Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1903-03-07
bill Drake is Dead"

the Cumberland .NcTS, reQue ting par.
ticularS from Duncan +. Shatfer. This
gentleman responded, answering ques.
tions by asking others.
/ Somebody at the Queen City hotel
rang up James f. Taylor at the railroad
station with message for M. B. Tyler,
at the Consolidation office, informing
the latter that ian old servant of the
! TYLER family, Bill Drake, is dead"
| TYLER was much interested, wantt d par.
ticulars, and worked all day at the
phone thereafter, but conldn't find even
the man who conveyed the information.
John Chambers called John Nc
Allister at Midland; said that Thomas
G.. Dillon had ordered him to have Tom
Murphy told that bill Drake, an old
Hibernian. is dead" and intimated that
Murphy was expected to make some prep
arations for the funeral. McAllister
walked :, miles through the mud. On
the way he somehow got wind of a
notion that he had been buncOed. just
then he met Charlie Dillon Toms son
who had been all day hauling drum
mer around the country in buggy.
Charlie knew nothing of what was GO
ing on and was astounded when Nc
Allister said tell your ID old daddy
I'll knock h out of him for this when
| see him -
John Brady, somewhat deaf. coming
from work Monday afternoon, was told
that boyhood friend of his, bill
Drake, is dead" Hey asked John.
bill Drake, friend of your youth, is
dead" Don't remember" answered
John, but if he was ever friend of
mine he did it on the quiet"
Thomas Kean, of Cumberland, was
notified through the Cumberland 7Imcs
that bill Drake once a prominent
Land Lacquer is dead Kean never
knew Drake. but the Times wanted all
the particulars.
John Hitchins, at Carlos, was re-
quested to notify Mayor William Grimes
to call public meeting and adopt reso-
lntions. What for asked Grimes
Hitchins listened and drawled out the
reply ito commemorate the life and
services of your old friend, Bill Drake,
who is dead - Accordingly, Grimes
was i'll town Saturday evening, told the
JOURNAL what he had heard, but intilna-
t.l hot III, Il Ia.
until the regular meeting of Council.
John NJ. Street, was asked by John
Chambers to notify William Thomas
that your old Grand Army comrade,
Bill Drake, is dead ~ STREET. thought
it very strange that Chambers would
request him to take Il message to a door
next below Chambers own place So
when the twain met there was high
old time
There We're many more laughable in
cidents, too numerous to mention here
and now but il is safe to say that it
will he Il long time before another such
joke gets lun like tins. 1t was the
biggest ever.
Several newspapers we've caught.
The Cumberland Wars of Monday had
this :
William Drake. aged Is years, died on
Saturday near Eckhart In his carly days
he was IL coal miner, but he had lately lived
in New York. He was widely known. He
will be buried at Cumberland this morning
Several Baltimore papers noted the
sad event.
The Queen City ronrirr reported
William Drake, aged Is, of New York
died Saturday at Eckhart. His remains
were brought to Cumbc rand Monday for
interment
Per- co"frn, under the heading of
Serious Matter for Fakes the Cum
bcrland Times of Tuesday said
Some pel|on or persons hard up ior 4
little fun nave selected Il serious matter for
thar person. Numerous calls over the tcle-
phone have been made to various people
during the past n hours telling them such
and such person was dead, Investigation
in each INSTANCES revealed the fact that such
information WAS incorrect Squeezing
similar was startpd sometime ago and the
takers here have just caught onto it and
imagine they have struck something new.
So far this office has received no fake death
notices.
This huge joke is repetition of one
enacted i'll New Rochelle, n. V, Satur-
day night, Feb. u.
Roy L. McCardell lives in New
Rochelle.