Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1902-09-10

al parts Lohuoh' assembled oppo-
site the ex-prime minister's Official
residence in Downing street. IL a
not long before the tiny street was
blocked, but still the rumbling nan
te~chnicons continued to arrive This
This "side-splitting" exhibition went
on until a queue was formed, which
stretched far down majestic White
hall. and brought the usual curious
crowd in its wake, not to mention 10
the windows of the government of.
fees.
OF course. 1t was a hoax. INQUIRIES
among the van proprietors speedily
ELECTED the fact that each of them
had received a hastily scrawled post.
card tMr. Gladstone was very partial
to postcards), requesting him to send
a pantechnicon punctual At a special
time in order to cart away "old col
lars. hats. coats and similar effects"
A few months later another genius
played a far less humorous Joke
upon the Liverpool unemployed. II
was at the time that the Liverpool
exhibition was in course of prepare
ton, and the joke consisted Of an
insertion of an advertisement in the
local papers calling for workmen to
aid in the laying out of the exhibition
grounds.
Each man was to bring his own
spade and pickax, and many poor
fellows spent their last shilling in Or
der that they might not be passed
over In favor of their less fortunate
fellows. At the time appointed a
huge of men and tools as
sembled, only to learn that the whole
proceeding was a heartless hoax.
During the visit of the Shah of
Persia to England in the 7O's, the
mayor of Cambridge Unexpectedly re-
ceived the following telegram: His
imperial majesty, the Shah of Per.
STA, desires to visit your university
town en- route from London, by spec
ial, arriving at Cambridge station
about Ito. Be prepared with escort
and reception, Is far rs time allows"
Unfortunately for the mayor and cor
poration, the vice chancellors of the
university and the volunteers who
hurried down to the station, both
special" and visit" were an entire
ly mythical creation, and the only
persons who really enjoyed them.
selves were the unsoaped and the UNI
~dergrads.
A particularly disagreeable hoax
was perpetrated some three years ago
upon a wealthy retired merchant liv-
ing at Peckham. He received an an
onymous letter from a gentleman,
stating that a large box OF silver coins
was buried was buried in his grounds.
The writer went On to say that he
would willingly disclose the exact
whereabouts Of the box If the mer-
chant would promise absolute secrecy
and an equal division of the contents.
The merchant jumped at the chance,
advertised in the Daily Moon agony
column as directed. and eventually
his correspondent arrived n even
ing after dark. With the air of n
thoroughly acquainted with his bust.
ness the new arrival led the way to a
certain apple tree, and by the aid Of
a Pickering lantern and some garden
tools, soon unearthed a stout oaken
box, containing 1000 half crowns.
After counting them all over and split
ting two or three as a test of genuine
ness. the digger readily demonstrated
the impossibility of carrying away SO
huge a weight of silver as his half
share, without fear of detection. The
merchant, full of gratitude, readily
accommodated him with the equiva.
lent in notes and gold, and returned
to his hoard only to find. of course,
too late, that the whole of the untest-
ed coins were wrong uns."