An All Fools’ Day Joke.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 184, 20 May 1873, Page 7

An All Fools’ Day Joke.

The following account of a capital practical joke, played by some wags at Creswick, ia given in the Ballarat Courier :—lt appears that in the shire a license-fee of £25 is imposed, which was objected to by some fifteen or twenty of the publicans, who wore summoned and fined for selling without a license, laking advantage of their dissatisfaction, some unknown wag, evidently well acquainted with the facts, conceived an idea, since successfully carried out, of writing to nearly every publican in the shire, asking his attendance at a meeting to be held at the British Hotel, Creswick, to give evidence before a commission there sitting to inquire into and repoit on their grievances, and finally soliciting the attendance of the president of the shire to preside at the meeting. Never was a bait more eagerly snapped at, for during the morning of the appointed day, from nine till half-past ten, the town was quite alive with buggies and horsemen pouring in, much to the astonishment of the townspeople, who were quite at a loss to account for this sudden irruption. By eleven o’clock, the president of the shire and a large number of the genus Boniface (among whom were two buxom hostesses from Kington) were assembled ; and now the cry was, “ Where are the commissioners I” But here all inquiry was at fault. The worthy host of the British did not know, nor did anyone else. No one there had heard anything of such a meeting previously, and all seemed wrapped in mystery. At length, some one with more brains than his neighbours recalled to recollection that on the letter sent to him, in one corner, was a mysterious “ A.F.” in red ink ; and as it often happens that one discovery leads on to something greater still, so presently another of the party, who had been for some time severely scrutinising the missive he had received, made the startling announcement that it was All Fools’ Bay—that was what “A.F.” meant. The signature was only an anagram on April Fool, and the speaker believed'they had all been made fools of together. Such was indeed the case. Let us pass over the scene which ensued. Yows of vengeance, could they but find the wag, accompanied by a wish from the ladies that they had the villain in their clutches for five minutes, then an adjournment for drinks, followed by a departure for home,—all going their way, not rejoicing, but sadder, if not wiser, men and women.