The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-03


When knaves and fools com Dined O'er all prevail,
When Justice halts aud Right beRIns to tah
Ven then the bold 1t start from pu6hc sneers,
Afraid OF shame, unknown TO other fears,
More darky sin, Uy satire keat In awe, -,
LORD BYRON.
'The fools are not all dead yet" What an old
hackneyed expression! It is the first thought
when,we learn of somebody being taken in"
It ls the first thought when we hear of the failure
OF a bad speculation. Yet how apt we are to
blind ourselves to our own peculiar little credu-
htRs; and see with maenifying glasses those of
other people
Ever since the world began, we might almost
say, there have been INSCRIPTIONS men who for
the sake of gain or for mere notorety will play
on the credulity of others. In earlier times
indeed. superstition was more deeply seated; and
il was the exception, not the rule, to find per-
son who was not liable to the charge of being
superstiious. 1t was in those earlier ages a
matter of religion to blind the understanding
and lead reason astray. The alchcmists, with
their pretended transmutation of the baser
metals into gold-the astrologers with their
reading OF human destinies in the appearance
and motion of the stars-the religious impostors
with their miracles, were all not only counte-
nanced, but looked up to with a reverence
almost equal to that felt for deity.
OF these grand families of impostors, the al
chemists are the only ones that have not
survived. Yes All the civilization, all the
enlightenment of centuries of learning, all the
exposures OF the tricks of charlatans and
mountebanks, have not sufced to deter the
fools from running after the humbugs who pre-
tend to supernatural powers. Pick up our daily
papers, as we sit IN our parlOrs or in our places
of business, and we will 6nd their columns
devoted to the advertising of the fortune-teller5
and the allcurlng quacks
AS matter of course, these cheats are gene
rally most successful with the great unwashed.
1t is in the lower quarters of our cities, where
the "Old Clomen" and the petty pawnbroker
hold iortn, that we meet them But sooth to
say, it is not the ignorant only, it is not the
poor down-trodden laborer who alone seeks their
aid. The rich and educated, that is, those sup
posed to be educated, may be seen consulting
the false oracles, running their health By
quackery.
THE "LUCKY" MAN.
There is one brilliant specimen of the genus
humbug that we just now call to mind. He
keeps, or kept, small place near Fifth and Lom-
bard streets. DR.. Gohan is his name, we believe.
He Is rather a spruce-looklng old darkey, and
.carres hims Elf with all the struttinG pomposty of
the real old darkey ''gemman of de first water"
The Do ctor is an oracle. What he don't know
Is not orth knowing. Talk of fselEimportance!
Perhaps you have seen the inimitable Clarke in
his perso nation of "Maior De Boots?" Well, the
Doctor as got his port and strut to perfection,
and he in ,Presses all around him with the sense
OF his dlgl ,ity. Although he calls himself doc
tor it is Tincipaily as doctor of the black art
that he is ceebraSed.
He tells lucky Plumbers. In doing so he falls
INTO simu lated deep sleep, and at intervals be-
tween the s,oRorous snores he calls out, perhaps
four; several snores, eleven; some more snoring,
torty-four; and until all who wish TO invest in
lottery tickets are supplied.
The fools believe implicitly in his power, and
rush frapticalRy after the tickets. Then again,
he sells lucky bags. What are thase we hear you
ask. WeE, Just imagine little leather or wool.
len bag, tied with piece of twne around the
neck, and filed with bits of nails (toe and ten.
PENNY, pieces of stone brass and other bits of
rubbish, and you have the contents. Some
.S.charming" words are repeated over them, and
they are supposed to keep off bad luck of every
description. The negroes, who principally deal
in these, would suffer anything or everything to
there removed from their Hecks.
THR TREASURE FINDER.
If any person dreams three times that he or
ehe has found a treasure, and has superstition
atrOng enough, visit to the Doctor will test its
truth. If the SPOT is available, the professor
takes a wand 81 Gteel, about a foot long, and
covered with silver plating, and nicely balancing
if on his [ore6nger, proceeds to the lucky spot.
AloSost invariably the wand refuses to be
attra cted .Olt of its equilibrium, and the old
Uiseac ve viii shake his head and solemnly say,
"No mo vley ,dar; nothing am dar," and the
victim is .Natited'
Once the Doctor lost his watch and chain. He
,yont around among his darkey acquaintance
and patrons, aud with his pompous, important
.nonror told the ". that "If dat watch and chain
am not brung ba, X whar it war TUX from, in
so.r.t.v.ei.oh hou, Y, will make the fellar dat
tuk Il stand stock still. until lie drops down into
= man n, dirt.ah.p In sss than the time speci'
aed the watch was broug. Vt back ron second
occasion he was not 50 fol fSlnate. ana nau MS
credit considerably damaged Vg MS pad success
Since then another thiei stole BIS "a'cn again,
and he threatened to turn the tn vel hIo 'ssneS
II Il were not brought back inside II N'"en'S'iout
hours. Perhaps the time being I, spor'' or
owing to some other reason, the SSsn "aa
not forthcoming, and the old fellow lost s0De VI
his consequence,