The Philipsburg mail., 1895-08-15

A[ak% w. ga superbly exc
(gagI1N Alo cuted steel engrav-
~ >>A=sY, ing of Georg e
Washington" and sending to the vic
tim 2-cent stamp bearing steel like
ness OF the immortal George or that
equally profitable advertisement which
stated that, for half dollar, any one
would be taught how to write without
pen and ink, and the unsophisticated
sent in his money only to be told to
write with a lead pencil.
These and many more devices to
catch the guileless members Of society
are all we'll known, but the interest
that attaches to them does not surpass
the extraordinary hoaxes perpetrated
by notable characters in other days.
There was Barnum, he whose name
will be forever associated with shows.
lie once announced on his circus pos
ters, in flaming letters, that "the great
est show on earth would exhibit in the
afternoon Of that day special and ex-
traordlnary feature, a wonderful freak
OF nature-a miraculous horse, with
his head where his tail ought to bel"
The public swallowed it; people fell
over each other to get into the circus
tents to see the most marvellous animal
on the face of the earth; and they saw
lt-simply common, everyday horse
backed into his stall, with his head
where his tail usually appears.
While the late Snowman succeeded
IN humbugging the public in this way,
he was also trapped himself by prac-
tical joker. It was during his initial
days in managing a circus, when he
was showing in a country town, that,
unknown to him, commercial travel
er stopped in the same place and con-
ceived the idea of fooling Barnum.
Collecting a crowd of twenty people,
the drummer told them that he was
going to pass them into the show free
and that all they need do was to follow
him, which they gleefully did. Ar
rlylng at the tent, where Barnum was
busy taking tickets, the drummer
rushed up to him with a handful of
cards and said: ~.
"Just count these men as they pass
in, ending with the one wearing the
straw hat a... .4
"All right" and Barnum began:
''Three, six, nine" and so on, while
they passed by him and were quickly
lost in the crowd. Soon the straw hat
came along.
s.Twenty," bawled Barnum, and
turned round for the tickets, but the
gentleman who had requested him to
count was not there. Barnum saw that
it was too late to search for the twenty
who had faded inside the tent, and
accepted the situation with philosophic
resignation. .=.~
Different from this hoax was that of
the joker in the mines. This Western
er was given to playing tricks on his
'<pards in the diggins'." One day his
end came. His last words were:
t'Dig under the big tree round the
bend. I've buried $4,000 in gold there.
Send it to my widow in Ohio.'
The miners at first were inclined to
doubt the ante-mortem statement, sus-
picious that the ruling passion was
strong, even in death, and that the jok-
er had desired to fool them once more.
But, upon digging for the buried
treasure, they were astonished to find
the $4,000 in gold, just as the deceased
had told them. The next thing was to
find the widow. They made Inquiries
everywhere in Ohio, and at last dis
covered the truth-that the deceased
had no widow, and that, while he had
resisted the temptation to fool his
friends long enough to inform them Of
his hidden gold, he had repented in
the end and fooled them again
The year 1860 witnessed an extensive
hoax in England. A vast number of
people in London received through the
post a card bearing the following in
scription, with seal marked by an in
verted sixpence, thus bearing to SUI
perficial observation an official appear
ance:
Tower of London-Admit the bear
er and friend to view the annual cere-
mony Of washing the white lions on
Sunday Admitted only at the white
gate. 1t is particularly requested that
no gratuities be given to the wardens
or their assistants.
The trick Is said to have been highly
successful. Cabs were rattling about
Tower Hill all that Sunday morning,
vainly endeavoring to discover the
white gate.
Tudicrnus NTistale