The following account was discovered and dispatched to me by a contact in the USA. It is an hilarious account from a 1894 Chicago newspaper article and is written using the original grammar and punctuation.

The article is an account of My G Great Uncle, Thomas Hargreaves Brigg and his public acceptance of a $5000 wager. Following on is later related article, this time from the New Orleans Daily Picayune which reports on the inevitable showdown and subsequent public resolution of the wager, in the same Chicago theatre, in favour of Thomas.

If anyone has any further information on T.H.Brigg - Engineer and Inventor, particularly his exploits at the Worlds Fairs of 1894 in Chicago and 1904 in St Louis I would be very pleased to hear from them.


HALL HOOTED DOWN

AUDIENCE AT THE CASINO DENOUNCES HIM AS A BLUFFER

He Offers $5000 To Anyone Who Can Explain the Marvelous Strength of The ?Mysterious Gaza? ? When T.H.Brigg Accepts the Challenge the Wily Manager Backs Down ? Pandemonium Reigns and a Hand to Hand Fight Seems Imminent.

?I?ll give any man $1000 who can explain the mysterious forces exerted by this lady: I?ll give a $1000 - yes I?ll give $5000? bawled Manager Frank Hall in a burst of magnanimity from the stage of the casino last night as he wound up a long harangue concerning the ?mysterious Gaza?

Then a little Englishman with broad forehead and neatly trimmed beard stood up in a box at the left of the stage and in a falsetto voice piped out:
I accept your challenge, Mr Hall?
The speaker was T.H Brigg, an engineer who has attracted some attention in Chicago because of his theories in regard to haulage by horses. He went on in a long harangue to explain how he ?loved the ladies,? and how sorry he was that it became his painful duty, etc.,etc.

Mr. Hall was thunder struck at first, then cynically amused, then choleric. He waited until the little Englishman was through, then moistened his lips and let loose a pent up flood of oratory.

?Of course in every performance of this kind there is always a crank who thinks he knows it all?

Angry hisses checked his words and he grew fairly apoplectic with rage. When he could be heard he took a sarcastic fling at the audience then related to an alleged incident in London in which, he said, Sandow in failing to push Gaza off her balance knocked her down. The audience gagged audibly at this yarn, then there was the noise of swallowing, and Mr Hall went on to say he would ?cheerfully give $5000 as he promised if the gentleman in the box would explain the lady?s marvellous power,? but this was no place to make any test; he was here to please the audience, not an individual. Besides, if the lady?s mind were disturbed she could not perform the feats.

Pandemonium Breaks Loose.
Pandemonium broke loose at this juncture. There were yells, hisses, catcalls, cheers, applause and cries of ?Give him a chance!? ?Lets hear from the man in the box!? ?You?ve backed down!? ?let?s see it explained!?

?You have accused me of being a pugilist,? screamed the little man in the box, popping up again.

Manager Hall finding he could not make himself heard quieted the uproar by signalling for the curtain to go up, revealing the ?Mysterious Gaza? and her manager.

Then the usual committee of twelve was called for with the condition, uttered with a vindictive glance at the little Englishman, that it should consist of men that had never been on the stage before. The little Englishman no sooner heard these words than he climbed out of the box and started up the steps leading from the orchestra to the stage.
Manager Hall immediately laid violent hands on him, but Mr. Brigg was heavy and muscular and he wouldn?t yield. With one hand grasping the proscenium arch he attempted to parlay with the irate manager, who merely swung down the steps below his adversary and gave a yank that it seemed must tear his arms from their sockets, but in vain.

?Mr Hall----? another tug, ? I want to see---? a terrific yank from Mr.Hall. Here an attach? of the theatre reinforced the manager and Mr. Brigg suddenly abandoned his position.

Women Flee The Place.

The uproar in the theatre was now louder than ever. Women near the front shrieked ?O, they?ll shoot? and wildly fled. Mr. Brigg attempted to renew the parlay in the aisle, but a thunder-clap could not have been heard just then, so loud was the tumult. The scene was ended by a man in plain clothes climbing over the exited throng and going through the pantomime of showing a star. Mr. Brigg returned to his box, Mr. Hall to his stage.

At last the twelve judges were secured and the ?Mysterious Gaza? went through her usual feats, the performance being enlivened sniffs of distain and exclamations of ?bosh!? and ?tommy rot!? from the box. Mr Hall shot furious glances at the box but held his peace.

It was 12 O?clock when the curtain went down on the ?Mysterious Gaza? and her feats.
The painted canvas had scarcely begun it?s descent before Mr. Hall was on his way to the box gnashing his teeth with rage. He came round through the box entrance, pushed his way through a group of ladies in the box, and for the second time his fingers closed on Mr. Brigg?s coat sleeves. He attempted to hoist the little Englishman over the railing, but he lacked the muscle. Besides he didn?t have time. He had no sooner laid hands on the occupant of the box than a muscular young man, weighing fully 200 pounds, who had served on the committee, sprang over the railing with an exclamation of wrath, tearing off his coat as he went. He thrust an enormous fist under Mr. Hall?s nose and in emphatic language informed him that the gentleman had paid for his seat, that he was behaving, and that he was not going to be imposed upon while the speaker was around. He added some distinctly personal remarks about Mr. Hall and intimated that he had not kept his word in regard to the $5000 offer. Mr.Hall stepped back.

Three in an Argument.

Then there was a trio in Mr. Brigg, Mr. Hall and the muscular committee man took part. There was a great deal of noise, but, as is sometimes the case in trios, the words were not intelligable. Mr. Hall?s wind proved best and his voice was the last heard announcing that he was there to give entertainment for the ladies and gentlemen. Then he undertook to run in a few remarks about Mr. Brigg, but the big committee man?s fist went up so menacingly that he sidled away and resumed the thread of his discourse. This was not the time and place to make any such test as the gentleman proposed. Then followed a portion of a sentence derogatory to Mr. Brigg?s character. Again the big fist threatened the orator?s nose. The sidelong movement and sudden return to the theme were repeated. ?I said I would give any man $5000 who would explain the feats of this lady, and you all heard what this person had to say. But this is no time and no place to make any test. This is out of place----?

? The bluff didn?t go,? yelled a voice from the audience, which was now crowded as thick as possible about the box. Five hundred voices took up the refrain with 500 variations. ?Had to crayfish didn?t you?? ?How about that $5000 ?? ?Let?s hear from the man in the box!? ? You?re a coward!? ?You daresn?t let him explain!? ?We want to hear that explanation now!? ?This is as good a chance as any!? ?It?s a clean back down!?

Hoots and Hisses.

Mr. Hall attempted to continue his explanation, but it turned out to be all appearances, though not in words a complete a complete back-down from his $5000 proposition. The taunts mingled with hoots and hisses, were continued so vigorously that Mr. Hall?s voice was drowned and he left the box in disgust. Then Mr. Brigg and the muscular committee man courteously exchanged cards. At this point the lights were suddenly turned out. The last tableau as the theatre faded in to darkness, was Mr. Brigg serenely smiling from his box and dealing out his personal cards left and right to outstretched hands from the audience. With a parting yell, the audience groped it?s way out.

About 3 weeks later the following article appeared in the The New Orleans Daily Picayune 10 March 1894

ANOTHER MIRACLE DEGRADED

T.H. Brigg, the Expert, Exposes and Duplicates the Strength Feats of Gaza

The Chicago Record of the 26th says:
T.H.Brigg, the English mechanical expert, in the Central Music Hall Saturday night, before 500 persons, explained the feats of the ?Mysterious Gaza.?

At the beginning of the contest Frank Hall, manager for Mile Gaza, made a long statement as to how she had for many years had baffled all scientific men.
A committee of 15 was seated on the stage in order to watch all the tests. Dr Withers was chairman, John S. Cooper was among the committee men. Mile Gaza first performed her seven tricks; some with variations. When Mr. Brigg tried the first trick and failed at first the house jeered. But the second time he did better, and as he did one trick after the other, opinion changed. Manager Frank Hall who had been offering to bet $100 on this and $500 on that, went away. Gaza herself left a few minutes later. After Briggs had performed all the tricks- lifting five men, twisting the hickory sapling and all the rest- he explained all of them from diagrams thrown on to a screen. He showed incidently how much needless work horses perform and some of the many reforms which could easily be accomplished in that line.

Grey haired Dr. Malone who sat in one of the front seats, arose and shouted: ?I want to get an expression from all in this house, so that Mr. Hall may know our decision. As many as think that Professor Brigg has exposed all Gaza?s tricks will hold up their right hands.? Every right hand went up, and there was a shout of delight. Hall came to the stage and offered to make his offer of $1000 good if the committee decided that Brigg had performed all of Gaza?a tricks. Mr. Brigg, however, declined to take the money. ?Give it to the soup gang? cried one in the gallery. ?Give it to the Central Relief Association.? But still the Englishman refused. After the exercises many tried the experiments, and nearly all succeeded.