The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-11-22
HOME MADE ANTIQUES.
Virginia City New Chronicle.

The general stagnation of business re-
Gently prevailing in Justice Moses court
was considerably relieved yesterday by
the trial of one William N. Hendricks,
charged with obtaining money under
false pretenses. The prosecuting wit
ness was Henry Wilkins, a young man
from Gold Hill, who appeared boiling
with rage, and impatient to pour into
the ear OF the justice the story of his
wrongs. He stated that he possessed a
taste for the antique and rare in art, and
was especially delighted with choice
souvenirs of distinguished people As
he expressed it, "A tender flower from
the tomb of some inspired poet, bit of
wood from some great cathedral or a del
icate twig from some famous historic
spot is to me source of exquisite de-
light" He then told how the defend
ant had sold him a cabinet of rare curl
osities for 800, representing at the same
time that they were collection from
the old world, when in reality every
thing in the lot had been found or pick
ed up in Storey county. He considered
his feelings, tastes, and general love for
the associations of the past outraged by
the cruel conduct of the accused
Mr.. Hendricks then took the stand.
He admitted all that had been charged
against him. He had found wilkins
with an abnormal love for curiosities; a
man continually hunting for old auto
graphs, rare postage stamps, faded flow
ers, and old pieces of tree bark from ia
nous places. He had accordingly man.
ufactured a lot of these relics.
The articles sold to Wilkins were here
produced by Mr.. Drake, the prosecuting
attorney.
Mr.. Drake [picking up piece of old
onl-What is this?
Witness [grinningl-That, sir, is
piece OF the cannon ball that wounded
Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.
Mr.. Drake-Where did YOU get itP
Witness-At the Fulton foundry, on
the divide. Laughter in COURT
Mr.: Drake-Here is another relic, la
belled, "St. Paul's cathedral before the
great fire." Where did you get that?
Witness-From my woodpile stain
ed it with iodine to give it age. More
merriment.]
Mr.. Drake-And this?
Witness-Twig from the grave of Vic
tor Hugo.
Mr.. Drake-But Hugo isn't dead.
Witness much astonished lis that
SOP thought he kicked the bucket last
year. Loud laughter.1
Mr.. Drake-Here is a brick.
Witness-F'rom the house of Oliver
Cromwell; got it on G street. That
bunch of grass you have there didn't re-
ally grow on the grave of Mary, Queen
of Scots, but made Wilkins think so,
and got 81 for it. gathered it down by
the bonanza reservoir. All those other
traps picked up round the town, and la
beled 'em properly as your Honor can
see. Those autographs of Washington.
Garibaldi, Lincoln, Wilkes Booth, La
tayette, Talleyrand, Voltaire, and Marcus
ID. Boruck wrote myself, and then laid
EN- away in damp place to give 'em
age.
Mr.. Drake-Did you ever fool any
body else on these relics?
Wimess-I sold an old oil painting to
Hank Smith for $3.50 sketch by Ho-
garth, told him. AS matter of fact.
it was an old vinegar bitters picture, so
smirched you couldn't see it. He paid
me 500 down and never went after
the rest Tremendous merriment, sup
pressed by Constable Norton.1
The COurt-Ain't you the chap that
sold me an original etching by Ram
brandt last summer?
Witness (coollyl-Yes, Your Honor.
and also the pen that John Randolph
signed the Declaration of Independence
with.
Here howl oflaughter went up, and
even the stolid features of Constable
Norton relaxed.
The Court said that it had heard testi- |
mony enough and reserved its decision.
Justice Moses is now hunting for some
law which can be so construed as to con-
sign the defendant to state prison for |