LONDON IN AND OUT OF

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9039, 14 February 1891, Page 5 (Supplement)

LONDON IN AND OUT OF

SEASON.

(Fbom Oue Own Cobbespondent,) London, December 27. TWO I'UNEBALS. The Duohess of Northumberland and Sir Edgar Boehm died lately. Of these, tho former, in accordance with the ancient prtBcriptive rights of the Percy, was interred in Westminster Abbey; ho latter went to Bt. Paul's, though a foreigner. Tho Duchess, who was in her 78th year, was a daughter of {be late Henry Drummond, of Albury Park, Surrey. She married the duke in 1845, and brought into the Percy family a store of banking wealth, The curiouus part about the claim of the Percys to burial in Westminster Abbey, is that the Drummonds were Irvingites, and the duchess converted her husband to Irvingism. A beautiful cathedral of the Apostolic Church stands within tho grounds of Albury Park. It was a strange coincidence thafc only tho week before her death tho Dean of Westminster gave evidence beforo the Abbey Commission on the rights of burial of the Percys in St. Nicholas Chapel, where the Seymours were originally buried. There have been nine interments thero since 1817—lhe last, namely. Lady Louisa Percy, in 1883. There are now 25 coffins in tho Northumberland vault;. Sb. Paul's, as Mr Saia remarks, is for tho soldiers, tho tailor-;, the paiufcerp, and the sculptors. Westminster Abbey is for the statesmen, the poets, and the men of letters. To tho former Sir Edgar Boehm's remains were conveyed. " Thero is no more reason to protest againsfc the reception of |an Austrian naturalised an Englishman," says Mr Saia, " than against tho reception of the German-Swiss Fuseli, R.A., or than against that of the Hollander Sir Anthony Van Dyck." In an imaginative sense I scarcely think that he was a great sculptor; bufc he was an admirable portraitist, ar.d his modelling of animals wss simply magnificent. Tbe Jubilee coinage was altogether a mistake for which he was nofc altogether responsible; and tho Wellington equestrian group at Hyde Park corner would have beeu a much finer monument had the amount subscribed warranted its erection on a much larger scale than the one adopted. Quiet, refined, modest, and undemonstrative, tbis most accomplished and industrious master of the glyphic art waa one of the most fascinating and most amiable men I ever mot. He was a wonderful conversationalist and raconteur, humorous and subtle in his inexhaustible flow of anecdotical and epigrammatic talk, much resembling, in this respect, another foreign sculptor who found high favour in England— Baron Maroechetti. As regards fame and riches, Sir Edgar Boehm may be said to have been a very fortunate mnn. But fortune did not smile on him quite so early as some of his admirers of the present generation may think. His struggles ai a young student in Paris were bitter and prolonged. KOCH AND CONSUMPTION. Mr A. Couan Doyle is better known in literature than in medicine, bufc he is a duly qualified practitioner, and Mr Stead sent him to Berlin to write the chiracter of Dr Koch which appears in the Review of Reviews. "I had the good fortune," says Mr Doyle," to be the first English physician to arrive in Berlin after the announcement of Koch's discovery, and I had opportunities of seeing all the cases which are under treatment in Yon Bergmann wards, the clinical wards of Dr Levy in the Prantzlauer Strasse, and under Dr Bardeleben, at the Gharit(3 Hospital. It was not an easy matter to get into Yon Bergmann's lecture. Never at any time remarkabla for the suavity of his manners, he is notoriously gruff to our fellow countrymen, aod sees a Morell Mackenzie in every travelling Briton. No one can come in contact with him without at once seeing the difficulty which any colleague would have in working with him, and understanding where the blame lay in the painful controversy which followed the late emperor's decease. 'There's no place,' he shouted, in answer to my modest request that, after travelling 700 miles, I might be admitted to his lecture. 'Perhaps you would liks to take my place. That is the only one vacant.' Then, as I bowed and turned away, ho roared after me,' The first two rows of my clinic are entirely taken up by Englishman.' As I happened to know that the only Englishmen at his lectures were Mr Malcolm Morris, of Sfc. Mary's, and Dr Priugle, of the Middlesex Hospital, I was as little impressed with his accuracy as by his courtesy." However, Mr Doyle managed tp get admittance to the wards. "It should never be lost sight of," says Mr Doyle, *' that Koch has never claimed that hia fluid kills the tubercle bacillus. On the contrary, ifc haa no effect upon ifc, but destroys the low form of tissue, in the meshes of which tho bacilli lie. Should this tissue slough in the case of lupus, or bs expelled in the sputum in the case of phthisis, and should ifc contain in its meshes all tho bacilli, then ifc wonld be possiblo to hope for a complete cure Here lies the vast difference between Koch's treatment of consumption and tho action ot vacciue in the case of smallpox. The one is, for a time st least, conclusive; while iv the other, your remedy does not treat the real seat of tho evil. It continually removes the traces of tbo enemy, but it still leaves him deep in the invaded country." THE TOICB OP BHOWNINO. The other day was the anniversary of Robert; Browning's death, and on that day his voice was heard again in London, from the phonogram taken of it by Miss Ferguson under Colonel Gouraud'a directions, at tho studio of Mr Rudolph Lehmann, on tho 7th April 1889. The Colonel aud Dr Furcivall (the president of tbo Browning Society) were lunching at Mr Haweis', as the last-named tells tho story, to consider when this phonogram should be sounded for the first time after the poet's death, and as soon as Dr Furnivall reminded Colonel Gouraud tbat yesterday was the anniversary of that death, the Colonel at once decided to make the phonograph speak thafc afternoon. He accordingly summoned Mr Lehmann by telegram, and at 6 o'clock, at Edison Houae, in Northumberland avenue, tho dead poet's voice was heard in its characteristic tones, beginning the first verse of his " How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix." Bufc it broke down in third line with "I forget," and then tried again, bufc again ifc broke down and spoke an apology for forgetting his own poems, but praised Mr Edison's wonderful invention. Then followed, after a pause, a loud " Robert Browning," which the poet had added, on Colonel Gouraud reminding him that he had not Bigned his phonogram. After thi3 came " Bravo?," " Hip, hip, hurrahs," and clapping of hands by Mr Lehmann's guests. All this was repeated three times, Miss Ferguson manipulating the instrument, as she did when Browning spoke into ifc. Ifc was a strange and interesting experience. STRAY NOTES. Mr Huxley continues his strenuous criticism of tha Booth scheme in Tho Times. He quotes from a Canadian pamphlet, and goes fco prove that General Booth's tendency is to develop a new Papacy obeying an autocratic soveroign, who shall be a Booth. Ifc is announced that the social commissioner of the army, Mr Frank Smith, has resigned owing to a difference with tho General.

Mr Stanley must bo delighted. News comes from Germany which is almost a vindication of him in his relations with Emm. The Berlin Gazette announces tho recall of Emm, and gives further particulars. Major yon Wissmann, ssys the official paper, has full powers, and has never received any instructions concerning Emm Pasha's expedition, which, however, started under the condition that ifc should not cost moro than £3000, and thafc only a small number of soldiers should form the escort. Soon after, many of Emm's carriers deserted, and had to be replaced, and Emm was informed hy the ViceCommissioner that the expedition would have to force its way forward alone, as he had no more means afc his disposal. As to Emm's plan of occupying Tabora, Major yon Wissmann says:—" I have neither given Emm nor Stokes any orders. I am well enough acquainted with this placa to know J that no radical measures can be thero without power at one's back superior to that of the Arabs." Ifc appears that Emm Pasha and Mr Stokeß were to operate together, bufc that this plan has not turned out in accordaaco with tho wishes of the Imperial commissioner, as soon after his arrival in Zanzibar on the sth inst. Major yon Wissmann telegraphed here:—"Emm Pasha ia impeding Mr Stokes' operations, and disregards all orders." For thia reason Major yon Wissmann has ordered Emm fco return after secnring the station on the Victoria Nyanza. Evidently the Government fear 3to be dragged into anything too adventurous in its colonial policy. Thia cautious attitude will create great satisfaction, although ifc may be regretted that Emm Pasha, after all he has given up to remain in the service of his Fatherland, should sco all his hopes and plans fall to tha grouDd. Very animated debates in the Reichstag aro expect-jd on this subject after the Christmas recess. Why do wo stand Monte Carlo ? Why is not the abominable den swept into the Mediterranean by fores of European opinion ? Here is the latcßfc:—ln the majority of cases (The Times' correspoudent says) it is well nigh impossible to obtain exact information, 60 swift aud sure are the police agents of tha Casino iv destroying all traces of the victim and tha evidences of his identity. This week, however, the deplorable case of a young man who had several Eclish friends at Monte Carlo has beeu investigated. Mr 0. L Baur, an engineer, 28 years of age, who had been out in South America for some timo and returned to England with aboufc £2000, came to Nioe five or six weeks 3go and began to play daily at Monte Carlo. He wa3 living wilh a young Frenchwoman. On Thursday afternoon (the correspondent says) she narrntsd to me the sad circumstances of his death. The proceedings cf tho Monaco authorities in their efforts to hush up tbe suicide aro particularly interesting. Tbe story of Bour's early winnings and then of repeated losses until all his money bad gone is (•imilar to that of every other victim of the Monte Carlo gambling tables. AU his jewellery and most of his clo'.hes were pawned and the proceeds laid upon the green oloth in the hope of retrieving his fortunes. The last sfr piece passed to the bank on Monday lasfc. During the evening he wroie a letter to his mistress stating that when she reoeived it he would be dead. She hastened to Monte Carlo on Tuesday morning and saw the body of Mr Bour at the morgue wifch a bullet through the temples. The police told hit t-he.4 they bad found id p»&Hf tbfl TOW

of the Castle of Monaco. She went to the director of tho Casino ond furnished evidence of Mr Buur's identity. She also made a statement of the debts paid on his behalf, and the director handed her 400fr, on the understanding that she gave up the documents in her possession belonging to Mr Bour for the use of the Monaco police. Two officers came to Nice and took away all paperß, including, as she alleges, a certificate showing that Mr Bour was born in England. She mado a request fco the Monaco authorities that tho body should be interred in a Protestant cemetery, and that the deceased's friends, whose addresses she supplied, should be advised of the deplorable event. The remains, however, were buried afc once in the common graveyard of the principality.

A strange ease has come before the London courts—a caso of unlawfully attempting to influence and corrupt a jury. There has nofc been a similar case for 40 years. A man named Boaler was tried for libel againsfc a life insurance company. He pleaded justification, defeudio;" himself, but was convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. During Boaler's trial g man named Bab&r, inimical to tho society, it is alleged, gained admittance to the gallery and spoke to two jurymen, giving them drinks and so forth. Tbe ease was sent for trial.