Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-04-30
PRACTICAL jokes.
some sport and NOI a IdttIe VeNa
zion Of Spirit.


From the Galena illinois, Gazette
A mania for practical joking visits every
city and village in the country periodical
". Il comes, has its day and disappears
like the measles, smallpox or scarlet fe
yer. When the mania is on, be on your
guard, for everybody has the complaint,
and you are liable 20 be sold by the first
person you meet. You rise in the morn
log, take breakfast and sally out. On the
corner you meet friend who saluies you
with:
"Good morning, John; fine morning
this will be a splendid day for the race"
" Race what race? '
"The human race"
You pass on somewhat crestfallen, NUT
tering to yourself, sold, sold" You for
tify yourself and determine that this is the
last one that shall be played on you for the
day. Going few steps further, you meet
another friend who commences TO tell You
a story with such apparent earnestEess and
sincerity that, forgetting your promise,
you ask him a question, and the answer
provokes a hearty laugh from a dozen by
ISLANDERS.
Well, Just now the mania is on Ga
lena. Some two weeks ago a minstrel
afternoon Of the day referred to, a young
man, well known in town, received note
from young lady friend, informing him
that she could not accept his polite invita-
ton 20 attend the entertainment that eve
ming, AZ she had a previous engagement.
Our young friend reads the note over and
over, and is staggered TO divine its meaning.
He had invited no lady for that evening,
nj h.r 10
upon the subject, boy steps in with an
other note from another lady declining an
invitation TO the same performance, and for
the same reason as the other. What does
this mean He begins TO think himself
the victim Of joke, aud walks out TO state
the case TO the boys, when he learns that
half dozen other nice young men are in
the same fix az himself All had received
one, two or three notes from ladies, some
accepting and Others declining invitations
which had never been extended. Two
ladies, living nearly a mile apart, and in
opposite directions from the hall, had noti-
fed one gentleman that his kind invitation
was accepted with pleasure. The gentleman
called on the ladies FOR an explanation, and
learned that the latter had really received
notes of invitation, all Of which were
a forgery. Several gentlemen were each
made 10 solicit the company of four or five
ladies' The victimized OF both sexes at
once set themselves at work to ferret out
the author Of the Joke, but two weeks have
elapsed, and they are ~ thoroughly in the
dark az ever
Last Saturday the hoax was repeated, on
a scale somewhat enlarged and improved.
l.rlf Il ,,,a
in the name of a well-knoWn lady friend,
spurious, Of course, requesting them TO
pass the afternoon and evening at her house.
To give these notes the appearance of gen
uineneas they were written on the back OF
of a card, on which was printed the name
of the lady who was 10 receive the compa-
ny. The plot was laid with good deal
Of caution, and the cards were printed
abroad. The lady in whose name the notes
were written also received an invitation
(lorged) 10 pass the afternoon with one of
the ladies who had been summoned 10 her
house. As fortune would have it, the for
mer accepted the invitation and left home
early in the afternoon. Her mother was
also abroad, leaving no one ia the house
hnt the servant girl In due course Of time
the invited guests commenced 10 arrive
For two mortal hours the servant girl was
kept busy promenading from the kitchen
10 the front door 10 answer the door bell,
and state that madam WIS not at home.
Some Of these ladies had walked three
quarters of mile, and a. reward for their
pains were privileged 20 walk three-quar-
terra Of a mile in returning
But the hoax is in a complicated form,
and does not end here. Two of the ladies
who were 10 make up this great female
party were made to invite parties OF Young
men 20 their houses for the evening. The
two parties included nearly all the young
men in town, and the amount Of clean
linen, boot-blacking and hair oil brought
into requisition was astonishing 10 con-
template. Several Of them dropped into
our Office GA the way, arrayed in their
store clothes, and with counlenances
beaming in anticipation Of a good time.
They went aud came. AZ one OF the
houses the occupants were abroad, and at
she other the boys found party Of aged
and 1ignifed people, including a clergy
man, who seemed astonished that their
quiet little circle should be broken in upon
by a lot Of young wags. The boys, con-
Gliding that this was no place for them,
beat hssty retreat under the impression
that they were disturbing prayer meet
iug.
The jokes we're shrewdly played, and
the author is laughing in his Tor herr
sleeves, unsupported. The gentlemen feel
positive that il was some lady, while the
ladies are just a. positive that u vas
naughty, naughty man..