Show ro 0 ih thi ow celebrated moon hoax a sensation here and abroad by PROEHL HALLER JAKLON AN gets a big lag kick out of MAN M fooling hla his fellows there seems to bo be something of elle fous in halting baiting it a trap and seeing someone bite the stone age and the age before it probably had its practical jokers and all history I 1 full of jokes and hoaxes perpetrated to the delight of some ionic and to the embarrassment of others sometimes the fooling Is for gain sometimes for fun and often for b both oil individuals indulge in it and even nations havo have been known to attempt a hoax on other nations nation Witt witness icis the lie wooden horse horae of the creeke and tile the tulip craze of the sixteenth century when nil all holland set out cut to make the world crave tile ho tulip which it was would mould thrive on oil certain types of roll useless for anything clap soon of all tile tie world wanted tills this new flew flower and bulbs sold bold for us its high us as apiece the dutch growers waxed rich and then tile fild fad wili waned led leaving purchasers all over tile world with bulbs but no market centuries later inter americans were to f full all for ginseng alfalfa mushrooms and silver foxes its a great game perhaps tile the most celebrated bonx in history was waa the moon hoax conceived fly by richard adima adams ad ima locke a newspaper reporter and perpetrated by the new york sun in 1891 its ita success depended upon anns interest in astronomical phenomena that insatiable curiosity to know what lies beyond tile veil of space which surrounds the arth barth science today Is convinced that the moon has no life upon it but a century ngo ago before the day of powerful telescopes tile the public knew little of the heavens beyond what it could see with the naked eye after dark speculation was always keen as an to whether or not life existed on the noon moon today we wonder the same thing about the planet mars moon hoax fools fool two continent and lie 0 o the new york suu sun chose a very fertile fleri in 1833 1835 when it began the publication of lockes fantastic imaginings with all the seriousness of a grent great scientific discovery for a time the credulous public of two continents and even the scientists were completely deceived this stupendous bitt brought the sun tho the largest circulation lit in the lie world and in the opinion of edgar allan roe poe established the penny newspaper as an locke could write about almost anything ills fund of general information was huge and he could turn out prose ot 01 poetry politics or pathos anecdotes or astronomy in 1834 locke heard of nn an astronomical expedition to south africa now during july tind and august ISM 1833 things were a bit lull dull on oil the island of it manhattan and tile the newspapers were running short of material with which alch to entertain and tit tract their readers locke needed money tind and so lie he laid it a plan before mr day adny the lie suns stills editor ott on august 21 the following item gitein appeared apier fd on oil tile second page of the sun celestial Discover loo the edinburgh courant bay we have learned from an eminent publisher of this city sir john Ite rachal at tho the cope cape of good aced rope hope has made some astronomical discoveries of the most wonderful description ign by means of an immense telescope of nn an entirely now new principle then after four dai lay q the lie sun published what purported to be a reprint from n leivent to the lie edinburgh journal of science there had find been such n publication a few anra years before but it wits was not gelie rally known that it had ceased publication in three columns on oil auge one the sun carried the he of rece recent tit disco cries erles which will build tin nn Imperl imperishable sh monument to the age in alch which we live they describe the telescope A technical description of the telescope folio followed ed find and a hypothetical account told of tile the channels w through which this remark remarkable tible nowa had traveled from cape town tims thus was ined tile the foundation of what was to follow to queries as to where it had obtained its sul supplement lenient to the edinburgh journal of science the lie sun declared in an editorial that it was waa very ery politely furnished us by a medical gentleman immediately from scotland no great excitement had heen been caused so far but the next day the town was jolted by four columns of actual description of the landscape of the moon sir johns telescope was so powerful the story asserted that it brought objects t to 0 within a few feet of the observer tills this Is what the astronomers in cope cape town were reported to have seen tb trees for a period of ton ten minute were of f one unvaried kind and unlike any except the ia larget rg I 1 clo of bews yews in Eng englith liall churchyard they were followed by a level green plain which must haw caa bein more than halt half a mile in breadth A column farther on in a wonderful valley of this wonderful moon life at last burst upon the scene in the tha anae of the woods woodi on the southeastern side bid we beheld held cc continuous herds herd at al brown quad rupees having all the external characteristics of the blon bison but smaller mailer than any species of t the he boa genus in our natural 41 hottory story it had one a feature which wo we afterward found common to nearly very every lunar quadruped we have hare namely a remarkable fleshy appendage over the eyes eee crossing the whole breadth of the forehead and united to the eare ear it immediately oo ca furred to the acute mind of dr herschel He richel that this was waa a protective covering for tho the eyes against the gr great t extremes extreme of light and dark neaM newil to which all the inhabitant of our side bide of the are arl periodically 04 subjected find humans on an the moon TO the issue of august 28 satisfied public curiosity as to we the presence of human creatures on the moon the astronomers were looking at the cliffs and crags of a new part of the he lite but whilst gazing upon them we were frere thrilled with astonishment to perceive tour four successive flocks of birds bird descend with a slow low even evea notion motion from the cliffs cliff on the side ilde and might alight upon the plain about half of th the first V party ar ty haill had passed from our view but of arl all the 0 othera hers we had a perfectly distinct and deir deliberate berate view they averaged four feet in Itt height light were cov covered 4 except odthe face with short hort and glossy glory vo copper le 3 r colored hair and had wings wing of a thin 0 f A Y V i r lid x I 1 V A seen scene on the th moon mn 0 published in connection with the th nw new york ark suns u celebrated hoax of 1835 membrane without hair lying snugly upon their backa from the top of 0 their shoulders to tile the calves of their log tha face which was ot of a yellowish yellow lih flesh col color or wea improvement upon that of the orangutan being more open and intelligent in its it espre blon alon and having a much greater expanse of tore for 0 head the mouth however was wa very pro prominent t though somewhat Bome what relieved by a thick beard upon the lower law jaw and by lips far more human than tho bhoge at 0 of f the ape these creatures creature were avid evidently ly in conversation conven atlon their gesticulation more particularly the varied action ot of tile the handt and arms arm appeared impassioned and emphatic we hence inferred that they hey were rational beings being and although not so ao high an order as a othora others which we discovered the next nest month on the shores of 0 the bay of nain rainbow bows that they are capable ot of producing works of art and contrivance we scientifically denominated them as a homo or manabat and they are doubtless doubt ler innocent and happy creature the astronomers astronomer got get careless the next installment to talling words was printed on the three succeeding days in it was revealed the 41 of the great temple of the moon built of polished sapphire with a roof 0 of some yellow metal supported by columns seventy feet high and six feet in diameter in the valley of the temple a new lee lea of man bat was discovered then one at when the astronomers finished work the carelessly are lessly left the telescope facing the eastern horizon the rising sun burned it a hole through the reflecting chamber and ruined part of the telescope when the damage wits was repaired the moon was invisible and tile the great moon narrative came to an end by this time new york was talking of nothing except these astounding discoveries they were the sensation of the day french and english papers abroad translated or copied the suns buns fabrication and the sensation in europe was equal to lint lit tills this country tile the sun founded only two years before saw its circulation increased to exceeding fly by more than 2000 the circulation cu of the london times hitherto tile the largest in tile the world meanwhile sir jolin herschel in south africa was busy with ills his telescope entirely unaware of the discoveries credited to him film when lie he at last found out lie he was wall overcome saying that lie he never could to live up to the fame that had been beaded upon him of course ninny many persons suspected the alie bonx but tile the detail of the lie story was so minute and lutish that no one lured dared say anything ninny many of the rival were fooled along with tile he public the journal of commerce was on the point of reprinting reprint ine the suns story lit in justice to its renders when ocke locke I himself guye the hoax amily lit in the lie words of edgar allan poe from the epoch of the liona lie sun still shone with unmitigated splendor its success firmly established the peany bi stem throughout the countr country ir and through the sun we are indebted to the genius of locke for one of the most important steps yet taken in the pathway of human progress cardiff giant hoax of 1869 today with our rapid means of communication and aad transportation a hoax boax of such gigantic proportions could not long endure the light of such publicity on uie the contrary the public seems all too willing to stamp any unusual bit of news as a mere newspaper yarn that Is if they do not want to believe it this will to belleve or to disbelieve Is a powerful factor with the human mind if it makes you feel better to believe something psychologists tell us you are likely to hold it so if it disturbs your pence peace of mind to accept something as true you are likely to wave it aside BS as foolishness or heresy there are an persons in america today who refuse to subscribe to tile the theory that the earth Is round they like to think of it as flats flat and flat it Is to them the difference A famous hoax of was that ot of the cardiff giant well diggers near cardiff N Y one morning came upon the stone figure of a man ten feet tall with shoulders three feet in breadth tile the right arm and hand lay across the body while the left was pressed against the back directly opposite the legs wore were slightly contracted as an if 11 by plain the e left foot t resting parti partially alij upon the tight light speculation ran rite rife as to the origin of the giant and some of the visitors were quick to recognize its value as an exhibit before long the farmer on whose land the figure was found get up a tent and charged admission the erdl ordinary visitors were usually content with the belief that this was a petrified human being nothing in the world can ever make me believe that he was not once a living being declared a woman who viewed the colossus why you can see gee the veins in his legs geologists however thought differently one declared it to be bethe alie work of the jesuit fathers father two or three hundred years before another geologist emphasized the antiquity of the statue and called attention to the corroding or attrition of part of the under surface of the body by the solution he be declared would have required a long lone period of years year in the meantime the continued to draw the C cardiff ardiff giant took in credulous public and much gash cash the dollars dollar of the curious P T barnum tried to buy it bui bat a local syndicate already had obtained control and his offer was rejected this new company one of whom la Is said raid to have been the original from which the character of dabid harum was drawn paid for or a three fourths Int interest ereaL the success cess of the exhibition led barnum to have carved a similar figure which was likewise exhibited as the cardiff giant the owners of the original sought bought to obtain a restraining order the barnum counterfeit but it was refused both giants therefore con tinned to draw the crowds now the assumption had always been that the discovery of the figure had been accidental but there were those who doubted this version residents of the county in which tile well diggers worked began to recall that about a year before the discovery a mysterious four horse team was observed drawing a wagon which carried a huge ironbound iron bound box it was waa headed in the direction of cardiff professor marsh of yale tale a paleontologist examined the figure and asserted that it was clearly of recent origin and a most decided humbal then a lawyer of fort dodge iowa seeing the figure at syracuse wrote back home 1 I bel believe eve it t Is made out of the great block of gypsum those fellows got at port dodge a year ago and sent back east gradually the story came to light in the bummer of 0 1808 1868 two men arrived at fort dodge and attempted to make a bargain for a block or 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 waa 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 tour four horse team appeared and the giant encased la in an ironbound box began his wandering in search of a likely grave this hoax paid big Divi dividends denlis one of the men was george null bull a belati relative ve 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 log of columbus despite the fact that the only undoubtedly authentic ti handwriting of columbus a four page letter Is in the possession of the king and queen of spain the original columbus log turns up every few years in 1024 it turned up in mexico strangely enough it was written entirely in german 1 the liter literary nry hoax seems to be the most popular form of fooling and almost tile the easiest of perpetration A recent one fooled the literary editor of tile the new york times who conceded that while the diary of a young lady of fashion had not any of the importance that attaches to such a monumental record as left behind by peps the author did throw the beims beams of her candle here and there on the features of 0 her times now the tew new york times itself discovers that a n nineteen year old mw Is the author of tills this successful hoax some hoaxes po go unchallenged until the author can refrain no longer from informing the public how w he has fooled it such Is the history of the bathtub hoax put over several years ago age by henry L Me genelen nelen now the editor of the american can mercury Blenc ken wrote a short informal account of the origin of the bathtub bath tub in america the first tub lie |