El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-27

w WASHINGTON. D. c., March 81
\" On the first day Of April 1903,
all Pittsburg bit hard" at a
fake cablegram published in a local
newspaper, which told that san Fran
cisco had been blown off the map by
japanese fleet OF warships- Gigantic
aerial monsters were described as hav-
ing crossed the Rockies, dropping
bombs and leaving devastation in their
wake. Several American batLleshlps
and cruisers were reported TO have been
sunk. oddly enough. nobody seems TO
have sUrmised that this exclusive"
news might be an invention appropri-
ate 10 the date, and such tumultuOus
crowds assembled in front Of the office
Of the enterprising journal, IN Smith
field street, that extra police had 10
be called out to preserve order
A hoax, such as this one. is practi-
cal joke on large scale, Of which the
Misrepresentation public IS the victim
How ready people are to swallow al
most any kind Of a humbug may be
Judged from the promptness with winch
an excitement was stirred up, IN 1sOS'
by an advertisement printed IN Char
lOtte u. c. newspaper. The -ad' was
that Of a Washington clothing store,
which offered 70 pay is cents for 1902
simultaneously. and doubtless by de-
sign a report was circulated TO the
effect that z quantity OF gold had been
spilled into the molten copper from
which the pennies Of 1902 were coined
at the mint in Philadelphia Apparently,
nobody took the trouble TO try to verl-
~ this extraordinary statement, and
within a few days practically all the
cents OF the above mentioned date in
the Piedmont section OF North Carolina
were bought up by speculators- In
Charlotte they were freely urchased
at five cents apiece. and presently the
price rose to 10 cents and even higher.
Edwin B. Gresham sold $50 pennies to
baggage agent Bonner Of the Southern
railroad for SSs. ana the buyer after
wards declared that he had disposed OF
them at a profit
Public Finally Catches On"
The news in regard to these pre-
cious coins spread rapidly to other
parts OF the state, and excitement was
a fever heat in many towns. Pennies
o the desirable date were gathered
from every bank and shop til, large
sacks Of them being forwarded TO the
Washington firm for re-
demptiOn at IS cents apiece. But the
firm burst the bubble by declaring that
IL had made no such offer. It's PROPOSE
ton had been to pay IS cents for nine
teen hundred and two pennies In short
the whole affair was a joke
Most folks, however, are ready
enough 10 hoax themselves. If a fairly /
inviting opportunity be offered. Thus, !
on the fifth day OF May, 1912 the ma
tional capital was stirred by the news
that 4 man was engaged IN the re-
markable performance OF climbing up !
the ouoSide Of the Washington monu-
ment. A View days previously. as it hap !
pened, the self-styled human spider"
ROdman AI1aW, had actually walked up !
the Eleventh street facade Of the l
Raleigh bOtel. svailing himself OF no 1
apparatua, but clinEing merely by his I
toes and Ringers, inserted between the I
courses u stone. 1t was alleged that /
he had Afterwards tried to get q permit /
10 scale the monument
HOai * AdiOurns Congress.
Inasmuct as the surface Of the monu- I
nent is absolutely smooth. such an at /
-empt might well have been deemed i
impossible. But the news rapidly spread, /
n the aftednoon Of May 5, that Law /
vas really proceeding TO accomplish the 1