The Red Cloud chief., 1882-02-09
ABOUT PRACTICAL JOKES.

Spnne lseccnt humorous ana HeartteSs
Occurrences. and the Law Concerning
Them.
Not the least curious thing about the
attractive subject of practical joking is
that whenever. through the stupidity OF
brutality of a humorous %ruflian, a per
son is killed or disgured for life, the
newspapers chronicle the occurrence
under the heading: "A Warning To
Practical Jokers." If the wac had been
manned OF slain, or if the ncighbors had
foTgcd him or lynchcd him, then there
would have been some excuse for the
headline. The practical jokers doingS
take a wide range, and are performed at
the expense of all classes of the commu-
nifty.
An industrious New York newspaper
man has collated the following quite re-
cent illustrations:
In January last Mr.. W. 7. TimmonS.
of South Carolina. having been rejected
10y his sensible sweetheart, undertook TO
move her heart by writing Il l~cttcrto the
press in another persons name, an
nouncing that his ~lifclesS body had been
found at Adams Run. The only per-
son seriously affected was his brother.
who Instantly bought acoflin at Charles
ton and travelled 10 the spot 10 discover
the hoax.
AT Jefferson City, Mo-. 4 stranger put
mp nj the Monroe House and sold the
landlord n pair of new boots for three
dollars. The landlords intimate and
waggish friend induced a humorous
shoemaker, named Joseph Flick, To 90
and claim the boots. as having been
stolen from him, and the hotcl-kerpcr
gave them up, and when subsequently,
he encountered his guest, had him ar
rested and summoned Mr.. Flick as a
witness. Then the joke came out. and
Mr.. Flick had TO pay twelve dollars
costs. while the guest has an action
pending for damages for false imprison-
ment.
In Chicago the other day a somewhat
similar but less serious comedy was
enacted. A merry lawyer gave a Sa-
~loon-keeper. who prided himself on his
cXactness in financial affairs. a two-dol-
lar bill, received a ~one-dollar bill in
change, then showed the artist another
t~wo-dollar greenback, and went of
fcigning exultation. All went well till
on his next visit he gave the saloon
nv - III slilt tlIt lItbu
keeper kept the dollar out of il.
In New York City. on election night.
n jovial politician DESTROYS of amusing
himself at the expense of a saloon
keeper that claims 10 rival any bank
cashier IN the detection of counterfeitS.
undertook. for the delectation of a party
of friends. TO ring in a bad V on the
busy Boniface. and was mortified when.
ere the bill had fairly touched the coun-
ter, the barkeeper caught it up. saving
he wanted change for n ten" and
paid it out 10 a fourth party. The pre-
else liability in this ease offers an inter
esting theme for discussion.
The late Count Bellavitis. an eminent
mathematician of Padua. some time be-
fore his death prepared n letter 10 a
friend at Rome, informing this friend
that the writer had just died. Count
Bellavitis left a space in this strange
epiStlc for the date 10 he inserted. and
had instructions prepared for his cNecu-
tors that when he died the dav was to
he filled in and the letter semi TO its deS-
tnation. The instructions were faith
fully obeyed and the grim joke was
completed. and the first intimation the
Roman friend had of the death of Count
BellavitiS was the receipt of n letter from
him stating the fact. The grim pleas
antry was not original, as in the last CEN
fury 4 Frenchman wrote OF his diving
bed a letter TO a friend dated a wear
ahead and describing his experience in
He'll, and left it TO his executors TO be
mailed At the expiration of n twelve
month.
August 10, 1880. a number of New
Workers Were hoaxed by a communica-
ton to a morning paper announcing the
writer's intention of shooting himself nj
three p. m. on the rock in the lake in
Central Park opposite the Mall. Unfor-
tunately he failed 10 keep faith with the
public.
Mr.. Fairfax Williamson. whose perSe-
cutions of the Rev. Morgan Dix will be
remembered. and the unknown mar who
sent Mr.. II. P. Brooks. ticket agent of
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in this
city, wagon after wagon loaded with
meat, fruit and vegetables. c. o. d..
were commonplace imitators of Theo-
dore Hook. and much less able than the
facetious Young lady of PHILADELPHIA
who several Years ago issued a hundred
or more invitations 10 dinner in the
name of one of Mr.. Child's near neigh
bors-skillfully arranging the list of in
vltations so as TO include fifty assorted
pairs OF mortal enemies-and then kind
ly ordered a magnificent dinner from a
restaurant for the occasion.
A decidedly sensational practical joke
was perpetrated in Brazil on the occa-
SION OF the introduction of a new safety
brake, Dom Pedro. who was on the train, !
being an accomplish. At one part of the
line, where it passes through a cutting
bounded by rocks. a gigantic construc-
ton of lath and canvas, painted to rep
resent a mass of fallen rock. was placed |