A Burglar Caught by a Skeleton & Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press (50 page)

Coxwell’s Balloon Burnt.

On Monday, at the Foresters’ Fete, at Leicester, the populace burnt Coxwell’s balloon, ‘Britannia,’ in which the aeronaut had proposed to make an ascent, and they would, in all probability also have killed himself had he not been escorted off the ground by a strong body of police.

It was announced that the balloon ascent would take place at half-past five o’clock, and as the hour approached there was a great rush to see the air-ship, which was then in process of being inflated.

The police were unable to keep back the ‘roughs,’ and a series of rows was the result, in which serious wounds were inflicted on both sides. One of the policemen, by a blow of a stake on the forehead, knocked down a woman, who lay on the ground bleeding profusely.

This, we trust, accidental outrage, infuriated the mob, who instantly made a most determined attack on the constables. The scene of riot and confusion was indescribable; and eventually the constabulary were beaten back.

Mr Coxwell was seated in the car of the balloon with thirteen gentlemen, who were desirous to make the ascent along with him. He repeatedly assured the crowd that if they did not desist from violence he would not make the ascent at all. But the mob was too infuriated to listen to any appeals, and Mr Coxwell ultimately pulled the valve rope and allowed all the gas to escape.

The passions of the mob were raised to the highest pitch by this proceeding. They instantly levelled all the barriers, broke into the reserved space, and the cry having been raised to burn the balloon there were plenty of incendiaries to answer to the appeal.

Mr Coxwell was escorted off the ground by a body of police, leaving his balloon a prey to the victorious mob. They gathered rapidly around, cutting the oiled calico, of which the body of the balloon was formed, into shreds; and having taken away as many trophies as they pleased, set fire to the remainder. In the process of cutting up the balloon, several of the rioters sustained severe wounds on the hands and fingers.

After the work of destruction was completed the rioters paraded the town in triumph, and Mr Coxwell, to escape the torrent of popular fury, left Leicester by the first available train.

Several accidents occurred on the London Road, which leads to the Race Course, owing to furious driving; and on the whole, Leicester witnessed a series of riots and disorderly tumult, rarely experienced.

The Nottinghamshire Guardian
, July 15, 1864

A Wonderful Parrot

Mrs Mackay, the ‘Bonanza Queen,’ has, writes a London correspondent, provided during her absence the public of London with a gratuitous entertainment of a most diverting nature.

At her open window in Buckingham Palace Gate is a wonderful green parrot, which attracts hundreds of people every day to hear him talk. The crowd on Sunday was so great that the policeman had to request the people to ‘move on.’

‘Move on,’ echoes the parrot, to the intense delight of the mob. ‘Polly, what is o’clock?’ asks a man. The parrot, pretending to look at the clock, cries out in answer – ‘Half-past five,’ and he was right.

I asked him how his mistress was? ‘Coming over soon, all right,’ replied the marvellous bird. ‘How old are you, Polly?’ ‘Don’t know. How old are you?’ was the answer, which, of course, provoked great merriment, in which the parrot joined. Asked what day of the week it was, the wretch hopped about screaming ‘Sunday; go to prayers.
Ora pro nobis
,’ and fell into a paroxysm of laughter which was quite contagious.

The Dundee Courier and Argus
, September 20, 1889

Andrian, the Dog-Headed Man, and his Son, Fedor

The likenesses of the two extraordinary creatures on our front page are correct representations of the singular beings now being exhibited nightly at the Metropolitan Music Hall, Edgware Road.

The face of Andrian, the father, is covered with hair, and presents the appearance of one of the lower animals of the creation. He is fifty-five years of age, and has four teeth on the lower jaw and two on the upper – these are the only teeth he ever possessed; he is quiet and unobtrusive in manner, and has been for the greater part of his life a denizen of a Governmental forest, in Russia, called Kostroma.

While in his native wilds he was habited in skins of bears and other animals, and it was with much difficulty that he was prevailed upon to clothe himself in civilised costume.

The hair on his face, forehead, and ears appears in form and structure unlike that which usually grows on human beings.

The boy – his son, Fedor – is four years old; his face is covered with light coloured downy hair, resembling in some respects the soft fleecy wool of a lamb. He has four teeth on the lower jaw, but none on the upper. Fedor is a lively, merry little fellow. Both father and son have been presented at the Russian Court. They have also been exhibited at Paris, where they attracted crowds of curious and wonder-struck people. The dog-headed man and his son are most unquestionably the greatest phenomenon of the age. Whether there are other beings of a similar nature residing in the Russian forest, from whence they come, we are not able to say, but these two are interesting and remarkable in the highest degree.

The Illustrated Police News
, February 7, 1874

Mock Modesty in Detroit.

Classical Statues to be Draped

It seems from an American cablegram, says a contemporary, that the mock-modesty which led the Americans of some generations ago to breech the legs – or rather limbs – even of their tables and chairs is not yet quite extinct.

Some ‘old women’ (of both sexes) inhabiting Detroit, supported by all the Presbyterian clergymen in the city, have delivered a solemn protest to the directors of the local art museum to the effect that the nude statues there shown were a corruption and a stumbling block to the youth of the city.

They indignantly demanded that all the statues should be draped, threatening to boycott the institution as a place of immoral resort unless their suggestions were immediately adopted. The directors, before such Horsleian fervour, have given way. They have issued an order that all the nude statuary in their galleries should be dealt with even as the hearts of the petitioners desired. They may as well sell them for tailors’ models at once.

The Citizen
, Gloucester, July 9, 1890

An Unlucky Musician.

Curious Result of a Fall

A very curious case, says a Paris correspondent, has just been brought before one of the Rouen law courts.

Some time ago a tight-rope dancer was performing at a local music hall when the wire suddenly broke, and she fell from a giddy height right on the unfortunate conductor of the orchestra, who was so overcome by the shock that he fainted, and when he recovered consciousness was found to be both deaf and dumb!

The affair created no little excitement in the Norman town, and a tremendous controversy soon prevailed. The inhabitants, indeed, were divided into two camps – one side inclining to the opinion that the unlucky conductor was only shamming, while the other stoutly and indignantly maintained that there could not be the slightest doubt as to his good faith.

Although nearly two years have elapsed since the accident occurred the unfortunate musician has not uttered a syllable, nor has he shown the most feeble sign that he can hear a word that is addressed to him.

His application for damages, however, has been rejected. In the judgement it is set forth that if he became dumb it was not owing to his ‘receiving’ the tight-rope dancer on his head, but to the ‘saisissement’ resulting therefrom, attributable to his excessively nervous temperament.

This judgement is exciting a certain amount of criticism, considerable sympathy being felt in many quarters for the unlucky victim of the music-hall accident.

The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette
, August 1, 1892

The Serious Accident by the Firing of a Cannon Ball

John Holtum, known among the music hall profession as Herr Holtum, was brought up on remand before the Leeds Stipendiary Magistrate, on Tuesday, charged with unlawfully wounding Elijah Fenton, on the 13th inst.