The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-28 00:00:00

LADY EDWARD FITZGERALD.

On Friday morning in last week the little village of
Thames Ditton was the scene of an event not devoid
of historical interest. The remains of the once
admired and esteemed Pamela, Lady Edward Fitz-
gerald, were removed from Paris and consigned to
their last resting-place on the banks of the Thames,
where they are placed by the side of her daughter
Pamela, Lady Campbell, and close by those of Lady
Sophia Fitzgerald, her aunt, and her other daughter,
Mrs. Lucy Lyon, together with the other members of
her family.
Lady Edward Fitzgerald, known in French litera-
ture as "Pamela," rernaved from Ireland after the
deplorable events of 1798, and resided on the Continent
till her death in 1831, when she was followed to her
tomb in Montmarte by Talleyrand and other French
notabilities of that period. Through some informality
it occurred last October that the remains were re-
quired to be removed from their tomb, and it fortunately
happened that Mr. J. P. Leonard, a naturalized French
subject of Irish origin, on becoming aware of this inten-
tion, caused them to be exhumed and carried to his own
vault. Upon the family becoming aware of this,
arrangements were made to bring the remains to Eng-
land, and now, after the lapse of half a century, this
unfortunate lady, remarkable alike for her talents,
beauty, and the melancholy interest attaching to her
sad life, reposes in peaceful quiet among her descend-
ants in the rural churchyard where so many of her
husband's family are interred. The solemn rites of
this third burial were attended by Sir Edward F.
Campbell, her grandson; Lady Selby Smyth, her
granddaughter; Lieutenant-General Sir Edward
Selby Smyth, and three of her great-grandchildren.—
Wednesday's Times.

The year 1871 was the year of greatest railway con-
struction in the United States.. The total track laid in that
year was 7,200 miles, or 600 miles a month. The present
year, 1880, seems likely to rival 1871. For the first six months
ofllBBo the track laid has been 1,900 miles, against 761 miles
in 1870, 606 miles in 1878, 618 miles in 1877, 673 miles in 1876,
401 miles in 1876, 676 miles in 1874, and 1,408 miles in the in-
flated year of 1873. The rnileage, therefore, of the first six
months of 1880 is about three times the mileage of any of the
six years 18744.

CLOSING INCIDENTS OF THE FORTY
DAYS' FAST.
The New York papers contain long accounts of the inci-
dents attending the conclusion of Dr. Tanner's fast. The
Tribune's report, beginning at five minutes to twelve, de-
scribes the doctor "paring his peach

"'Oh, I wish that whistle would blow,' groaned the
doctor, as he impatiently glanced at the peach so tan-
talisingLy near him. The time crept steadily, though
slowly on.
"Five minutes of twelve." Have a gla,s of milk
ready,' exclaimed the doctor. A new light flashed into
his eyes. Eagerly fumbling for his knife, he began to
peel his peach. As the delicate skin dropped off, and
the mellow, juicy fruit lay before him, the doctors's
lips twitched convulsively and his nostrils began to
expand. The temptation was almost too great. A
paper was procured and laid over the doctor's knee,
and the peach was hidden from view. Two minutes
of twelve I' Everylvdy was silent. The great crowd
that beat up against the doors of the ante-room was
for an instant still. Breathlessly the se•onds were
counted, and seconds never seemed so long. The
doctor gathered himself up as for an effort. His
watchers eyed him with looks of undisguised anxiety.
"Suddenly the steam whistle rang out loud and
clear. A murmur ran through the crowd, relieved
from its suspense, and the doctor, half leaping from
his chair, raised the peach to his mouth. Almost,
but not quite, it touched his lips; a watcher seized his
arm. 'For - sake don't eat that, doctor; you'll
kill yourself!' he exclaimed. An ugly scowl settled
upon the dodoes face. He writhed and struggled,
and at last shook off the hand from his arm. Instantly
the peach was raised to his mouth, his parched lips
opened to receive it, and with a long-drawn 'Oh!' of
intense satisfaction, the faster tasted the first food
that he had had for forty days.
"But outside the ante-room, in the main hall, fully
1,200 people were eagerly watching for Dr. Tanner's
approach. They had wearied of examining the free
advertising display within the arena. Three long
tables were arranged in line. At the ends were huge
boxes of crackers and prepared food, surmounted by
bottles containing various nutritious preparations.
Six huge watermelons filled the length of the table.
The largest was sent from Atlanta, Georgia, by the
Georgia State Horticultural Society. An electric
battery just sent in rested on one of the watermelons,
while the next one bore a box of coffin nails. A pair
of slippers sent by a poor old shoemaker,' flowers,
ornamented loaves of bread, zweibach, bottles and
cans of every form of milk, completed the display.
His easy chair was placed on a table at the head of the
long line of watermelons, and the doctor climbed into
it. He hungrily eyed Professor Wark, who was un-
corking a bottle of fresh rich milk. Filling a beer
glass almost full to the brim, Professor Wark placed
it in the outstretched hand of the hungry man. Dr.
Tanner lifted the glass, threw back his head, and two-
thirds of the milk disappeared at a gulp, which the
people crowded against the railing lustily applauded.
The doctor lowered the glass, wiped his mouth, and
looked around at the eager faces that surrounded him.
You'd better believe that tastes good,' he said, and
the crowd cheered.

"'Now bring on the Georgia watermelon,' he ex-
claimed. Dr. Gunn, who stood on his left hand, re-
monstrated, but Tanner's stomach was up, and he
waved him impatiently away. One of the regular
watch brought forward the huge forty-pound melon
and laid it on the table at Dr. Tanner's feet. 'Ah,'
grunted the doctor, with a satisfied smile. The melon
was sliced; it fell apart into halves, and as the rich
juicy interior was disclosed, the hungry man bent for-
ward, and voraciously seizing a handful from the in-
terior of the melon, erammed it into his mouth, and
at 12.6 enjoyed the first taste of what he has been
longing for during forty days. 'Oh, this it grand,'
he chuckled. He carefully masticated each mouthful,
swallowing the water, but ejecting the fibre in little
pellets. Dr. Gunn expostulated with him on his im-
prudence. 'I know my business,' said Tanner, and
he kept on eating.

"All this time he was fanned by a medical student,
H. B. Plunkett, who stood behind him. The doctor
seized another slice of melon, and again Dr. Gunn,
begged him to desist. Look here; I have been
through this mill before. This is what lets up the
strain. Just stand aside and let me have my own
way.' The doctors around grew pale with apprehen-
sion of a sudden and terrible fit of convulsions. Dr.
Tanner's brother-in-law, Mr. Gardner, approached
him, and asked him, for his sake, to stop eating. 'Let
me alone,' was the response grumbled out between the
mouthfuls of melon.' Then, turning to Dr. Gtmn, he
said: 'Why, I ate half a melon at the end ef my other
fast.' At last his appetite seemed a little assuaged,
and, perhaps, fearing that he had estranged his physi-
cians, he turned to Dr. Gunn and said: You can
take these things away now; I'm through'

"After the fast Dr. Tanner drove proudly up
Fourth-avenue with a piece of melon in his hand, and
a whole melon on the seat by the driver Arriving at
No. 31, East Twenty-fourth-street, he walked lightly
up the steps and ascended to a chamber. 'By George,
this is a pleasant room,' he exclaimed, as he sank into
a chair; 'but I want some more melon.' He ate
another piece and fell asleep, taking a nap of half an
hour. Then he awoke. His thoughts were still of
melons. Prowling around the room he discovered one
in a closet, and soon the days of that water-melon were
numbered. He ate two slices. Then lying down he
rested until three o'clock.

" ' I want some more melon,' he suddenly exclaimed.
Dr. Reilly gave him two pieces as large as his fist, and
Tanner ate it, fibre and all. At 3,10 he asked for an
ounce of red Hungarian wine. Then he read a paper
for a little while, but the memory of the melon in the
closet was too much for him, and going to the closet
he stood up and dexterously helped himself to three
pieces. 'Does your stomach distress you, doctor ? '
asked one of his attendants. 'By George, I wouldn't
have a stomach that distressed me,' was the laughing
reply."