# XXIII explained — The Humbugs of the World

> Chapter companion for The Humbugs of the World by P. T. Barnum.

## What happens

This chapter recounts several historical humbugs involving fraudulent mining and canal schemes. It begins with a California coal mine hoax where prospectors sold stock based on coal lumps left behind by a U.S. surveying expedition. Next, it describes a Hartford coal mine venture that failed because the investors bored into old red sandstone, which never contains coal. Finally, it tells of a fabricated story about a vast ancient canal discovered in Guatemala, invented to promote a Central American transit route to California.

## Themes in this chapter

### Definition and Nature of Humbug

The chapter illustrates humbug through fraudulent mining claims and a fabricated ancient canal, showing how deception is crafted and sold.

### Gullibility and Human Nature

Investors and the public eagerly believe in the coal mine and canal stories, driven by greed and excitement, despite lack of evidence.

### Advertising and Showmanship

The promoters of the California coal mine and the Guatemalan canal story use secrecy, stock sales, and public exhibitions to generate hype.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Barnum

Narrator and commentator on the humbugs described in the chapter.

## Key lines

> The hole they made, however, as my informant gravely observed, was left sticking in the ground, and if he is right is to this day a sort of appendix or tail to the well northwest corner of the State House Square.

The borehole remained as a permanent, useless feature near the State House well.

_Barnum uses humor to underscore the absurdity of the Hartford coal mine venture._

> Twelve hundred dollars in coin for one share (par $100) was laughed at.

Shares soared to twelve times their face value, yet were still considered too low by speculators.

_Illustrates the irrational exuberance of investors in the California coal mine hoax._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_humbugs_of_the_world_se/chapters/xxiii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_humbugs_of_the_world_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_humbugs_of_the_world_se/chapters