On August 10, 1942, the U.S. Army’s public-relations office released a statement informing the press that fliers for the First Ground Air Support Command had discovered “secret markers” in rural areas of the east coast. These markers, apparently placed by fifth-columnists, appeared innocent from the ground but acquired a sinister meaning when viewed from the air. From an aerial perspective they formed arrows “aimed directly at airplane factories and airfields.” Evidently the purpose of these markers was to guide enemy bombers straight toward targets of military significance.

The Army simultaneously released three pictures showing these markers. One marker was formed by sacks arranged in the shape of the number “9”. The tail of the 9 pointed toward a nearby airplane factory. The second marker appeared in a tilled field. The fallow land was darker than the tilled sections and approximated the outline of an arrow. The third marker was in a woodland area where a lane led to a V-shaped clearing.

Col. Dache M. Reeves said that the markers had been investigated by intelligence officers of the First Air Force, and that they had been eradicated and there was “proper action taken.” The exact location of the markers was not given. They were only described as being in the eastern part of the United States. They were cited as being “clear instances of how enemy agent or sympathizers sowed into peaceful farmlands potential devices to aid destruction.”

The discovery of the air markers received widespread press coverage, making front-page headlines in all the major papers throughout the United States, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. Editorials warned of the need to be on the alert for treachery at home.

But within a day the markers went from being a menace to an object of mockery.

The Washington Star, curious to learn more, made some inquiries and immediately discovered that the markers had been investigated by Army officials months before and had been determined to have no military significance. Even worse, as the Star noted, “the same story, with an alteration here and there—and sans pictures, was distributed from the same source in June, and published in Sunday feature sections. At that time, however, the pictures of the ‘markers’ were withheld as ‘military secrets.’”

The Origin of the Markers

An O-47, the type of observation plane that would have been used to spot the markers. Far from being sinister signs left by Nazi sympathizers, the markers turned out to have been entirely innocent patterns on the ground—in two cases made under the direction of the U.S. Government itself.

The number 9 had been made by fertilizer sacks dropped from a moving truck on the farm of C. Russell Bull at Kiptopeke, Virginia. Mr. Bull served as senior air raid warden for his region. Mrs. Bull was quoted as saying that military officials had visited their farm in March and called attention to the figuration of the fertilizer sacks, but had left after the layout was rearranged by her husband. She also noted that, “We’ve been drying bags that way for years. They are just thrown off a moving truck and it was only a coincidence that they happened to fall that way.”

The plowed-field marker was located on the farm of Thomas Kane, near Freehold, N.J. It had been created four years earlier under direct supervision of the soil-erosion bureau of the Department of Agriculture.

The V-shaped clearing was a feeding ground for birds near Haleyville, N.J. It was one of approximately nine hundred feeding grounds created by the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission in 1937.

The Washington Star concluded that it and other newspapers “were the victims of over-zealous army press-agentry, and as a result, participated unwittingly in what appears to be the great air marker hoax.”

Blame

The war department, embarrassed by the revelation, admitted that the story “may be untrue”.

The Army press officer found to be responsible for the release of the statement was Major Lynn Farnol. Farnol was a movie press agent who had been commissioned into uniform to serve as a public relations officer. However, he was still running his own business, and apparently wanted good relations with the press. Therefore he sent them what he felt was a good story.

Farnol noted that the press release had been approved by the War Department’s information staff. However, it turned out that the information staff had not checked the statement for accuracy. They had merely checked to determine if it violated censorship rules. Seeing that it did not, they gave it their okay.

The Army later announced that the press office would be reorganized so that mistakes such as the “air marker hoax” would not be repeated in the future.

By coincidence, the comic strip Tim Tyler’s Luck had featured an “air marker” a week before the story broke.

References

• Thompson, Dorothy. (Aug 18, 1942). “It can’t go on like this.” The Daily Gleaner.
• “Story on guideposts believed to be untrue.” (Aug 11, 1942). The Sheboygan Press.
• “Destroy markers made for enemy.” (Aug 10, 1942). Edwardsville Intelligencer.
• “Army reshuffles its publicity but a boner gets under wire.” (Aug 24, 1942). Newsweek.
• “Air-Marker Fraud”. (Aug 24, 1942). Time.

“Another Awful Calamity. The Intellectual Department of The New York Herald Let Loose Upon the Public.” Front cover of the Daily Graphic (Nov. 13, 1874), mocking the Herald for its recent wild animal hoax. Illustration by Arthur Burdett Frost. In the 1870s the New-York Herald was one of the most widely read and influential papers in the world. It had recently won international acclaim when it financed Henry Stanley’s successful quest to find Dr. David Livingstone in the interior of Africa. But it followed up this success with a stunt that was almost as widely denounced.

On November 9, 1874 the Herald published a front-page article claiming that the animals had escaped from their cages in the Central Park Zoo and were rampaging through the city. A lion had been seen inside a church. A rhinoceros had fallen into a sewer. The police and national guard were heroically battling the beasts, but already forty-nine people were dead and two hundred injured. It was “a bloody and fearful carnival,” the article despaired. And the animals were still on the loose! (Click here to read the full text of the New York Herald article.)

Many readers panicked when they read the article. However, those who did so hadn’t read to the end of the article, where it stated (in rather small print) that, “the entire story given above is a pure fabrication.”

Along with the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, the New York Zoo Escape ranks as one of the most notorious media hoaxes of the nineteenth century.

Authorship

Thomas Connery, an editor at the Herald, later confessed in an article published in Harper’s Weekly in 1893, that the idea for the hoax had been his. He insisted that James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the owner of the Herald, had not been responsible for it, although many assumed Bennett must have, at least, given it his approval.

Connery claimed that the idea for the hoax came to him after he witnessed a leopard almost escape while being transferred from an animal-carriage into its cage in the Central Park Zoo (referred to as the “menagerie” at the time). Wishing to call attention to the conditions at the zoo, Connery first thought of writing a column scolding the zoo keepers, but then decided that something more attention-grabbing was needed. He conceived of the idea of “a harmless little hoax, with just enough semblance of reality to give a salutary warning.”

He first assigned the writing of the article to Harry O’Connor, but he felt that O’Connor’s resulting piece was too obviously a “transparent imposition.” Therefore, he reassigned the article to Joseph Clarke, who wrote the version that ran on November 9.

The Article

Illustration that accompanied Connery’s 1893 Harper’s Weekly article.The article ran to over 10,000 words in length, and occupied six full columns. It appeared on page three, which was considered to be the front page. (The first two pages were always filled with ads and acted as a cover page for the paper.) “AWFUL CALAMITY,” the headline screamed. “A Shocking Sabbath Carnival of Death.”

The article began by offering general details of what it said had been a day of horror, beginning Sunday afternoon and continuing through Monday morning (November 9), when the article appeared. Because wild animals were supposedly still on the loose, it noted that the mayor had issued a proclamation urging all citizens “to keep within their houses or residences until the wild animals now at large are captured or killed.”

The tragedy was said to have begun after a reckless keeper provoked a rhinoceros by prodding it with a stick through the bars. The enraged beast smashed down its cage, thereby escaping and killing its keepers. In its rage, it then battered down the cages of the other animals, who proceeded to scatter throughout the city, wreaking havoc wherever they went.

The text did not shy away from offering up all the gruesome details of the animal attacks:

Backing down from the mangled body with a swiftness almost incredible from his bulk, the rhinoceros plunged his horrid horn into the dead keeper…

The panther was crouched over Hyland’s body, gnawing horribly at his head. I recognized his body by the striped shirt which I could just see hanging tattered from the arm…

Men and women rushed in all directions away from the beast, who sprang upon the shoulders of an aged lady, burying his fangs in her neck and carrying her to the ground.

Scenes of increasing strangeness were described: a lion and a tiger fighting on fifty-ninth street, a battle between a sea lion and a rhinoceros, an anaconda attempting to eat a giraffe, Swedish hunters stalking a lioness on Broadway, a Bengal Tiger shot on Madison Avenue, a panther attacking worshipers inside a church on West Fifty-third Street, and carnage as a tiger leapt on board a ferryboat.

Specific names were given. A list of the dead and wounded was offered. And bolded column sub-headers highlighted all the most salient points: THE WILD ANIMALS ARE LOOSE, POLICE ARMED WITH REVOLVERS, CIRCLE OF FEAR-STRICKEN PEOPLE, CONFUSION AND DESTRUCTION.

Only if a reader read carefully to the end, would he have found the truth revealed in the final paragraph:

Of course the entire story given above is a pure fabrication. Not one word of it is true. Not a single act or incident described has taken place. It is a huge hoax, a wild romance, or whatever other epithet of utter untrustworthiness our readers may choose to apply to it. It is simply a fancy picture which crowded upon the mind of the writer a few days ago while he was gazing through the iron bars of the cages of the wild animals in the menagerie at Central Park.

The Reaction

By all accounts, the article caused widespread panic throughout the city. Armed men rushed into the streets, ready to defend their homes. Reporters were dispatched to cover the story. The police mobilized. Parents rushed to bring their children back from school.

Recalling the reaction nineteen years later, Connery wrote: “while in the hoax General John A. Dix was represented as shooting the Bengal tiger, in reality he did sally forth on the morning of the publication armed with a rifle, firmly believing that the Herald’s story was true, and that danger might lurk at any corner.”

Connery also claimed that the editor of the New York Times ran out of his home waving two pistols in the air, ready to shoot the first animal he encountered.

The Hoax Denounced

Rival papers throughout the United States quickly and unanimously denounced the hoax. The New-York Times, while admitting that the “animals in the Central Park are confined in the flimsiest cages ever seen,” described the article as an “intensely stupid and unfeeling hoax” and printed letters from readers claiming to have been terrified by the story. It commented sarcastically that if “charming sketches of dead children and dying old ladies do not move the reader to roars of laughter, his sense of fun must be somewhat different from that with which the proprietor or editor of the New-York Herald has been endowed.”

The Galveston Daily News wrote: “To be in keeping with its enterprise, the Herald should bribe a keeper to let loose a lion or two upon occasion, so as to bring up that journal’s prophetic record… Bennett had better recall Stanley from the interior of Africa. He is the crack lion shot of the Herald establishment, and should be at home to protect it.”

The New York Times also reported that a group of citizens paid a visit to the District Attorney’s office to express their outrage at the Herald’s hoax and to find out whether the paper could be indicted on account of it. The District Attorney promised to give it his attention. However, no charges were ever brought against the paper.

For its part, the Herald feigned surprise when the article provoked such an enormous reaction, but it was wholly unrepentant. By way of apology, it simply inserted a short article into the next issue, titled “Wild Beasts,” urging that safety precautions at the zoo be improved. Understandably, the public was underwhelmed by this show of contrition. However, the Herald did not report any drop in circulation as a result of the hoax.

Origin of the Republican Party Symbol

According to rumor, the Herald’s wild animal hoax had an impact far beyond the controversy it temporarily stirred up. It may have been the inspiration for the elephant that serves as the symbol of the Republican party.

The link connecting the Herald’s hoax to the adoption of the elephant as the republican party symbol was the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.

In 1874 the Herald was frequently editorializing against President Grant (a Republican), warning voters that he planned to seek a third term in office, despite the tradition, started by George Washington, that Presidents should limit themselves to two terms. The Herald charged Grant with “Caesarism.” Republicans insisted that these charges were false.

The story goes that, in the week following the wild animal hoax, Nast (at the time a staunch Republican) published an illustration in Harper’s Weekly in which he satirized both the hoax and the Herald’s attempts to scare voters about Grant’s intentions. The illustration showed the Herald as a jackass, disguised in the skin of a lion tagged “Caesarism.” The appearance of the Herald was scaring zoo animals who were running frightened through the woods of Central Park. One of the animals was an elephant labeled “The Republican Vote.” The cartoon was captioned “The Third-Term Panic.”

A few weeks later Nast returned to this theme, with a cartoon that showed the Republican Vote (again represented as an elephant) falling into a pit with a variety of other animals. The caption read, “Caught in a trap—the result of the third-term hoax.” The reference to the third-term hoax was a pun, alluding simultaneously to the Herald’s charges of “Caesarism” and its recent wild-animal hoax.

Other cartoonists, inspired by Nast’s cartoon, also began to use an elephant to represent Republicans, and so the symbol stuck. By the 1880s it was firmly established as the symbol of the party.

The link between the Democratic party and an ass (or donkey) traced further back, to the time of Andrew Jackson. But Nast’s cartoons also helped to popularize that symbol.

This story of the origin of the Republican party symbol has been frequently repeated. For instance, William Safire tells it in his book New Language of Politics (1972).

For the most part, it is true. Nast did publish these cartoons, and they did popularize the association of republicans with elephants. But the story is incorrect in one key detail. Nast’s first cartoon (the one titled “The Third-Term Panic) was published a week before the wild animal hoax, not after it. Therefore, the cartoon could not have been inspired by the hoax. In fact, some suggest the opposite is true—that the hoax itself was inspired by Nast’s illustration. This seems possible, but no one at the Herald ever commented on whether Nast’s illustration served as a source of inspiration for them.

References

• “Awful Calamity. Wild Animals Broken Loose from Central Park.” (Nov 9, 1874). New York Herald.
• “Wild Beasts.” (Nov 10, 19874). New York Herald.
• “Practical Jokes.” (Nov. 10, 1874). The New-York Times.
• “The Heartless Newspaper Hoax.” (Nov. 11, 1874). The New York Times.
• “A ‘Herald’ Sell.” (Nov 15, 1874). The Galveston Daily News.
• Connery, T.B. (June 3, 1893). “A Famous Newspaper Hoax.” Harper’s Weekly. 534-535.
• Burns, Sarah. (1999). “Party Animals: Thomas Nast, William Holbrook Beard, and the Bears of Wall Street.” American Art Journal. 30 (1/2): 8-35.
• Fedler, Fred. Media Hoaxes. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1989: 84-96.
• The Central Park Zoo Scare of 1874. bbc.co.uk.
• Cartoon of the Day. “The Third-Term Panic.” Harpweek.com.

(Continued from Wild Animal Hoax - Part 1.) On November 9, 1874 the New York Herald published an article claiming that the animals had escaped from their cages in the New York zoo and were rampaging through the city. The article caused widespread panic. What follows is the second half of the complete text of the article.  See The Central Park Zoo Escape for further context about this hoax.

Note: the illustrations are from Harper’s Weekly (June 3, 1893), “A Famous Newspaper Hoax”. They did not appear in the original article.

“Awful Calamity”—The New York Zoo Escape, Part 2

THE CONTINUATION OF DESTRUCTION.
The rhinoceros, after trampling down the keeper, Archambeau, made directly for the cage of the brown bear, which stood on the grass recently. The ease with which he overturned the structure well illustrated the vast muscular power of the brute. The brown bear escaped with some bruises. The grizzly bear, on being knocked out of his house, advanced to give fight, but was bowled over on the grass three times in succession.

THE LEOPARD,
after killing a little child and mutilating several women who strove to run before him, made his way into the inclosure containing the pelicans, the pea fowl and ostrich and killed all before him. The terror among the storming party lasted long enough to give ample time to the escaped animals to spread havoc all through the park and city besides.

THE JAGUAR
had been forgotten at meal time, and, made desperate by hunger, jumped over the fence surrounding the tall and gentle giraffes, and in less time than it takes to tell it had slaughtered one of the noble but helpless animals.

OVER ONE HUNDRED SHOTS
were fired at the rhinoceros in vain. His sides appeared to be covered with slabs of wrought iron. “Shoot him in the eye” was the general cry, but no one was lucky enough, as all were nervous with fright, to strike that particular organ. A long reaching crowbar, however, struck him in a sensitive spot under the jaw, not with the effect of checking his headlong career, but only to drive him onward to

WORSE DEEDS THAN EVER.
In the same half trot with which he issued from his quarters and swaying like a ship at sea, he struck over to the cages near Fifth avenue, where the herbivorous animals were stationed. The havoc made in this direction was frightful. All the cages tumbled to pieces, and, to add to the destruction and confusion, the liberated elephant joined forces with the rhinoceros, and the joint attack of the weaker animals, such as the camel, the zebras, the sacred bull, the guanaco and the llama was simply irresistible. The sacred bull was killed instantly, and one of the mild-eyed zebras was crushed without pity. The other escaped into the Park and ran toward Eighth avenue. He is reported to have badly bitten and kicked a number of daring boys who endeavored to effect his capture. He is still at large.

THE BIRDS.
The destruction of the bird cages was marked by terrific screaming. The eagles fought gallantly for their eyries, but nothing could withstand the united charge of the elephant and rhinoceros. It was late in the evening before the organize force of the menagerie subdued the former of these two powerful animals, and not before both had destroyed several lives and ruined a vast deal of property. The rhinoceros, the parent of all the destruction, made away toward the Mall when

THE ELEPHANT HAD BEEN LASSOED
by the hind leg, a huge log being tied to the end of the stout rope with which the leg was lariated so as to impede his progress, while other parties with ropes similarly hampered the other legs, until they were able to throw him on is side and effectually “hobble” him so that he could not rise. They were then about to shoot him at point-blank range, when the strange sight was presented of the elephant’s keeper, with streaming eyes and outstretched arms, planting himself between the pointed and cocked rifles of the angry crowd, who had seen the deaths and mutilations and the prostate beast, whose trumpetings of defiance were still ringing on the ear. The keeper would not move, and, with many curses, the great brute’s life was saved.

THE RHINOCEROS
escpaed, as we have said, toward the Mall. Here he attacked a party of young girls, killing the sewing girl, Annie Thomas, and frightening the others terribly. One of them, subject to heart disease, Ellen Schubert, has received such a nervous shock that her death may be looked for at any moment. The beast left the Park at one of the upper Eighth avenue entrances, and gored a horse at Ninetieth streeth, overthrowing the heavy wagon to which he was harnessed, and dislocating the shoulder of Isaac Parker, milkman, who was driving. In this neighborhood he overthrew a shanty on the rocks, which fell before him like a house of cards. The wretched inmates were at supper, and the falling planks took fire. All the family escaped except a child in the cradle, which was burned to a crisp. Continuing on his career until he reached Eleventh avenue, he was followed by a crowd of men and boys, who were evidently unaware of his ferocious nature. He must, too, have been nearly spent with his terrible efforts, but continued on toward the North River. A fortunate accident put an end to his career. It was now very dark, and he was seen to fall into a sewer excavation on the Boulevard, fifteen feet deep. Had it been a week day, and at an earlier hour, he would, no doubt, have ended his life in killing, by falling on some of the men at work. As it was, he fell ingloriously.

The Park from end to end is marked with injury, and in its artificial forests the wild beasts lurk, to pounce at any moment on the unwary pedestrian.

THE LEOPARDS AND WOLVES
made short work of the deer, and all the blood for which they are responsible is not even yet fully computed. The subsequent fight between

THE LION AND TIGER,
when they met on the open space at Fifty-ninth street, outside the Park wall, in the presence of a thousand terrified spectators, was the great combat of the day. The lion tore away at one bite half the tiger’s flanks, while the latter, with characteristic ferocity, buried his teeth in the lion’s neck until the king of beasts howled with the keenest anguish. Now it was the lion underneath and the tiger on top. The next moment positions were reversed.

BLOOD COVERED THE AVENUE,
and off in the distance the awestruck spectators looked on in breathless fear. Finally the two sanguinary brutes rushed from each other as a bullet from the rifle of General Wingate, who came promptly on the ground, whistled between their ears. Lester Wallack took aim at the same moment from behind the unfinished iron building on the east side, and perforated the tiger to some slight degree. Many other gentlemen came rushing to the scene in the meantime, among them ex-Mayor Hall, Erastus Brooks, of the Express; Manton Marole and Mr. Bangs, of the World, who had been visiting Governor-elect Tilden, and were on their way uptown in a carriage; Judge Daly, Judge J.R. Brady, General Arthur, Hugh Hastings and Prosper Wetmore. But they were all a trifle nervous from running, and the beasts escaped on their raid down town, where, as everybody knows by this, they had a bloody and fearful carnival.

TRAGIC DEATH OF THE BROWN SEA LION.
When the ponderous rhinoceros plunged through the sea lion’s cage the latter was in an apparently profound sleep. Awakened by the startling noise around him, and struck with terror at the appearance of his visitor, the poor seal uttered one long, piercing howl, partly resembling the shriek of a locomotive, and the next moment tumbled into his tank and disappeared. The rhinoceros, breaking down the whole structure, was soon floundering in the tank also. Then it was the sea lion, driven to bay, showed fight; but the contest was as unequal as a ferryboat in conflict with an iron-clad man-of-war. For a time the seal seemed to stand a chance for his life. Being lithe and slippery, he easily avoided the unwieldy attacks of his visitor. Indeed, he had every hope of safety but for an unfortunate slip made by the rhinoceros, who, keeling suddenly over, fell with all his immense weight on his prostrate foe and killed him. During the fight the roars of the sea lion were incessant and painful to hear. It was unlike any other cry of bird, or beast, or fish. It was something strange and weird, and had a half human sound that struck the ear with a singular impression. The little seal escaped by hiding under the water.

DEATH OF THE ANACONDA.
In the destruction of the various cages the anaconda was roused from his torpor, and pivoting himself upon his tail made a spring at the neck of the tall and beautiful giraffe that occupied the adjacent cage. Only a few boards separated the two. The long slender neck of the giraffe bending over the partition proved a tempting mark for the anaconda. The graceful neck was quickly bowed to the ground in the coils of the powerful constrictor. The giraffe made but a feeble struggle and death speedily ended his sufferings. Then it was the awful spectacle was seen of the anaconda seeking to swallow the body of his victim. He had but commenced this disgusting task when he was observed by Dr. F.A. Thomas, of Eighty-third street, who attacked the reptile, armed with a sabre, who at one blow severed the great snake’s body and then retreated in haste.

IN THE MONKEY HOUSE.
When the elephant smashed the cages with his trunk and drove the monkeys into every hole and corner the scene of disorder and noise was perfectly indescribable. The monkeys screamed and laughed and laughed and screamed. Two green monkeys perched themselves on the elephant’s back, but for a very short time. Over twenty monkeys escaped from the house and made off in various directions. Two of them climbed into a carriage standing outside the Park on Fifth avenue. One was killed by the laughing hyena, several were wounded by the black wolves; but, considering the risks they ran and the familiarity they made with many of the liberated beasts of prey, they escaped very well.

THE NEWS OF THE PROCEEDINGS
in the Park, and the terror excited throughout the city at the prospect of having a visit from the wild animals at the domestic fireside, drew an immense number of sporting men and Yorkville fast boys and rowdies in the direction of the menagerie. There was dangerous sport enough for everybody as far as hunting down the fugitives went. They penetrated everywhere. The African lioness, after saturating herself in the blood of eighteen victims—men, women, and children—was finally killed at Castle Garden by a party of emigrants. She lay down under one of the great trees in the Battery Park, having leaped the rails. Although followed at a safe distance by a large crowd, she was allowed to remain in this position.

A PARTY OF SWEDISH HUNTERS
who had arrived in the Thuringia, on their way to farms in Nebraska, undertook to kill the beast, although bears were the only large animals they had practised on. Ten in number, and armed with rifles, they scattered themselves in a semi-circle in pairs, and advanced, crawling on their bellies, until within a few paces of the recumbent lioness. Her head was turned toward Broadway, but, suddenly suspecting danger, she arose and shook the heart of the onlookers with her sounding roar. It was at this moment that Jansen Bjornsen, the leader of the hunters, blew his shrill whistle, and five rifle balls were buried in the body of the lioness. She fell with a dull thud evidently dead, but the five hunters whose guns were still charged rushed up and emptied their pieces into the prostrate carcass. This was the signal for a deafening cheer. The hunters were carried round on the shoulders of the First warders, and the proprietor of the Stevens House and Nicholas Muller headed a subscription list with $50 each as a testimonial to these brave children of the Norseland for their maiden service to the great Republic. It is announced that Superintendent Webster, of Castle Garden, will receive subscriptions. It is said that nearly $500 is already down on the lists. Commissioner Lynch has put his name down for $10, Whitelaw Reid subscribes $50, C.A. Dana adds $50 also.

THE BENGAL TIGER
having counted up a score of victims, surrendered his life to the trusty rifle of our aged Governor, John A. Dix, who shot him as he rounded Madison avenue and Thirty-fourth street. This was an extremely fortunate occurrence. The Governor, a splendid shot, was in town in the neck of time. This gallant act will be remembered by the citizens of New York, although it is now too late to mark that esteem at the ballot box. it may be mentioned as a fortunate circumstance that a minute after the death of the tiger Archbishop McCloskey’s carriage drove up. A fright or injury to the horses by the ferocious beast might have ended the career of the aged prelate. Hearty congratulations were exchanged between the Governor and Archbishop.

FRIGHT ON FIFTH AVENUE.
The crowded condition of the Fifth avenue sidewalks on Sunday afternoon is well known to all, and the effect upon the host of elegantly dressed promenaders when the breaking loose of the beasts was made known was curious. When the beasts made their escape from the building mainly devote to the great carnivorae a number of excited people rushed down Fifth avenue, shouting as they ran. It caused a general stampede of the fashionables, who ran in various directions down side streets and into the churches, which thus received full congregations long before the hour of service. The Hon. Richard Shell, who was standing near the Brick Church on Murray Hill, and who at first believed the report of the breaking loose to be a cruel hoax, told one of our reporters that the rapidity with which the avenue was cleared beggars description. The excited, shouting party

SEEMED TO SWEEP THE AVENUE
before them. In ten minutes there was not a soul visible in either direction from the Park to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. It was puzzling to think where they had gone. Mr. Schell proceeded to state that he turned and walked up the avenue, but met no one for three-quarters of a mile. He felt then fully convinced it was a hoax. As he neared the Park, however, he heard a number of shots fired. He, in turn, became excited, and commenced running toward the Arsenal. On his way he was met by a party

BEARING A DEAD BODY,
that of a youth, fearfully disfigured about the head and face. A terrifying roar was heard behind them, when the party let the body fall and ran precipitately. Mr. Schell ran too, and jumped in among some shrubs off the main road. The incline leading to the Arsenal is unfinished, and up this road he saw some animal of the tiger species come with a light, swift movement. The beast was evidently following the blood trail, for he went straight up to the abandoned corpse, and after striking one paw upon the breast and touching it with his head, as if smelling, he gave forth a series of horrible howls. “I felt my blood run cold,” said Mr. Schell, “but kept perfectly still, lest the brute should be attracted to me from

THE HORRID MEAL
he was evidently about to commence. I soon heard a number of shouts and saw a party of citizens and police running toward the animal, but unconscious of the fact. They were running away from danger in their rear. I shouted to them. They suddenly halted and looked back. Two of the party fired revolvers at the animal, which, to their relief and mine, uttered a howl of anguish and ran, pursued by men who themselves were running away (from the lion they said). I ran until I gained the entrance to the Park and made down Fifty-ninth street, as the animal was proceeding at a limping trot down Fifth avenue. I had not proceeded far when I saw a large object careering madly toward me. I recognized it as a buffalo bull. I turned to run back toward the Park, when to my horror I observed an animal ambling toward Fourth avenue. I saw it was a brown or black bear. I rushed up the stoop of one of the houses and tugged at the bell. I saw as I turned that the buffalo and the bear had met, and that a fight was in progress. I cannot tell which got the better. The fight was short, and I heard that the bear was seen to limp away. I got into the house, but was almost summarily ejected, although I made an urgent appeal to be allowed to remain.” The animal first referred to by Mr. Schell is, doubtless, the one that

ENTERED THE CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS,
of which Dr. Morgan is pastor, at the corner of West Fifty-third street, causing such a deplorable panic, with injuries to many. A party carrying one of the wounded down Fifth avenue to St. Luke’s Hospital, at Fifty-fourth street, was tracked by him. Just as the bearers neared the corner a deep bass growl was heard behind them, and losing their presence of mind, they ran down the avenue and past the hospital. Descrying the church a little ahead they hurried toward it and entered the edifice, with fright on every countenance. The sight of the wounded man caused the greatest consternation. Shrieks were heard on all sides. The women grasped their protectors and the utmost confusion succeeded. The church door must have been left open, for a minute after the animal (cougar, some say, panther others) came stealthily, with his head down to the blood trail and growling gutturally. His presence once discovered, a frightful scene ensued. Men and women rushed in all directions away from the beast, who sprang upon the shoulders of an aged lady,

BURYING HIS FANGS IN HER NECK
and carrying her to the ground. In the haste to get away over the seats many injuries were sustained, Mrs. Catherine Ransoin, of West Forty-fifth street, breaking her leg by falling between two pews. Some one ran to the Windsor Hotel for assistance, and one of the guests ran with a loaded rifle to the church. The beast was in the middle aisle, sitting crouched above the form of his victim, when a tall, fair man, with a rifle in his hands, entered. Without a moment’s hesitation he brought the weapon to his shoulder and fired. The beast tumbled over and the rifleman ran up and struck him over the head, driving the hammer through the brute’s skull. When the aged victim was examined life was found to be extinct, although the flesh wound in the neck was in itself not of a very dangerous nature. Up to this hour the remains have not been identified. An inquiry at the hotel as to the name of the rifleman elicited the single word,

“RIGBY!”
In several parts of the city the greatest danger resulted from people firing rifles and pistols from windows. There is no instance reported of any of the animals having been hit, while it is believed many citizens were struck by the missiles. One policeman, Officer Lannigan, of the Seventh precinct, was wounded in the foot near Grand Street by

A SHOT FROM A WINDOW,
during the chase after the striped hyena, which was mistaken by the crowd for a panther. This cowardly brute was finally killed by a bartender, armed only with a club. He was treated as a second Sampson by the entire neighborhood, and is undoubtedly a young man of courage. His name is Dan Brenan, and he is a native of the Nineteenth ward. Counsellor Spellissey distinguished himself by stopping a causeless stampede in the Fourteenth ward.

THE FERRYBOAT CARNAGE.
Perhaps the most deplorable of all the incidents of the terrible evening was that which took place on the ferryboat of the Twenty-third street line, North River. Several of the animals made their way down Fifth avenue. Among them was one of large size (almost the only description now obtainable). It is thought to have been one of the tigers, but its passage along West twenty-third street appears to have been unnoticed in the general amazement. At any rate, just as the gatekeeper at the Twenty-third street ferry was closing the gates he saw a fierce animal bound past him and rush on to the ferryboat. The boat was well loaded. Some horses attached to light wagons were seen to rear and show every sign of terror, and then rush forward

INTO THE RIVER,
carrying their human loads with them. Several people were mangled by the ferocious brute in a very few minutes. The boat had just begun moving as the beast leaped on board. When the pilot saw the horses and wagons going overboard, the boat was not quite clear of the dock. He immediately

RUNG TO REVERSE THE ENGINES
and put back. To this providential circumstance must be attributed the saving of so many lives. Numbers were seen to plunge overboard to escape the beast, which at last sprung into the water after a young man. The wonderful escape of Larry Jerome is an incident of breathless interest. Overborne by the crowd, he was forced into the river, and although a heavily built man, is a splendid swimmer. he was seized around the neck by a desperate man, whom he shook off with the greatest difficulty. Striking out for shore, he touched against a female who appeared to have given herself up to death. He piloted her to the spiles near the dock, and both were rescued by the fast gathering crowd. The tide was running swift ebb, and it is feared most of the bodies have been carried out to sea. This is one of the cases in which days must elapse before the full list of fatalities is known.

THE HOSPITAL HORRORS.
In Bellevue Hospital many touching sights were seen. The doctors were kept busy dressing the fearful wounds, and the cries of the unfortunates in the accident ward were most painful to hear. It was necessary to perform a number of amputations instantly. One young girl is said to have died under the knife. Few of the wounded were visited by their families last night, but the ministers of the Gospel of all denominations took their places by the bedsides of the unfortunates. The handsome face of Rev. George H. Hepworth was seen bending over a moaning street Arab. Bishop Potter, Rev. Mr. Morgan Dix, Rev. Mr. Armitage, of the Fifth avenue Baptist church, and Fathers Farrelly and McGlynn were seen moving among the sufferers, ministering to the souls of the suffering and the dying.

The following is a partial list of the casualties: --

LIST OF KILLED

James Badley. Owen O’Reilly. Peter Ryan. Michael Murphy. Peter Kerr. Thomas B. Styles. James Hewson. Ellen Lalor and three children. Stephen Long. Mary Brady. Fred McDonnell. Alex H. Henderson. Pedro Velasquez. Christopher Anderson.

---- Hyland. John Judge. William Meredith. Jacob Kuhne. Benjamin P. Steiner Thomas Fagan. George Cross. John F. Coloman Abel Garrett. P.D. Comstock. Fred C. Gamble. George Hanley. Stephen Bruce. William Mapes. Annie Thomas

LIST OF WOUNDED

John Morrissey, very slightly. General Butler Alexander O’Leary. James Haydon. Michael Rafferty. George D. Bancroft. Silas Hammersmith. Julien D. Brown. Amos Hardy.

John Connors. Mark Habelstein. Jacob Wort. Julia Denison. Anne Cushman. Sarah White. Mary Ann Gough. Pat Byrnes. George Seaver.

Of the number actually killed it will be impossible to tell for some days. Of those wounded no full list can be ascertained. The charge of the savage beasts was the most unexampled in the history of cities. They tore through the leading thoroughfares with all the freedom they might have enjoyed in their native wilds.

LIST OF THE SLAUGHTERED ANIMALS.

1 rhinoceros. 1 zebra 6 American deer. 2 giraffes 1 American bison. 1 white-haired porcupine. 1 prairie dog. 1 sea lion. 2 leopards. 1 grizzly bear. 1 striped hyena. 1 ocelot. 2 brown Capuchin monkeys. 1 bengal tiger. 1 Chacma baboon. 2 camels. 1 Sambur deer. 1 African lion 1 African lioness.

1 American tapir. 1 anaconda 1 woodchuck 4 Syrian sheep 1 sacred bull. 2 American eagles. 1 two-toed sloth. 1 great kangaroo. 1 alligator. 2 water turkeys. 4 pink-footed geese. 2 pelicans. 1 trumpeter swan. 1 clapper rail. 1 red-breasted merganset 1 pied-bill grebe. 1 pine snake. 1 Derbian wallaby 1 Dorcas gazelle. 1 nvighan 1 guanaco.

ANIMALS AT LARGE.
The following animals are at large in various parts of the Central Park and city, and, of course, are extremely dangerous:—The cheetah, the manatee, the Cape buffalo, the panther (a most ferocious beast, supposed to have killed the two policemen near the Belvidiere tower and eaten the goats whose skeletons were found on the Ramble), the opossum (not dangerous), the wild swine, the palsano (a vicious beast, supposed to be on the west side of town, in the neighborhood of Manhattan market, and credited with killing the young lady found near Sir Walter Scott’s statue), the mangabey, the puma lion (a very savage animal) destroyed most of the deer in the northern enclosure and bit a large piece out of the shoulder of Henderson the policeman; supposed also to have killed the nursery girl discovered in the Carousel. Three snakes escaped and are believed to be hid away in the grass and shrubbery near the Casino. More than a dozen monkeys are playing truant through the Park and are not to be depended on when they become hungry. The black leopard, whose fight in the building with the Bengal tiger disabled him considerably, is limping about the upper end of the Park. The Polar bear that killed the two keepers, Ryan & Murphy, is said to have been shot by Recorder Hackett near the upper reservoir. There is a sharp look out for the black wolf. He escaped into the city, but looks so much like a Dutchman’s dog he may evade detection until he has committed some lamentable tragedy. The musanga paradoxure and many other beasts of prey whose names are not immediately available are scattered over the island. Five or six bald-headed eagles escaped and many valuable tropical birds. The prairie wolf is not to be found, the suricate is also missing and no tidings have been received of the brown coatimundi.

GENERAL DURYEE,
by the excellent disposition he made of the police force, saved hundreds of children in the vicinity of Tompkins square from being devoured. Had the same precautions been taken on the west side of town the American buffalo and the brown bear would never have accomplished so much fearful havoc.

NATIONAL GUARD PRECAUTIONS.
General Shaler deserves credit also for having order promptly issued to turn out the National Guard, as the danger from the wild and savage animals at large in all the thoroughfares proved too much for the police. The scene at the Fifth Avenue Hotel when the Malayan tapir that killed the two policemen burst in among the mob of gentlemen standing in the portico can never be forgotten. John Morrissey escaped with a flesh wound. General Butler, who had come on in the morning, was in conversation with General Gilmore, and received a bite in the calf of the leg. Major Bundy, of the Mail, and Mr. Stone, of the Journal of Commerce, assisted to calm J. Jones, the button manufacturer, who was thrown into a paroxysm by the appearance of the animals. Secretary Robeson and Alderman Vance were thrown violently against a pile of baggage. Leonard Jerome pursued the animal two blocks after it disappeared from the hotel, and made some excellent practice with a revolver but failed to bring the brute down. The Buffalo overturned Earl Roseberry’s carriage in front of the Brevoort, and subsequently ran into another carriage, containing Moses Hanz of Forty first street, but without doing any serious damage.

It would be impossible at this late hour to describe the numberless scenes of dismay and disaster. The hospitals are full of wounded. There are fifteen bodies at the Morgue and several in the various precincts. A sentiment of horror pervades the community.

THE GALLANT POLICE.
It is now time to say that the police deserve the greatest credit for their courage, if not for the success in dealing with this unheard of danger. Everywhere they are at the front, and among the slain and mutilated they count heavily. General Duryee’s order to clear the streets was a master stroke of policy. It gave the rapidly gathered up platoons work they could undertake without further direction, while it gave the squads of officers he despatched to the angles of the leading thoroughfares a chance to deal efficiently with the animals running a muck and without further danger to citizen life. There was only a case reported of a citizen shot by a police bullet, and, as the unfortunate victim had been warned to leave the streets, the officer cannot be blamed.

THE MORAL OF THE WHOLE
Of course the entire story given above is a pure fabrication. Not one word of it is true. Not a single act or incident described has taken place. It is a huge hoax, a wild romance, or whatever other epithet of utter untrustworthiness our readers may choose to apply to it. It is simply a fancy picture which crowded upon the mind of the writer a few days ago while he was gazing through the iron bars of the cages of the wild animals in the menagerie at Central Park. Yet as each of its horrid but perfectly natural sequences impressed themselves upon his mind, the question presented itself, How is New York prepared to meet such a catastrophe? How easily could it occur any day of the week? How much, let the citizens ponder, depends upon the indiscretion of even one of the keepers? A little oversight, a trifling imprudence might lead to the actual happening of all, and even worse than has been pictured. From causes quite as insignificant the greatest calamities of history have sprung. Horror, devastation and widespread slaughter of human beings have had small mishaps for parent time and again.

On November 9, 1874 the New York Herald published an article claiming that the animals had escaped from their cages in the New York zoo and were rampaging through the city. The article caused widespread panic. What follows is the first half of the complete text of the article. (Click here for Part Two.) See The Central Park Zoo Escape for further context about this hoax.

Note: the illustrations are from Harper’s Weekly (June 3, 1893), “A Famous Newspaper Hoax”. They did not appear in the original article.

“Awful Calamity”—The New York Zoo Escape

AWFUL CALAMITY
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The Wild Animals Broken Loose from Central Park.
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TERRIBLE SCENES OF MUTILATION
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A Shocking Sabbath Carnival of Death
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SAVAGE BRUTES AT LARGE
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Awful Combats Between the Beasts and the Citizens
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THE KILLED AND WOUNDED
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General Duryee’s Magnificent Police Tactics
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BRAVERY AND PANIC
______________
How the Catastrophe Was Brought About—Affrighting Incidents
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PROCLAMATION BY THE MAYOR
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Governor Dix Shoots the Bengal Tiger in the Street
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CONSTERNATION IN THE CITY
______________

Another Sunday of horror has been added to those already memorable in our city annals. The sad and appalling catastrophe of yesterday is a further illustration of the unforeseen perils to which large communities are exposed. Writing even at a late hour, without full details of the terrors of the evening and night, and with a necessarily incomplete list of the killed and mutiliated, we may pause for a moment in the widespread sorrow of the hour to cast a hasty glance over what will be felt as a great calamity for many years. Few of the millions who have visited Central Park, and who, passing in through the entrance at East Sixty-fourth street, have stopped to examine the collection of birds and animals grouped around the old Arsenal building, could by any possibility have foreseen the source of such terrible danger to a whole city in the caged beasts around him, as the trivial incident of yesterday afternoon developed. The unfortunate man to whose fatal imprudence all accounts attribute the outbreak of the wild animals of the menagerie has answered with his life for his temerity, but we have a list of calamities traceable from his act which one life seems inadequate to expiate. We have a list of forty-nine killed, of which only twenty-seven bodies have been identified, and it is much to be feared that this large total of fatalities will be much increased with the return of daylight. The list of mutiliated, trampled and injured in various ways much reach nearly 200 persons of all ages, of which, so far as known, about sixty are very serious, and of these latter three can hardly outlast the night. Many of the slightly injured were taken to their homes, so that for at least another day the full extent of the calamity cannot be measured. We have onto to hope that no further fatalities will occur. Twelve of the wild, carnivorous beasts are still at large, their lurking places not being known for certainty, but the citizens may rest assured that if they will only exercise ordinary prudence and leave the task of hunting down the animals to the authorities, who have, somewhat tardily, taken the matter in hand, there will be no further casualties to register as the outcome of the unfortunate act of a reckless keeper in Central Park. It was an apparently small cause for a huge and horrible result, but the overturning of a kerosene lamp in a dingy cowshed in Chicago laid the Queen City of the West in ashes, and the spark from a hod carrier’s pipe was parent to the flames that destroyed in a night the great granite buildings of Boston as if the solid stones were fuel. It is not long since a herd of Texan cattle threw New York’s million of human beings into consternation, defied the police force and injured so many. It was at least to be hoped that the somewhat similar, although more fearful calamity of the breaking loose of the wild beasts at Central Park would have found Superintendent Wailing with some plan to meet the emergency. In all such cases promptitude is invaluable, and although General Duryee deserves credit for his plan, formed, we are assured, on the instant, and carried out so far with effect, we must regret that he was not earlier informed of the terrible event. A telegram from police headquarters to the General’s residence did not reach him, and thus a valuable hour was lost, as he was first informed of the catastrophe by seeing the mutilated body of the unfortunate sewing girl, Annie Thomas, borne on an improvised stretcher to the Thirty-first precinct station house, near West Eighty-sixth street. He was visiting at the house of a friend, and the passing crowd with the mournful burden on the shoulders of the police, attracted the attention of a young daughter of his friends. Her screams brought the entire party to the windows. In an instant the general was in the street. Learning from a hundred tongues the horrible truth in the few words, “the wild animals at the Park have broken loose,” he ran like a deer to the station house, and seating himself by the telegraph instrument directed from that point the operations which first resulted in staying the paying. Had he lost the time which it would have taken to reach Police Headquarters, it is impossible to say where the panic and affright and their consequent fatalities would have ended.
Commissioners Matsell and Disbecker were heard from at various points throughout the evening, but their efforts were not of a nature to produce any good result. Orders and counter orders were issued by them in confusing succession. Happily the steps taken by General Duryee made them practically subordinates and diminished their inefficiency—to give their stampeded zeal no harsher term. Commissioner Voorhis could not be found during the entire evening. To General Shaler, also, the thanks of the community are due. His promptitude in calling out the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Sixty-ninth regiments, a call manfully responded to, and placing them at the service of General Duryee deserves unqualified praise. It is to be hoped, too, that the proclamation issued by Mayor Havemayer, after consultation with General Shaler and Commissioner Duryee, will meet with the obedience which its gravity merits. Discipline is the only means of meeting and conquering such an untoward chain of circumstances, and we here point out that the obedience which is given by the militia to General Shaler, by the police to General Duryee, the hero of the hour, should be cheerfully rendered by the citizens at large to the proclamation of his Honor the Mayor. The deaths and mutilations are already too numerous to risk their increase, and the authorities will only serve the common cause by enforcing the law against those whose curiosity leads them to defy the mandates of the civil power.

The following is the Mayor’s proclamation: --

A Proclamation.
Mayor’s Office, Sunday Night, Nov. 1, 1874

All citizens, except members of the National Guard, are enjoined to keep within their houses or residences until the wild animals now at large are captured or killed. Notice of the release from this order will be spread by the firing of cannon in City Hall Park, Tompkins square, Madison square, The Round and at Macomb’s Dam Bridge. Obedience to this order will secure a speedy end to the state of siege occasioned by the calamity of this evening.
An account will be opened at the City Hall of the city of New York for contributions to the sufferers.

__________
THE CATASTROPHE
__________________________

The location of the zoological collection in the Park is well known to most New Yorkers; but it appears that changes were made recently in the disposition of the various animals, and to realize the exact nature of the catastrophe it becomes necessary to indicate where the various animals were situated yesterday when the frightful event occurred that spread such terror throughout the city. If you enter the menagerie from Fifth avenue you will find on either hand, running parallel to the street, the houses where the herbivorous beasts were domiciled. In former times several bears from the northern regions occupied the right hand corner where a few beautiful zebras lately gladdened the eye. To the extreme left were the cages of the several foreign birds formerly devoted to a large collection of monkeys. To the extreme right were the vultures and eagles, and the visitor, by making a short circuit of the large building, known in times gone by as the Arsenal, found himself in front of a handsome wooden structure, one story high, where the principal wild animals resided. Of course the residence of the sea lion was known to everybody. On the inside of the garden the stately giraffe occupied a somewhat large enclosure, and adjacent were a number of pelicans, intermingled with several specimens of the ostrich tribe. The bears were in isolated cages on the green sward, near the common pedestrian route from the Fifth avenue entrance.

THE PROMINENT ANIMALS
in the quadrangle nearest to Fifth avenue were the bison, the nyighau, the zebu, the sacred bull, cow and calf, the zebras, the young elephant, the capybara, the guanaco, the fat tailed Syrian var, the aoudad and the fallow deer. In the valuable monkey collection was the sooty mangabey, the bonnet macaque, the Toque monkey, the pigtailed monkey, the Arabian baboon, the black handed spider monkey, the brown capuchin, the Teetee and the black eared marmoset. Such was the scene before

THE TERRIBLE EVENTS
of yesterday—the bursting forth of the most ferocious of the beasts within the menagerie of the Park, the awful slaughter that ensued, the exciting conflicts between the infuriated animals, the frightful deaths that followed, the destruction of property and the fearful and general excitement, making an era in the history of New York not soon to be forgotten. How singular that Sunday, of all days in the week, should make the occasion of such great panics as mark the record of the past four years. It was a Sabbath morning that witnessed the destruction of Chicago and Boston, and a Sabbath afternoon beheld the streets of New York given up to the fury of a drove of Texan cattle. It was on a Sabbath that the Westfield exploded heer boiler. But yesterday capped the climax of unthought possibilities, and it was the Sabbath, too, that deepened the significance of the great disaster.

As everybody knows, the Central Park on Sunday is the popular resort of all classes. The rich and fashionable in their carriages and the poor and humble on foot, alike sally forth to enjoy its beauties. It is safe to say that at least 20,000 people filled the various walks, drives and avenues yesterday. To nine-tenths of the pedestrian visitors the Menagerie is a chief source of attraction. That it contained the elements of sanguinary disaster to a multitude of human beings hardly entered into the philosophy of anybody. It would be vain of the writer to presume himself capable of picturing the harrowing scenes of which he was a distressed and involuntary spectator. To give, for instance, an adequate conception of the frightful incident where Lincoln, the Numidian lion, urged to indescribable fury by the bullets that pierced his flanks and shoulders jumped into a landaulet occupied by a nursemaid and her four young charges, mangling the delicate little things past all sign of recognition, would be a difficult task. But let me endeavor to describe the fearful scenes with some attempt at order. My head is so confused and my nerves so unstrung with the fearful scenes through which I have passed that I confess I am barely equal to picturing them.

FIRST OMINOUS SYMPTOMS.
The writer stood within a hundred yards of the menagerie when the first ominous symptoms of the approaching catastrophe were heard. The doors of the main structure, wherein the principal wild animals were confined, were closed at five o’clock. Hundreds of people, men, women and children, were still lingering in the vicinity. Five or six of the Park police were stationed in the neighborhood. One stood at the entrance on Fifth avenue and sixty-fourth street, making a record of the number of visitors passing in. Another was stationed for a similar purpose on the roadway approaching from the southeastern entrance, at the corner of Fifty-ninth street. Within the arsenal there appears to have been a number of the Park police. The Captain was off duty and did not appear until late at night. Mr. Conkun, the director of the menagerie, was at his post, like a good soldier. It was

A CALM, PEACEFUL AND PLEASING SCENE
in the early hours of the afternoon. Children ran about from cage to cage in the perfect fulness of delight. A stream of people released from the cares and labors of the week wandered through the grounds, pausing here to admire the beautiful zebras and stopping there to laugh over the amusing antics of the monkeys. The idea of danger could only be suggested to create laughter and derision. Certainly nobody seriously contemplated the possibility of peril where seemingly massive cages restrained the wild and savage instincts of the various beasts of prey. The rhinoceros appeared the

PICTURE OF STUPID AMIABILITY;
the Numidian lion wore a look of the grossest indolence, the Bengal tiger seemed as harmless as a prostrate forest tree, the bears invited a caressing acquaintance, the boa constrictor might have been petted with the hand, the elephant eating biscuits from the fingers of a little child suggested an extreme condition of tameness and docility. In all the rest, saving the restless and savage-eyed hyena, the spirit of the day appeared to dwell.

THE ORIGIN OF THE AWFUL CALAMITY.
In a very few moments the whole aspect was destined to be changed. It is now well authenticated that Chris Anderson, the keeper, one of whose charges was Pete, the rhinoceeros, in walking around after the public was excluded, stopped in front of the den of the huge animal above mentioned. He was seen to poke his cane through the bars at the great beast, and was warned by Keeper Miller to desist. The latter was leaving the building at the moment he remonstrated with Anderson, and to this circumstance, doubtless, owes his life. He says that Keeper Hyland also called out to Anderson. The latter had a fashion, it appears, of teasing the animals, although he was often known to eject persons from the building for similar practices. Anderson paid no attention to the warnings of his fellow keepers, and, it is thought, a heedless thrust must have entered the eye of the rhinoceros. A number of boys who were peering in through the windows on the north side of the building attracted the attention of the writer by their cries,

”LOOK, HE’S BREAKING OUT!”
There was a crashing heard within and the boys were seen to flee precipitately. I rushed to the window, drawn by a curiosity which was irresistible. My example was soon followed by others, many women struggling for a place. It was some moments before I could make out what was transpiring within. A keeper was standing in the middle of the open space apparently spellbound. Another was standing further down, grasping a crowbar, his gaze directed toward the pen of the rhinoceros. The short, angry, squeaking cry of the rhinoceros, like sudden blasts on a fisthorn, were heard amid the sound of snapping bars and crashing planks. It at once struck me that the huge animal was breaking down the walls of his pen in the endeavor doubtless to reach his tormentor. Not aware of any cause for this sudden exhibition of rage, none of the fascinated crowd at the window measured the danger of their position or the object of the infuriated beast. The keeper (afterward found to be Anderson) now rushed forward and struck at the animal. We could not see whether his blows reached the rhinoceros or not, but their effect was soon told. A crash which shook the building followed and the front of the pen fell outward and the horrid, misshapen mass of Pete, the rhinoceros, rushed out, his double-horned head close to the ground. Anderson made a spring sideways to evade the monster’s onslaught and might have succeeded in gaining at least temporary safety by this means, but he was too close to the animal, for the latter, swinging his unwieldy body toward him, knocked him down with a touch of his shoulder, and an instant after had trampled him out of recognition. Backing down from the mangled body with a swiftness almost incredible from his bulk, the rhinoceros plunged his horrid horn into the dead keeper, dashing the last possible spark of life on against the walls of one of the pens, which likewise gave way. All this tragedy transpired in an instant. Horror stricken, I tried to push my way from the window, but the crowd was now dense behind me, and I could not stir. I cried: --

“For God’s sake, let some one run to the police station for help!”
I struggled to get out, putting my hands against the window and my feet below it, and pushing with all my might. An accursed curiosity in the crowd, who were only vaguely conscious of what was transpiring, made my efforts useless. When I looked in through the window again the destruction at the further end had increased, the rhinoceros breaking open the dens of the animals on the left hand side.

THE KEEPER, HYLAND,
whom I had first seen standing spellbound, was advancing, pale as marble, and a navy revolver in his hand, toward the enraged rhinoceros. The animal saw him, turned and made for him in an instant. He sprang aside and fired. The ball hit the rhinoceros on the left shoulder, for he swerved over for an instant; but it can scarcely have more than hurt him a little, as he turned with a whiff, whiff, whiff snort, his head down toward the keeper. The latter, with cat-like agility, retreated toward the lions’ and tigers’ cages, evidently making for the space between them; but too late. The horrid horn impaled him against the corner cage, killing him instantly, tearing the cage to pieces and releasing the panther, who landed in the middle of the open space with a spring. The cries of all the animals were now joined in horrid chorus by the loud and long-sustained roar of the lion and lioness, the tigers and all the wild beasts, that doubtless had their carniverous instincts whetted by the smell of human blood and the sound and sight of the bloody struggles outside their bars.

”THE WILD ANIMALS ARE LOOSE,”
I yelled, and the savage chorus within bore out my words. At last curiosity seemed to give way. The crowd fled in all directions, women falling as they ran, and no one staying to help them out of the way of the coming danger, which was then shaping itself so swiftly. I ran to the police station in the Arsenal Building, and found that the sergeant on duty was dozing quietly. I shook him up, told him in a few words what was the matter, and ran round to the space in front of the Arsenal. There I found Keeper Miller talking to the policeman, who was just coming off duty. Miller laughed at my story.
“Come around,” I said earnestly.
“Too thin, young fellow,” said the policeman.
“Don’t you hear?” I said, as the roaring of the animals sounded ominously in our ears. The sergeant now came running out in search of the policeman.
“Anderson and Hyland are killed,” said he to Miller. “Why don’t you stir yourself.”

Miller is a tall, stalwart man of about thirty-three, and it is but just to say that from the moment the sergeant spoke he sprang into action. He rushed into the keeper’s room and grasped a sixteen shooter rifle, which is kept loaded for such emergencies, and ran out through the central door in the rear of the Arsenal to the window the crowd had just deserted. What he saw evidently appalled him, as he let the butt of his rifle fall to the ground and continued gazing in through the window like one in a dream. From his own lips I have learned what he saw. He said: --
“An attentive glance through the window revealed the fact that

THE HUGE RHINOCEROS HAD BROKEN LOOSE.
He had apparently made no more of the massive barrier that enclosed him than of a sheet of pasteboard. I saw the dead bodies of Hyland and Anderson, the former nearer to me than the other. The panther was crouched over Hyland’s body, gnawing horribly at his head. I recognized his body by the striped shirt which I could just see hanging tattered from the arm. It was growing dark, and this made everything look twice as fearful. I saw the rhinoceros plunge blindly forward against the double tier of cages where the black and spotted leopards, the striped hyena, the prairie wolf, the puma and the jaguar were lying. Judging from the condition of the cages the onset of the powerful and infuriated rhinoceros must have been tremendous. In some cases the bars were only bent to an elbow, but, as a rule, they snapped asunder like kindling wood before the smashing weight brought against them.

THE RELEASE OF THE ANIMALS
mentioned angered still more the lions and the tigers and all the rest within the building. The rhinoceros in the meantime was busy in the work of destruction. In a few moments more he had broken down the pens of the wild swine, the manatee, the American tapir, the two-toed sloth and the pair of kangaroos. Just then, too, Lincoln, the Numidian lion escaped from his cage, through some unfortunate oversight committed at feeding time. The bolt of his prison door was insecure, and when the raging rhinoceros butted his head against the bottom it flew wide open. Hardly had Lincoln the lion bounded into the centre aisle of the building when the three cages containing the black and spotted leopards, the tiger and tigeresses, the black wolf and the striped and spotted hyenas were sprung open by an overpowering charge from the now desperate rhinoceros. The noise of this crash might have been heard several blocks away. It was followed by a series of fights between the liberated beasts. Close by a window on the western side of the building the black wolf sprung upon the flanks of the Bengal tiger. The lion stood a little distance away pawing the floor, awaiting rather than offering an attack. Between the wolf and tiger the conflict was brief. The latter, shaking off the feeble hold of the other, turned quick as lightning on his hind legs, and falling, with open, gleaming jaws, upon his less muscular foe, rolled him over in the dust. The great fight ensued

OVER THE BODY
of poor, brave Hyland. There was evidently a fight over the body of Anderson; but I could see nothing more than a mingling, gleaming mass whence arose the most awful cries. Nearer to me, where Hyland lay, the lioness, the panther, the puma, and presently the Bengal tiger, were rolling over and over, striking at each other with their mighty paws. The lioness tore the skin off the puma’s flank with one blow. The coming of the tiger was something terrible. I never shall forget the awful, splendid look of him as he landed with a spring in the thick of them. I could not move. It was too awful for anything. Oddly enough, while the fight was going on, now one furious beast tugging and crunching at the arms or legs of the corpse, now letting go with his teeth to plant his paws upon the bleeding remains and snap with his dripping jaws at another beast, writhing and awful as they were, I could not help looking at Lincoln, the lion, who was standing behind them, pawing the ground, roaring and lashing his sides with his tail, every muscle in uneasy tension. All of a sudden I had a flash.

“BY GOD, HE’S LOOKING AT ME,”
I said to myself. It seems to me I felt him looking at me. I saw him crouch. I turned and ran. My God, I had no idea there was anybody near me.
Miller had not been a minute and a half at the window when I saw him run towards me, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“THEY’RE COMING; THEY’RE ALL LOOSE.”
It is here necessary to explain Miller’s statement. “My God? I had no idea there was anybody near me.” Those who ran from the window in the first instance had not run far before they looked back. There was of course no pursuit, and a great many lingered by, but at a safe distance. The coming of the keeper, however; his standing listless looking before the window for over a minute, had had the effect of inspiring a return of confidence in the more curious, and when Anderson, frightened by the eye of the lion, ran precipitately toward the Arsenal there were perhaps a dozen persons near the window. He had only sped a few paces when, with a terrific roar

LINCOLN, THE LION, CAME CRASHING THROUGH THE GLASS.
I saw a young man fall from a blow of the awful paw, and another crashed to earth beneath the beast’s weight. The crowd fled in all directions, but the lion did not pursue. Planting his paws upon one of the bodies he filled the air with the fearful rumble of his roar. I started to run, but Miller called on me to stop. I turned and saw him kneel down deliberately and take aim. There was a good chance for a shot, as the lion stood almost facing him, but with the right shoulder more toward him. I have no reason to doubt the steadiness of Miller or his reputation as a shot, but I waited with inpent breath as he took aim. He had hit him. I could not see where, but the wound was far from fatal. The bellowings were renewed, his mane erect, his tail switching his sides, while he pawed the earth and swung his huge head from side to side. Drawn by the report of the rifle and the roaring of the beasts, crowds of people were entering the enclosure from the Sixty-fourth street entrance. I saw that already a number of Park

POLICE, ARMED WITH REVOLVERS
and citizens with rifles, were on the ground. I had no weapon and so ran down the incline by the refreshment stand, toward Fifth avenue; and almost on my heels, as it were, came the Numidian lion, with a series of bounds. So sudden, fierce and powerful was the leap he made into the midst of the storming party that he paralyzed the coolest calculations and scattered half a hundred armed and unarmed men like chaff before the wind. Springing in the air over the stooped form of Policeman Murray, who ducked in time to save himself from possible death, Lincoln landed in a fast widening

CIRCLE OF FEAR-STRICKEN PEOPLE,
of fainting women, screaming children and terrified men. Lincoln paused a second, lashing himself with his tail and glaring horribly around him. On the ground before him were two young men, who had tripped and fallen in the precipitate retreat from before the building. They were struggling fast to rise, and had nearly succeeded, when Lincoln, with another awful roar that echoed over the Park, pounced upon the nearest, and, with one stroke of his fore paw, tore clothes and flesh to pieces. A shout of horror went up from the distant witnesses of the deed; but they were given little time to meditate upon it. I was just in the angle between the two aviaries, which contained yesterday the doves and the eagles respectively, when the last mentioned deed of blood was enacted. I was about to escape by rushing past the house where the wild animals were caged, and had just reached the path near the sea lion’s tank, when what I had feared most came to pass. The rhinoceros, in his infuriated career, had at last found the gate and crashed through it. Had he done so at first there would have been less lost lives to count. A storming party, which had been formed by Colonel Conklin, of keepers, citizens and police, near the Fifty-ninth street entrance, and which was powerfully aided by the arrival of a platoon from the Nineteenth precinct, under Captain Gunner and Mr. Hunt, of Ninety-third street, was within a hundred yards of the building when the rhinoceros emerged, giving his short, vicious cry. His appearance was the signal for a misdirected volley, which, of course, did little or no execution on his thick, tough hide and double-horn protected proboscis. It confused him momentarily, however, for he turned and re-entered the building on a sort of ambling trot. Misled by this retreat a cheer went up from the firing party, and they rushed forward, Colonel Conklin leading to secure the door. Had the great brute deliberately planned an ambuscade it could not have better succeeded. When the party were within a dozen feet of the door the puma sprung through the shattered portal into their midst, overthrowing several, doubtless injuring some. Almost on the heels of the puma came the black and spotted leopard, followed by the jaguar, the African lioness and tiger. The latter came forth with a slow and stealthy tread. Archambeau, one of the keepers, had the temerity to try and lasso the beast, knowing that there was none more dangerous and bloodthirsty in the whole collection.

THE TIGER SAW THE OBJECT
of the keeper, and without a moment’s warning sprung fifteen feet into the air and caught Archambeau by the right shoulder. The two went down together, the tiger on top. Instant preparations were made to save the poor fellow, when unfortunately the rhinoceros came lumbering at a half trot out of the entrance and drove the rescuing party from their purpose. He also drove the tiger before him, but at the same time planted one of his enormous feet on the prostrate Archambeau and squeezed the breath from his body. The storming party was for the moment completely disorganized. The animals were running in various directions, and the attacking forces and the curious spectators were fleeing in every direction, scaling rocks, climbing trees, falling in their flight, and a case is reported of a citizen stabbed at this moment by an Italian over a quarrel as to which should first ascend a tree. The wounded man, Calvin Morley, of Flatbush, L.I., is at Bellevue Hospital, but cannot give the police any description of

THE MAN WHO STABBED HIM.
I mention this terrible incident from a host of others to show how overwhelming was the fright and how blinding the stampede. The lion had escaped the bullets of the firing party in the front inclosure, or rather being maddened to further desperation by them careered wildly through the Fifth avenue entrance, and was followed shortly after by the Bengal tiger, a number of demoralized Park policemen, who still had a sentiment of duty, pursuing them with halloes, as if they were sheep, not sheep devourers.

CONFUSION AND DESTRUCTION.
From this point it has been found extremely difficult to gather anything like a coherent or complete story of the depredations of the uncaged beasts. From a number of statements made to our reporters by eye-witnesses, many of these statements abounding in patent impossibilities, but all of them given with an apparent conviction of truthfulness, the following continuation of the story is given. The writer of the preceding on the pell-mell breaking forth of the animals ran to the Seventy-fourth street entrance and hurried down to the Windsor Hotel, whence he telegraphed to the Herald office for assistance.

Continued in Part Two.

Too much dialogue, not enough exposition, weak story line Casablanca is arguably the most famous movie in the history of film. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1943, and was voted as one of the top three American films ever made by the American Film Institute. It’s a movie that everyone in the film industry should instantly be able to recognize. But in 1982 freelance writer Chuck Ross asked himself this question: Would contemporary Hollywood movie agents actually be able to recognize Casablanca? Or failing that, would they at least be able to recognize it as a great script?

To find out, Ross devised an experiment. He retyped the script of Casablanca, changed its title to “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” (the title of the original play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison), changed the name of Rick’s sidekick from Sam to Dooley (after Dooley Wilson, the actor who played that character), and submitted it to 217 agencies as a script supposedly by an unknown writer, “Erik Demos.” He didn’t send it directly to movie studios because studios generally will not read unsolicited screenplays.

Results of the Casablanca Experiment

Of the 217 agencies Ross sent the script of Casablanca to, ninety returned it unread, for various reasons (it was their policy not to read unsolicited manuscripts, they weren’t taking on new clients, or they were no longer in the agency business). Seven never responded. Eighteen scripts apparently got lost in the mail.

Thirty-three agencies actually recognized the script. For instance, Alan Green of the Gage Group wrote back to Ross, “Unfortunately I’ve seen this picture before: 147 times to be exact.”

Eight noticed a similarity to Casablanca, but didn’t realize it was Casablanca.

Thirty-eight agencies claimed to have read it, but rejected it. In other words, of those agencies that actually read the manuscript (or claimed to have), the majority did not recogize it as Casablanca, nor did they think the script was good enough to be worth representing.

The comments Ross received included:

“I just think you need to rework it… you have excessive dialogue at times.”

“To bridge the gap between ‘talented writer’, which you now are, and ‘professional writer’, which is yet to come, you need professional help. And that will have to be paid for. I could recommend a ‘literary surgeon’ who would help you, but are you ready to accept professional help????”

“I think the dialogue could have been sharper and I think the plot had a tendency to ramble. It could’ve been tighter and there could have been a cleaner line to it.”

“I gave you five pages to grab me—didn’t do it.”

“Too much dialogue, not enough exposition, the story line was weak, and in general didn’t hold my interest.”

“Story line is thin. Too much dialogue for amount of action. Not enough highs and lows in the script.”

“I strongly recommend that you leaf through a book called Screenplay by Syd Field, especially the section pertaining to dialogue. This book may be an aid to you in putting a professional polish on your script, which I feel is its strongest need.”

Perhaps strangest of all, three agencies expressed a desire to represent the work. A representative of the Lil Cumber Attractions Agency asked Ross who he might have in mind to play the character of Rick. The following conversation ensued:

Ross: “Humphrey Bogart.”
Lil Cumber Rep: “I meant somebody available now.”
Ross: “Somebody like Bogart...”

Finally, the Irv Schecter Co., after not replying for six months, contacted Ross to ask permission to send the script to a literary agent to see about the possibility of turning it into a novel.

Implications of this hoax

• Many movie agents have difficult recognizing well-known works of fiction.
• Submissions by unknown writers stand little chance of getting published.

Spurious Submissions

Ross’s experiment was an example of a Spurious Submission Hoax, a type of hoax which involves the submission of a disguised piece of work (usually the retyped text of a famous work) to a publisher. This was the second time Ross had perpetrated such a hoax. In 1975 he had submitted the text of Jerzy Kosinski’s National Book Award winning novel, Steps, to fourteen publishers, all of whom rejected it.

What became of Chuck Ross?

Chuck Ross never made it as a screenwriter, but he did achieve success as a journalist. As of 2007, he was publisher and editorial director of TelevisionWeek magazine, a leading trade publication for the TV industry.

Related Articles

• Spurious Submission Hoaxes
• The Steps Experiment

References

• Ross, Chuck. (November-December, 1982). “The Great Script Tease.” Film Comment. 18(6): 15-19.

Route of the 1956 Olympic torch relay, from Cairns to Melbourne. In 1956 runners bore the Olympic flame across Australia, on a path from Cairns to Melbourne, where the summer games were to be held. But before the flame even got as far as Sydney, it had to endure a series of setbacks. Torrential rains soaked it. Burning heat almost overwhelmed the runners. The flame even went out a few times. Then in Sydney itself it encountered a situation unique in Olympic history.

Cross-country champion Harry Dillon was scheduled to bear the flame into Sydney, where he would present it to the mayor, Pat Hills. After making a short speech, Hills would pass the flame along to another runner, Bert Button.

Thirty-thousand people lined the streets of Sydney waiting for Dillon to arrive. Reporters stood ready with their cameras to record the historic occasion. Finally the runner appeared, bearing the flame aloft, and everyone began cheering. As the crowd pressed forward a police escort surrounded the runner in order to keep order.

With this escort around him, the runner made his way through the streets all the way to the Sydney Town Hall. He bounded up the steps and handed the torch to the waiting mayor who graciously accepted it and turned to begin his prepared speech.

Then someone whispered in the mayor’s ear, “That’s not the torch.” Suddenly the mayor realized what he was holding. Held proudly in his hand was not the majestic Olympic flame. Instead he was gripping a wooden chair leg topped by a plum pudding can inside of which a pair of kerosene-soaked underwear was burning with a greasy flame. The mayor looked around for the runner, but the man had already disappeared, melting away into the surrounding crowd.

The Pranksters

The identity of the rogue runner was only publicly revealed years later. It was Barry Larkin, a veterinary science student at Sydney University’s St. Johns College. He had dreamed up the prank in collusion with eight other students.

Their intention was to poke fun at the torch relay because they felt it was being treated with too much reverence considering the tradition’s dubious past. It traced its origins back to the 1936 Berlin games organized by the Nazis.

Originally, Larkin was not supposed to have been the bearer of the flaming underwear. One of the other students had dressed up in white shorts and a white top, like a runner, but he panicked at the last minute and dropped the torch. Larkin, wearing a tie, picked it up and started running.

The official flame-bearer had been delayed outside of Sydney, so the crowd assumed Larkin was the real thing. Soon a police escort joined him. Larkin later recalled in an interview what the experience felt like: “The noise was quite staggering. There were flashes of photography. I felt very strange because I knew I was carrying a fake torch. The only thing I could think about was what do I do when I got there. I was helped by Pat Hills. I just turned around and walked back down the steps, through the crowd and onto a tram and back to college.”

Reaction

The mayor took the prank in good humor, but the crowd, once it realized what had happened, began to grow unruly. When the real runner arrived a few minutes later, the crowd was milling around excitedly in the street, as if stirred up by the mischief. In the crush of people, women began screaming for the safety of their children. Hills called out for calm. A police convoy had to clear a path for the flame-bearer to get through.

When the torch was passed to the next runner, Bert Button, an army truck had to clear a path to allow him to continue with the relay.

Back at his college, Larkin was given a hero’s reception. When he walked into the hall for breakfast the next morning, his fellow students gave him a standing ovation. Even the rector of the college walked up to him and said, “Well done, son.”

The fake torch was taken to a Town Hall reception, and ended up in the possession of John Lawler, a man who had been travelling with the relay in a car. He stored it for years beneath his bed, until eventually it got thrown out while tidying.

2000 Games

In 2000, the Olympic Games were again held in Australia, and once again the Olympic Torch was carried by runners around the country. Numerous newspapers took the opportunity to retell the story of Larkin’s 1956 prank, prompting authorities to make preparations in case someone would try to repeat it.

Security guards lined the route, keeping people away from the runner. Many bystanders complained they couldn’t even see the torch. A few pranksters did their best to disrupt the relay. Two teenagers tried to grab the torch, and one young man tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. But no one succeeded in replicating Larkin’s prank.

References

• “Pranksters sniff fame in Olympic flame.” (Aug 28, 2000). Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
• Terry Smyth. (Aug 13, 2000). “Hits and myths: A lot of flaming trouble.” The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia).
• Tony Stephens. (June 29, 2000). “Flaming undies! Now that was a relay.” Sydney Morning Herald.

Table of Contents

• Leaning Tower of Pisa Falls Over
• Stupid Safecracker
• There’s an elephant in my yard
• Atomic Sub in Bedford
• Fewer Fools
• “April Doesn’t Fool When It Comes To Rain!”
• April Fool Pig
• Late Format Change
• References

Leaning Tower of Pisa Falls Over

The national news in the Netherlands reported that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. The announcement caused widepread shock and mourning.

Stupid Safecracker

An attempted robbery was reported in El Rio, California. A burglar spent hours using an acetylene torch to try to cut open a safe in the Leonard Anderson Well Drilling Co. office. When he failed at this, he tried to guess the combination. Finally, he gave up and left. Fred Rush, manager of the company, commented, “He just wouldn’t believe the sign. We put it there because we don’t know the combination. Now the joke’s on us. When the yeggman tried to work the combination he set the lock and now we can’t open the safe ourselves.” The sign on the safe which the burglar ignored read, “This safe is not locked.” It wasn’t.

There’s an elephant in my yard

George Morris of Safford, Arizona woke to find a full-grown elephant eating lilies in his backyard. He assumed it had to be some kind of elaborate April Fool’s Day joke. It wasn’t. But when he called the police to report the animal to them, they initially refused to believe he was telling the truth. Finally they sent over some officers. It turned out that “Dumbo” had been accidentally left behind by a circus that had pulled up stakes the night before. The circus was notified and a van was sent to pick up Dumbo.

Atomic Sub in Bedford

The Pennsylvania Bedford Express ran a photograph on its front page of an atomic submarine floating in the Raystown River. The paper was subsequently flooded with calls from its readers: “Was there really a sub in the river? Where is it now? Has it left yet?” The image had been created by a Gazette photographer who superimposed a picture of the sub onto a picture of the river. In reality, the Raystown River is only three feet deep in the Bedford area.

Fewer Fools

The New York Telephone Company announced it had prepared for April Fools Day, as it had done so for the past thirty years, by assigning special operators to intercept all calls to the Bronx Zoo. Only legitimate calls would be allowed through. When the day came, it intercepted 2561 calls to the zoo from people seeking to speak with Mr. Lion, Mr. Fox, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Beaver, etc. This was only half the number of calls made the previous year.

“April Doesn’t Fool When It Comes To Rain!”

Advertisement for Alligator Raincoats.

April Fool Pig

Bill Taylor of Oklahoma City celebrated his birthday every year on April 1st. As a consequence, he noted, he always received an “off brand gift.” On April 1, 1960 he turned 40. He woke to find a large box on his front porch. Inside was a 40-pound pig wrapped in a pink ribbon and bow. He announced, “I’ll just have that porker barbecued.”

Late Format Change

KABL, an Oakland radio station which described itself as the “good music” station, placed ads in Bay area publications announcing “KABL changes to Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Its listeners were shocked. They had no reason to suspect an April Fool’s Day joke since the ads appeared in early May. However, small type at the bottom of the ad declared, “late April Fool.” Critics agreed that the mistimed joke made KABL the fool.

References

• “Safecracker refuses to believe sign.” (Apr 2, 1960). Los Angeles Times.
• “Atom sub was April Fool joke.” (Apr 2, 1960). Syracuse Herald-Journal.
• “Dumbo goes visiting, dines on flowers.” (Apr 3, 1960). The Ada Evening News.
• “Phone company is set for pranksters today.” (Apr 1, 1960). New York Times.
• “Fewer April Fools.” (Apr 2, 1960). Chicago Daily Tribune.
• “TV Screenings.” (May 3, 1960). San Mateo Times.
• “Plans to have his April Fool’s gift barbecued.” (Apr 2, 1960). Newark Advocate.

Newspapers and magazines like to print pictures of attractive young women, especially if the pictures are vaguely newsworthy. For instance, if the woman has just been awarded a title such as “Miss Congeniality,” that’s usually justification enough to run her photo.

Arthur Davis took full advantage of this. In 1950 he ran Arthur Davis Associates, a New York-based modeling agency and foreign film distribution company. In order to promote the models and actresses he represented, he would invent phony titles, such as “Miss Perfect Profile,” supposedly awarded by fictitious but high-sounding organizations such as the “Plastic Surgeons Institute.” He would send notice of these awards to the papers, along with a provocatively posed photo. The papers usually happily took the bait.

One time, it is said, he distributed a picture of a man (shown above) who he said was “selected by the Institute of Executive Secretaries” as “the boss they’d most like to stay in with after office hours.” A few papers ran it. The picture was of himself.

Below are examples of some of the photos he distributed to the media, along with the phony titles and organizations he invented.

Miss Perfect Profile

Cocoa Brown, according to Davis, was named “Miss Perfect Profile” by the “Plastic Surgeons Institute.” He also claimed she was named “Miss Outdoor Girl” by the “Society of Western Real Estate Salesmen.”

Miss Secret Mission