The Humbugs of the World P. T. Barnum (ebook reader for comics txt) đ
- Author: P. T. Barnum
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âWell, wonât you say to the folks that Iâm all right, and happy? that I didnât suffer a great deal, had a pretty severe wound, got over that all right; went out from Petersburg. I was in the battle before Petersburg; got my discharge from there. Remember me kindly to Mr. Lord.
âWell, tell âem as soon as I get the wheels a little greased up and in running order Iâll come back with the good things, as I said I would, George W. Lolley. Goodbye.â
Immediately after a âmessageâ from the spirit of John Morgan, the guerrilla, came one from Charles Talbot, who began as follows with a curious apostrophe to his predecessor:
âHi-yah! old grisly. Itâs lucky for you I didnât get in ahead of you.
âI am Charlie Talbot, of Chambersburg, Pa. Was wounded in action, captured by the Rebels, and âdied on their handsâ as they say of the horse.â
It seems a little rude for one âspiritâ to term another âOld Grisly;â but such may be the style of compliment prevailing in the spirit-world.
Here is what Brother Klink said:
âJohn Klink, of the Twenty-fifth South Carolina. I want to open communication with Thomas Lefar, Charleston, S.C. I am deucedly ignorant about this coming backâ âdead railroadâ âbusiness. Itâs new business to me, as I suppose it will be to some of you when you travel this way. Say I will do the best I can to communicate with my friends, if they will give me an opportunity. I desire Mr. Lefar to send my letter to my family when he receives itâ âhe knows where they areâ âand then report to this office.
âGood night, afternoon or morning, I donât know which. I walked out at Petersburg.â
Here is a message from George W. Gage, with some of the questions which he answered:
â[How do you like your new home?] First rate. I likesâ âheigho!â âI likes to come here, for they clears all the truck away before you get round, and fix up so you can talk right off. [Wasnât you a medium?] No, Sir; I wasnât afraid, though; nor my mother ainât, either. Oh, I knew about it; I knew before I come to die, about it. My mother told me about it. I knew Iâd be a woman when I come here, too. [Did you?] Yes, sir; my mother told me, and said I musnât be afraid. Oh, I donât likes that, but I likes to come.
âI forgot, Sir; my motherâs deaf, and always had to holler. That gentleman says folks ainât deaf here.â
The observable points are first that he seems to have excused his âholleringâ by the habits consequent upon his motherâs deafness. The âholleringâ consisted of unusually heavy thumping, I suppose. But the second point is of far greater interest. George intimates that he has changed his âsect,â and become a woman! For this important alteration his good mother had prepared his mind. This style of thing will not seem so strange if we consider that some men become old women before they die!
Here is another case of feminification and restitution combined. Hans Von Vleet has become a vrowâ âwhat you may call a female Dutchman! It has always been claimed that women are purer and better than men; and accordingly we see that as soon as Hans became a woman he insisted on his widowâs returning to a Jew two thousand dollars that naughty Hans had âChristianedâ the poor Hebrew out of. But let Hans tell his own story:
âI was Hans Von Vleet ven I vas here. I vas Von Vleet here; I is one vrow now. I is one vrow ven I comes back; I vas no vrow ven I vas here (alluding to the fact that he was temporarily occupying the form of our medium.) I wish you to know that I first live in Harlem, State of New York. Ven I vos here, I take something I had no right to take, something that no belongs to me. I takes something; I takes two thousand dollars that was no my own; thatâs what I come back to say about. I first have some dealings with one Jew; thatâs what you call him. He likes to Jew me, and I likes to Christian him. I belongs to the Dutch Reform Church. (Do you think you were a good member?) Vell, I vas. I believes in the creed; I takes the sacrament; I lives up to it outside. I no lives up to it inside, I suppose. (How do you find yourself now, Hans?) Vell, I finds myselfâ âvell, I donât know; I not feel very happy. Ven I comes to the spirit-land, I first meet that Jewâs brother, and he tells me, âHans, you mus go back and makes some right with my brother.â So I comes here.
âI vants my vrow, what I left in Harlem, to takes that two tousand dollars and gives it back to that Jewâs vrow. Thatâs what I came for today, Sir. (Has your vrow got it?) Vell, my vrow has got it in a tin box. Ven I first go, I takes the money, I gives it to my vrow, and she takes care of it. Now I vants my vrow to give that two tousand dollars to that Jewâs vrow.
â(How do you spell your name?) The vrow knows how to spell. (Hans Von Vleet.) Thereâs a something you cross in it. The vrow spells the rest. Ah, thatâs wrong; you makes a blunder. Itâs V. not F. Thatâs like all vrows. (Do all vrows make blunders?) Vell, I donât know; all do sometimes, I suppose. (Didnât you like vrows here?) Oh, vell, I likes âem sometimes. I likes mine own vrow. I not likes to be a vrow myself. (Donât the clothes fit?) Ah, vell, I
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