The mountain Democrat., 1865-09-16
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| NUMBER "a.
Tn. bottls c1Ajas5TT.. ?

| y wv PuOUS u rab0 W dt8Ng " eAsst@eSA
Oh follows: The Duke Of Montague, oeing
in company With some other UObItmen.
proposed a wager that, let . man sdVtr.
tise TO do the most impossible thing in
| the world, he would Afind ioOls enough in
LondOD 30 81 playhouse, who wOuld
think him in earnest Surely, aaid
Lord Chesterfield, "h . man should say
that he would jump into . quart bottle,
nobody would believe thatI" The Duke
was somewhat staggered but, for the
sake Of the jest. determined TO make the
experiment. Accordingly. 1t was advtr-
tistd that the next day, (JAnuSry 10th,
1889 q perNh would, at'the EIaymarket
Theatre, "plAy on . common walking.
cane the music Of every instrument used,
to surprising perfection; that he would,
on the stage, get into quart bottle, with
out equivOcation, and while there, sing
several songs. and suffer sny spectator to
handle the bottle that If any spectator
should come masked, he would, II re.
qurSted, declare who ne was and. that, in
u private room, he would produce the
representation Of any person dead, with
which the person requesting Il should
c0nverSe some minutes, ~ if alive" The
prices Of admission were - gallery, o.; {;
pit, 3s boxes, B.; stage, u Cd.
Al night the house was crowded with
curious people. many Of them Of the high.
est rank, including no less eminent aper.
son than the Culloden, Duke Of Cumber.
land. They sat for little while with
tolerable patience, though uncheerrd with
music but by and by. the performer not
appearing. signs OF irritation were evinc-
ed. In answer TO the continued noise of
sticks and catcalls. . person belonging to
the theatre came forward and explained
that. in the event Of failure Of perform.
ance, the money should be returned. A
wng then cried out. that. If ladies and
gentlemen would give double prices, the
conjurer would go into pint bottle. -
This proved too much for the philosophy
of the nudi'nce. A young gentleman
threw a lighted candle upon the stage,
and q general charge upon that part Of
the house followed. According To . pri.
vate leiter-Gt was written by q SCotrh
Jacohite LADY," Cumberland was the
first that flew in 4 rage, and called to pull
wv iNbSVs AlO OICW
his sword, and vas in such a rage that
somebody slipped in behind him aud pull.
ed the sword out Of his hand, which was
as much AZ to say, Fools should not have
chopping sticks This sword Of bis has
never been heard tell Of, nor the person
who took It. Thirty guiness 'eward are
offered for it. Monster Of Nature! |
am sure ! wish he may never get il. The
greater part Of the audience made their
way out Of the theatre; some losing .
cloak, others q hat, others q wig, and
others a hat. wig and sword also. One
party, however, stayed in the house, in
order to d-mOlish the inside; when, the
mob breaking in, they tore up the bench
es, broke TO pieces the scenes, pulled
down the boxes in short, dismantled the
theatre entirely, carrying away the par
ticulars. above mentioned into the street,
where they made q mi.hty bonfire; the
curtain being hOisted in the middle Of it
hy way of f1ag.' The proprietor of the
theatre afterwards stated that, in appre-
henSiOn of failure. he had reserved all the
money taken, in order to give it back, and
he would have returned it 10 the audience
if they would have reGrnin+d from de.
Stroying his house. 1t therefore would
appear that either money was not the OBJ
jert aimed at, or, if aimed at, was not at
'ained. by the conjurer. This corobo-
rates the above statement- that the ob.
ject was only TO make an experiment on
the public credulity.
The "bottle hoax" proved an excellent
subject for the wits, particularly those {
the Jacobite party. In "Old England" ap.
pears this advertisement Found en-.
tangled in a slit in lady's demolished
Smock petlicoat, n gilt.handled sword Of
martial temper and length, not much the
worse Of wearing, with the Spey cnriously
engraved on one side, and the Scheldt on
the other supposed TO he taken from the
fat sides # certain great general IN his
hasry retreat from the hattie Of Bottle
Noodles. in the Haymarket. Whoever
has lost it may inquire for it at the sign
of the Bird and Singing Land, 10 Rotten
Row. Romance Of London.