The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-10-04

A SUMNER SKETCH. IN SEVERAL SCENES.
Iron London society.l

| tFrom London Scciety.l
PRoLoGUs-THs sQUArTKRs.
A very celebrated squsttiDg story is told of al
old woman at Westminster. Success seems tc
come from squattipg, and the history of how Il
brought fortune to an ancient vendor of apples
within o stones throw of the Houses of Palia
ment is certainly worth the telling. ac
Once upon q time-snd | am sure that in thii
way all genuine stories begin-there was an cid
woman who kept little apple-sta or the Dor.
ders Of Q bit Of waste ground In Westminster
The hot sun dried up this little old woman's com.
plexion, and the pitiless rain hardly agreed with
the constitution of her fruit; So in order to pro-
tect herself from the attacks of our proverbfally
inconstant climate, she adopted the not very
| novel proceeding of holding huge umbrella over
her head, under which she was able to smoke her
| pipe and await her customers in peace and com.
| Fortune did not turn her back upon the little
old woman. With the slender capital she had sc-
| quired by apples she invested In literature. II
soon happened that frequenters of Westminster
knew where to buy their papers as well as their
nuts. Papers brought more capital and the little
OLD woman got 30 proud that she snubbed her
Gsmpish umbrella altogether. happy thought
struck her. Why not erect shade, She did this,
with the aid of q few sticks and piece of tar
pauiin. Further success suggested larger i'm
proyements. Kind goddess Fortune, as if with
fairy wand, turned the tarpsulin shed into q real
shed with real little cosey parlor at the back
The kind Of cosey back parlor to thriving shop,
with bell. and constant customers, (which at
eQVlOue.
i believe in back parlors to q shop and am still
OF opinion that they constitute true happiness ;but
this 10 fad OF my own and is entirely by the way.
Suddenly came another tap of fairy Fortunes
wand. A first floor was added to the shop; then
second: then third and then the "oldest in
babitsnt" might have been surprised to see real
house standing steady and erect upon this plot of
no mans land. But wait q minute. My story is
not yet over. Years rolled on, and the little old
os land hsa 6H
mighty railway or gigantic hotel, tire atening to
pull down the shop built by the little old woman
upon the waste plot of ground In Westminster.
Compensation, of course,n say the descend
ants Of the little old woman.
Compensation? Yes, anything you like to
ask says the mighty railway or the gigantic
of the queer little apple woman pocketed their
compensation, and, / trust, determined to live
happily ever after wards.
Now it strikes me that this is a very pretty lit.
tie story. The moral of il is obvious. Squat
wherever and whenever you can.
But what has all this TO do with the warriors at
wimbledon. hear somebody asking. | answer
with all politeness, very great deal, because II
II had not been for the estimabe system of SQUAT
ting, the warriors would never have been at Vim.
bledon at all.
Well once upon a time, again, there was war.
Nor IN every sense Of the word because he belonged
to celebrated volunteer corps which had existed
as volunteer corps long before such a thing as
" movement" was born or thought Of; long be-
fore country gentlemen and rustic pumpkins
equabbled about uniforms, and came up to Lon
don TO kiss her msjestys hands, and tread on one
snothers toes at orgie face tously called ball.
at the Floral Hall and besides belonging to the
Victoria Rifles he had left England to fight under
Garibaldi-a circumstance which, in my opinion,
goes far TO prove that he must have been very
fond Of fighting indeed. On the principle sup
pose, that man must eat peck of dirt before he
dies, he came back from Garibaldi Just as good a
fellow as be was before, and with the experience
gained from some rough campaigning.
he knew how to cook. That was great feather
in his cap. He had also invented a cooking appa.
ratus, which suggested trial. The trial suggest
ed Wimbledon, and Wimbledon suggested SQUAT
ting. Accordingly, the Victoras pitched their
tents, gypsy fashion, on q corner of the-common
and as they behaved themselves preNNy, and aid
lot mediate disturbing the hen-roosts of the
beiehboihood. Lord Spencer allowed them to re-
main on his domain, and did not bring them up be-
fore the nearest magistrate and charge them with
the heinous offense OF sleeping in the open air!
gypsy like again, the gallant Victorias were
msgnihcently hospitable They had shared their bit
and sup with all corners. They roasted many car
case in the celebrated cooking apparatus invented
by the celebrated Victorian Volunteer, and they |
passed round many pannikin filed with the best |
as Is" Round the carcases and the pannikins came
the eagles. Theihospitality Of the victorias be- |
came proverbal, and | may here remark that II |
has remained SO to this day. and equally proven |
bial became the jollity of the first camp out.
Then were the days of the original and never |
70 pe-lOrgOtten camp nres; and the days when Il
Lords Elcbo and Spencer, and all the nobilities,
male and female, Of the Association, sat round /
the fire, and listened to the fervid strains of the
vocal policeman, and we're amused with thea.
that time-novel account of the eccentricities of
q certain mermaid - who was married to a
sailor 80 at the bottom of the deep blue sea.n
When this celebrated Victorian hospitality was
noised about. ii became infectious. Englishmen-
and notably EDglisbmen who are Volunteers-do
not care TO be outdone in hospitality, and to this
generous and laudable feeling / am inclined to
ascribe the great success of the camping-out fea.
ture Of the Wimbledon Meeting.
Why, only this year, In the South Middlesex |
canp-composed of some what modern but not a
bit the less earnest squstters-I heard the same
opinion in different forms over and over again ex.
pressed. {" / had no idea it was so jolly shall
certainly come myself next year, And thus
expect It will come to pass that not only the Vol
ante ers who have qualms of conscience at receiv.
ng SO much kindness at the hands of their
brethren in arms, but the visitors who are not
Volunteers aud receive just the same hearty vel
,ome, will all put their shoulders to the wheel,
md then in years to come, during certain fort
light in July, London will be deserted, and we
hall all ind ourselves under canvas.