TABLE TALK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6705, 19 November 1889, Page 2

TABLE TALK.

The Cotton "Corner." Mr Ernest Weldon's Death. Duke of Sutherland* Wilkie Collins. Mrs Maybrick's Defence; [Peom ora Special Cobeespondknt J : London, Oct. 4. The collapse of the Liverpool cotton " corner " haß not been followed— as is the ! case of the notorious Morriß Banger — by i the ruin of the " cornerer." Mr Steenj strand, the present operator, so far from having lost money, is said to have made close on JEIOO,OOO, and would have realised double that 6um could he have held on for another week or so. He is a German Jew, not particularly wealthy, nor, till recently, of any special influence on 'Change, but a shrewd jud B e of the cotton market. Steenstrand based his " corner" on the probability, or rather on hiß personal knowledgej that last year's crop was much smaller than people generally believed it to be, aud early in March he bought September arrivals (i.e., cotton to be delivered in September,) largely. His views aa to the limit of the crop proving right, he was, ' i this last month, the possessor of almost all the cotton on the market, and could charge the manufacturers what he ohoae. ' They, on their part, resolved to make an end of the "corner," and teach Liverpool ' a lesson by closing every mill in Lancashire for a fortnight. The effect of this, of course, would have been to ease the . market till October arrivals came to hand, and to bring down the price of cotton with a run. Steenstrand had no wish to > push matters to such an extremity, and on Monday morning last sold largely in a , falling market. The margin between the prices he bargained for in March last, and [ the prices he can sell at now are, however, : sufficient to enable the shrewd German to net a large Bum by his coup. South Kensington is all agog over what ■ has already come to be known as the [ "Weldon case." Mr and Mrs Ernest Weldon were a wealthy couple residing in , Gloucester Mansions, S.W. Mrs Weldon is thirty-eight years of age, and Mr Weldon, who was only thirty-tiro, waa her i third hußband. She is a very large, , massive woman, whereas Weldon was a ( little shrimp of a man, and from the time Mrs Weldon married him, three yeara ago, it is alleged that Bhe completely 1 dominated him. Be this as it may, he • certainly complained to his brothers of illi treatment, and on one occasion recently . displayed bruises which he declared were caused by his wife's fiata. Last year the | pair quarrelled and separated, but were reconciled at Christmas, and spent this ■ summer at Boulogne. Early in Septemi her Mr Weldon fell ill, and his wife, . distrusting French "medicos," brought him home. He died two days later, and Dr Fair, of South Kensington, certified the 1 cause of death to be Bnght's disease (the [ symptoms of which are much the same aa r those of arsenic poisoning) aggravated by i dipsomania. The funeral took place hurriedly (and without ceremony, it is alleged) and altogether the circumstances were bo peculiar that one of Mr Weldon'a brothers consulted the Home Secretary, who ordered the body to be exhumed. Thia was done, and a post-mortem held. Meanwhile, Mrs Weldon's movements are supervised. On all hands it is admitted the deceased was a confirmed dipsomaniac, and that Mrs Weldon had great trouble with him. He was looked up at Lewea once for fourteen days in delirium tremens, and fined at Wandsworth police court early this year for drunkenness. The surgeons and analysts who are busying themselves examining the internal arrangements of the late Mr ErneasWeldon (be was no relation, by the way, to the litigious Mrs W.) have not up to the present been able to find the smallest trace of poison, or, indeed, of foul play of any sort. In all probability the man died, as his medical man certified, of the com- ■ bination of complaints from which he was , undoubtedly suffering, and there was no justification whatever for the exhumation of the body. So Boon as the inquest is over, Mrs Weldon means to take revenge on the New York Herald (London edition) for the manner in which that enterprising journal has pilloried her. She is a very determined woman, and having (aa Mr Justice Denman publicly intimated) a strong case, will not improbably make George Gordon Bennett wish the London Herald had never been born. The Duke of Sutherland's tenantry at Dunrobin, being anxious his Grace Bhonld reside at the Castle part of the year, resolved to bolt the new Duchess amicably and gave the elderly lovers a good Scotch, welcome on their arrival there last week. The Duke chose to make a speech, and l caused considerable quiet mirth by remarking maladroitly that he preferred hia " honest Highlanders' cheers to the smiles of royalty." Considering how persistently hip Grace, at one time, 'sought the said smiles of royalty, and that it was mainly through the woman at hia side he lost them, he could scarcely have uttered a bigger b6tisc. The poor Duchess herself realised this thoroughly and blushed most painfully. Wilkie Collins* funeral was very largely attended, though the arrangements were of the simplest character, the deceased having expressly stipulated that the expenses should not exceed £20. When he | fell ill, " Blind Love " was three-parta finished, but (in accordance with his custom) the novelist had drawn up such an elaborate scenario, or outline of the plot, that Walter Besant (to whom the work was entrusted) found no difficulty whatever in finishing it. Wilkie Collins had been used to draw out theae scenarios ever since he fell ill, in the midßt of writing "No Name,** and before he had resolved on the denouement. The catastrophe worried him terribly, as hia popularity was then at its zenith. Fortunately he recovered just as Dickena was on the point of taking the tale in hand. Edmund Yates says hia old friend leaves hardly any literary remains, but Hall-Came and others seem to think sufficient can be found to fill a couple of volumes. Wilkie Collins death has given a spurt to the sale of "The Woman in White " and " The Moonstone-," and I am glad to notice " Labby " and other shrewd judges saying a good word for " Armadale." All the Collins family were clever. Both. Charles and Mortimer wrote fairish novels, and the latter had also some reputation for society verses. " Sweet Anne Page," by Mortimer Collins, will well repay perusal. It is not in the faintest degree like any of WiUrie's books, and is rather loose in principles. Mortimer Collins was a* thorough Bohemian. The Messrs Cleaver have found it necessary to contradict Mr Brierly's repeated statements that he subscribed thoosanda of pounds towards the expanses of Mrs Maybriok'a defence. They say all they ever received from him was one solitary cheque for .£IOO. The firm add that the precise sum paid Sir Charles BuaseU was iJBOO, and that personally, so far from having made money ont of the case, they are losers to the extent of £1000. Tha Baroness von Rogue, though much moved at her daughter's sad situation, could not, it seems, reconcile it with her coasciaaA to find funds for the defence. Ber vfif waa that the publio ought to provide QM coin-to rescue ncr" persecuted obild."