The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 17, 1904, Page 17

~ ?Pagcsl7t0201 TI‘{E " SAN FRANCISCO, 'SUNDAY, APRIL 17, - 1904. - SHAKESPEARE'S FAVORITE CHAIR, BLACK WITH AGE BUT WELL PRESERVED, FULLY GUARDED IN IS CARE A QU NE BILL THAT KING WILL PAY Host Must Not Defray Expense of the Policemen. O Edward Makes Order N TR Anent Visit to Kylemore. to the Man- here will n with ung hosts will For the King mde by his persons private n connection t visits to Earl Hall, and Lord n West Suffolk b . en new to meth ya indig- f his should t he im was so I Cadogan and eagh had heard of the compli- state of s, and they, too, their respective check was re- ne it would be on paying ng is not accepted sense he is visiting 2 t himself. he “com- invitations has caused ety « les and but it was some t custom was the officer in is kind funds, local royal visits that warrants their parts. consent to is friends notified being a King up with the lot of ru- rency as ouble or aver- or other for " is supposedly t was announced from vear that a i caught would ted royal visit 1 Duchess of Devonshire rumor immediately d VII was not ill Queen at the last - €0 to Chatsworth . presence there of » society women of whom her Majesty is said not to approve, and so some excuse had to be made And ardly en placarded yes- terda g was suffering from a slight chill caught at Cam- bridge than an ingenious canard was circulated in the “West End” which firmed that a certain royal indiscre- on was intended to be cloaked by the official statement Only once since the King’'s accession, in fact, have the gossips allowed him to be really ili—this being at the time of his intended coronation, and then they insisted on making him a good deal worse than he actu: LONDON CABBIES HAVE FRIEND IN WALDORF ASTOR y was! PnrmerAmerlcanIsGeneKous and the Jehus Are Fond of Him. e LONDON, April 16.—One of the char- itable institutions in which Waldorf Astor takes most interest is the Lon- don Cabmen’s Benevolent Society. Ex- cept those immediately concerned in the management of the society, and Mr. Astor himself, no one knows the amount of substantial help he renders He i mot only a generous sub- gcriber himself, but he enlists the sup- port and sympathy of his friends on behalf of the cabby. He is never asked to help a man fajlen on evil times with- out a2 respectable donation coming along. He subscribes to their concerts and annual dinners. Whenever he en- jovs the luxury of a hansom, the cab- by is given a double fare and a cigar 3 | < 5 | : “ < e ‘L RELIC OF THE CELEBRATED ENGLISH POET. * = = 4 to enliven him on his journey. For many years Mr. Astor’s regular cabman excited the jealousy of his comrades by the smartness of his attire and his excellently equipped cab. That Jehu is mow a flourishing publican in Jo- hannesburg, and he attributes no small share of his success to his association with Astor, who assisted him to buy his own horse and cab. Having saved some money he was advised by his ben- efactor {o shake the dust of the Lon- don streets from his heels and try his luck in South Africa. Mr. Astor can- not bear a crawling cab, and since the ‘::ppelrance of his favorite man and hWrse he almost invariably employs a motor. When he has occasion to cab it he docs not pick up one indiscrim- inately. He casts his eve over the horses as they pass and he usually picks up the fastest. -~ TRADITA) AINT OLD HOME IN Rare‘ Relic of the G SUSSEX COUNTY reat Bard Occupies a Place of Honor in a Room Reserved / LONDON, April 16.—Few are aware that what was Shakespeare’s favorite ¢hair at his home in Stratford-on- Avon is still in existence. The illus- tration which accompanies this article, ybulned from a photograph specially taken for the purpose, is the first pic- ture of it which has appeared in Amer- ica, or in England either, for that mat- ter. ‘Way down in the county of Sussex, far from the madding crowd and the railway, in a quaint and curious old house' that is a befitting temple for it, reposes this most interesting of Shake- spearean relics. And no less zealously are guarded the papers, many faded and worn, which prove its genuine- ness, Though black with age this chair of Shakespeare’s is in excellent preserva- tlon, notwithstanding that it had a his- tory before it came into possession of the great poet. Its shape proclaims it as a relic of the Tudor period—what is generally knownl as the Glastonbury pattern. It is built entirely of oak, neither nails, screws, nor glue having been used in its manufacture, for it is pegged together with wood. The back and the seat are paneled, but beyond simple reeded moldings the chair does not boast any carving. A silver plate of more recent date nailed to the top rail of the chair bears the inscription in old English lettering: “WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.” “Born 23 April, 1564. Died 23 April, 1616.” The chair is now kept in a room sa- cred to anticuities and as can be seen by the photograph it occupies a prom- inent position beside an Elizabethan fire grate cast by John Hogge (the first founder of iron cannon in England) at Buxted, Sussex, in the year 1571. This fire back bears the royal arms and mot- toes of Queen Elizabeth. The fire dogs also have her cipher, E. R., upon them. The photograph also shows an old proof copy of “the first folio” portrait of Shakespeare,. besides contemporary portraits of the wife of Henry VII and Queen Mary I; an Elizabethan cross- bow, such as might have been used by Shakespeare when shooting at Sir Wil- for Anti\ciujties. of some eminence in the county. After the death of Mrs. Hall in 1849 their daughter Elizabeth came into posses- sion. This lady was married first to Thomas Nash, and afterward to Sir John Barnard of Abbington. On the’ death of Lady Barnard Shakespeare’s house was sold, under her will, to her cousin, Edward Nash, from whom it devolved, in 1679, to Reginald Foster, afterward Sir Reginald Foster, andfrom this gentleman it was re- purchased by the Clopton family, who in the year 1742 entertained David Garrick, Mr. Macklin and Mr. Delane under Shakespeare’s{ mulberry tree, planted by the bard, and then standing In the, garden. This was ruthlessly cut down by Mr. Gastrell, who next possessed the premises, and he com- mitted this sacrilegious act merely to avoid the trouble of answering the earnest importunities of frequent trav- elers. WHY HOUSE WAS RAZED. It was by the same irreverent hand that the house was pulled down in 1752 for no other nor better reason than a difficulty with the magistrates who had assessed this house in which he resided, only a part of the year, pro- portionately with all others in the bor- ough. As his only means of defeating this quite just assesment, Mr. Gastrell razed the building to the ground. A Mr. Taylor, who lived next door, saved the “Abbot’'s Chair,” as it was called, from the sacrilegious wreck. The his- tory of this chair when Shakespeare first possesed it was that a former owner of New Place, it was thought a William Clopton, had brought it to this house in Stratford-on-Avon from Glastonbury. Arrived on the spot, Mr. Ireland went to Shakespeare’s birthplace and found there a descendant of Joan Harte, The sister of Shakespeare. From this Mr. Harte he gleaned a great deal of in- formation about the scattered contents of New Place. On this he went first to Clopton House, where a farmer lived, and to his horror he was told by the farmer that he certainly had possessed P TAIORITE. CIAR. IT HAS PEEN PREJERVED IN THE HOUSE OF AN ANTIQUARIAN S HERE PICTURED FOR THE FIRST TIME. i > . L a great deal of manuscript from Shakespeare’s house, I:ut that only a + sos0e o * — CORSETS MAY BE THE CAUSE OF CANCERS London Surgeon -Makes Careful In- vestigation With Important Results. LONDON, April 16.—Writing to ‘tho Lancet, Dr. R. C. Lucas adds a new count to the indictment against the corset—namely, that under certain cir- cumstances it may be responsible for cancer. Three cases have come under the doc- tor’s notice in which cancer in women started at a point where the edge of the corset crcssed the edge of the big muscle of the chest. In describing two._of them, he says: “It occurred on the right side in rach case and in women whose occupation led them to undue use of the right arm, and in consequence, to excessive fric- tion of the upper edges of the corset. Friction of the corset at this spot is, therefore, the cause of the cancerous process developing in this situaticn, and, to express the fact, I have given it the name of corset cancer.” —_— e New Ball Game Introduced. PARIS, April 16.—The introducer of a new game; like the inventor of a new sauce, may be considered a benefactor to his species. Whether this qualifica- tion applies to members of a club founded for the purpose of popularizing “the game-of k?:u ball time alone wiil show. The gaple issmuch practiced in Belgium and the north of France. liam Lucws deer; Elizabethan stool; rushlight holder on bracket; bellows and tobacco tongs, which in the olden days were used to pick up live coals for the purpose of lighting pipes. FOUND BY ACCIDENE, There is no doubt that the modern craze for the collection of antique fur- niture had something to do with the discovery and treasuring of Shakes- peare’s chair, although before the birth of the nineteenth century this craze was in Its earliest infancy. It was about the vear 1793 when Samuel Ire- land, a well known collector and dealer in rare MSS., of Norfolk street, Strand, London, went to Stratford to collect material for his work entitled ‘‘Pictur- esque Views of the Warwidkshire Avon,”"published in 1795, and to make exhaustive and critical search for any literary or personal relics of Shakes- peare, for Shakespeare’s house had been pulled down, some years before, and his possessions scattered to the four winds. ‘ After ,quitting London, Shakespeare did not return to the humble dwelling wherein he was born, but in 1597 bought the house in Stratford next to the grammar school, where he had been educated, had it thoroughly repaired and giving it the name of New Place, lived there until the time of his death. This house had been built by a Sir Hugh Clopton a century before Shakes- peare purchased it. On the death of Shakespeare in 1616 the house and its contents continued in the possession of his wife, who died in 1623, and then it became the property of their favorite daughter, Susannah Hall. the wife of John Hall, a physician few days previously he had cleared out a whole closet full of them and burned them to make room for some partridges. He had seen the name of Shakespeare upon some of the papers and his wife had said at the time that she did not think he ought to have burned them. But they were gone be- yond. recall, and the searcher had to confine his quest to the lesser relics of the great bard. On a later date he went to see Mr. Taylor, who had Shakespeare’s chair. The Western Herald, in 1862, in an ar- ticle upon Shakespearean relics, men- tions the chair as an “aptique relic which originally belonged to the un- fortunate and last Abbot of Glaston- bury, Richard Whiting, a man of great learning and courage who, resisting the order Henry VIII to deliver up the property of the monastery, was charged with embezzling some of the plate, and by the King was sentenced to be hang- ed in 1539. The chair, which is an old Glastonbury one, subsequently became the property in 1597 of our immortal bard, Shakespeare, and was afterward purchased at Stratford-on-Avon by Mr. 8. Ireland, who was a most re- spectable and honorable man, a col- ilector of rare MSS. and other works of art, and he used to exhibit this chair. So repeatedly was Mr. Ireland’s shop visited by the curious to inspect this valuable relic that young Ireland’s cupidity was awakened and he admits that the thought of forging the MSS. was suggested by the idea that a large sum would be realized by the produc- tion of some additions to Shakespeare's existing works."” MANUSCRIPTS ARE FORGED. It was Edward Malone who exposed ' the wicked forgeries of young Ireland, which had deceived not only his own father, but scholars of considerable re- nown, including Parr, Wharton and Chalmers. Young Ireland, in his “con- fessions,” mentions that the Shakes- pearean chair, “which had a place in Mr. Ireland’s study, on being conveyed to London, was perfectly well known to all the inspectors of manuscripts, many of whom I have often seen seated therein to hear the “perusal of the (forged) paper: and their settled physiognomies have frequently excited in me a desire for laughter which it required every effort on my part to restrain.” The perfidy of his son, who afterward run away in a fit of remorse, broke poor Samuel Ireland’s heart and he did not live long. The old chair at his death became the property of a well- known club, known as the “Ancient and Honorable Lumber Troop,” a sort of literary and powerful political club, to which Samuel Ireland himself belonged. This club, which existed for two or three centuries, was said to have been originally formed from one of the trained bands raised at the time of the attempted raid by the Spanish Armada. In Queen Anne's time, her comsort, Prince George of Denmark, was a “Lumber Trooper,” and later on, Ho- garth was a member ana painted their escutcheon of arms, which long after hung in their troop-hall. Its aims were chiefly political and it was a recognized matter that any candidate for the City of London aspiring to sue- cess should become a “trooper” and be admitted by their colonel. Their anthem commencing “We are full ten thousand boys” was probably not far from the truth, for even in 1338 their numbers were credibly estimated at 8000 to 9000 members. Their troop-hall was what was afterward known as Dr. Johnson’s Tavern, in Holt Court, Fleet street, London. But with the disuse of the punch bowl came the end of the da of the “Lumber Troop,” and in 1 the properties and arms of the troop, including royal and celebrated autographs, furniture, paintings, etc., was put up for sale by auction at Messrs. Price & Clark’s rooms in Chan- cery lane, London. The catalogue which now lies before the writer gives “lot 16 as the “Oak Glastonbury chair, which belonged to Shakespeare and called the “Abbot’s chair." Full particulars of this lot to be obtained at the offices of the auc- tioneers.” The chair was sold to a Mr. Joseph Drew of Weymouth and was later on purchased by Lieutenant Colonel Mcney Carter. It was purchased by Mr. Charles Dawson, a fellow of the Society of Antiquities, London, from Colonel Carter's daughter in 1900, and is now in his possession at Uckfleld, Sussex. GAVE NEW HUSBAND A TITLE. London society was set all agog by the acticn of the fate R. W. Hanbury handsome widow in persuading Victor Bowring—to whom she was married the other day—to add the name of her former lord to his own. He now is known as Victor Bowring-Hanbury, and this is said tc be a unique instance of a first husbald’s name being added to that of the second. Several men marrying heiresses have, however, hy- phenated the lady’s name to their own, and sometimes the husband’s name has disappeared altogether, as In the case of Mr. Burdett-Coutts. R. W. Hanbury, Mrs. Bewring-Han- bury’s first husband, was president of the British Board of Agriculture and immensely wealthy. He left all his property to his wife absclutely, so it js possible that she had other reasons than mere independence of spirit for insisting, as he is said to have done, that his successor should take - his name. One of these may have been that as “Mrs. Hanbury” this regal looking woman has been for several years a prominent figure in Lendon social life. Victor Henry Bowring is a young society man of a family well knokn in fashionable circles and besides a town house in Eaton Square he has a coun- try place near Brighton, England's most fashionable watering place. His father, who has been Librarian and Registrar to the Metropolitan Board of Trade, is a former Member of Parlia- ment and very popular in Liberal cir- cles. Friends of the Bowring-Hanburys are wondering how the heir.to this strange combination of names will be called. In this country the law allows a per- son to take as many, names as he likes, provided there be no fraudulent intent, so Bowring-Hanbury-Bowring may be the next link in this rather unusual chaiu of appellations. To Americans in London who dance it always has been a source of surprise that altliough the cakewalk came, was seen and conquered, and various fancy dances from home attained popularity, the “two-step” failed, for some reason to get imported. Sousa's marches and the various other melodies to which this popular American dance is done have been favorites here for several years, but even at the “smartest” Lon- don ball cne never could find a partner who ever had heard of the “two-step,” Henceforth, however, there probably will be another story to tell, for Cromp- ton, the fashionable London “professor™ of dancing, has just declared that the “two-step”” will be the dance of the coming season. It was first seen in London at the leap year ball at the Empgess Roums, Kensington, last Mon- day night.