I'm actually quite willing to believe that Silas remembered it because (he thought) it proved his theory.

Point. I suppose I mean "why they bothered to run the story." They weren't running it to expose Bell as a charlatan, they ran it as Fish Out Of Water.

The detail I remembered most was how children would stop with interest, only to be dragged away by their hurried parents.

Yeah :-D

Unfortunately, the distractibility of the people with the money is why busking for money involves Beatles. Lots of Beatles. More Beatles.