aud im-
proving conversation, and we lgft our friends
house with the conviction tina. there were ways
Of spending social evening which were hun
ured times more pleasant and Profitable than
tOIdy drinking. .-Sc0tiish League JJW5iaa
The Academic du Gard have just offered a
prize OF gold medal, value three hundred francs,
for he best essay on the subject Of "Le Canal
Saint Louis ct le Port dc Bas Rhin."
The Naples Society for the Promotion Of