The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-26
LOOKS HOAX, 1O2 YEARS
 AGO TO-DAY IS A
 CLASSIC PRACTICAL JOKE

Theodore Edward Hook, tue Eng lfsh novelist and dramatist. fs all but forgotten by the present generation ef readers and playgoers- It has p@en said of his works that they were
 writ Tn wine, and wine is decidedly ephemeral- Hook IS deserving If off the famous ssBerners Street hoax 2 which ranks as classic among prac- Heal jokes It was 1O2 years ago to-day, on Nov. 26, 1s1O. that all ment--and other eTnotions-by the daring eseapade of Hook. lone of the most brilliant. genial and original hg- ures of Georgian tines.'
 Hook and a friend were walking EoWn Berners street. Oxford Road. London. when the. attention of the s1g neat and spick-and- span appear ance Sf the house at No. 54 Berners street occupied by an old lady named on the quietness of the nefghBornood and added: -And yet. I'll wager guinea that in a week that house could be made the most notorious in all London. The bet was made, and, the next few days Hook spent in his rooms. busily writing letters These epistles were addressed to tradesmen. of every sort. in all parts of London, and were orders for all kinds of ner- chandfse, from paintings to potatoes It was specified that deliveries were te be made. at a certain hour on Nov
 A century ago Berners street was to be reached only through narrow Iones. scarcely wide enough to permit Two vehicles to pass. Mere language is fnadequate to describe the pande- monium that reigned in that ones quiet tnoroughfare when q thousand tradesmenss carts and vans sought to reach the same hou1s at the sam.. time. Casks Fof i1quSrs were spilled, costly china and bric-a-brac we're smashed, and merchandise of all flsx haf Enes loot of gamins. A vast crowd colIected. and pieIx-pockets had the
 most profitable day of their careers. on. and numerous tragedies were mar rosvfv saverted- The entire available police force Nof London was unable poured into Oxford Road from every part of the city.
 Hooks audacity did not stop With summoning tradesmen to the home of the innocent Mrs Tottingham, who was all but bereft of reason by the strange onslaught on her house. The Lord Mayor of London went hurryine to No 54 Berners street. summoned with his chaplain to take the death bed confession of a fictitious council nam who. at the last. was reported to have repent-3 of his evil life 9th CTS suu1rnined -ecluded the Archbish- op of Canterbui y. the governor of the Bank of Engiand. the Lord Chief Jus of the East India Company, and even q Royal Highness So convincing
 were Hooks messages that none of fF1e great men doubted their authen
 ficffy. and so found themselves part of a howIing mob. Eminent physi- efans ard surgeons, clergynnen and harz1sters, college professors and hair sressers. professional people of all kinds. hurried to Berners street to answer the insistent call of the prac- 4fcaI Joker Hook had apoealed to paety. to patriotism. to philanthropy and to purse, as the occasion demand ed and his call had been irresistible
 From a temporary lodging across the street Hookegazed on the dranna he had sta eed.. but after the tumult and shouting dfed-and it died hard and it's last breath was profane--the drnznatist decided that he needed a change of air. His friends suspected z1srss- but there was no proof, and not