The following is from the Museum of Hoaxes Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of
All Time. No fooling!
Logan
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/
*#76: Great Cave Sell*
On one undetermined April 1 in the 1840s a story appeared in the /Boston Post/ announcing that a cave full of treasure had been discovered
beneath Boston Common. It had supposedly been uncovered by workmen as they removed a tree from the Common. As the tree fell, it revealed a stone
trap-door with a large iron ring set in it. Beneath the door was a stone stairway that led to an underground cave. In this cave lay piles of
jewels, old coins, and weapons with jeweled handles. As word of the discovery spread throughout Boston, parties of excited curiosity-seekers
began marching out across the Common to view the treasure. A witness later described the scene: "It was rainy, that 1st of April, the
Legislature was in session, and it was an animated scene that the Common presented, roofed with umbrellas, sheltering pilgrims on their way to
the new-found sell. A procession of grave legislators marched solemnly down under their green gingham, while philosophers, archaeologists,
numismatists, antiquarians of all qualities, and the public generally paid tribute to the Post's ingenuity." Of course, the Common was empty of
all jewel-bearing caverns, as the crowd of treasure seekers eventually discovered to its disappointment.
