DOI Heft:
October 20, 1855
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16616#0173
October 20, 1855.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 161
A SUPERSTITION EXPLODED.
From time to time circumstances occur which signally refute popular
superstitions. Gortschakoff attended the Duke of Wellington's
funeral, and employed himself on that occasion in examining 'he
soldiers' shoes. All this while the knell was tolling. Now, the fol-
lowing story is related of Gortschakoff, in the Times, by " One who
stood by," net at the Duke's funeral, but at another spectacle in
which the Russian General was concerned :—
" He proposed to his prisoners on all occasions the alternative of the Russian service
or the kuout. Once a body of 2,000 insurgents were defeated and took refuge in the
Austrian territory. The Austrians disarmed them, aDd sent them to Gortschakoff.
He gave them the usual choice of entering the Russiau ranks ; they desperately refused.
It is said that the General was present at the execution that followed. The flogging
lasted many hours ; ten died under the lash, seven more yielded after horrible tortures,
and were borne to the hospital. Gortschakoff stated his determination to go through
the whole number, if the execution lasted a month. The Poles then bowed the head
and were drafted into the Russian legions."
The knell has evidently not the virtue ascribed to it by the old
monks. It tolled at the Duke's funeral; nevertheless, Prince
Gortschakoff continued quietly to examine the soldiers' shoes. There
he remained in spite of the knell; he, the ministering spirit of the
demon then incarnate under the name of Nicholas. No; the knell
has not the power which, the mediEeval friars believed it to have, of
driving away the Fiends !
BABY SHOW BRUTALITIES.
HE Baby Show abomination, which
had its origin in the vulgar brain
of a greedy American quack, is
making, to the disgrace of some of
the women of England, considerable
progress among us. There was a
recent show at Boston, and another
at Withernsea, of which more pre-
sently. Before us lies an announce-
ment of a third, to be perpetrated
in a suburb, and the walls and
hoards are placarded with invita-
tions to a fourth, to be appropri-
ately held among the beasts at ihe
Surrey Zoological Gardens.
As no decent woman of any class
would take her infant into a crowd
to be examined, handled, and pinch-
ed, as if it were an animal for sale,
to have it weighed, and its little
bones and muscles commented upon,
its fat estimated, and the general
process gone through with which
farmers and butchers buy and sell
their live stock, Mr. Punch has no hesitation in using language upon a ,
the subject, which he would abstain from employing, were he merely Posslt)te.
remonstrating with thoughtless persons. He is perfectly certain
that upon such women as are not ashamed to assist at these exhibi-
tions, his remarks would be utterly wasted. To the train of coarse
and impure thought, suggestion, and comparison which is generated
at such shows, he need not allude, because the offensiveness of the
original idea is more than sufficient to repel and disgust any true
womanly mind, no matter in what station of life the woman may
move. He addresses himself to the question as one of humanity,
and because he deems it to be a case in which police interference
should take place. The greediness of gain has sometimes to be
met rather promptly; and here is a very proper occasion for helping
the helpless.
Of the nature of the passions excited by these shows, of the treat-
ment to which the unhappy babies are exposed, and of the general
character of the scene, an idea may be formed from the following
account of the proceedings at the Withernsea Show.
After describing the crowd and the confusion which prefaced the
examination of the candidates, the reporter says—
" At half-past three the judges entered the building, and the previous quiet of the
scene was changed into bustle and-excitement. Nurses and mothers, with babies in
their arms, fought their way through the crowd, and Hushed not beneath the fire of jokes.
How all were safely settled without accident we know not. Those who know what it
is to carry a child through a crowd may appreciate the scene. Ultimately the compe-
titors, on the laps of their mothers and nurses, were arranged all round, and in the
centre of the building."
That such mot hers and such nurses should not " blush " beneath " the
fire" of such "jokes" as were likely to be launched on the occasion,
we can well believe—those who did not blush to be there at all had
little to fear for their modesty. The "judges" proceeded to their
examination, and during this,
" Great noise and confusion prevailed, and attempts were frequently made to force
open the front door. At about five o'clock the anxious duties of the judges were com-
pleted, and the children were placed in the orchestra, just in time, as the door was then
forced open, the impatient crowd rushed io, and all oroer was at an end."
The bones and the fat and the weight of the poor little creatures
haviog been duly tested, the decision as to the quarter in which Provi-
dence had acted most kindly (the profanity of the affair being another
of its amiable features) had to be announced.
"Then the uproar reached its height. The time for sweet simpering to the judges
was past. Tender mothers expanded into viragoes, frantic protestations arose on all
sides; unsuccessful babies were held screaming up at arm's length by the fxcited parents,
and ajury was demanded. The uproar, however, became so intense that the promoter
of the display, after handing over the prizes to the parents of the successful competitors,
left Hull without delay, fearing that any longer stay migkt perchance prove personally
disagreeable."
(We heartily wish that the " frantic " women had finished the display
by dragging the fellow through the foulest horse-pond in the neigh-
bourhood, but this par parenthese.) Such is the treatment to which
the babies are exposed—a hot crowd, a frightful noise and riot, and
personal ill-treatment. These are the boons proffered to babies by
Baby Shows.
A great outcry, with great justice, was made when it was alleged
that the humbler classes were in the habit of enrolling their infants in
Burial Societies, with the frightful desire to profit by their deaths.
This was a foul libel upon the mothers of England. Bur, there was
some ground for the charge—the practice, with the alleged object, was
not—is not—unknown, comparatively small as is its extent. And if we
had to investigate the subject of Burial Societies, we should try to
obtain a list of the women who join in Baby Shows. The mother who
would pocket money from the degrading exhibition of her infant's limbs
and proportions might possibly find consolation for its loss in the money
obtained at its death. But with such women Mr. Punch can hold no
argument—the person to argue with them is the Policeman.
PERSONAL TO OURSELVES.
The official Gazette of Colombo, (which we have some reason to
think may be somewhere Ceylon way, but we do not profess to know
more about the Colonies than the late noble Colonial Secretary) has
been forwarded to us, and contains the following announcement :—
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR has been pleased to appoint
Ketalabakke Weerewardenne Mudianselagey Punchy Appoohamy, Esq., to he
Deputy Coroner for the Kolonna Corle.
By His Excellency's Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, C. J. MacCarthy,
Colombo, 7th July, 1855. Col. Secy.
Mr. Punch is anxious to say, that the gentleman whose appointment
is thus announced is, he has no doubt, a most excellent and respectable
person; but is no relation, as has beeu supposed, of Mr. Punch. The
latter is not in the habit of imitating the aristocracy, and quartering his
relatives upon the public. He has, however, every confidence in
Mr. Ketalabokke which he can reasonably repose in an individual of
whom he never before heard in all his life, and trusts that his office
will be such a sinecure that he will have time to become as punchey as
SONNET ON A PARAGRAPH RESPECTING BUSHY PARK.
'Tis said that certain paths in Bushy Park,
Which every one till lately could pursue,
Have now been closed by gates of iron, shut to,
And locked. A hoax, invented for a lark,
By some buffoon. Fiddlededee ! Pooh, pooh !
Yet Rumour adds the insinuation dark
That Bushy Palace is design'd to be
The dwelling-place of Royalty once more;
And that the encroaching spirit which some see
At Balmoral and Windsor, is let loose
At Bushy too. Nay, the paths, as before,
Must be, like Britain's Constitution—Goose !—
Free, yet preserving still the tracks of yore,
And Royal highways for the People's use.
Gigantic Hotel Prices.
First Traveller. Do you know that at the Riesen—the Giant Hotel
on the Rhine—they charged the Grand Duchess of Russia £500, it is
said, for a siDgle night ?
Second Traveller. Well, what then ?
First Traveller. What, don't you think it's enormous ?—monstrous ?
—wicked ?—abominable ?—awfully, diabolically extortionate ?
Second Traveller (tcith wonderful sang-froid). Quite the contrary.
For the Riesen, I think, it's extremely Riesenable !
[First Traveller orders his Bill in a rage,
Vol. 29.
6
A SUPERSTITION EXPLODED.
From time to time circumstances occur which signally refute popular
superstitions. Gortschakoff attended the Duke of Wellington's
funeral, and employed himself on that occasion in examining 'he
soldiers' shoes. All this while the knell was tolling. Now, the fol-
lowing story is related of Gortschakoff, in the Times, by " One who
stood by," net at the Duke's funeral, but at another spectacle in
which the Russian General was concerned :—
" He proposed to his prisoners on all occasions the alternative of the Russian service
or the kuout. Once a body of 2,000 insurgents were defeated and took refuge in the
Austrian territory. The Austrians disarmed them, aDd sent them to Gortschakoff.
He gave them the usual choice of entering the Russiau ranks ; they desperately refused.
It is said that the General was present at the execution that followed. The flogging
lasted many hours ; ten died under the lash, seven more yielded after horrible tortures,
and were borne to the hospital. Gortschakoff stated his determination to go through
the whole number, if the execution lasted a month. The Poles then bowed the head
and were drafted into the Russian legions."
The knell has evidently not the virtue ascribed to it by the old
monks. It tolled at the Duke's funeral; nevertheless, Prince
Gortschakoff continued quietly to examine the soldiers' shoes. There
he remained in spite of the knell; he, the ministering spirit of the
demon then incarnate under the name of Nicholas. No; the knell
has not the power which, the mediEeval friars believed it to have, of
driving away the Fiends !
BABY SHOW BRUTALITIES.
HE Baby Show abomination, which
had its origin in the vulgar brain
of a greedy American quack, is
making, to the disgrace of some of
the women of England, considerable
progress among us. There was a
recent show at Boston, and another
at Withernsea, of which more pre-
sently. Before us lies an announce-
ment of a third, to be perpetrated
in a suburb, and the walls and
hoards are placarded with invita-
tions to a fourth, to be appropri-
ately held among the beasts at ihe
Surrey Zoological Gardens.
As no decent woman of any class
would take her infant into a crowd
to be examined, handled, and pinch-
ed, as if it were an animal for sale,
to have it weighed, and its little
bones and muscles commented upon,
its fat estimated, and the general
process gone through with which
farmers and butchers buy and sell
their live stock, Mr. Punch has no hesitation in using language upon a ,
the subject, which he would abstain from employing, were he merely Posslt)te.
remonstrating with thoughtless persons. He is perfectly certain
that upon such women as are not ashamed to assist at these exhibi-
tions, his remarks would be utterly wasted. To the train of coarse
and impure thought, suggestion, and comparison which is generated
at such shows, he need not allude, because the offensiveness of the
original idea is more than sufficient to repel and disgust any true
womanly mind, no matter in what station of life the woman may
move. He addresses himself to the question as one of humanity,
and because he deems it to be a case in which police interference
should take place. The greediness of gain has sometimes to be
met rather promptly; and here is a very proper occasion for helping
the helpless.
Of the nature of the passions excited by these shows, of the treat-
ment to which the unhappy babies are exposed, and of the general
character of the scene, an idea may be formed from the following
account of the proceedings at the Withernsea Show.
After describing the crowd and the confusion which prefaced the
examination of the candidates, the reporter says—
" At half-past three the judges entered the building, and the previous quiet of the
scene was changed into bustle and-excitement. Nurses and mothers, with babies in
their arms, fought their way through the crowd, and Hushed not beneath the fire of jokes.
How all were safely settled without accident we know not. Those who know what it
is to carry a child through a crowd may appreciate the scene. Ultimately the compe-
titors, on the laps of their mothers and nurses, were arranged all round, and in the
centre of the building."
That such mot hers and such nurses should not " blush " beneath " the
fire" of such "jokes" as were likely to be launched on the occasion,
we can well believe—those who did not blush to be there at all had
little to fear for their modesty. The "judges" proceeded to their
examination, and during this,
" Great noise and confusion prevailed, and attempts were frequently made to force
open the front door. At about five o'clock the anxious duties of the judges were com-
pleted, and the children were placed in the orchestra, just in time, as the door was then
forced open, the impatient crowd rushed io, and all oroer was at an end."
The bones and the fat and the weight of the poor little creatures
haviog been duly tested, the decision as to the quarter in which Provi-
dence had acted most kindly (the profanity of the affair being another
of its amiable features) had to be announced.
"Then the uproar reached its height. The time for sweet simpering to the judges
was past. Tender mothers expanded into viragoes, frantic protestations arose on all
sides; unsuccessful babies were held screaming up at arm's length by the fxcited parents,
and ajury was demanded. The uproar, however, became so intense that the promoter
of the display, after handing over the prizes to the parents of the successful competitors,
left Hull without delay, fearing that any longer stay migkt perchance prove personally
disagreeable."
(We heartily wish that the " frantic " women had finished the display
by dragging the fellow through the foulest horse-pond in the neigh-
bourhood, but this par parenthese.) Such is the treatment to which
the babies are exposed—a hot crowd, a frightful noise and riot, and
personal ill-treatment. These are the boons proffered to babies by
Baby Shows.
A great outcry, with great justice, was made when it was alleged
that the humbler classes were in the habit of enrolling their infants in
Burial Societies, with the frightful desire to profit by their deaths.
This was a foul libel upon the mothers of England. Bur, there was
some ground for the charge—the practice, with the alleged object, was
not—is not—unknown, comparatively small as is its extent. And if we
had to investigate the subject of Burial Societies, we should try to
obtain a list of the women who join in Baby Shows. The mother who
would pocket money from the degrading exhibition of her infant's limbs
and proportions might possibly find consolation for its loss in the money
obtained at its death. But with such women Mr. Punch can hold no
argument—the person to argue with them is the Policeman.
PERSONAL TO OURSELVES.
The official Gazette of Colombo, (which we have some reason to
think may be somewhere Ceylon way, but we do not profess to know
more about the Colonies than the late noble Colonial Secretary) has
been forwarded to us, and contains the following announcement :—
HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR has been pleased to appoint
Ketalabakke Weerewardenne Mudianselagey Punchy Appoohamy, Esq., to he
Deputy Coroner for the Kolonna Corle.
By His Excellency's Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, C. J. MacCarthy,
Colombo, 7th July, 1855. Col. Secy.
Mr. Punch is anxious to say, that the gentleman whose appointment
is thus announced is, he has no doubt, a most excellent and respectable
person; but is no relation, as has beeu supposed, of Mr. Punch. The
latter is not in the habit of imitating the aristocracy, and quartering his
relatives upon the public. He has, however, every confidence in
Mr. Ketalabokke which he can reasonably repose in an individual of
whom he never before heard in all his life, and trusts that his office
will be such a sinecure that he will have time to become as punchey as
SONNET ON A PARAGRAPH RESPECTING BUSHY PARK.
'Tis said that certain paths in Bushy Park,
Which every one till lately could pursue,
Have now been closed by gates of iron, shut to,
And locked. A hoax, invented for a lark,
By some buffoon. Fiddlededee ! Pooh, pooh !
Yet Rumour adds the insinuation dark
That Bushy Palace is design'd to be
The dwelling-place of Royalty once more;
And that the encroaching spirit which some see
At Balmoral and Windsor, is let loose
At Bushy too. Nay, the paths, as before,
Must be, like Britain's Constitution—Goose !—
Free, yet preserving still the tracks of yore,
And Royal highways for the People's use.
Gigantic Hotel Prices.
First Traveller. Do you know that at the Riesen—the Giant Hotel
on the Rhine—they charged the Grand Duchess of Russia £500, it is
said, for a siDgle night ?
Second Traveller. Well, what then ?
First Traveller. What, don't you think it's enormous ?—monstrous ?
—wicked ?—abominable ?—awfully, diabolically extortionate ?
Second Traveller (tcith wonderful sang-froid). Quite the contrary.
For the Riesen, I think, it's extremely Riesenable !
[First Traveller orders his Bill in a rage,
Vol. 29.
6