Wagner the Humorist Prank on London Press
Richard Wagner famed for seriousness once pranked readers in the 1850s while conducting Beethoven symphonies in London. After a harsh review claimed he lacked a score, he presented a score correctly but it turned out to be Rossini’s barber of Seville flipped upside down, a noted deception reported by Collier's Weekly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richard Wagner
Baireuth
Wagner
Beethoven
Master
London
Coly
Herr Wagner
Rossini
Collier’s Weekly
Dr Burns and the Drunk Pulse Misread
A western town physician famed for sobriety lapses into drinking, arrives to treat a patient while intoxicated, and during the exam mistakenly identifies the patient’s pulse as his own, remarking that the man is drunk. The tale, from the Detroit Free Press, mocks professional pretence and medical rigor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Doc Burns
Detroit Free Press
Poison Ivy Versus Virginia Creeper Compared
From St Nicholas guidance, the distinction is three leaflets for poison ivy Rhus toxicodendron and five leaflets for the Virginia creeper. A mnemonic pictures the three as the index finger pointing go, while five leaves resemble a hand opened in welcome.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Virginia
St. Nicholas
The Bald Signer Arditi and the Laughing Wig
The gman extraordimarily bald signer Arditi wore a wig that fell out during a typhoid attack and never stayed in public. Mme Albani laughed when she saw it in his room and pulled it off, forcing him to abandon it publicly. He later wore it only in private, puzzled why it was barred.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Signer Arditi
Mmne. Albani
Distorted Highlands dialogue and farewell vignette
In Highlands a pedestrian and natives discuss Trochgarrow distances with four to five miles quoted. London Outlook reports Mrs Lamson bidding farewell to her husband while asking for money. he gently requests fewer money letters, she promises to write more often.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Highlands
Trochgarrow
London
Animals Aboard Ship Seasickness in Horses and Humans
A New Orleans Times-Democrat blurb notes that animals, especially horses, can suffer seasickness, with feet often most affected due to the vessel’s motion influencing kidneys. Humans vomit, but horses cannot, leading to a different symptom pattern and, at times, lasting impairment of usefulness. The piece also casually mentions Jews losing appetite at sea.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sea Awell
New Orleans Times-Democrat
Japanese Garden Fashion In Tokyo Homes
Very many Japanese houses have beautiful gardens. The Japanese excel in gardening and even in Tokyo space is valuable. They hang marble gourds over bamboo trellises as decorative adjuncts. These gourds, hollowed when dried, serve as stoppers for pilgrims water bottles and are widely exported.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tokyo
Unlucky aeronaut’s ascent ends with fall and crowd
An aeronaut at a county fair ascended with a baboon but wind carried them off course. The car tangled in a tree, spilling him to the ground. He was not seriously hurt and, while propped up, quipped that he has had enough in ten minutes.
How He Wooed Sleep
A Kansas City Journal item recounts a patrolman on night duty who could not sleep after a long shift. He dressed in uniform, sat propped in a chair and slept soundly for hours, waking only for supper as his wife described the odd incident.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas City Journal
Single and Married Ticket Tale from the Station
An Irish arrival at Greenock, ignorant of rail travel, tries to copy a woman’s ticket. The lady pays and the box prints Maryhill single. The man follows, pays, and proclaims Patrick Murphy married, prompting humorous misreading at the ticket counter.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ireland
Greenock
Glasgow
Pat
Maryhill
Patrick Murphy
London
Longevity Statistics: Survival Rates Across Ages
Using a million as the base, the record notes 212000 survivors at 70 years, 107000 at 80, and 8841 at 90. Only 54 reach age 99 and about 23 hit the 100 year century mark, highlighting steep mortality over the century.
Dressing Room Disputes Between Broadway Stars
Veteran Broadway stage manager recalls dressing room tensions as multiple leading women contend for the best room and wall coverings. A wall of jealousy and feuds with the author surfaces in rehearsals as several stars claim top status and the best space.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lord of the Greenroom
New York Tribune
The Golden Pumpkin Pie Folklore Tale
An old man, chasing gold from a pumpkin, bakes a pie that yields no treasure. Creditors intrude as he bites into the golden dish. In the end all feast, and the tale ends with a quip about pumpkin pie bringing happiness rather than gold.
Luck in the Clover and its charms
A fragment discusses four and five leaf clovers and their supposed powers. It claims the four leaf clover brings luck and the ability to see ghosts or evil spirits, aids dream prediction when under a pillow, and a five leaf clover worn or placed at a doorway reveals the future husband’s name. It recalls a popular Lover’s song about using magic plants.
Fer de lance and brave cat clash in fatal duel
A San Francisco Call account describes a fer de lance in Brazil and the West Indies, one of the world’s deadliest snakes. A fearless cat defends her kittens, taunting the serpent and delivering a series of swift, fatal blows that end with the cat biting behind the skull to kill the creature.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brazil
West Indian Islands
San Francisco
Bargain counter drama clocks the shopper's wiles
A Brooklyn Eagle account shows a distressed woman negotiating price cuts. She debates items marked down from five dollars to four and from five ten to four, finally choosing the latter after a witty quip about a dollar ten. The exchange highlights frugal shopping theatrics and the shopper's insistence on real value.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brooklyn Eagle
Beecher Lecture Tour Sparks Seat-Filling Advice
At a ministerial meeting on how to fill empty seats Henry Ward Beecher and his manager James B. Pond attended. Beecher spoke briefly sharing experiences and the audience listened. Pond then joked that to fill seats they should have Beecher’s lectures delivered to Plymouth Church.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry Ward Beecher
James B. Pond
Beecher
Major Pond
Amusing family tales of the miserly uncle
A cruel uncle is teased by relatives and asked if he is a cannibal by his five year old niece who accuses him of living on his kin. Meanwhile an elderly lady quips about being engaged to a doctor, joking that visits imply free services others pay for.
Dr Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery praised by West Virginia man
A Queens West Virginia resident testifies to eight years of scrofula and erysipelas cured by Dr Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery and Pleasant Pellets. He recounts weight gain from 130 to 175 pounds and urges others to seek the medicine and mail-order medical book offered by Dr. R V Pierce.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dr. Pierce
Hilary Koons
Queens
W.va
Pierce
Common Sense
R. V. Pierce
Also Mentioned on This Page
Denton Journal
Sens. H. Johnson
Melvin & Johnson, Publishers
Arditi
Ayers
Ayer
Danforth
Celston’s Drug Store
Denton
Ous
One Frisian Fur Company
Rochester
N. Yo
W. J. Blackiston
sTnows
Sewine
Machi.sian G. Ostices Eee, Speedy
Dover ‘Street
Hotel Avon
Easton
Maryland
Preston
Lewis & Goldsborough, “Torneys-At-Law
Maryeynd
Caroline
Counties
Fowling Creek
Caroline County
Outhern Homoeopathic Medical College
Baltimore
Geo. T. Shower
Roland Ave
Pliny Fisher
Canton, Md
Fletcher Clark
Baston, MD
Baltimore and Eastern Shore Transportation Company
Spear’s Wharf
Limbridge
Seeee Kingston
Gilpin's Point
Turkey Creek
Todd
S. B. Downes
G. K. Ebling
Ridgely, MD
Nalke
Tuckahoe
Downes’ Best
Ernest Downes
Killsboro, Md
White Dove
Queen Anne’s Railroad CO
Daily Ex. Sun
Love Point
Queenstown
Centreville
Wye Mills
Queen Anne Denton
Hickman
Greenwood Ellendale
Milton
Lewes
John C. Bosley
Granghrs Mutual Insurance CO
Niddletown
Oscar Clark
Chicago
Murray & Lanman's
Florida Water
Real Estate and Investments
Elmer W. Deen
Eeley
Keeley Institute For Maryland
Capitol ST
Watt FS. Oats
Aber Par Soto
Williston
B. G. Stevens
Fourte
Luther Tucker & Son
Albany, N., Y
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad
Delaware & Chasapeake Railway
A. M
Osce
Ozz
Washington
Philadelphia
Wilmington
Clayton
Kenton
Hardy
Slaughter
Ridgely
Queen Anne Croves eChapel
Straston
Llandaff
Oxford
W. Atterbury
J.R. Wood
Gen'l
Geo. W. Boyd
Buckingham
R. P. Hall & Co
Nashua
GEO. K. McGaw & CO
N. Charles St
Rorer Wellman Meat and Food Chopper No
Jourdesier’s
Oia
Wy Mallee Express
Rollean Efc
Tenn Ave
Reust
Cross
Burrsville Hardware Store
Roous
Harvey, Burreville, Md
Denton National Bank
Savings Bank
Board of Directors
Thos. W. Jones
The
Hughes Lumber and Coal
R. T. Carter
Masonic Building
Kent County
Nuruac Insurance
Dover
Delaware
T. Carter, Jr
L. Irving Jones
Rube Ls
Newton
Ava
Greensboro
Alex. Noble
Preton,Nd
Tsell Insurance
Pennsylvania
Home
New York
Planters’ Mutual
Washington County
Cilbert Hagabone
Denton, Marland
Pepppregee
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