AS LIFE WAS—AND IS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 16, 31 December 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

AS LIFE WAS—AND IS.

By MARCUS WOODWARD

Aly grandfather took a pinch oi snuff. My grandmother, from the gay grandfather took snuff, know he was disturbed. Also the way he settled his beantilTil wig upon h;s head was a sign. Ho took anepher pinch of snuff, then —“Aly dear,” ho said. ‘‘l must go on a journey.” And then lie- patted my grandmother’s hand—and, stooping in his courtly, old-world way, he kissed it.

To the door had come a postman—h.is livery was scarlet, his bat was goldlaced. The letter that he had borne created a sensation by its arrival : letters came seldom to a country hou.se in thoso days. It had cost ten pence in postage, in those days there were no stamps, there was i:o penny postage. Life was a. leisurely affair enough in our grandfathers’ days, when snuff was taken, and wigs were worn, and nobody dreamed of smoking a pipe or a cigar in a public place. So my grandfather prepared for his. journey-and what a stir and bustle there was in the house, to be sure! His jonmey was from Essex to Cumberland—a journey more arduous in those times than a trip to-day from Essex to Petersburg. It was necessary for my gra-udi’ather to put all his affairs in order before he set out on so grand an adventure. Aly grandmother heredlf would see to the airing, thei packing, and the pad-locking of his great carpetbag—there were no Gladstone bags in those days. When all was ready at last—papers in ordei, outstanding debts paid, wages provided for—thore came to the di.or not a. cab or a dog-cart or ,i inf>tor-car. but a chariot —a kind of Lord Alayor’s coach —to take my grandfather to London. GOOD OLD WAYS. For tiie day of the cab and..the omnibus was only dawning, railways were hardly thought about, motor-ears and aeroplanes were only dreams: you travelled by chariot, or chaise, or in the pair-horse hackney-coach—your feet in straw.

So my grandfather started off tor London in leisurely’ state, while my grandmother, the morning being fine, ordered out her sedan-chair, to take an ailing in the garden.

He would stay, no doubt, for the night at some hostelry—and if he went, to the best one in town it would bo a place, too low to suit the poorest comHK’rcial traveller to-day—the sort *>f place where you called for your hottie or port from a wooden box. You would finish the bottle yourself. There were not more than throb hotels, as we understand them, in all London. Champagne was aliiKb-t unknown in my grandfather’s day; as to beer, it was not in vogue, though there was porter. And my grandfather would go tlint night, perhaps, to the play— to ‘ one of London s naif-dozen theatres. He would sit in the pit, perhaps, or in a. boxseat, for there were no stalls. Hb v oirld go back to a bed warmed by a again at about, the time lazy citizens sinners he liked to preach to." Between wanning-pan—there were no In t-bottles in .those days. His bedroom would be lighted by a. candle that he must 'needs snuff at intervals—you could not- press a button for light in those davs, nor could you even strike a match. By the light of his candie mv grandfather wrote a letter home before retn nig. He wrote with a quill pen las there were no stool nibs), which he sharpened himself with his penknife; and, as there was no such stuff as blot-ting-paper, he dried the ink by sifting sand upon it. The letter written, he 1 ided it cunningly and slipped it into a. cover, which Ire sealed with a wafer—■ there wore no envelopes with gummed edgers in those t:nN&. And then he went to ibcri in his uight-.-np—our grandparents never went to lied wi:nont their nightcaps, to protect their heads. A (.'BAND ADV EXIT RE. Next morning l:o took the roach lor Cumberland, lie set out then in a grand adventure indeed, for many were the perils of the road , the coach might

cvt.T-turn, and the risk of highwaymen must be run —the guard was .:.::i.-! alii ais iiitn a blunderbuss. Aly grand—iatligr could look after hiiiiaelt in case o'-' attack. In th-.se tunes one thought nothing of knocking a fellow down : horse-whippings were cverydav If annoyed by a stranger," say, at the play, vou would give him your card, and, if he were n gentleman, he would give you satisfaction, in a duel. If you had seen inv grandfather a» Ito toox his place in th’ f0..-h. yen would have observe;! tiiat he wore a fine big coat that- -had cost a mint- of money ant! would last him a lifetime—-dovc-eolour«l. with a velvet collar. He was richly dressed —his line hat had a curly brim. h:s short waist- i.at was of brilliant hue, a fine cravat was "renderiulii tied a-isuic his neek. Ins Trousers fitted his shapely legs like, glnvcjs — they had legs, you know, in thi s’-. d ; iys THEN AND NOAV. In die coach my grand l ather wrote Si me verses — v< "S'-- writing was an

| every-ciav accomplishment. lie kept- a ■ .journal of his travels, uo:ing incidents of the journey. Among his anecdote.' v.as one told him by an innkeeper—how a young buck of the day had <■■ odi l ilk'd an inn-waiter lor some small anncyauec, ami. when tl.-sx-at-; lied with arrest-, waved the ni.itter aside by saying. “ Oblige rm ' by charging i.t y pounds for the fellow in ny bill. - ' It vres the way of the old times. I thought of this anre-di'te. and al) th;’ other imiilc’iit,; of my grandfather's j nrney from E-re-x io C.Tnidier)a.tM—a yiurncy which cost him, in preparations a nr! travel, tn ii::ys — whi'ii. net long since, w:’ tr.re’i lh .i from Cnmlx'i-land to E s x. in <ui" day, in a ear. We tre,veiled wit'i a liny.- ei-mnii’n-ial imtn. ai’d cur 1 ri-.’nd was in a hurry and tl>ir-titig lor nows. My grandfather vws quite cur iff from London news while hd travelled. But we gath'rrd news ;>? ti;e way, from the. evds of th? earth, by t'.ik'piion-u and tek-'gr-ijih -at e.i. h p -,-t--offieo in tlm tiv.iis a fr.-b message awaited my fri-nd, rdio rmidn- cd J;is business thr ugh ret the iotire" v. «;<:>kiug at brief intervals with the sreretarv. who sat in 1 i< 1.-. ■ ;iw; c-STwr. The thing is. J er.nd’tdi-.1. v.e lire !■ ?> days arid ten yrers :? ore lire ; i,.' reveal's lived by onr gr.tr.dfatl.ie:s.