Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1877-08-03
An Eccentric English man.

BINARY FONDNEss FOR DoGS-A WHOLE |
PARK OF ARTILLERY-HOW THE ROOM
IN WHICH HE SLEPT WAS ORNAMENT
ED.
A suit brought by son to break the
will of his father, recently deceased, was
tried not long since in an English court of
justice. The defendants to the suit fought
hard to retain their rights in the premises,
but the claim of the plaintiff that the de-
ceased, a Mr.. Bethel Walrond, was of
unsound mind was so clearly established
that decision was given IN his favor.
1t was shown that Mr.. Walrond's man
agement of his several children was pain
full in the extreme. He insisted not only on
their comply ing " it'll his caprices, but will.
his bitter alliniOSilieS. 10 one OF the girls
he gave the name If Devil, always address,
ed her as such, aid branded the name with
lunar caustic ON the skin. The eldest son
he was always tutoring to act the part of
eldest son to such father. All his natu-
raj amiable feelings he bestowed upon dogs.
He never saw dog without stopping as
otueIS Wouiu az tueeCiiis on aoquaIiCaHce,
and he invested them with souls, not only
for eternity, but for this present time. He
slept with dogs, talked with them, embrace
ed them, and kept up III every way the
the fond belief that he was holding con-
versation with them. One Of the girls died
abroad. The child was buried, but the ia
thpr had the body exhumed, brought home,
kept in his bedroom, and finally deposited
in his own grave by his side. Together
with the remains Of the child he brought
from abroad the body of a dog, into which
he declared the soul of the deceased daugh-
ter>had passed. on no other ground than
that he could detect the daughter s express
ion as he talked to the dog. He had many
other brute pets, such as rabbits, and had
no little difficulty in making his dogs dis
criminate between the pet rabbits and the
wild ones with which his domain abound
ed. He was not dog-fancier, in the Ord-
nary sense of the term, for it was rather
the human affinity that he looked for in
the dog than perfection OF form or purity
of breed. One day, coming suddenly Oh a
deg of character, d sort OF Dutch maStlff
or terrier pug, he fell violently in love with
the animal, and secured one of it's offspring,
as he could not have the parent. In his
will he had left S., 900 to his dogs, but this
only survived, so by cOdicil he reduced
the legacy to ST 500, the interest for the
dogs keep, bequcathing the capital after
it's death to a hospital for sick dogs.
All the dogs had solemn funerals and
duly-inscribed monuments. His gardeners
and laborers had to walk to the grave in
procession, closely watched, and they were
instantly discharged if a smile could be
detected ON their cOuntenanceS. There are
characters naturally unsociable aud rebel
| lious, but partially redeemed by kindness
| to servants and interiors. There was no
such mitigation in Mr.. Walronds nature.
| He had strict and minute code Of rules
| and forfeitures for his servants, extending
to his children. If he found IL Bosom or
| toy on the gravel walk it was d sin to be
severely expiated. Among other follies
Mr.. Walrond gradually acquired whole
park of artillery, about fifty heavy guns,
which on occasions he fired.
| One day poor man long in his employ
had both his arms blown off by prema-
ture discharge, and was immediately
thrown upon the parish by his mater.
| All his domestic arrangements were as
infinitely ordered as If for court, though
hi< servants were on bOard-Wages and his
own personal wants very small. One Of
his bitter quarrels with the son was that
the lad had come home from school after
a journey very hungry, and, finding his ia
ther would give him nothing to eat, he ask
| III CuG ScIfduCS lOI d SllCt VI Ultdu3 WAlCH
they had given him.
| Nor was it with his son alone that Mr..
Walroud quarreled. He conceived an ami
mostly equally bitter toward his wife and
daughters, with whom he refused to hold
any communication. He lived on, visiting
and receiving no one with the exception OF
few intimate friends. He never went
beyond the range of his grounds. Heslept
in a huge bedstead of carved oak, to each
post of which he affixed hearse-plume of
black ostrich feathers, while ON the arch
itraves, between the plumes, were three
human skulls nailed to pedestals. More
over, in the same room in which he slept
every night he had placed leaden coffin
containing the remains of one of his daugh-
tiers. who had died III Italy in her child
hood, and whose body he had exhumed
and brought to his house. For many years
he had no communication with any one
except the nearest clergyman. who in the
public interest felt it very properly his du-
| ty to keep up at least that one remaining
| hold OH the unhappy recluSe.