, 1881-11-27
ABOUT. PRACTICAL JOKES.


through tho stupidity or brutality. or hutnor-
Gus ruiliau, q person is killed or distigured for
life, tho newspapers chronicle the occurrence
under the heading: ~ Warning to Practical
Jokcrs." II the wag had been mazued or satu.
or II the ncighbors had logged him or lyuched
him. then there would have been some excuse
for tho heuIine. The practical jokers dolnRs
tnke a wide range, nnd are performed ut the e1-
pense Of all Glasses Of the community Thus tn
January last Alr. ". r. Timmons, Of South Car
oliua, having been rejected by his sensible
sweetheart, undertook to move her heart by
writing a letter to tho press In another person
name, announcing that his liteless body had
been found at Adams Run. THE only person
seriously affected WAS his brother, who instantly
bought coffin ut Charleston and Travelled TO the
spot to discover the hoa1.
AT Jefferson City, No. q stranger put up at
the Monroe House, and sold the landlord pair
Of new boots for s.. The landlords intimate
und waggish friend induced humorous shoe
maker, Mr.. Joseph Flick, to go and claim the
boots us having been stolen from him. and the
hotelkeeper gave them up, and when supse-
qucntly he encountered his guest. had him ar
rested and summoned Mr.. Flick as q witness.
Then the joke came out, and 1t cost Mr.. Flick
81. costs, while the guest ans M action pending
for damages for fnlse imprisonment.
In Chicago the other duy somewhat similar
but less serious comedy WIS enacted. 4 merry
lawyer Euye Il saluunkeepcr who prlded himself
his exactness in financial affairs. 81 BILL re-
ceIycd 81 bill in cl,auxe. then showed the artist
another s. greenback, and went OIL fetgnlns ex-
utauon. All went well Till on his next visit he
gave tho sulOonkecper 50 BILL and the SaloOu~
Keeper kept tho dollar out of 1t.
In New York City, Oh election night, joylal
politician desruls OF amusing himself IT the
expense Ut II salooukoeper that clAiIs TO rival
ans bank cashier i'll the detection Of counter
feits undertook, for tt.a delectation OF party
Hf friends to to rng bsd sen On nc sh9 qne oqsX ,
had fairly touched tho counter, the onrkecpcr
caughoit up, saying he " wanted change Tor
precise liability in this case offers interesting
theme for discussion.
The late Cn.lnt Dcllavits, an eminent mathe-
matlciun OF pldut, some time before his death
prepared letter to Il frlcul at Rome, inform
Ing this friend that the writer had just died.
Count Dcllavitis left a space ta this strange
epistle for tho date to be inserted. and hud in
strucuons prepared for his executors that when
he died the day was to be filled ir and the letter
sent 70 It's Destination Tho Instructions @ were
pleted, aud the first intimAttou tho Roman
friend had of tbs. death Of Count Bella
Wits was tho rcceipt Of Il letter from him
stating tho fact. The grim picasantry WAS
not original US In the lust century frenehnan
| wrote on his dy;nc-bed letter to friend dated
yeur tacHd und describing h:s experiences IN
Hell, and left it TO his executors to be mailed ut
the expiration Of d twclve1nonth.
Aug. 10, 1850. Il number OF New Yorker5 were
hoaxed by u communication to morning paper
himself 1T 5 D. M on the rock in the lake il
Central Park oppost the Mall Unfortunately
he failed TO ket p faith with the public
Mr.. FnirfAx Williamson, whose persecution OF
tho Rev. Morgan Dix will be remembered, and
tha ssen1 of he i Quo oad
In this city. wagon after wagon loaded with
meat, fruit, and vegetables C. Q. D., were CON.
mouplace mitutors Of Theodore Hook, and
much less able than the facetiol1s young lady OF
Philadelphia who several years ago issued O
pkANr
fully arranging the ist Of Invitations so as TO
include fifty assorted pairs of mortal enemies
Hlld then kindly ordered Il magnificent dinner
from restaurant for tho occasion.
I 4 decidedly sensational practical joke Was
pcrpetrated In Brazil on the occasion OF the In
| troducton OF q new satcty"brAke, Dom Pedro,
| who was on the train, beng an accomplicc AT
ono part Of the tine, where it pass+s through
cutting; bounded by rocks, gigHntc construc-
rnuss ut fallen rock, WAS placed on the rails so
| that the driver would cntch stsnt of 1t as he
rounded curve. lie dig. and stopped the train
in a hurry, that bath the joke and the trial
oTs
| TIuen tue steamer Potosi left Plymouth re-
.Mun oyerboard!". 4 lfe-bcat was lowered.
| hut the falls becutne entAncIed and five men
| were plunged into tho water. two being
At Linthwaite, England, John Diskin, q boy Of
| 16, thought it would ue great fun to scare his
mate. ii lad Of Ii, by throwing rope round his
| chine Shaft The object OF the joke was dashed
| to pieces
| August lnst, Pe1ro Franchi is mates undertook
+ to wake him from his nap by wheeling truck
with man on It against him. 1t struck him on
| tho head and killed. him.
I 1t Chicago, Mr. II. L. Gould, prominent busi-
ness man. resolved to scare the julltnr br over
turning tn,Es in his T9otn and hil',$ in tho
! ion over tho success OF thcir strufageu, the
| janitor. having .ainly summoned the alleged
burglar to surrender, tired through the door and
killed him.
There died at tho Inaiantown N. d. Asylum,
last winter. Miss Clara Dugnai, young lady up
urrnycG en- siiabIc.'' She fell in Ut and be-
| cune rav:ng ,t,un:ac:
| Phillips young friends undertook to cure hin,
! of being - scnry" by visiting the house during
his parents absence, Trying the doors, etc. The
At Den,lisun. O., an American humorist gaze q
! little girl two rlroad-torpedoes, telling her
t they were caudy pAckaEes, to be opened win u
| hammer. She lost both eyes III opening them $50
At Bombay, IN October, II schoolbny came ne-
| hind Il young companion, put his hands over his
friends $ eyes ana pade him ''guess who 1t was
! The boy struggled to escape, the joker tight
| encd his grasp, nnd the victim was larry
| '.goueel,' the crystalline lens being broken.
| In Brooklyn, r. D., the fayorit joke Is stretch
Ing a line across the street to catch passers in
the evening under the chin. After a girl had
been thrown down and had suffered n frac1nro
| of the skull the authorities took action and the
L In st. Louis it costs 81 place split cork on
the nose Of IL sleeper, ornament it with matches
| and light them.
| james Stewart, sa1oonkeeper in New York
| City, kept II gnvinc battery which the unwary
| machine 1t proved u ercnt attraction until one
Of the subjects sued for damages and got S:1p'
| The Court ut West Newtury Mass, rendered
| recently Il curious decision in tue law Of prac-
| tica1 joking. Isaac Hibhs and sundry OF lis
| tty- han1. 1.iY1Cys I