The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-12-28 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSER VEIL

IN THE STRONG ROOM.

BY W. Cl. M.
I HOLD, and have held for some years, an appointment in
the service if a large public company in the City of London.
In the summer of 1873, finding the premises we then occupied
ne longer afforded the accommodation the expansion of our
business demanded, the Board decided upon removing to
more commodious offices, and a lease, for a term of several
years, was taken of a new building then in course of erectlin
la an adjacent street.
The contractors had undertaken to have the house ready
for occupation by Miehaelmas ; but it was not finished, nor
nearly so, by that date. It was, in fact, the latter part of
December before we were enabled to take possession of our
new offices. A few days before the end of the month, how.
ever, the interior fittings—which had taken some time to
plan and arrange, in order that they might be especially
adatited to the requirements of our business—were com-
pleted ; and on Christmas Eve, orders having previously been
given to have everything not absolutely in daily use caretti.lly
packed and in readiness beforehand, the removal of our
mpedimenta was accomplished, after business hours, some-
what more quickly than I had anticipated. Still, it was
nearly eight o'clock before the van was loaded for the second
time and ready to start. I had rennined at the offices until
then, in order personally to supervise the despatch of the
chests in which the more valuable of the Company's books
and papers were contained. Having seen them placed in the
van and our messenger—a most steady and reliable man—
seated beside the driver, I, together with two of the junior
clerks, walked round to our new offices. When we got there
the van was standing in front of the house, it having reached
Its destination a little in advance of us; and the men were
beginning to unload it, On entering the building, I found
In the office on the ground floor several of the clerks, who
had come round earlier in the evening for the purpose of
assisting in putting things in order • and also the secretary,-
J—, who had, apparently, been awaiting my arrival
with some impatience.
" .111 I Mr. 11--" he said, directly he saw me, "I am
glad you are come, for I must be off :1 have an appointment
at lief sineton at nine, arid it is now nearly a quarter past
eight. When the F ' and 'K ' boxes are brought in, just
see that their contents are plaeei in the safe : that done,
tiers is net lingfurther, I think, to detain you, or any of the
other gentlemen."
"Very well," I replied; then added—for I, also, was
desirous of getting away as Boon as wee icable—" But can
we not put the boxes as they are in the Strong Room for the
present ; "
"No !" rejoined Mr. J—" It is tee damp; it will net be
fit for use for another fortnight at least. Here is the key o
the isa'e. Good nizht, anti a pleasant Chriotmas to you
Anti so speaking he left the office.
The safe referred to heel been sent round from the old
offices in the early Tart of the day, and placed in the position
it was to occupy in the manager's room. There was, there-
fore, nothine to delay our depositing In it the books and
papers contained in the boxes of which ND-. J.— had politn,
as soon as they came to hand—which was not for a few
minutes, as they were at the bottom of the van. In less than
half an our, however, I had fulfilled my instructions: and,
having resumed my hat and overceat, was about to leave the
office, when one of the junior clerks, a lad named s—,
aid to me :
"Have you seen the Strong Room yet, Mr. M-- "

"No ?" I replied. " Where is it? "
"At the end of the basement passage, " rejoined S -
"Won't you come and have a look at it? adding, with the
proneness to slang characteristic of the youth of the present
generation, "[1 is sash a jolly place 1"

e
When I recovered consciousness, I was lying ha my own
bed at home, and I heard a.man's voice say, "His pulse is
slower; the fever is leaving him."
I opened my heavy eyelids and discovered my wife bend-
ing anxiously over me, while the doctor, who had just
spoken, was standing beside my couch. I feebly attempted
to speak, but was not allowed to do so, all conversation
being interdicted me for several hours. When, however, I
was at last permitted to talk, my first inquiry was as to
how, and when. I had been rescued from my place of im-
prisonment. The explanation was simple. One of the
workmen, who were still engaged on the interior fittings
of the upper part of' the new building, had, it ap-
peared, received instructions on the Thursday evening to
come down to the office and light a fire in the strong-room
the day after Christmas. (Had I but known this, how much
suffering, mental and physical, I should have been spared.)
Although the day was a general holiday, the man had
willingly undertaken the task, as Mr. J-, our secretary,
being anxious to get the place dried as quiekly as practic-
able, haA agreed to pay him well fur his trouble. On enter-
ing the Strong Room on the Friday morning, the Individual
In question had found me lying insensible on the floor.
Papers in my pocket had furnished him with my address,
and I had been at once conveyed home, where I had then, I
was informed, been confined to my bed with a severe attack
of fever for over a week, during the whole of which period
I had been delirious.

I smiled at the warmth of the lad's language, the cause of
which was, however, obvious enough. At our old establish-
ment we had no fireproof mom; the bulk, therefore, of the
company's securities had been kept at their bankers; and it
had been necessary that the tin cases containing them should
be carried to, and from the oftlee almost daily Upon S-
had devolved the duty of accompanying the messenger on
the-e errands, and an irksome task, from which he hoped
in the future to be relieved.

S was rather a favourite of mine, and more to gratify
him than from any particular curiosity on my part—for the
evening was already somewhat advanced, and I was, as I have
previously mentioned, anxious to get home— I ac,!eded to his
request, and accompanied him down into the basement.
My companion had just pointed out the Strong Room to me,
when his name was called out from above, upon which he
left me, and hastily ran up stairs again to ascertain what
19e was wanted for.

The massive iron door of the Strong Room was ajar. With
some little effort— for the hinges wanted oiling—l pushed it
open and entered the chamber, which was of irregular form,
somewhat in the shape of the letter L. When Mr. J— had
spoken of the place as being "damp," he had. I found,
scarcely done justice to its actual condition, for the walls
were positively reeking with wet, and the plaster, down which
small rills of water were slowly trickling, was still so Solt
that it could be indented with the finger. A brax'er, filled
with burning charcoal, stood on the stone floor in the centre
of the room, having been placed there for the purpose of
drying it as quickly as possible. The gas was also turned
fully on; and this, combined with the fire, rendered the
atmosphere, even with the door open, exceedingly close and
unp'easant. I, therefore, after just glancing round the
chamber, was turning to leave it, when I heard the door,
which fastened with a spring lock, closed sha,ply from
without. As this was done I called out that I was in the
roma, but the sound of my voice was doubtless drowned by
the clang made by the heavy mass of iron as it struck against
the masonry, for my exclamation was unheeded.
That the individual, whoever he was, who had shut me in
could not have seen me, T was aware, as I was for the
moment standing in the angle of the chamber not visible from
the entrance. 4 felt, indeed, pretty well assured that he
was entirely unaware of my being there, since it was most
improbable that any one of the clerks would venture to play
a practical joke upon toe. I experienced, however, no un-
easiness whatever, for I supposed that a few minutes con-
finement was the worst I had to apprehend from my mis-
adventure. In fact, I natur aly assumed that either s—. or
one of the other clerks, of whom there were four or live still
in the office when I descended the basement, would not
fail to nice that I had not come up stairs again, and would
institute a search for me. In the meantime I endeavoured,
by persis'ently rapping at the door, to attract the attention
of any one who might be passing the corridor, but without
result.

In about a fortnight I was convalescent and able to return
to business. I of course, made inquiries' as to how it hap•
paned that none of the clerks, when leaving for the night,
had remembered that I was still in the building; and I learnt
that they were, all of them, well aware of my being there,
but supposing the messenger—who was then in the basement
—to be equally well acquainted with the fact, they had not
thought it necessary to remind him that I was still down-
stairs. He indeed, it was, who in perfect ignorance of my
being in the Strong Room, had closed the door, in passing
for the purpose of preventing the escape of the heated air—
thus rendering me a prisoner.
Several years have now elapsed since the occurrence
of the events of which I have spoken, but to this day,
I have never entirely been able to overcome the almost
insuperable repugnance, I for some time felt, to entrust:ng
myself again, for even the briefest period within the walls of
the STRONG ROOM. •

In a few minutes the vitiated atmosphere of the place
began sensibly to affect me. I experienced a painful tight-
ness across the forehead, my head swam, and I felt a deadly
faintness stealing over me—the precursor of insensibility.
Unless I were released, and that quickly. I now perceived,
with terror. that I should in all prob Ability be suffocated
very shortly by the ,fumes of the charcoal fire. I looked
round eagerly to see if there were any way of letting the
foul air escape, and was so fortunate as to discover, at one
end of the room, a small ventilator, about eight inches in
length ty slain breadth, closed by means of a sliding plate
of iron. I had much difficulty in opening it, for it was too
high up to reach with the hand, and the slide having become
jammc d in some way, it was only after repeated blows from
my umbrella—which I had brought down with me—that I
succeeded in forcing it back. Even after I had done this,
so small was the aperture that the heated air escaped
through it but slowly. I next upset the brazier and trampled
out the fire. This task accomplished, I directed my atten-
tion to the gas which was burning fiercely. In attempting
to lower it. from sheer nervousness I turned the screw too
far, completely extinguishing the light. T felt in my pocket
for the box ef fusees, which, being a smoker, I tarried habi-
tually with me ; but, to my dismay, discovered that I had
not got it, having, as I then recollected, left it in my office
coat up stairs. One chance, and one alone remained, of my
being able to obtain a light; it was just possible that in my
haste I had not completely extinguished the fire, and that
amongst the embers of it I might find a piece of charcaat
still burning. By good fortune I did so. Through the dense
darkness of the chamber a faint red glow was discernable a
few feet from me. I felt my way to the spot whence it
emanated : then stooped down, and with my breath care-
fully nurved the hall-extinguished ember until I had so far
rekindled it that I was enabled to ignite a piece of paper,
torn from a letter I happened to have in any pocket, and
so relight the gas.

My first act, so soon as I had done this, was tq look at my
watch ; the time was just half-past nine. Iliad, therefore,
been in the Strong Room very nearly three-quarters of an
hour; and I was reluctantly compelled to admit that the
fact of my not having left the office had—strange as the
omission was—been overlooked by every one of the clerks;
for there was, T knew, no probability of any of them being
still in the buildirg at that late hour. It behoved me, then,
to look my situation fairly in the face, and my heart sank
within me as I did so. Christmas falling on a Thursday, and
the day after being a Bank Holiday, it had been the opinion
of the Board that it was scarcely worth while to open the
office on the Saturday; and a notice that the establishment
would be closed from the Wednesday until the following
Monday had accordingly been inserted in the daily papers.
Thus four clear days would elapse before any one in the
Company's service would again enter the building. Had the
housekeeper resided on the premises, I mieht have hoped
that she, or some member of the family, would have occasion
in the course of the next day, to come down stairs to the
cellars or pantries, which were situated •almost immediately
opposite the Strong Room; and that then I should be able
to make known the fact of my being shut up in it But the
individual in question, unhappily for me, occupied apart-
ments in the adjoining house, and there was no likelihood of
her even entering the building I was in, previous te the Mon-
day morning, when it would be her duty to see to the light-
ing of the office fires. Until then, I could perceive, there-
fore, no prospect whatever of my being released.

Bow long it was possible for life to be sustained withent
food I was ignorant, never having given the subject par-
ticular consideration. I had, it is true, read accounts of
shipwrecks, in which, if my memory served me aright, both
men and women had survived a longer period than four
days without nourishment of any kind. But then, in all such
instances, much had depended upon the strength of consti-
tution and inherent vitality of the individual. No longer a
young man, and far from being in robust health, it was, to
my mind, a doubtful question whether my nervous system
would sustain itself uader.the shock to which it would be
subjected; and it was not unlikely that rescue, if delayed
until the Monday, would come too late to be of any avail
As these thoughts passed through my brain, there mingled
with them visions of my home, where my wife and
little ones were awaiting me. I thought of my warm, com-
fortable little drawing-room, with its bright, cheerful winter
fire, round which the members of my family were then in
all probability sitting; and the picture contrasted only too
vividly with the gloomy walls of my prison-house.

That my wife would experience very great uneasiness at
my continued absence, I was, of course, aware; but the
direction her fears would take would naturally be that some
accident had happened to me on my way home—the idea that
I had never left the office being a most unlikely one to
suggest itself to her mind. Indeed it was doubtful if she were
even cognizant of the existence of such a place as the Strong
Room, and she would therefore be quite unable to realise
the possibility of there being any part of the building from
which egress could not easily be obtained under any circum-
stances. My wife's anxiety on my account would thus be of
no practical service as regards rescuing me from ray unfor-
tunate position, and I could not blind myself to the fact that
it wou,d be mere folly on my part to look for help in that
direction.

But could Ido nothing to release myself P In the memoirs
of Baron Trench, Latude, and other celebrated state pri-
soners, which [had read, were narrated escapes in which the
obstacles to be overcome were far greater than those pre-
sented by the walls of the Strong Room. There was, it is tria,
one material difference in toe conditions under which the teak
was to be performed. The individuals to whom I have re-
ferred had, practically, almost unlimited time at their dis-
posal, whilst, as regards myself, unless I succeeded in
working rny way out within the next forty-eight hours at
latest, I should, in all likelihood, at the expiration of that
period, be so exhausted from inanition as to be unable to
continue my labours. Still it might be possible, I conceived,
to break through the wall in less time than that, if I could
only find something out of which I could fashion a tool to
work with. I locked round the room, and my eye fell on the
brazier, which was lying on the ground a few feet from me.
I examined it carefully, and discovered that one of the iron
cross bars by which its legs were braced and strengthened,
was fractured at the joint. By bending it backwards and
forwards I easily broke it off at the other end. This gave
me a substantial piece of metal about the thickness of my
thumb and some fifteen inches in length. Laying aside my
hat and overcoat, I next proceeded to grind the bar down to
a point at one extremity, selecting a spot on the atone flsor
where a tiny stream of water, which trickled down the wall
and meandered along the ground, afforded me the necessary
facilities for.doing so. I found the task a hard one; and it
was only after nearly two hours persistent labour that I suc-
ceeded in getting the tool into proper shape. Wtth the
broad end of it I set to work to scrape away the plaster from
the wall, which I accomplished with comparative ease, the
mortar being, as I have already stated, still quite soft. I
laid bare a surface of nearly two feet square before I. came to
what I considered a suitable spot at which to attack the
masonry. Having, however, at last found two stones, the
apace between which was rather wider than ordinary, I de-
cided to commence operations there. Although the wall
had not long been built, [found the cement exceedingly
hard, and I made but slow progress, being under the neces-
sity, from time to time, of leaving off work to regrind my
blunted tool.

IPteadily continued my exertions for some hours, until,
ftnally, I began to feel quite exhausted; and, on Consulting
my watch, I found it was A, little after two o'clock in the
morning. Recognising the necessity of husbanding my
streugth, and not altogether ill sal i.tled with the result oi my
labours thus far—although I had hardly got on so quickly
I had at first anticipated—l determined to disoonUnue as
work until I had refreshed myself by 'a few hours sleep.

Selecting a dry spot on the floor, and making a pillar of my
coat, I threw myself down, and worn out alike with mental The ILLNESS of the PRINCESS 'ALICE.
anxiety and bodily fatigue, hard as was my couch, I soon fell From the Lancet.)
asleep.
How long my slumbers lasted I know not, for when I The profound grief of the nation and its sympathy
awoke I found that my watch had stopped at a few minutes with Her Majesty make it a duty for us to publish the
past six o'clock, and it was, evidently, much later than that, following facts concerning the illness which has ended
as a faint streak of daylight was visible through the aperture
in the death of one of the most favourite members of
afforded by the ventilator. I rose from the floor with some
the Royal Family. We do so the more readily inas-
difficulty, for my Joints were quite stiff, and every. bone in
much as they seem to show that the disease and the
my body seemed to ache. I felt, too, feverish and ill, the re-
sult of having, as I now discovered, contracted a severe cold gravity of the attack were promptly recognized, and
owing to the dampness of the place. I was devoured with that the Princess had throughout the advantage of the
thirst, and fain to cool my parched tongue with the muddy constant advice and attention of oile or all of three
water of a small puddle which had been formed by the drip-
pings from the roof and walls, flaying done this, I nerved well known German physicians, and, for the last day
myself to a renewal of my labours; and hour succeeded hour of her illness, the benefit of Sir William Jenner's pre-
sence and Counsel, whose knowledge of diphtheria is
as with dogged perseverance I continued nix irksome and
monotonous employment, as special as his knowledge of the constitution of his
As the day advanced I began to suffer from hunger, but Royal patient.
not so severely as might have been anticipated, for I was The illness lasted a week. On Saturday, the 7th,
too unwell to feel any very eager cravings for feed. Still the Princess complained of sore throat. The next
the want of nousishment told upon me, and I gradually grew morning Dr. Bigenlirodt recognised the diphtheritic
weaker and weaker. By the evening, however, I had sac- nature of the throat affection, and treated it with
ceeded in penetrating the wall to a depth of over a foot,
when, suddenly, I felt the tool in nry hand strike against much judgment. As the symptoms of the disease
metal of some kind. I lighted a piece of paper and looked became more severe, Dr. Oertel, of Munich, known AS
eagerly into the cavity. A single glance confirmed my worst the author of one of the best articles on diphtheria—
fears. Between the two layers of masonry of which the wall that in " Ziemssen's Cyclopasdia "—was called in, and
was composed, had been placed throughout its whole length stayed to the end.' Dr. Jagers, a physician of the
plates of ohilled iron. Of their thickness I was, of course hospital at Darmstadt, and a capable surgeon, was
completely Ignorant; but to attempt to penetrate any one of i -
these with the means at my command would be, I knew, al
summoned, and was in constant attendance. One
utterly futile—and least aside my tool in despair, or other of these gentlemen were present night and
day. The local symptoms were severe from the first.
The *hopes of escape by which I had hitherto been buoyed '
The false membrane characteristic of the disease soon
and supported, being thus utterly annihilated. I fairly broke .
down; and so completely unnerved was I, for the moment, covered the soft palate, reaching to the hard, the
that I burst into tears, a weakness of which I was speedily pharynx, and the tonsils, There was great swellings
ashamed, but for which the mental and physical prostration of the glands under the jaw. From an early period,
from which I was then suffering afforded some palliation too, there was considerable fever and constitutional
I soon recovered myself, however. Pride came to my assist- disturbance. The temperature at times as high as
ance. Should I, who in the course of a somewhat eventful
career had faced death more than once without quailing, 104 deg. Fahr. The Princess died on the eighth day
give way to idle tears like a child or a woman, instead of of the disease. Her attendants became very anxious
meeting my fate with the resolution of a man? No I If die at finding in five or six days no abatement of the
I must, let me at least eneeavour to face my doom with principal symptoms. But on Thursday—the day on
petience and resignation I As those reflections passed which Sir William Janner, who had been detained 12
through my mind, I seated myself on the floor, for my hours by an aivident to the steamer, arrived—she
feverish symptoms were increasing, and I was becoming so
feeble as to be scarcely able to stand without support. I was so much better that it was deemed advisable not
took out my tablets, and after giving such brief instructions to inform the Princess of his presence, and, though
as were necessary with respect to the settlement of my fully apprised of the facts frorn the time of his arrival,
affairs, I hade a last ferewell to my wife and family. This he slid not see her till the Friday morning between 9
done, I aba-doned myself to communion with my own sad sod 10 o'clock. She had had no sleep in the night
thoughts Gradually, however, my mind became abstracted and the windpipe had become affected. Up to Fri-
from the present, memory carrying me back to the days of
my youth. Long forgotten sceees and incidents of my day the windpipe had continued quite free. But,
childhood even reproduced themselves almost as vividly as then symptoms of exhitustion and cardiac failure
though they had been occurrences but of yesterday. After occurred. Death was caused by these and not by
a time the fever in my blood began to affect my brain; my mechanical obstruction of the larynx.
mind wandered; and I fancied my selfonce again in America
The first anxiety of English practitioners in such
—in which country ma early years of manhood had been
passed-..—lng part in Various adventures in the "Far West?' cases is to know that every care has been taken
At one tttue I was on a lumber raft, floating down the lA's- to uphold the powers of nature. We are glad to find
sisslppi ;at another, on the Kansas prairies, engaged In an that throughout this truly vital indication was duly
encounter with hostile Indians. Then, again, I was one of regarded, and every means was used to support
a party of traders crossing the plains to Utah; and, later strength. But the failure of power, in spite of
still, I imagined myself at the gold diggings in California.
stimulants and nourishment and supporting medicines,
At last I must have fallen into a deep stupor, for I remem-
ber no more. . which ,were all laid under contributions was
only too intelligible. There is a limit to the
endurance even of such mothers and daughters as
the Princess Alice showed herself to be. 'The
system attacked with the posion of diphtheria,
has, at the best of times and under the best cir-
cumstances, a hard battle to fight. But to have this
battle to fight in the depression of recent bereave-
ment, in the weakness implied in having nursed with
exquisite devotion her children and her husband, and
in the atmosphere in which all this disease had
happened, was to give nature and art almost a hopeless
task. We can but be thankful that all human means
could do was done and well done, from the beginning.
We hipe before long to publish a report of all the
cases in this unfortunate outbreak. Such lives as that
of the illustrious Princess must not be lost in their
prime without a historical record of the doing of the
poison to which we owe her death and that of her
beloved child. And we can extract no deeper lesson
from her disastrous disease, nor one of which her
enlightened and benevolent spirit would more approve,
than to work with intenser effort to exterminate such
form of disease.