DOI Heft:
January 30, 1875
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16940#0051
January 30, 1875.]
PUNCH, OP THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
43
LE JEU NE VAUT PAS LA CHANDELLE.”
Old Gent (having had to pay twice). “ But I’m positive I handed you the Money ! It may probably have dropped down
THE SLIT IN THE i)OOR ! ”
Conductor. “Slit in the Door!—Well, ’tain’t likely I’m goin’ to turn the Bus upside-down for Sixpence!”
KILLING NO MURDER.
The following curiosities have not yet been added to the Cata-
logue of the British Museum. Mr. Punch is happy to he able to
supply the deficiency :—
A Windowless Tank.—This extraordinary apartment is devoted
to the use of the Superintendent of the Printed Book Department
and his staff. It is lighted by sky-lights. According to the best
medical testimony, the air of this horrible place becomes actually
foetid on winter afternoons, being tainted by the breaths of the
twenty or thirty employes who work therein. According to the
same authority, the amount of sickness among the junior assistants
| is alarming. Several have died, several are suffering in health and
are justly alarmed as to the ultimate effects. The late Mr. Warren
(so says the British Medical Journal) complained repeatedly on their
and his behalf. He received neither sympathy nor redress. At last i
his medical man visited his room, and condemned it. Mr. Warren !
renewed his complaint, and quoted his authority. The British
Medical Journal has been informed that the answer he received
was—“How dare you bring a medical man into the Museum without
leave of the Trustees ! ” After a long time, consent was given to a
window being cut in the wall of the room in which Mr. Warren
sat. This got rid of the foul air a little, but it let in killing
draughts of cold air. Mr. Warren went on complaining for a
time, then despaired, and slowly sank. His strength, originally
| good, became lowered. He caught cold after cold, got a cough, I
and was at length laid up. Pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchitis, came
in turns. He had not strength to shake them off, and so died at
the early age of thirty-eight, looking more like forty-eight, leaving
a widow and two children. His predecessor in office, Mr. Detjtsch,
used to predict his own death, and say, “ When I die, there will
be something done.” It will thus be seen that this windowless
tank is not only one of the greatest curiosities in the British
Museum, but in the whole of the civilised world. N.B.— Mr. Punch
recommends the acceptance of a clerkship in the Printed Book
Department as an excellent substitute for suicide by drowning,
charcoal, or strangulation.
The Heads of the Printed Book Department. — Yery curious
Heads indeed. According to the British Medical Journal the
tradition of these gentlemen has been for many years past to repress
complaints on the score that they (the Heads of the Department-)
feel no bad effects themselves from the vitiated air to be found in
the cellars devoted to the use of their subordinates. N.B.—
Mr. Punch begs to point out that the room used by the Heads of the
Printed Book Department is a jjrivate one with an open fire.
The Readers in the First Floor Gallery.—Remarkable specimens
of endurance. The air breathed by these enthusiasts is very
trying. It causes throbbing of temples, chill of hands and feet,
and is frequently provocative of nausea. If a window be opened to
relieve these symptoms, cold draughts produce colds, rheumatisms,
and other unpleasant maladies. N.B.— Mr. Punch begs to state
that the Readers in this gallery belong chiefLy to the class of mis-
guided persons who, often for a very poor pittance, devote their
time and energies to the instruction and amusement of a generous
and indulgent British Public !
The Board of Trustees.—By far the greatest curiosity in the
National Collection. Besides the claim to this distinction which
may be based on the fact that for many years, in spite of numerous
applications, the Trustees have paid no sort of attention to the
representations that have been addressed to them through the
Public Press, or other non-official channels, this title is surely
due to the Museum Board on the score of its composition. _ It
consists mainly of some of the highest and hardest-worked officials
of the kingdom, who yet find time to superintend this great
National Collection of Literature, Science, and Art; and of family-
trustees, who because their ancestors once cared for Letters or
Arts enough to bequeath treasures of one or the other to the British
Museum, are still considered to have a hereditary claim to share in
its management.
PUNCH, OP THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
43
LE JEU NE VAUT PAS LA CHANDELLE.”
Old Gent (having had to pay twice). “ But I’m positive I handed you the Money ! It may probably have dropped down
THE SLIT IN THE i)OOR ! ”
Conductor. “Slit in the Door!—Well, ’tain’t likely I’m goin’ to turn the Bus upside-down for Sixpence!”
KILLING NO MURDER.
The following curiosities have not yet been added to the Cata-
logue of the British Museum. Mr. Punch is happy to he able to
supply the deficiency :—
A Windowless Tank.—This extraordinary apartment is devoted
to the use of the Superintendent of the Printed Book Department
and his staff. It is lighted by sky-lights. According to the best
medical testimony, the air of this horrible place becomes actually
foetid on winter afternoons, being tainted by the breaths of the
twenty or thirty employes who work therein. According to the
same authority, the amount of sickness among the junior assistants
| is alarming. Several have died, several are suffering in health and
are justly alarmed as to the ultimate effects. The late Mr. Warren
(so says the British Medical Journal) complained repeatedly on their
and his behalf. He received neither sympathy nor redress. At last i
his medical man visited his room, and condemned it. Mr. Warren !
renewed his complaint, and quoted his authority. The British
Medical Journal has been informed that the answer he received
was—“How dare you bring a medical man into the Museum without
leave of the Trustees ! ” After a long time, consent was given to a
window being cut in the wall of the room in which Mr. Warren
sat. This got rid of the foul air a little, but it let in killing
draughts of cold air. Mr. Warren went on complaining for a
time, then despaired, and slowly sank. His strength, originally
| good, became lowered. He caught cold after cold, got a cough, I
and was at length laid up. Pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchitis, came
in turns. He had not strength to shake them off, and so died at
the early age of thirty-eight, looking more like forty-eight, leaving
a widow and two children. His predecessor in office, Mr. Detjtsch,
used to predict his own death, and say, “ When I die, there will
be something done.” It will thus be seen that this windowless
tank is not only one of the greatest curiosities in the British
Museum, but in the whole of the civilised world. N.B.— Mr. Punch
recommends the acceptance of a clerkship in the Printed Book
Department as an excellent substitute for suicide by drowning,
charcoal, or strangulation.
The Heads of the Printed Book Department. — Yery curious
Heads indeed. According to the British Medical Journal the
tradition of these gentlemen has been for many years past to repress
complaints on the score that they (the Heads of the Department-)
feel no bad effects themselves from the vitiated air to be found in
the cellars devoted to the use of their subordinates. N.B.—
Mr. Punch begs to point out that the room used by the Heads of the
Printed Book Department is a jjrivate one with an open fire.
The Readers in the First Floor Gallery.—Remarkable specimens
of endurance. The air breathed by these enthusiasts is very
trying. It causes throbbing of temples, chill of hands and feet,
and is frequently provocative of nausea. If a window be opened to
relieve these symptoms, cold draughts produce colds, rheumatisms,
and other unpleasant maladies. N.B.— Mr. Punch begs to state
that the Readers in this gallery belong chiefLy to the class of mis-
guided persons who, often for a very poor pittance, devote their
time and energies to the instruction and amusement of a generous
and indulgent British Public !
The Board of Trustees.—By far the greatest curiosity in the
National Collection. Besides the claim to this distinction which
may be based on the fact that for many years, in spite of numerous
applications, the Trustees have paid no sort of attention to the
representations that have been addressed to them through the
Public Press, or other non-official channels, this title is surely
due to the Museum Board on the score of its composition. _ It
consists mainly of some of the highest and hardest-worked officials
of the kingdom, who yet find time to superintend this great
National Collection of Literature, Science, and Art; and of family-
trustees, who because their ancestors once cared for Letters or
Arts enough to bequeath treasures of one or the other to the British
Museum, are still considered to have a hereditary claim to share in
its management.