St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-12-05
A Celebrated Hoax.

]
/ One of the most annoy ing hoaxc>
/ ever recorded. WIS that which. about
sixty Years ago. WAS known in London
/ a> the BcrncTS street hoax. 1t drew the.
! attention OF the newspapers at the
/ time {: then OF the magazines and the
/ Annual Register: many Years HtttI-
wand I'm connection with Il biographical
notice of the hOaNcr.l of the Quarterly
/ HcVlew: and more Recently. if we Ic-
member rightly. of the ''lugOld>hN
| Legends. BcInerS street i Il quiet
/ street of hotels and shops with private
locking windows: in lSlU. it WAS >till
more quiet. inhabited hN wcll-to-dn
/ families living in Il grutccl way. Omc
morning. soon after breakfast. IL Wagon
load of coal drew up before The door If
Il widow lady in thai street. and >ouu
att"rward Il vau-lold If furniture: then
came IL hcnSr with Il coffin. and Il tr;lii,
of mourning coaches. Presently aIriy-
ed two fashionable ply siciam~ dentist.
and an accouchcur. driving M as near
as they could to the door. and wonder
lng why 81 many numbering N"hicl, ;
were 50 near at hand. Six men brought
Il great chamber organ Il coach makrI
clock maker Il carpet manufactures.
and Il " inc merchant sent specimens Of
their goods: Il brewer brought several
barrels of ale; curiosity dealers brought
>undTl knick knackS. \ piano tortr.
linen. JCWcliN. wigs and mead dresses. 4
cart load of potatoes. books prints. con
iurimg tricks. feathers. ices. jcliir>. were
among the things brought To at least
near the h"u~c: while mamtau-mIakrlS
came with baskets of millinery and
fancy articles. and opticians with tel
scopes. Then. after Il time. tIOoprd III
from all quarters gl"ccr>. coHclmc.I.
tnotmcn. cooks. hou>,-muid>. mur>,l.
maids. and other servants. came in
quest of ~ituati"u>. 10 crown all. pen
SONS of distinction came IN their c:u-
rlagc> tn" cuumamdc> in chief the
arch bishop of CII'Irrluri. cabinet
minister. the lord chief Justice the
governor of the bank at England. the
chairman of directors of the East India
company. an eminent palliamcntal,
Phllanthropl>t. and the lold mayo
! he last udmcd tuactionHIy one amonw
those who speedily saw that all had
been Nictimi/cd 10y Il gigantic hoax
drove /" Marlborough street police
office. and told the sitting magistrate
that he had received Il letter from i
lady i'll Rclnrr> street. to the effect tlilt
she had been summoned to attend at
the Mansion hou>c. that She WAS ,N-
tycmclN i'll. and that she wished tu
make deposition upon oath. and thaj
she would deem it Il great favor if hi,
l"rd>IIip would call upon her. All the
other pei of cmimcuct had had their
Il
way. Police Officers tthcIc were $40
policemen in those days. were sent to
keep order in Hrrncl> street. which WAS
nearly rh"kcd with Vehicles. iammcd
and intcrlockcd one With another; 1hc
drivers were Initiated. The disappointed
tradc>mCn were cNa>pcIatcd. and Il
large crowd enjoyed the malicious fun
some of the vans and goods were oven
TUNED and broken " hilr Il few casks
of ale became Il prey to the pupila, e.
All through the day. until late at might.
did this extraordinary state of things
continue. I" the terror and distress nI
the poor lady and HE Other inmates "t
the house. Every one found directly
that ii WAS Il hoax: hut the name of the
hoaNCr WIS not known till Ion" after
ward. This. II appcalcd. was Theodore
Hook. one of the most iuvctcIiitc pun
>tcI> and .i"lciS of the day. lie had
noticed the very quiet character of
HcIncr~ street. and the name of Ms.
on i brass platc "u one OF the
doors: hr laid Il Wag,I with Il hIoth,i-
Wag VIII" accompanied him. that hc
would make that particular house the
talk of the whole town. md hc Is
>uIcdlN did it. He devoted three oi .