A PRE-WAR ECHO
MASTER JOKEII DEAD. lleceived this day, y. 20 a.m. Berlin,' January o. The notorious Koepenick hoax is recalled by the death of ihe perpetra- - tor, Voight. The Koepenick hoax was one of the great historic jokes, -and mad* the German military system, the butt or the world's" laughter for the time being. Voight was a cobbler who in. 1906, conceived the idea of setting the, machinery for the mobilisation of the • German army in motion. Acting the part, of a military officer, he directed, the sealed orders for mooilisation itu possession of the military authorities at Koepenick, a Prussian town ot 30,000 people, to be openej and acted. • upon. Unquestioning, Ihe .officials • obeyed his orders, and before very long the news had spreai over a wide, area, and the mobilisation was in fuii. swing. Once, in operation it was soma; time before the operation could bei> stopped, and this did not occur until' there had been extraordinary scenes? throughout Prussia, tin perpetrator was punished by imprisonment, but ht» had a distinction of adding a new* word to the vocabulary, for "to Koepenick" became a synonym for "to hoax" in more countries than per* man£- .- , - -\ :
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Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 January 1922, Page 2
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197A PRE-WAR ECHO Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 January 1922, Page 2
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