Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-06-08
JOKES ON THE PUBLIC
Some Of tho Clever Hoaxes Americans
Have Fallen For.

Have Fallen For.
About a year ago there died In Kel-
vim, Ark, a travelling salesman, Jo-
seph Mulhattan. who conceived hoax
and fooled many editors, aroused the
negroes of the north and south and
amused a nation, says the New York
Press. Mulhattan originated the story
that monkeys were to supplant the ne
gro cotton pickers.
Mulhattan told the story so often
that his earnestness made some news
paper men who o.printed the story think
that it was possible. He figured it
out on paper as paying investment.
The monkeys, Of course, would receive
no wages, so that on the face of 1t
much would be saved in the cost of
picking the crop. Then too, the mon
keys would increase rapidly. For a
time the story that monkeys would
supplant negroes in picking cotton was
believed, particularly as the expert
ment "was being tried on Louisiana
plantation" The address Of the plan
tation, however, was so vague no one
was able to locate it.
Barnum loved to fool the people. A
rival Snowman obtained a white ele-
phant. Barnum by telegraph tried to
obtain it and offered huge sum. The
owner Of the real white elephant used
Barnum's telegram as a newspaper ad-
vertisement and poster, which made
Barnum the more eager to get the ami
NAL. Failing in getting the white ele-
phant, he cabled all over the world to
get one. Then he resorted to subter-
fuge. He bleached an ordinary ele-
phant, and did 1t so well that he not
only fooled the people who came to
see it, but also learned body Of sci
entists, who gave him testimonial to
the effect that 1t was a genuine albino
elephant.
Another Barnum hoax was the giant
Of Cardiff. which was really hoax of
q hoax. Barnum failed in getting the
real giant of Cardiff. but that did not
deter him from showing the original
George Hull Of Binghampton, N. Y,
and the Rev. Mr.. Turk of Ackley, O.,
got into a dispute about giants. Prob
ably it came about through a discus
sion Of a giant that Hull had in front
Of his tobacco shop. 1t may have come
Through an Interpretation Of the text,
"And there were giants in those days"
No one is alive who recollects the orig
inal dispute, so that one story is as
good as another as to how the hoax
began.
Hull spent two years in the study OF
fossil remains and archaeology. Final
ly he got a slab Of stone IL feet long.
4 feet broad, 20 inches thick and had
it carved according to specifications.
Mr.. Hull very cleverly had the giant
carved so that there might be ques-
ton, or difference of opinion, as to
whether 1t was fossil or prehistor-
ic sculpture. The giant" was rubbed,
scrubbed, bathed, washed and pricked
with pores, an acid was used that
would take off the look of Chicago
and modernity.
Finally it was shipped, buried on a
farm of relative Of Hull and "dis-
covered" by men digging we'll. The
digging Of the we'll was plausible
enough. Delegations came from all
over the country, including both learn
ed men and curiosity seekers. So
great was the procession that 1t be-
came quite profitable. and finally 1t at
tracted Barnum's attention. He had
failed to get the Cardiff giant, but 1t
did not take him two years to have a
replica Of it in his museum.
Newspapers have not been above
hoaxing the public.
One newspaper in New York believ-
ed the old menagerie cages in Central
Park were not sufficiently strong. 1t
conceived a tale Of the lions, tigers.
leopards and other animals breaking
out and killing and injuring people,
and printed pages about 1t.
No story of hoaxes is complete un-
less New York's well-known joker is
mentioned. He Is Brian G. Hughes,
and he has perpetrated more than a
dozen jokes that have made the me-
tropolis chuckle. To perpetrate these
hoaxes has cost him much money; but
in all Of his tricks no one has ever
suffered particularly.
Probably his best known exploit, be-