The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-06-29
AN HISTORICAL HOAX.
FL ORENCE, THE ACTOR, TELLS OF A FAMOUS JOKE PLAYED
ON ADELAIDE NELSON'S HUSBAND.

finally shook hands and renewed our vows
of eternal friendship upon one anotler's
bosoms
THAT was the inception of the amous
Lee dinner oax Sothcrn came To me
afterward and said he desired TO give the
Englishman a dinner at the Gramercy
park hotel, in order to Introduce him To
the customs of the great American people
and said that the only part he desired me
TO take in il was to be sue that Lee should
was noon of the following Sunday. To
this | agreed. / knew, of course, that
some sort of a joke was to be ~perpetrated
upon Mrs. Nelson's husband, but pledge
my word that / was not let fully into the
secret and was not advised of the pro-
gramme.
DEPARTED WORTHLESS.
A n designated time ! escorted Lee
to the banquet room, which was on the
first iloor in the rear of the hotel Office.
l found with Mr.. Judson, the proprietor,
the doors and windows had been well
padded and covered SO that no noise from
within could reach beyond them. The
apartment was lighted with waX candles.
Those assembled were Joh Mccullough,
| Harry Montague, j. =. Polk, Charles Gay
Tor, all of whom had achieved fame upon
the stage, Dan Bryant and Nelse Sey-
mour, the most famous negro MINISTRIES
of their day; Commodore Dickinson of
the New York yacht club, George Brown
of the chop house which bore his name, a
gentleman named Cooper and, OF course,
Sothern, and Lee and myself. None
other than these We're present;
party are left to-day! My! N.Y. sighed
the genial Florence, losing his smile for a
moment. show few of us are left!
Tough, Montague, Sothern, Lee, Seymour,
Bryant, Brown and Cooper are all dead /;
the only survivors of that occasion are
D,IL E,yInr nickiusou and myself. Well
nov to the dinner.
"The oysters had been disposed of and
the sour had just beef placed OF the ta-
BILE when Charley Gaylor arose and in a
very impressive o spoke about as fol-
lows: "Gentlemen, l think this is a most
suspicious occasion to bring about peace
between two men who, while strangers,
we're once devoted friends. i do not think
rancor could exist in any heart at a gath.
ering of this kind. To be sure, it may i'll
become me to act the part of a peace.
maker.f for while il is true that / have shed
human blood; hat my right hand has been
red with gore of another, il must be borne
i'm mind that ! was tr~iumphantly acquit.
ted of the oifense and that "A jury of m
peers said that l had acted only in sell
Defense
THOROUGHLY STARTLED.
"You can readily imagine that this
rather took the breath out OF my friend
Lee, who had been seated upon my left
He whispered to me, What has he done
Did he kill %anyoneT / looked at hin
warningly and put a finger to my lips as
whispered back, 'Sh-h-h! Ii wa.
mutter. My God!' as he shrunk i'm hi,
chair, and then he leaned toward me ant
whispered, OF what is he speaking?' A,
] didn't know myself | couldn't well tel
him, butt warded him oil by saying, 'Yot
will learn il all in a His word,
might annlv tn almost any fun man ahntI
the board. because every fellow here ha,
killed his man.
"yust then Gaylor threw light upon the
subject by saying, as he pointed with on
minstrel. Dan Bryant, and with ia,
other TO the equally famous de
lineator of cork humor, Nelse Sey
NOUS, q course, gentlemen, IL is hardl,
necessary for me to say that i refer I,
Americas most famous poet, William
Cullen Bryant, and that equally distin
guished gentleman, Mr.. Seymour, the sol
of the talented ex-governor OF New York
Horatio Seymour, and i now request tina
these two gentlemen shake hands acrosa
the table n let the bloody feud whicl
has existed between them end here
~ had scarcely time to give an aifirma
, tive reply To- Lees whispered inquiry. Il
that really William Cullen Bryant whei
!, there ensued the most remarkable seem
which ] ever Witnessed in my life. can
not now even. after more than nozel
years have elapsed, him Of il withou
tears OF laughter coming to my eyes
Seymour was n man of over six feet IL
l height, and with legs the length OF whicl
were absurdly out of proportion to I'll,
? rest of his body. He appeared to be spill
I up almost To his neck.
! zone of his most famous feats upor
I. the minstrel stage was To suddenly throy
7 one of his feet about "A mans neck an,
? draw the other fellow toward him. Upor
this occasion Bryant, in obedience 1,
Gaylor's summons, had reached forth hi
} light hand. when Seymour suddenl,
| threw that dreadful right leg of his acros
the table, caught his friend back of ia,
! neck. drew him toward him and hit hin
squarely between the eyes. In anothe
I instant both men were ON top of the tabl
amid the soup dishes and were snarlinI
aud biting and tearing at one another
like a pair OF bull dogs. Cooper an,
] Dickinson, who were not In the secret, be
came so alarmed that they got under th
I table, while | could only hold Lee in hi
chair by main force.
! "ln the midst OF the contest the tabl
] upset and the poor Englishman was al
I most drowned in soup. While Bryant an,
seymour were makinga mockery of strul
' Cling beneath the debris, Seymour h
i wctting the fingers on one and secured
quantity of blacking from one Of his shoe
2 and with this gave himself the semblanc