The Ely miner., 1931-03-20

the reader came TO the end of the
yarn. There have been innumerable
variations of this stunt, ranging from
scare" stories about the blowing up
of the city hall and the assassination
OF city officials or the escape OF all
the animals In the zoo to more inno-
cent stories about the discovery OF
buried treasure or the exhibition OF
some marvellous and seemingly impos-
sible feat of skill or strength.
Some 40 years ago a Cincinnati
newspaper printed big story regard
ing a monster of fiendish aspect and
unknown species which had been found
inhabiting a cave in the hills east OF
the city, which had already carried
off several children in its slavering
jaws and had spread terror in the
neighborhood. There was even pic
ture Of the Thing, drawn from the de-
scriptions of the two or three persons
who had seen it clearly, and for malig-
nant hideousness Of aspect, that mon
ster made all Calibans, dragons, Hur-
tame.
Finally, down at the latter end of
the story In very small type, so small
that many readers overlooked IT, was
set the legend, April 1, 1888" Even
some who noticed that date didn't
grasp its significance, but continued
to shudder with fear at the thought
Of meeting the monster.
Some Philadelphians still remember
the story about the big iceberg that
was being towed up the river"
Thousands went to the river front to
see the spectacle and then denied that
they had been taken in.
The story Of a balloon vender who
tied a balloon to little girls arm so
that he could be free to make change
is still in the memory OF some. The
story went that while the vender was
counting over the money the balloon
with the little girl attached suddenly
rose from the ground and up and
away went the poor little girl. Women
meeting each other in the morning
while the front steps and pavement
were being washed, rested on their
broomhandles and wept.
A quite modern hoax is told as fol-
lows by one who was In Ireland when
it happened:
Peace, of a kind, reigned in Dublin
on March 81, 1922. There was ten
sion In the air for the ITeconcilables,
~
with England, had taken over the Four
Courts and were known to be prepar-
ing resistance to the terms which
Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith
had signed. Anything was likely to
happen.
About / o'clock on the morning Of
April l the Morning Post of London.
the paper which reflected the views of
those who thought that any truce with
the Irish was betrayal Of Great Brit
ain, received a telegram from Dublin
stating that the Kildare Street club
had been seized by the Irreconcilables,
that the members residing there had
been driven into the streets in their
pajamas and that this social strong
hold Of British aristocracy in the Irish
capital had been transformed into
stronghold of the enemy.
With due solmenity and with head
lines that had not been surpassed since
the declaration of the Armistice with
Germany the telegram was published.
And that night Dublin was flooded
with correspondents Eng
lish and French-all prepared to cover
the new war" The British cabinet
was called to Downing street for
breakfast, and the world sighed in dis
may and mourned that the Irish, when
peace seemed In sight, "were at 1t
again"
Only few know the true story be-
hind the April fool telegram that start
ed this furore. There was In Dublin
at the time Major Clarke who had
served with distinction during the
World war, but who had never been
the same since his experiences In
Flanders. They had developed in him
sense of humor" that was peculiar.
On one occasion he collected all the
boots left to be cleaned outside the
bedroom doors Of the largest hotel in
Dublin and dropped them down the
elevator shaft.
He was barred from the same hotel
for throwing cream-filled eclairs at the
guests during dinner And it was he
who sent the telegram. He was tired
of peace and he thought it would be
a good joke to start the Anglo-Irish
struggle again. And. strange to say.
he nearly accomplished his object, for
the suspicious Irreconcilables thought
the wire had been sent by the Free
State government as bait. But they
were not yet prepared. The break di,
not come for almost three months
- ~ we.tern Newspaper Uuisu.)