The Columbus journal., 1911-03-22
FAMOUS HOAXES OF HISTORY.

FAMOUS HOAXES OF HISTORY.
When wireless" operator, a year
or two ago, yielded t" the impulse to
give out a fake report that the warship
Mississippi had blown up in Guam
tanamo Harbor. he perpetrated a hoax
rather worse than the majority of the
historic hoaxes that are recalled for
the purpose of showing how witless
and heartless the tribe of practical
jokers can be when they try. He
displayed rather more than the custo-
mary disregard Of the feelings OF
others, AID considerably less ingenuity
and resourcefulDess than have been
shawn BY some of his predecessors. A
hoax of that kind shows no talent ex.
cepting for lying-which is not so rare
as to he noteworthy.
Between the hoax and the practical
Joke there is no real distinction, al
though some restrict the former term
to a play upon the credulity Of an
individual or a small group, and the
latter to a fabrication intended TO
victimise an entire community. If
without purpose Of either pleasure,
~
profit or revenge, it is u mere fake,
such as a certain class of newspapers
delight in, but which are usually
innocuous on account of the reputation
of the sheets that make habit Of
publishing them. If perpetrated for
the personal gain Of the author, it be-
comes an imposture, like the famous
literary forgeries Of Lauder, Henry
Ireland, James Macpherson, Thomas
Chatterton and George Psalmanazer;
or a swin,llc like the Arizona diamond
81 indie. the exploits of the Humberts
| and Cassie Chadwick, and the ordi-
nn,y MN. promotion, or fraud, like
the sale of 4 gold brick.
However, the an, ais # this pastime
record one really bencticent hoax, Of
which Dean Swift WAS Tic author. 1t
| wis conceived and executed ut u period
when London was suffering from an
unprecedented epidemic Of street rob.
berries. a notorious character named
Elliston, one of the fraternity, was
captured, tried. convicted and senten-
ced to death. Immediately after his
execution, Swift caused to be printed
and widely circulated what PurpOrted
to be his ante. mOrtem statement. This
asserted that he had given to an honest
man (the only one he knew confes-
sion in which was list of all his
crimes. the names of his cOnfederates,
the places they fr,yuented, and the
names and whereabouts Of the "fences"
upon whom he and his partners had
always relied to dispose Of their booty.
Still! c!,erishiug Il friendly sentiment
towards the powers that prey, even
with the shadow of the galiows upon
him, he desired to give his old COM
panions in crime a chance To save
their lives, If not their souls, and re-
quired this "honest man" to take 9
solemn oath not to divulge the matters
contained in his confession, unless thu
continued depredations Of the street
robbers made it necessary, when III
was to turn it over 10 the authorities
Elliston's confession was received il
good faith by the public, including thu
thieves; and but few crimes Of thai
nature were committed in London fol
years.
OF the harmless hoaxes. not the lcas
engaging was Perpetrated three-quart'
ers of century ago, when belief in
witches, COLLINS. fairies, elves, mer
maids and sea serpents was almos,
I universal. One night the good people
of the town IF Bude were startled by
the news that a real mermaid was
singing upon rock a short distance
out from the shore. Of course, they
made haste to view the wonder. Sur.
enough, there she sat, as thinly clad a:
any modern Salome, braiding her long
black tresses and singing melancholy
song. For three more nights she made
her appearance At about the same
hour. apparently "b!ivioEs of tht
crowds that gathered to view hcl
charms. On the last night il was
noticed that her vuiCc was hOarsc. To
the amazement If the listening throns
she SAM God Save the King" and
then dived into oceans depths. Al.
though her temperance was watched
for through many weary moons, the
mermaid of Bude was seen no more.
1t was years before the truth leaked
out-that the mermaid was only fun.
1 1nx,;nu .l,c;u;t, ee,J,rx ,,,;ss, L.. L.,