St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-11-20
Practical Jokes.

Practical Jokes.
1t may reasonably he doubted whcth-
cr practical Joking can ever he safely
recommended as IL means of ohtainin"
amusement. Sometimes. among Il par
ty of friends well acquainted with each
other. ii little fun of this kind. in mild
form. may not do great harm but il j.
always insecure ground to tread upon.
Many man of easy going disposition
aud good temper fires up very readily
ut Il practical joke. and the joker i III
variahly placed III an awkward position.
for he i> sure to have been III the wrong.
/ When this hazardous diversion l. play
ed Oft at the expense of ones nclghbors
or the general public, the practical i"t-
er is very likely /" have good cau>c /"
/ laugh on the wrong side of his mouth.
as the saving goes. The proprietor ot
the New York Herald or the editor. if
| there is any such person need not.
therefore. Ice greatly surprised II he
gels into serious trouble, in consequence
of the intensely stupid and uutrcliug
hoaN which Wa> prlctirrd up"m the
public Yesterday in the columns "t that
paper.
The story may have been the prodmc-
tion of the accumUlItcd Intelligence ut
the tou-t;Imuu> ''iutcllcctual depart
mcnt. or the mrIr cmhodlment OF
some suggestions made at poker party
among few harum- ->carIm Young men.
when the wine was III and the Wit was
out. 1t certainly WIS not drawn up in
a hurry. and could not have obtained
insertion in the Herald without the
knowledge and consent of the prOpIic
tor ur editor always surprising that
this strange newspaper has an editor,
which >rrm> rather Il violent stretch ot
the imagination. The subject chosen
for the hoax was the tender feeling OF
parents tor their childrcm-a theme
which cannot fail at ANY time To excite
the laughter OF every property conduct
ed vuurg man. To hc >ur. there may
he still some old-fashioncd persons lett
in the world who regard the love of Il
parent for child a. Il sentiment too si-
cred tul jest. amd who think. perhaps
not without sadness. of the affection
which followed them until they Were
deprived 10y death of the .sllN true and
undltrIuhlr friend Il man or woman can
ever have IL mother. But ideas of thus
kind. though all very we'll halt Il cen
turv age. alc altogether out of place
among the humoIi>t> from whom the
Herald seems To draw its inspirations.
1t therefore published the tidmg~ YES
trlday ot on "awtul calamity. a
..Shuckiug Sabbath carnival of death.
The wild beasts had escaped from Cen
tral Park. and were still at large i'll the
CITY. such an incident VAS not alto
gethcr unlikely to happen. for the ami
mails in the Central Park are confined
in the tlm~ic>t cages ever seen. AMI
many Il mother has cautioned her nun -
not to take the children mean the Wild
beasts When. therefore. the startling
headlines of the Herald were read. nat
uIal alarm WAS felt i'll many Il house
hold In some cases the childIcn had
) lust gone to school. and without wait
. ing to read through the >iN columns "i
: this insane jest. parents rushed of I"
. bring back their little ones. Some
. ca>t, of this kind are described III ON
correspondence to-day. Ladies took
I alarm at the mere head lines and in
I decd. throughout three or fou columns
- the narrative i told III an apparcntit
= serious vein. y" lady would think I"
. reading 81 many columns of the Herald
4 anN more than she would think of walk
. ing ont in the streets at midnight unat
!, tended. In either c;Isc she would rrr
| no inconSidcrahlc risk of being ln>ultcd
. And for three or four columns, us ",
e have said. the Joke" WAS carefully hid
l den The writer in the Herald spoke
: of the '.mutilatrd body of Annie Thorn
aS. an unfortunate sewing %lrI. and q
a lion which seized tuul little children
Il '.and manglcd the delicate lutte thing
past all signs OF recognition. Il SAW.
he saws. THE dead bodies of Anderson
| and Hyland." 1.-TWO of the Park-kccp
Il ers.) 1.-THE panther cr"uchrd over lli
II lands body. gnawinS horribly at IN
head" These pictures of tn" manglr'
- Young children and the dead keeper
are irresiStibll funny. and cannot iai
J. to make our readers laugh. Still mur
l. amusing aIc the accounts of lion Whl"l
! WAS ''tuggiug and clrnchnG ut th
IL arms and legs OF IL corpse. now lcttln;
l. go with his teeth to plant his paws mp
c on the bleeding remains, tnd snap witt
z, his dripping Jaws ut another beast a
n leonard which killed Il little chill,
I. and mutilatcd several women: of tn
u deaths of Annie Thomas and Ellie
= Schubert :" of ii ''child in Il ciadlc whic
d WAS burned to Il cIi>p;" of the Africa
- liuneS> which saturated herself III tia
blood of eighteen victims, men. women
Ic and children :" of the dead body of
Is youth fcarfully di>iigmcd about th
head and face :: and of the panthc
is which ''sprang upon the shoulders of IA
=" aged lady, burNimy his tang> in hc
>" neck" If these charming sketches Il
dead children and dying old Ladies' d
e not move the reader to ruar- of laugh
ter. his SENSE of fun must he SomeW hH
/. ditfcren. from that with which the pro
lr prietor or editor of the New York Her
u. aid has been endowed.
IL 1t is a striking commentary on III
e. curious position which Is held by til
Herald that this disgusting and brut:I
ID jest is not likely to lower ii much i'll til
+, estimation of the public. 1t appear
% that there may sometimes bf an al
IN vantage III having no character To los,
d for then whatever otfrmsc~ 0nr ma
t.. commit, people only shake their head
l. and ask what else was to be expected
l. The infamous hoax which appeared i
lc the Herald yesterday would hopeless
:, disgrace any journal which was of rePu
Of table standing in the community. FL