The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-01-26

the wild day-dream, would mentally
call himself fool for the fancy, and
reason against the daring hope. Thou gh
many of the long list of costly and
beautiful pictures which constituted
the minor prizes were of themselves
small fortunes, "the Opera House, was
on the lips and minds of every one,
overshadowing, by its immensity, the
lesser values, in spite of the Intense ex-
citement, the best of good humor SEEM
peated and threadbare, passed from
lip to lip. The buzz of conversation
filled the house, all upon one subject
the great prize Some soIaced the weary
hour with such light stimulants as pea
nuts, candy and the inevitable tobacco,
and some chewed in silence the cud of
reflection and built splendid castles in
Spain. All this while the numbers
continued to augment, and when the
most desirable parts OF the house were
crowded, the high upper gallery was
quickly filled. Opera glasses We're used
TO bring the stage more plainly in view,
that the slightest motion might be
caught, and many doubtless longed for
ear trumpets to make the fainteSL whis-
per of the chief actors audible. The
orchestry Immediately in front OF the
stage was cleared of music racks and
provided with tables, at which were
representatives of the press of this and
other cities. Among the latter were
J. Edmund Burke, of the New York
Herald, and Mr.. Ambruster, OF the
Philadelphia Telegraph. AS the draw
ing progressed, messages were dis
patched on the wings of lightning, and
at tea time many thousands of people,
in all parts of the Union, were eagerly
reading the list only to be disappointed.
Every one had the feeling which the
1rishman expressed on weighing the
porker, saying, SIT did not weigh as
much as 1 expected, and never thought
it would" The bull was not really so
great as it might seem, for every certiti-
cate holder undoubtedly had secret
expectation" of drawing the Opera
House, and yet none thought that he
should. 1t was strange blending OF
hope and doubt, desire and despOnd-
ency.
At twenty minutes before twelve
o'clock the scenes behind opened, and
the two wheels were brought in and
placed on the front of the stage about
burst of applause greeted the appari-
ton, and then the gas was turned on to
allow the assembly to inspect the
wheels at their leisure. Five minutes
was brought in by a solitary individu-
al who looked very much embarrassed
under the load. Save and except the
two policemen at the wings, nothing
more was visible for u time SO long that
the thronS became impatient at the de-
lay. @
At about five minutes before twelve
the members of the committee came in,
Indian file, each bearing couple of the
boxes containing the tickets. Ira Y.
Mum, ESQ, then advanced to the front,
and said:
"LADIEs AND GENTLEMEN: The COM
mittee will now deposit the numbers
Sn1r
hundred and ten thousand-in this
wheel. They have received the tickets
from the hands of the engraver, and
they have not been out of their possess
sion. They have examined and count
ed them and believe them to be all cor
rect: The boxes contain five thousand
each, with the exception of two, which
contain ten thousand"
Mr.. Mum, then took the box con-
tanning the first five thousand and at
tempted to pour the tickets into the
wheel. Several of them fell to the
ground, and were gathered up by the
committee very carefully. After that,
few others were spilled, at intervals,
but without exciting dissatisfaction.
This process occupied till about
twenty minutes past twelve, and then
Mr.. Mum announced thnt there was in
that wheel 2lO, 900 tickets-one number
for every certificate sold. The lid was
closed, and then Mr.. Mum took n
smaller box containing the 302 prizes
and emptied them into the lesser wheel,
which was then closed, and Mr. Mum
explained that the wheels had wires
placed inside of them, SO that at each
turn the tickets must be thoroughly
mixed.
Two men then advanced to the wheel
and commenced turning. The wheels
were revolved slowly for some time,
till every body was satisfied that the
"shuming" was complete. The two be-
iugs on whose movements hung the
destinies of thousands were named
Peter Peterson and Emil ReiSke.
AT thirty-two minutes past noon, w.
F. Coolbaugh, Esq, "took the word.n
He said: a1 Ll .a
The committee had authorized him,
in behalf of Mr.. Crosby, to state that
there were remaining unsold some
where about twenty-five or thirty
thousand tickets, and that the 10000
tickets then in the box represented from
q, 900 to 80, 600 tickets which belonged
to Mr.. Crosby. That gentleman stated
to the committee that it was impossible
for him to give the exact number sold,
in consequence of the absence of Off
cial returns from agents in New York,
Boston, and Philadelphia, whose books.
were kept open till midnight of Satur-
day. He had given this as the approx
innate number of those unsold, and he
naQ no uOuDG InaL tue auQlenC6 WOulo
believe that Mr.. Crosby had done all in
his power to gain the exact statement
of the facts. The speaker was author
lied on behalf of the committee to state
that in consultation among themselves
the committee Lad thought it expedi-
ent to designate from among their own
number the gentlemen who should do
the drawing, but this question he de-
sired to submit to the audience, and to
say that if the audience saw fit to desig-
nate two persons from their midst to
appear on the stage and draw the prizes,
it would meet the cordial appreciation
of the committee. II
Cheers greeted the announcement,
and cries of ''The committee" I" Let the
committee appoint" etc. Somebody
called out for Mr.. Dore, but no other
name was mentioned, and Mr.. Cool
TO be the wish OF the audience that the
committee should designate.
Cheers, and cries of go ahead"
Mr.. CoolbauSh then said he was also
desired to announce in, behalf of the
committee that it would be impossible
for them to announce to the audi.
ence the names of the successful draw
ers; all they could do would be- to an
nounce the numbers.
Cries of"Shake up the tickets, - "Stir
them up" etc., were now heard all
over the house. and in response thereto
the wheels We're turned again. .-.
Mr.. Mum then proposed to the audi
ence to appoint a committee to look in
to the wheels, &c. The only response
was, "Go on with the drawing" go
ahead"
Mr.. Mum then announced that John
n Dnra FS0 President Of the Roard