Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-09-10
Celebrated Hoaxes.

Celebrated Hoaxes. |
There bns ut all times been prone
ucss' more or less developed, for
indulgence In the practical Jokes or
deccptiuus called ''honxes some
times through seif-interested motives,
b1t more usually springihs from n
love of fun with o bit ofmaiice in II.
Amtiquaries have frequently been
victinlized In this way by the fabrica-
ton Of articles purport1ng 10 be ill.,
.resting as relics of past times. The
readers Of Sir Walter Scott.s Anti
quarry" will remember the metal
vessel inscribed Will, he letters A.
ID. l.. L., which MonkbaIhs interpret
ed to mean "Agricoia dieavit libens
lubcns; :" but which Edie Ochiltree
boldly pronounced to- be, "Aikin
Drums lang Liable. This was sup
posed instance ofhonest tnisconstruc-
lion by n learned mas whose zeal
travelled little too fast, due to
Scutl's imagination; but there was
real instance in the case OF Nillancc,
an Irish antTquary, who found
| sculpturcd stone on theihill OF Tara,
and engraved the six letters of its
inscription III a costly work which he
publislied; he mf tie saut Shese to
mean, '.ro Bclus, God of Fire bur-
they proved to be simply some of the
letters in the name of au lrishnan,
who, lying down lazily on the stone.
incised them with knife or clisel.
In 1886, Il wit, aitcd by an engraver,
cut on fiat stone several words
which were really an eDitaph-"Be-
meath this stone repOse;h Claud Cos
ter, iripe-scller of lmping ton, as doth
his consort Janc;" but the seventy
seven letters were so skiliiully divid-
ed into apparent words, syllabies,
abbreviatiUms, as to look exactly like
u Latin inscription relating 10 the
Emperor Claudius. For o long time
Tue stone deceived anti4uaries.
| Cough, the celebrated archaologist,
saw ut u curiosity-silopa slab of stone
inscribed in Il curious way, bought 1t,
had it described before the Society ot
Autiquaries, aud engraved for the
Gentlelnan's Magazine. Itpurported
to bc-"Ilerc llardcnut drank II winc-
horn dry, stared about him. and
died" The shopkecpcr stated that
|
KenningtoE-lane, where the palace
Of ii rdcnut,:: + lIardicauu is sup
posed to have been situated. The
whole affair proved to be hoax.
George Sleevcns, having a aSrud2c
against Cough, procured fragment
OF Il chimney-slab, scratched an i'll.
scription Oh 1t i'll rudcly formed let.
tcrs, and got Il curiusity-dealer SO to
manage that Cough should see and
buy the stone.
Literary hoaxes have been SO num-
erous that even u mere list OF thcIL
woulu be out OF the question. There
have been many like that which
Madame do Geuiis spoke of. The
Due dc Diancourt was Oh intimate
terms with the Able Delilie; botl
were at spa; and on one particular
morning the Abmc swas- deeply cha
grineu at IL hoax unknown To him
his friend had perpetrated. The Dn'
wrote some cUuplets OH the fctc da,
OF Madame Ia Ducllesse d'Orieans
: regular i'll structure. but most inan'
: and inslpid; he placed the name o
the Able Dciillc beneath them, causct
the verses to be printed i'll lev
) copies of newspaper printed II
/ another town, and cUMtrivcd that on,
of these capies should reach tie Able
! whose veXation was intense. Nearl.
= PARALLEL 10 this is the achievement o
J an American newspaper u few year
: ago, fu- Nvi,,e's come ->se e-t .Ised Sarsa
/. were printed, ami ascribed TO the pc
5 of the eminent poet William Guile
t Bryant. these were copied i'll man
I other papers, and came to the aston
c isheu eye of Bryant himself. Whc
r the editor was some time afterwar'i
C askcd for all explanation, he ooidi
= avOwed that his purpose was TO es
:. iablis., the fact that, no matter ho1
II atrOcious an eflusion might he, III
: uaine of IL poet who lad established
= reputation " ould make Il true poctF
), in the eyes Of IA large majority q
poetry readers.
II The hoaXes which have 10 connet
e ton either with antiquities or wit
h literature are not .as ly grouped int
o classes nor, i'll fact, is 1t worth whiI
1 ST. 10 do. Let us take II few ut raj
e dom. AT Liverpool, i'll 1897, bill
Il were placardcd all about the towi
II announcing that, ut one O'Clock upo
!. u particular day, Il splendit m"del {
Ie 9S-gun man-ot-war, built on L0r
IA Stannope's plan, and magnl. cent?
IS Il, coratcd. would reach Chiscnhal
lc -treet Bridge by canal from MigaI
:. with a band OH deck to play 'Ru
81 BRITANNIA" which was TO be surg h
le the celebretcd Madame Catalani al
ie beautifully adorned barge WAS
T. precede the model, containing Polito
+. hippopo,anus Gone of the show
L. sights OF that day). The people Il
- tended i'll tens of thousands alon. ii
l. banks and OIL the bridges OF the eau
IN nearly all the way TO Wigan. III
* daily passenger barge arrived at j
IL customary hour; and not until TIL.
lie was it known that he public Ii;
V been bOaXcd.
IL One of the most annoying hoax
o. ever recorded was that which, abo
oil sixty years ago, was known Ill Lo
~ don as the Brrncrs street hoax.
v drew the attention ofthe ncwSparc
. at the time; then of the masaZln
We and the Annual Register; many yea
~ aitcrward lin connection with 4 bl
re graphical notice Of the hoaXer),
cs the Quarterly Review; and more l
III Gently, if we remember rightly,
s the ''Imgoldsby Legends" Bern
1" street is quiet street of hotels, a
Ter shops with private looking window
ell Iu 1910, it was still more quiet,
an habiied by wcll-tO-tio families i'll
Fir yenteel way. One morning, so
III after breakfast, IL wagOm-ioad Oi CO.
he drew up before !he door oi 4 W idt
OF lady i'll that street, and soon ait
'er wards van load of furniture; th
lie came a hcarsc with Il Collin. anu
III train OF mourning coaches. Prcsen
lily arrived two fl>hi enable physicians
ne, dentist, and an accouchenr, drivi
WI up as near aS they could 10 The 90
~ aud wondering why So many lumh
ip- ing vehicles were so near at hai
no Six men brought Il great chamber
eu. gan; q coachmaker. ciockmaker,
icr carpet manufactures, and wine Ill
&C. chant sent spc, linens of their goo
Ihe Ia brewer brought several barrels
.nt ale; curiosity-deaiers brought sumo
lcii knick-knacks. A piano-torte, lin
RS; Iewclry, wigs and head-dresses,
cal cart-load of potatoes. books, pril
nee cunjurins tricks, feathers. ices, jeiI
Inc were among the things brought
sis- (or at least near) the housc; wi
zee. maltua-makers came with baskets
'hu mi ,linery and fancy articles, and
oi ticiaus with Telescopes. Then, at
me a lime, trouped in fiom all quart
Is grocers, coacimen. footinen, COO
Iat II