Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-07-22
PRACTICAL JOKES.
How Fools lniurs Other, for Their
CWn Amusement.
Fatal Results Of Heartless Jests-All Glasses
Ofthe Community Subject to the An
nOyancs-aean Species
Of Fun.

serious accidents have been the result
ot such alleged pleasantly, and very
often death has enSued to the victim.
The latest Instance of the kind occurred
in April last, and resulted i'm the demise
c. y wealthy young Cuban named An
tonic lgleSia, who had obtained EN-.
ployment IN Paterson, \. j., locomo-
live works tor the purpose of obtaining
a knowledge of tue business. He aud
- fellow workman were inside of To-
connective boiler, holding a sledge ham.
mer against rivitS which were being
fastened from the outside. AS the com
partUent was narrow q lot of cotton
waste, which was saturated with oil,
had been placed on the bottom OF the
boiler to render their position more
comfortable, and this was set fire TO by
some fool. lglesia's companion es.
capped, hut he himself was overcome by
the smoke and considerably burned be-
fore the fire was put out. His death re-
suited a short time after. This deplOr-
able affair serves To recall many fatal
cases which Were the result Of practical
Jokes.
In December, 1873, John NJ. Waite
and NJ. Il. Gould, both prominent aud
respected business men of Chicago,
thinking To play n practical joke upon
a cOlOTed jauItOr, diSarrangcd the cOu-
tents OF Mr.. WaIteS room, and then
rouceallng themselves in a closet, wait
IA until the jauitOr appeared. The lat
ter, becoming excited at the condition
Of the room, procured revolver, and
hearing nose III the closet, tried To
r.ll the door open. Failing in that, he
fired through the door and the shot
ra,spd through Mr.. GOuld's head,
causing his death soon after,
An Emigrant Victim.
\ young Italian named Pietro Fran
- fell victim 10 practical joSers in
August, 1850. He was only week in
New York, and had procured employ
rvrt ~ a laborer at the foot OF Sixty
fourth street, North river. Being liet
ave- iuutleuslve the other labOrers took
rI,s>urS in tantalizIng him. After
uorklny had one morning he felt tired
when The dinner hour arrived, aud
when he had partaken OF his irugal
meal he lay down on the pier at the
;oOt of SlXty-tifth street and fell asleep.
HIS brother workmeu seized the oppnr-
Juuty and began pelting him with
tufts ofearlh. Finding that misSils did
not arouse tine sleeping man, one of
them attempted to wheel hand truck
Containing another man over the body
If Francis. The barrow was wheeled
alongside the laborer until the wheel
struck him IN the temple and inflicted
= severe wound. With grOau the poor
elbow arose and staggered back to his
\
weak from loss OF blood, he fell to the
round aud WAS subsequently removed
20 the Roosevelt Hospital, where he
DEED al niue O'Clock the same night.
\ young man named Chapman, re-
siding AT Fort Lawrence, y. >, was
passing u graveyard in that place dur
Ing the month of December, lSSO, when
suddenly he was confronted by some
'roli.suInp youths wrapped in sheets.
He was greatly frightened and started
IN run for Efe, followed by the would
,,. ghosts. Tne result was that Chap.
:aun lost his reason and had TO be COM
United to a luTatic asylum.
A Hnsband's Crime.
ArecKle~s act of William Taylor, an
engineer of the Allegheny Valley rail-
road. resulted i'm the death of his wife
j
80 beside the railroad track in Law
!,u,rville, Pa, when Taylor, while his
wi:r'. back WAS turned, fastened rail-
ruat torpedo To- tue track, and jumping
an h., engine moved up the road. The
wheels passed over the torpedo, ex-
Yioding il, and "A portion of the metal
covering entered Mrs. Taylor ) leg, IN.
dieting a severe wound, which caused
her death.
Another victim to this reprehensible
practice was q negro who had shipped
IN the French bark Felix at MOzamOl-
siuc n an abe seaman. The vessels
WAS bound for MarSeilleS in January,
lc>2, and his shipmateS, having learned
from the cOlOred sailor that he had new
tr before made q voyage to France,
r,ISusded him that human flesh OF the
m go variety was highly reliShed by
W,a thy Frenchmen and that he could
not tai upon arriving at MarSeilieS To
IL roasted aud eaten. The news under
un,d his spirits and preyed upon HI
m.rJ To- such an extent that he at last
gt~uivvd to die by his own act ratheG
than encounter the dismal fate awaiting
him i'm port. He SO Informed the al
thprs of the hoax, but they kept up
their lest until the harked sighed Mar
settles, when they were astOnished at
seeing the negro suddenly Chamber upon
The bulwarks and plunge into the sea-
Although the vessels was promptly
hove to and boat put out in search OF
the unfortunate man, all efforts to res
cue him from watery grave proved
1ruitless. Ii was evident that the
wrctcEtd negro, believing himselfdOom'
III TO suffer death by the butchers knife
an few hours, preferred drowning.
Killed by HisFriend.
\ CHASTITY joke was perpetrated IN
Ccrsicaua, Texas, in March, lSS2, by
John York He and a friend named
Charles Alexander occupied adjoining
rooms, and after they had retired for
the night York thought he woulC
Tighten Alexander by firing his revolv
or through the partition which divided
their apartments. The latter, who wa
sleeping, had the top of his head blown
of.
seriouS and Heartless Tests.
There are many other cases which, n
though they did not result fatally, cauS
cd serious injuries. As an instance may
&c cited the freak of two jourueymeu
BARRIERS of New York in filling their EN-
plOyer's pipe with gunpowdeT. Th'
latter had left his shop for few min
utes in January of the present year, ant
on his return lighted his pipe, when al
explosion took place, burning his fac
in a very serious manner. 1t wa
ut first thought that he would lose hi
sight, but that was not impaired, al
thCugh he will carry the marks Of tin
explosion to his grave.
The meanest kind Impractical joker
are those who by serious advertise
ments cause poor working girls to los
their time and ear fare in visiting place
with the expectation of procuring EN-
ployment. In the same category ma.
be placed those who came to be inSerte'
in the daily papers marriage notices o
people who have no intention Of joinin!
their fortunes, and also those who al
Nerfisa the death of nersOns still In thl