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Show PTITTV oBttjjygpdbHc- Celebrated Moon Hoax a Sensation Here and Abroad. COUNTY NEWS. JUNCTION. UTAH ITWow GUT SECRETARY CLOSES MELLON BOOKS ON FISCAL PERIOD; $377,767,816 OVER ' 0 PROEHL HALLER JAKLON gets a big kick out of hls fellows. There to be something dellelgus In baiting a trap and seeing someone bite. The Stone age and the age before It probably had Its prnetlral Jokers, and all history Is full of Jokes and hoaxes, perpetrated to the delight of some and to the embarrassment of others. Sometimes the fooling Is for gain, sometimes for fun, and often for both. Individuals indulge In It, and even nations have been known to attempt n hoax on other nations. Witness the wooden horse of the Greeks and the tulip eraze of the Sixteenth century, when all Holland set cut to make the world crave the tulip, which, It wns liVffJA learned, would thrive on certain asai'sa5: types of Hutch soil useless for else. Soon all the world anything wanted this new flower, and bulbs A Scene on the Moon. Published In Connection With the New sold for ns high ns $5,0)0 apiece. Celebrated Hoax of 1835. The Hutch growers waxed rich, and then the fad waned, leaving purchasers nil membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their hneks, from the top of their shoulders to the calves over the world with expensive bulbs but no of their legs. market. Centuries later Americans were to fall "The face, which was of a yellowish flesh-colo- r, was a slight Improvement upon for ginseng, alfalfa, mushrooms, and silver foxes. that of the orangutan, being more open and Intelligent In Its expresIts a great game. sion, and having a much greater expanse of forePerhaps the most celebrated hoax In history head. The mouth, however, was very prominent, was the "moon hoax, conceived by ltlchnrd Adams though somewhat relieved by a thick beard upon the a lower Locke, Jaw, and by newspaper reporter, and perpetrated by far more human than those of the ape. . . lips . These creatures were the New York Sun In 18,'55. Its success depended evidently in conversation; their gesticulations, upon mans Interest In astronomical phenomena, more particularly the varied action of the hands that Insatiable curiosity to know what lies beand arms, appeared Impassioned and emphatic. We hence Inferred that ..hey were rational beings, and, yond the veil of space which surrounds the earth. although not so high an order as others which ws Science today Is convinced thnt the moon has discovered the next month on the shores of the no life upon It, but a century ago, before the Bay of Rainbows, that they are capable of producing works of art and contrivance. . . . We day of powerful telescopes, the public knew little scientifically denominated them as vespertlllo-homof the heavens beyond whnt It could see with the or manbat; and they are doubtless Innocent naked eye after dark. Speculation was always and happy creatures. keen as to whether or not life existed on the The Astronomers Get Careless moon. Today we wonder the snme thing about the planet Mars. The next Installment, totalling 11,000 words, was printed on the three succeeding days. In It Moon Hoax Fools Two Continents was revealed the discovery of the great Temple And so the New York Sun chose a very fertile of the Moon, built of polished sapphire, with a flelfl In 1885, when It began the publication of roof of some yellow metal, supported by columns Lockes funtastlc Imaginings with all the seriousIn seventy feet high and six feet In diameter. ness of a great scientific discovery. For a time the valley of the temple a new species of man-bthe credulous public of two continents, and even was discovered. Then one night, when the the scientists, were completely deceived. This stuastronomers finished work, they carelessly left pendous feat brought the Sun the lnrgest circulathe telescope facing the eastern horizon. The tion In the world, and In the opinion of Edgar Arising sun burned a hole through the reflecting llan Toe established the penny newspaper as an chamber, and ruined part of the telescope. When lilVtltution. the damage was repaired the moon was Invisible, Locke could write about almost anything. His and the great moon narrative came to an end. fund of general Information was huge, and he By this time New York wns tnlklng of nothcould turn out prose or poetry, politics or pathos, ing except these astounding discoveries; they anecdotes or astronomy. In 1884 Locke heard were the sensation of the day. French and Engof an astronomical expedition to South Africa. lish papers abroad translated or copied the Suns Now, during July and August, 1833, things were fabrication, anil the sensutlon In Europe was equal a hit dull on the Island of Manhattan, and the to that In this country. The Sun, founded only newspapers were running short of material with two years before, saw Its circulation Increased which to entertain and attract their readers. to 10,300, exceeding by more than 2,000 the cirLocke needed money, and so he laid a plan before culation of the London Times, hitherto the largMr. Pay, the Suns editor. On August 21, the folest In the world. lowing Item appeared on the second pnge of the Meanwhile, Sir John Herschel In South Africa Sun : wns busy with his telescope entirely unaware of Celestial Discoveries The Edinburgh Courant the discoveries credited to him. When he at says: "We have lenrned from an eminent publisher last found out, he wns overcome, saying that he of this city Sir John Hcrsehel, at the Cape of Good never could expect to live up to the fame that Hope, has made some astronomical discoveries of the most wonderful description by means of an had been heaped upon him. Immense telescope of an entirely new principle." Of course, many persons suspected the hoax, Then after Mur days the Sun published whnt but the detail of the story was so minute and purported to be a reprint from a supplement to laIsh that no one dared say anything. Many the Edinburgh Journal of Science. There had of the rival papers were fooled along with the been such n publication a few yenrs before, but The Journal of Commerce wns on the public. It was not generally known that It had censed of reprinting the Suns story in Justice point In three columns on page one the publication. to Its readers," when Locke himself gave the Sun carried the nstonlshing announcement of hoax away. "recent discoveries which will build an ImperishIn the words of Edgar Allan Poe; From the In which we live. able monument to the age epoch of the hoax the Sun shone with unmitigated Its success firmly established the splendor. They Describe the Telescope system penny throughout the country and A technical description of the telescope followed, (through the Sun) we are Indebted to the genius and a hypothetical account told of the channels of Locke for one of the most Important steps yet through which this remarkable nows had traveled taken In the pathway of human progress. Thus was laid the foundafrom Cape Town. tion of what wns to follow. To queries ns to Cardiff Giant Hoax of 1869 where It had obtained Its supplement to the EdinToday, with our rapid means of communication burgh Journal of Science, the Sun declared In an and transportation, a hoax of such gigantic proeditorial that "It wns very politely furnished us could not long endure the light of such portions by a medical gentleman Immediately from ScotOn the contrary, the public seems all publicity. land. to stamp any unusual bit of news as too willing No great excitement had been caused so far, hot mere a yarn, that Is, If they do not newspaper the next day the town was Jolted by four columns to believe It. This or want of actunl description of the landscape of the Is a powerful factor with the human moon. Sir Johns telescope was so powerful, mind. If It makes you feel better to believe the story asserted, that It brought objects to psychologists tell ns, you are likely something, within a few feet of the observer. This Is what It so ; If It disturbs your peace of mind to hold to In Town astronomers were the Cape reported accept something as true, you are likely to wave to have seen: There are It aside as foolishness or heresy. The trees for a period of ten minutes were of In America who refuse to subtoday persons one unvaried kind, and unlike any except the largscribe to the theory that the earth Is round. They est class of yews In English Churchyards. They were followed by a level green plain which must like to think of It as flat, and flat It Is to them. have been more than half a mile In breadth. Whats the difference? A column farther on, In a wonderful valley of A famous hoax of 1SG9 was that of the CarWell diggers near Cardiff, N. Y., this wonderful moon, life at last burst upon the diff giant. scene : one morning came upon the stone figure of a man ten feet tall, with shoulders three feet in breadth. "In the shade of the woods op the southeastern side we beheld continuous herds of brown quadThe right arm and hand lay across the body, rupeds, having all the external characteristlce of while the left was pressed against the back dithe bison, but smaller than any species of the bps opposite. The legs were slightly contracted our tn rectly natural It had ons history. gsnus as If by pain, the left foot resting partially upon distinctive feature, which we afterward found common to nearly every lunar quadruped we have the right discovered: namely, a remarkable fleshy appendage Speculation ran rife as to the origin of the over the eyes, crossing the whole breadth of the forehead and united to the ears. It Immediately giant, and some of the visitors were quick to to the acute mind of Dr. Herschel that this Before long recognize Its value as an exhibit. was a protective covering for the eyes against the whose on land the was found farmer figure the great extremes of light and darkness to which all set up a tent and charge admission. The ordithe Inhabitants of our side of the moon are periodically subjected. nary visitors were usually content with the belief that this was a petrified human being. NothFind Humans on the Moon ing In the world can ever make me believe that The Issue of August 28 satisfied public curiosity he was not once a living being," declared a as to the preserree of human creatures on the woman who viewed the colossus. Why, you moon. The astronomers were looking at the can see the veins In his legs. cliffs and crags of a new part of the satellite: One Geologists, however, thought differently. "But whilst gaxlng upon them we were thrilled declared It to be the work of the Jesuit fathers with astonishment to perceive four successive two or three hundred years before. Another flocks of birds descend with a slow, even motion geologist emphasized the antiquity of the statue from the cliffs on the western side and alight upon and called attention to the corroding or attrithe plain. . . . About half of the first party had passed from our view, but of all the others tion of part of the under surface of the body we had a perfectly distinct and deliberate view. the solution, he declared, would have required by They averaged four feet in height, were covered, a long period of years. except on the face, with short and glossy oopper-colore- d In the meantime, the giant continued to draw hair, and had wings composed of a thin MAN o, at ... DEBT FURTHER The 'Cardiff Giant Took in Credulous Public and Much Cash. By , ITIOIL the dollars of the curious. P. T. Barnura tried to buy It, but a local syndicate already had obtained control, and hls offer was rejected. This new company, one of whom Is said to have been the original from which the character of David Ilarum was drawn, paid $30,000 for a three-fourth- s Interest The success of the exhibition led Bar-nuto have carved a similar figure which was likewise exhibited as the Cardiff giant. The owners of the orlglnnl sought to obtain a restraining order against the Barnum counterfeit, but It was refused. Both giants, therefore, continued to draw the crowds. Now, the assumption had always been that the discovery of the figure had been accidental, but there were those wlio doubted this version. Residents of the county in which the well diggers worked began to recall that about a year before the discovery a mysterious York Suns four-hors- e team was observed drawing a wagon which carried a huge box. It was headed In the direction of Cardiff. Professor Marsh of Yale, a paleontologist, examined the figure and asserted that It was clearly of recent origin and a most decided humbug. Then, a lawyer of Fort Dodge, Iowa, seeing the figure at Syracuse, wrote back home: "I believe It is made out of the great block of gypsum those fellows got at Fort Dodge a year ago and sent back east. Gradually the story came to light. In the summer of 1808, two men arrived at Fort Dodge, and attempted to make a bargain for a block of gypsum at least 12 by 4 by 2 feet, explaining that they wished to exhibit It In New York. They leased some land and hired a quarryman to get out a block of the required size. Its owners announced that It was to be shipped to New York, but freight office records showed that It was billed to Chicago. Here a German stone cutter carved the gigantic figure from the block. Great care was taken to give It an ancient appearance. From Chicago the finished statute was shipped by an Indirect route to Union, N. Y. Here the mysterious four-hors- e d team appeared, and the giant, encased in an box, began hls wandering in search of a likely grave. m Iron-boun- d Iron-boun- This Hoax Paid Big Dividends One of the men was George Hull, a relative of William Newell, the farmer on whose property the giant was discovered," under the personal direction of Newell. Both men made thousands of dollars out of their unique venture. Another hoax which goes on from generation to generation Is one concerning the original Despite the fact that the only log of Columbus. undoubtedly authentic handwriting of Columbus, a four-pag- e letter, is In the possession of the king and queen of Spain, the original Columbus log turns up every few years. In 1924, It turned up In Mexico. Strangely enough, It was written entirely In German The literary hoax seems to be the most popular form of fooling and almost the easiest of perpetration. A recent one fooled the literary editor of the New York Times, who conceded that while "The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion, 1764-6had not any of the Importance that attaches to such a monumental record as was left did throw the the author behind by Pepys beams of her candle here and there on the feaNow the New York Times tures of her times. miss Is Itself discovers that a nineteen-year-ol- d the author of this successful hoax. Some hoaxes go unchallenged until the author can refrain no longer from Informing the public how he has fooled it. Such Is the history of the bathtub hoax, put over several years ago by Henry L. Mencken, now the editor of the American Mercury. Mencken wrote a short, Informal In Ameriaccount of the origin of the bath-tuca. The first tub, he said, wns Installed In the He traced the home of a wealthy Cincinnatian. rise of the tubs popularity, and declared that at first physicians were violently opposed to Its use on grounds of health. Several states were said to have passed laws against the Installation of the new sanitary equipment. 1 b Mencken Exposes Bathtub Hoax Only recently Mencken exposed hls trick. No one, he commented, In all the years since this bit of Imaginative history has been current, questioned the facts he cited. Hls original story has been quoted all over the world, and Incorporated In solemn treatises. One of the most celebrated literary hoaxes was that of the Scotch school teacher Macpherson, who, having learned a little old Celtic and Gaelic language and literature, brought forth hls Poems It aroused the world, and has been of Ossian. cited as one of the causes of the Romantic movement In literature that swept Europe in the late Eighteenth century. There Is the eloquent hoax known as Patrick Henrys Give me liberty or give me death speech, thought to have been delivered by the great orator In 1775 at St Johfis church near Richmond, Va., but really written by his biographer, William Wirt, years after Henry died. And all of us know that beloved fake known as the Washington hatchet and cherry tree story Invented entirely by Washington's first biographer, Parson" Mason Weems. Lengthy . explorations have been made Into the facts surrounding both the foregoing fictions, and the Inevitable conclusions have been In agreement with those given here. Edgar Allan Poe once announced in a Baltimore newspaper that on a certain day he would make a trip from the roof of a building In hls d flying machine. Several factories allowed their workers time off to witness the event, and on the appointed day a vast crowd awaited In front of the building for the spectacle. Poe, seated In an upper window, sent down bulletins giving excuses for hls delay. After several hours he announced the flight was off because "one of hls wings had got wet Tradition has 1 that he escaped through an alley window. lately-invente- Surplus Jumps Beyond Estimates, But Falls to Reach Coolidge Count; Income Tax Collections Were Above Those of Last Year Washington Secretary Mellon reported Friday a government surplus of $377,767,815 for the fiscal year Just closed. A record collection of customs totaling $579,430,092 as well as a heavy income tax yield, amounting to swelled the treasury fund far beyond the needs of the government. The $390,000,000 surplus recently forecast by President Coolidge for the year which ended Thursday, failed to materialize, however, as a result of last minute disbursements to meet a postofflee department deficit and tax refunds. At that it was mare than three times the total estimated by administration officials in February. The total cost of government during the last twelve months, exclusive of debt retirement charges, was 8 $1,982,-040,08- News Notesin f I It' a Privilege to Live Utah 1 Formal recommendation e road, a distance of forty-fivmile!, be Included In the 7 per cent federal aid system of highways was made by the state road commission Thursday at a meeting attended by all three members of the commission, Ira R. Browning, chief engineer of the commission, and B. J. the federal Finch, district engineer of ' bureau of public roads. It Is understood that Mr. Finch will concur in the recommendation. Salt Lake that the Duchesne-Castlegate Myton Sumsion & Clyde, contrac- tors, who are building the unit of the federal aid road, have located their camps near Myton and have a force of men and trucks at work grading the roadbed through the Myton-An-telop- e town. Salt Lake Decision to continue enforcement of the Utah plant and Insect quarantine, despite the fact that the supreme court of the United States recently held that the law of a northwestern state similar to that of Utah was unconstitutional, was reached at the quarterly meeting of the state board of agriculture, which was Just adjourned. Ogden All previous records in the a reduction of about $33,687,-31handling of sheep were broken this from the year previous. month at the Ogden union stock yards. The surplus was immediately ap- Receipts were more than 120,000, complied by Secretary Mellon to retire- pared with 39,000 for June of 1925. ment of the public debt, cutting it to Salt Lake Maintenance of high$19,643,216,315, and making the total reduction in the debt for the year ways In the state cost $63,503.88 during June, according to the monthly $872,977,572. statement of the disbursement of road Income tax collections were above those of a year ago, de- funds Issued by John E. Holden, state reductions in rates provided auditor. The report also shows that the spite was spent for administration by the new revenue law which was $7415.96 effective in the last two quarters of and $12,370.12 for equipment during the month. Total amount spent on the fiscal year. . Miscellaneous taxes, many of which roads during the month was $205,730.-30in The disbursement any largest were repealed by the law, produced one county was in Tooele, where $855,599,289 tof the year, compared was spent. Five of the counties with $826,638,097 the year previous. Customs receipts a year ago totalled had no disbursements. $547,561,226 or $31,868,000 less than Myton Sunday was the warmest the record collection of the year just day so far this year, according to the ended. The previous high point for record kept at the government station tariff receipts was reached in 1923, In Myton. The thermometer registerwhen $560,000,000 was collected. ed 95. The highest during the month General expenditures by the governof June, 1925, was 92. The highest ment last year totalled $1,826,726,923 ever recorded in Myton at the station compared with $1,837,004,4775 during was 100 on July 15 of last year. the previous twelve months. Other Salt Lake Due to dry and unusualexpenditures ran about the Bame, alwarm weather during the past week ly though the adjusted service certifithe state, Irrigation water thorughout cate fund to take care of the soldiers Is low and rain Is badly needed, albonus required $120,152,000 last year, most Irrigated crops are still as compared with $99,458,000 the year though before. Tax refunds were $182,220,-000- , doing well, according to the weekly crop and weather report of J. Cecil Alcompared with $147,777,000 the In charge of the local office of the ter, previous year. weather bureau; A detailed statement $3,097,-611,82- 2, 2 5 $221,-502,26- 333,-911.- Call to End Session May Lack Quorum Washington Although the resolu- tion providing for adjournment of congress last Saturday was held in abeyance Friday, there was every indication that the present session would be Both the brought to a close then. house and senate struggled along slowly during the day to clear their calendars of pressing business, and continued their sessions into the night in an effort to ward off the usual preadjournment jam. One of the bills aprpoved by the senate was the second deficiency supply measure on which adjournment Saturday appears to hinge. Its total was increased by the senate from $45,000,000 to $51,000,000 dnd as a result of amendments it was sent to conference. of conditions Is given. Ogden In the midst of one of the warmest periods Ogden has experienced In ten years, R. E. Gary, assistant district forester, returned to his office Tuesday, with the news that eight inches of snow fell in the Challis national forest of Idaho, June 18 and 19 and did much to decrease the fire hazard. Salt Lake The sheep industry of Idaho is in a more stable condition than it has been for years, and will prove profitable for years to come, in the opinion of W. H. Gess of Home-dalwho has been engaged In the industry for a number of years. e, Price With a crew of more than the construction work on the new spur of the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad from Helper to Price is progressing rapidly, according to the contractors in charge. Salt Lake Matters pertaining to the distribution of water from the Price river were gone over thoroughly by George M. Bacon, state engineer, and W. H. Wayman, water commissioner on the river, during the state engineer's visit south, It was announced upon hls return. Mr. Bacon left Saturday afternoon for Carbon county for 200 men, six-mil- e Quake Leaves Death and Riiin Padang, Sumatra Reports received here from the stricken town of Pad-an'destroyed by an earhtquake last Tuesday, indicate that at least 200 persons were killed. The devastated areas have not yet been searched thor-ougly and there are many injured whose hurts may prove fatal. The entire town, which collapsed with a thundering crash, is in ruins. Troops are being rushed to the community for the survivors. that purpose. Salt Lake The gruond water InvesPadua, Italy Six distinct earth tigation now being conducted in the shocks, of which three were rather Milford vailed by Walter N. White of strong, were recorded on seismographs the United States Geological survey here Thursday at a distance estimated are providing information which will at 200 kilometers. No reports of dam- prove of great value to those who Inage anywhere in Italy have been tend to develop the agricultural possibilities of the region, according to H. Stabler, chief of, the conservation Gasoline Reaches Billion Gallons branch, of the survey, and Ralf R. Washington Gasoline production Woolley, local hydraulic engineer of reached the mark for the the survey, who returned recently first time in the history of the industry from a trip of inspection of the work during May, when the output totaled being done by Mr. White. 7.018.375.000 gallons, the bureau of Salt Lake City. "Until 8 oclock Satmines reported. This figure broke the carloads of new record established in April. Ex- urday night, out of the had cherries been shipped ports 'in May were maintained at the state so far this season by express, level set In the high preceding month; stocks on hand May 21 totaled 1,802,- - according to Information received by Paul Kelly, chairman of the agricul101.000 gallons and domestic demand was 988,677,000 gallons, an increase in tural committee of the chamber of commerce. Until the corresponding daily average over the preceding date last year, twenty straight carmonth of 15 per cent. loads had left Utah. billion-gallo- n fifty-eig- Japanese Use Artificial Silk Tokio Japan, greatest country, imports large quantities of artificial silk for Its beauty-lovinpeople who cannot afford the real article. The fibre spun by the silkworm patiently fed by Japanese women In their homes is more than twice as costly as the fibre woven in American mills. The frugal Japanese, therefore, sell their silk to more affluent peoples and cover their bodies and art objects with the milled product of their neighbors. g g Vernal. At public utilities on the matter to operate an Vernal to Salt a hearing before the commission Wednesday of grantnlg a franchise auto freight line from Lake City, a comprom- ise w'as effected between the Sterling Transportation company and the smaller trucking companies of the basin, whereby it was agreed between the parties that the former company ihould operate between Vernal and alt Lake City over the Strawberry route, and the latter companies would operate from Vernal to Price. |