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been deputed to purchase as many cats and thriving kittens as could possibly be procured for money in a short space of time ; and therefore he publicly offered in his handbills 16 s for evory athletic full-grown tomcat , 10 s for every adult female puss , and a half-a-crown for every thriving vigorous kitten that could swill milk , pursue a ball of thread , or fasten

its young fangs on a dying mouse . On fche evening of the third day after this advertisement had been distributed , the people of Chester wero astonished by the irruption of a multitude of old women , boys and girls , into the streets , all of whom carried on their shoulders either a bag or a basket , whioh appeared fco contain some restless animal . Every road , every lane , was thronged with this comical procession .

Before night , a congregation of nearly three thousand cats was collected in Chester . The happy bearers of these sweet-voiced creatures proceeded all ( as directed by the advertisement ) towards one street with their delectable burdens . Here they became closely wedged together ; a vocal concert ensued ; the women screamed ; the cats squalled ; the boys and girls shrieked treble , and the dogs of the streets bowled bass . Some of the cat-bearing ladies , whose dispositions were not of the most placid nature , finding

themselves annoyed by their neighbours , soon cast down their burdens , and began to fight . Meanwhile , the boys of the town , who seemed mightily to relish the sport , were employed in opening the mouths of fche sacks , and liberating the cats from their situation . The enraged animals bounded immediately on the shoulders and heads of tho combatants , and ran squalling towards the walls of the houses of the good people of Chester . The citizens , attracted by the noise , had opened the windows to gaze afc the uproar . The ca'ts , rushing with the rapidity of lightning up the pillars , and then across

the balustrades and galleries , for which the city is so famous , leaped through the open windows into the apartments . Then was heard the crash of broken china , the howling of affrighted dogs , the cries of distressed females , and the groans of well-fed citizens . All Chester was soon in arms , and dire were the deeds of vengeance oxecuted on tho feline race . Next morning about five hundred dead bodies were seen floating on the river Dee , where they had been ignominiously thrown by the two-legged victors . The rest of the invading host , the victims of this cruel joke , having evacuated the town , dispersed in the utmost confusion to their respective homes .

HOAX ON SIB WALTEE SCOTT . —It is related in " Chambers ' s Book : of Days , "' that " Bobert Surtees was the perpetrator of one of the most dexterous literary impostures of modern times , but it was not till after his death in 18 S 5 , that any discovery was made . Sir Walter Scotfc , upon whom it was practised , had died three years earlier without becoming aware of the deception . Scott had published three editions of his ' Border Minstrelsy , ' when , in 1806 , he received a letter from Mr . Surtees ( a stranger to him )

containing remarks upon some of the ballads composing that work , and after some preliminary correspondence , there came from Mr . Surtees a professedly old ballad on a feud between the Ridleys and the _ eatherstones , whioh he pretended to have taken down from the recitation of an old woman on Alston Moor . It was accompanied by historical notes calculated to authenticate it , and Scott did not pause to criticise it rigorously . He at once accepted it as a genuine relic of antiquity—introduced a passage of ifc in Marmion , and inserted it entire in the next edition of . his minstrelsy . "

The passage which the author of fche "History of Durham" thus imposed upon the Wizard of the North , will be found in Marmion , Canto I , verse 13 : — " The whiles a Northern harper rude , " & c . That the poet was easily deceived is evident from a note in the letter to Southey , September 1 S 10 : — " A witty rogue had proved him guilty of stealing a passage from one Hieronymus Vida's Latin poems which ho had never seen or heard of . " The passage referred to were fche well-known lines in Marmion : —

" When pain and anguish wring fche brow A ministering angel thou !" That Scott had really not copied from the Bishop of Alba's work has since been demonstrated , the lines being of more modern fabrication than the " Cum dolor atque supercilio gravis imminet angor , " of the learned prelate .

THE GBEAT BEENERS STBEET HOAX . — " Mistakes have been made as to the date of this disgraceful affair , " says a correspondent in "Notes and Queries . " "Lockhart names 1809 , but ifc really took place on fche 26 th November 1810 , and it will he found recorded in the Annual Register for that year , at p . 291 . " Walking down Berners Street one day with his friend Matthews , Theodore Hook noticed a very neat looking house , upon which he said to his

companion , " I'll bet you a guinea that in one week that nice quiet dwelling shall be the most famous in all London . " The bet was accepted , and the prince of jokers despatched 1 , 000 letters to various tradesmen , conveying orders for goods to be delivered on one particular day , and as nearly as possible at one particular hour . The goods ordered included coals , potatoes , books , pictures , ices , jellies , 2 , 500 raspberry tarts , from half a hundred pastry

cooks , & c , from dealers whoso shops extended from Whitechapel to Kensington . Letters were despatched to the Governor of the Bank , the Chairman of the East India Company , a Lord Chief Justice , a Cabinet Minister , the Archbishop of Canterbury , tho Duke of York , and the , Lord Mayor and his Chaplain were requested to appear and take the death-bed confession of a peculating common councilman .

Hook had secured a lodging in the opposite house , where , with some friends , he watched the fun . At the appointed hour'the quiet street began to lose its normal aspect , carts and waggons blocked the road , and the traffic conjested one end of Oxford Road to the other , while every thoroughfare leading to it was unapproachable . Prom east , west , north , and south the traffic poured in to swell the neighbourhood , and to add to the confusion of the lawyers , doctors , nurses , teachers , barbers , milliners , divines , lovers to meet their sweethearts , members of Parliament , and others who had been

colled together under some specious device . The inhabitants ot the house were horrified at the turmoil and to hear the mingled exclamation of indignation from the victims . The vehicles were so jammed that extrication was impossible , the sides of carts and carriages were smashed in , glass , china and other things fared the common fate of breakage , beer and wine barrels were overturned and their contents spilt . The hoax caused such a sensation , and the outcry for the perpetrator was so groat , that although Hook was not actually suspected , yet he deemed it advisable to take a trip into the country for a short timo until the excitement was over .

HOAXING THE SUBGEON . —One day , after riding some distance in a hackney-coach , Theodore Hook made the unfortunate discovery that he was without any money , and could not pay his face . On the road was a friend , and Hook hailed him , hoping to borrow tbe requisite amount , but the friend was as impecunious as himself . Hook considered for a moment , then , calling out to the coachman , desired him to drive to Mr . —' s , a well-known west end surgeon . Arrived there , he sprang out of the coach , knocked loudly , and

Hoaxes.

demanded of the servant who answered him if Mr . So-and-so was within . The doctor was descending fche stairs at the time . " Oh , my dear sir , " he cried in a wildly agitated voice , " I trust you are not engaged—excuse the feelings of a husband , perhaps a father by this time—your attendance is required instantly at Mrs . — , No . — , such-and-suoh a street . Don't lose a moment , a most peculiar case , I assure you . " "I will order my carriage and go at once , " said the doctor .

" No need for such delay , I have one at the door , jump in ; I have to go for the nurse , and will follow immediately . " The indignation of the lady , a sour-tempered , middle-aged spinster , was excessive when the doctor announced the object of his visit , and he was only too glad to escape from her wrath . But the doctor had still to contend with cabby , who , upon driving him home demanded the entire fare , and would not leave the house until it was paid .

DOWNRIGHT IMPUDENCE . —While strolling one day along a street in Soho , accompanied by his friend Daniel Terry , the actor , Theodore Hook was reminded by a very savoury odour which greeted his nostrils that preparations were being made for a dinner . " A party , no doubt , " said Terry ; " jolly dogs I what a feast ! I should like to make one of them . " The remark was like an inspiration to Hook . " I'll take a bet I do , " was his immediate rejoinder . " Call for me here at ten . "

Leaving his friend , he mounted the steps and knocked at the door . Believing him to he one of the expected guests , the servant conducted him to a drawing-room , where a number of persons were already assembled . Making himself perfectly at home , he had half-a-dozen people about him , laughing at his hon mots , before the host discovered that a stranger was present . ¦ ' I beg your pardon , sir , " he said , addressing fche uninvited one , " your name 1—I did not quite catch it ; servants are so incorrect . " " Smith ,

sir , Smith , " replied the unblushing Theodore , " don't apologise ; you are quite right , sir , servants are great blockheads . I remember a most remarkable instance of their mistakes . " " But , really , sir , " interrupted the host mildly , " I did not anticipate the pleasure of Mr . Smith ' s company to dinner . Whom do you suppose you are addressing ? " " Mr . Thomson , of course , " answered Hook , " an old friend of my father . I received a kind invitation

from you yesterday on my arrival from Liverpool , to dine with you to-day , family party , come in boots , you said . " The host at once disclaimed the name of Thomson , or any knowledge of the vivacious Smith . '' Good heavens I then I have come to the wrong house , " exclaimed the hoaxer . " My dear sir , how can I apologise ? so awkward too , and I have asked a friend to call for me . "

The old gentleman , thinking so witty a personage excellent addition to his party , begged him to remain . With a profusion of apologies , Hook at first pretended to decline , but ultimately accepted . Everybody was delighted with him , all the evening he kept up a constant fire of wit and repartee , and ultimately sat down to the piano , and sang extempore verses on every one present . In the midst of these the door opened , and , true to his appointment , in walked Terry , at the sight of whom , striking a new key , he sang : — .

" I'm very much pleased with your fare , Your cellar's as fine as your cook ; My friend's Mr . Terry , the player , And I ' m Mr . Theodore Hook . " ANTIQUABIAN HOAX . —The " Dublin Mail , " about a dozen years ago , was made the victim of a hoax . It published the following letter from a

correspondent : — " I enclose a copy of an inscription in mediteval Latin from a stone discovered during the excavations now proceeding at Cork Hall , near whioh stood a church dedicated to a saint and missionary known to the chroniclers by the name of Unoatus Ambulans . Perhaps a copy might be suitable for your extensively read paper , and some of your antiquarian readers might be able to supply a translation . The inscription is as follows :

I 'SABILL HCERES' AGO 'E ORTIBUS' ES IN * ABO NOSCiSS 'MARI 'THEBE 'TRUX 'VOTIS 'INNEM PES 'AN 'DUX . The " Freeman ' s Journal" has given a translation which may , it says ,

suit all purposes : — " I say , Bill , here's a go , _ orty busses in a row . ' ' No , ' says Mary , ' they be trucks . ' ' What is in em ? ' ' Peas and ducks . ' "

NEWSPAPER HOAX . —The editor of a Scotch newspaper , suspecting his rival of stealing news from early copies of his paper , determined to lay a trap . Accordingly a paragraph was put into type giving a startling account of a terrible murder committed on a lonely moor at some distance from the town . A dozen copies of the paper were printed before the stereotype plate containing this announcement was removed from the machine , and another plate with nothing on but authentic news was substituted . Of

these twelve copies with the fictitious narrative , one was placed in the way of a machine man who was believed to receive bribes for despatching an early paper fco the office of the competing journal . Next day there was a fever of excitement when the bills appeared , upon which were printed , " Terrible Tragedy ! Mysterious Murder 1 " Thousands of papers were sold , and great was the joy of a certain political party that fche rival organ had

not a single line about this important event . But the joy was short-lived . On the following morning it was the turn of the other political party to rejoice . The hoax was explained , and though , as the narrative says , " it did not cement a good feeling between the two newspaper offices , ifc taught one person , at least , to be very cautious about accepting early copies from a rival . " ( To be continued ) . " Book of Rarities , " by Edward Roberts P . M .

A Royal Diamond Jubilee number has been issued by our contemporary the " Ereemason , " in whioh the progress and doings of the English Craft during the last ten years are exhaustively summarised , this portion of the work being intended , in a great measure , as supplementary to the Jubilee number issued in 1887 . Then follows an exhaustive article , " Royalty and

Freemasonry , " hy Bro . G . B . Abbott ; several excellent portraits of past royal patrons of the Order being introduced . There are many other illustrations in the number , including portraits of fche Grand Officers of the year , while a sriecial plate is issued with it , including representations of Her Majesty the Queen and her two sons who are now associated with the Order .