49 Want to Buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

As a rule, practical jokers either get stupendous laughs or get themselves into serious trouble. The outcome of a practical joke depends a great deal on the situation and sense of humor of the victim. Sometimes, however, a practical joke can be so outrageous that the only people who see the humor in it are the practical jokers themselves.

For two practical jokers named Lozier and DeVoe, the latter case was certainly true. Both were restless men seeking excitement. By 1824, these two learned that the southern portion of Manhattan Island is slowly sinking into the ocean because of the weight of the many large buildings there.

The practical joke was to convince New Yorkers that the only way to save the southern portion was to twist the island northward. Full-page ads were placed in newspapers to recruit an army of construction workers. The ad also mentioned that a gigantic anchor had been ordered to keep the island from blowing out to sea during a storm once it had been twisted.

On the appointed day, hundreds of workers appeared for their first day of work. Fortunately for the jokers, they were nowhere to be found. Rumor had it that a sudden illness had sent Lozier and DeVoe on an indefinitely long trip to an unknown destination.

49 想买布鲁克林大桥吗？

通常来说，搞恶作剧的人要么收获巨大的笑声，要么让自己陷入大麻烦。恶作剧的结果很大程度上取决于情境和受害者的幽默感。不过有时候，恶作剧会离谱到只有搞恶作剧的人自己能看出其中的笑点。

对于洛齐尔和德沃伊这两个恶作剧者来说，后一种情况无疑是真的。两人都闲不住，一直在寻找能让自己兴奋的事。到1824年，这两人得知了一个事实：曼哈顿岛的南部区域因为众多大型建筑的重量，正在缓慢沉入海洋。

他们的恶作剧是让纽约人相信，拯救南部区域的唯一方法是将岛屿向北扭转。他们在报纸上刊登整版广告，招募一支建筑工人队伍。广告还提到，他们已经订购了一个巨大的锚，一旦岛屿被扭转，这个锚可以防止它在暴风雨中被吹到海里。

在约定的那天，数百名工人来上班。幸运的是，这两个恶作剧者消失得无影无踪。有传言说，一场突发疾病让洛齐尔和德沃伊踏上了前往未知目的地的漫长旅程。