The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-01-09

The late Lord Kilmorey was over
ninety when he died. He had been in
the Guards, and WAS with Sir John
Moore's army in the advance from
salamanca to attack Sonlt. and in tho
subsequent disastrous retreat to Corun-
MAJ and ''had seen as much of travel,
sport, and adventure. as much of life in
It's various phases, good and evil, as
any man of his generation" But it
was not advisable to dwell upon the
earlier part of his career. In later life
he had passion for buying places on
the Thames, improving and then selling
them. On one occasion, it being nee
e>sary for his projected Improvement,
that hs should add scrap of waste
land to his property, be at once fenced
it in. At night the fence was pulled
down.
He put it up again; and again it laid
low, the work of PREPARATION and dcmoli-
tation being repeated several times. At
length he devised plan of his own to
meet the case, He wrote at the top of
| half dozen separate sheets of foolscap
paper, Lord Kilmorey proposes to
give next Christmas to the poor of the
parish GOO These sheets of paper he
distributed about the parish, one sheet
| at the public-house, another at the
butchers, third at the chemists, and
so on at other places of resort. He then
proceeded to put up the fence again.
That night it was leveled as usual.
The next morning he went the round
of the places where the foolscap sheets
had been lodged, and made the follow
ingSentry in each: To cost of putting
up fence pulled down last night. f5., to
be deducted from the above t200.'"
A disturbance the next night was
treated in the same way, and then the
fence was allowed to remain, and at
Christmas the Earl distributed the f200.
without deduction. Another coveted
corner he was unable to obtain,
though he tried even more high-handed
measures. The piece of land belonged
to q laundress, who refused to accept
another piece in exchange or double its
value in smoney. So the Earl waited
till the laundress' linen was hanging
out to dry and the wind blew off his
own land towards the drying ground.
and then he lighted bonfire of green
wood and kept the dense smoke blow
ing upon the linen for many hours. But
- the landress held to her own, and the
Earl's quick resentment ere long evap.
Grated with the smoke of his own bon.
fire." The Earl was equally unsuceSs
full in bis attempts to force a charitable
institution for female orphans to sci
him a certain triangle of land which be
coveted. His own property ran close
up the entrance gates of the institution
and there he established marine store
festooned. with unsightly vessels, il
hope to annoy the Governors into sub
mission. When he was nearly eighty
he had fall at wayside railway sta
ton and broke two ribs, but he insisted
on continuing his journey. At the ter
minus he refused to leave the carriage
which was shunted on to a siding, anC
there he remained for more than ;
week. Some of his friends will re
member having visited him in his ex
temporized hospital. At the author
office, in Lincoln's Inn Fields, the Ear
one day met another client who wa
eighty-two and as proud Of his age a
the Earl himself. who was then eighty
FIVE. The solicitor said:
LET me introduce gentleman Q
eighty-five to a gentleman of eighty
two Eighty-two, sirn echoed tn
Earl, slightly raising his hat to MI
Levien, III run you round the squar
for flyer Some days afterwards MI
: Levien called on the writer again, an
remarked slowly and with muc
solemnity I've been thinking grea
deal about that bet. Iwish had take
it. '''-London AttenGu7n.