The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-06-04
LIARS.

CURED:
Shave you any liars in your employ?"
ayes, sir; we have at least sixty!"
was the prompt reply.
If you were to go up and down the
country asking each man you met if he
knew of the whereabouts of a liar YOU
would discover that sixty per cent.
of the population of this country could be
included under that head. You meet
liars on every corner, you pass them on
every block; you sit beside them on
every street-car, and lying has become
such a custom that liars are as well
thought of as truth-tellers.
What do people lie about? Every
thing. First on the list is the weather
liar. Fact is, unless man is prepared
to tell big lie about the heat or the cold
he'd better keep still altogether. Com
ing down in the car in the morning we
all like to hear some one say that it is
forty. eight degrees below at Fort Garry,
and the liar knows this failing and lies
to please the crowd. Eight men out OF
sen, if asked if they ever saw a hotter or
colder day, will at once reply in the
affirmative and draw on their imagina.
ton for facts.
On a Jefferson Avenue car few days
ago business man, whose word is as
good as gold in business circles, was
asked if he ever saw more than three
feet of snow in the streets of Detroit.
Without the least hesitation he replied:
II should say I had! In 1859 the snow
was five feet deep along here, and kept
two teams at work for three days haul
ing the snow off my front. We had
sleighing that winter until the 2Sth of
March. Snow fell on the Sd of Novem-
Der and lasted right through without a
thaw."
1t was afterward ascertained that the
man was in France from July, 1858, to
October, 1861. Why did he lieP Sim
ply because no American will take a
bluff. When you ask him if he has seen
this or that you invite him to lie, or at
least he feels that you do. Tell him a
strange story and he feels that he must
tell a stranger one. A case in point oc-
Cured in the Office of one of the hotels
few evenings since. A party of gen.
tlemen were talking about the New
York obelisk, when one of them OBJ
served:
"The Pyramids of Egypt must be q
grand sight. Won't some of you who
have seen them tell me exactly how they
look to modern eyesP"
Thereupon man who was never fur
Their east than New York, or further
west than Chicago, gave detailed
description of his visit to the great
wonders, and described every little de-
tail so particularly and pleasantly that
he was voted bottle of wine. Why did
he lieP Simply because he was invited
to. Indeed, he felt that the questioner
would be disappointed if he did.not.
Men will lie about horses when they
would scorn to approach an untruth on
any other subject. Last fall citizen
purchased horse back in the country
on the understanding that the animal
was reasonably fast. That is, the seller
said the horse could jog along in about
three minutes. He lied at least twenty
seconds in that about The new
owner at once told all his friends that he
had secured an equine which could "get
there" in 2:30. He lied plump thirty
seconds. In few weeks it was gener-
ally understood that the horse was fast,
and more than one person asserted that
they had seen him trot in 1882 at Re-
creation Part, although he was never
inside the fence. When the snow came
and the "fyers " were given rein it was
found that the $50 horse was nowhere.
First and last, fifty men had lied about
his speed, and yet he had none.
The newspapers come in contact with
the liar every hour in the day. Let a
man fall from the roof of shed on High
Street and break his arm, and the news
travels about as follows:
One block away-"Broke both arms. ~
Two blocks away" Both arms and a
leg"
Three blocks away" Smashed all to
pieces and was dead when they picked
him up"
Four blocks away" Committed sui
eide"
Five blocks away" Shot his wife and
then blew his head off,
At the City Hall-"Set fire to his
house, Drained the baby, stabbed his
wife and then blew himself up.''
Every inducement is held out for re-
porters to exaggerate. Indeed, plain
facts are of no interest to hundreds OF
readers. In December last reporter
on this paper assisted a policeman to
take drunken man from an alley,
where he was freezing, to the Central
Station. The s'item" regarding it was
only a three-liner, but covered all the
facts. Next day citizen encountered
the scribe and said:
"Was that fellow badly frozenp''
"No."
evil he lose his feetP"
"No."
ellis handsp"
"No."
a His earsp''
"No.n
"Hadn't he been robbedp"
"No."
Cor druggedp"
"No."
"Was he trying to commit suicidep"
"No."
"Then what in Texas did you want
to say anything about it forp What do
we care about man being picked out
of snow-bank and hauled to the sta
ton !n-DetroM Free Press.