Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-02-24
THE IMMORTAL WILLIAM.
INTERESTING STORIES ABOUT THE
BIRTHPLACE OF SHAKESPEARE.
How Snowman Barnum Was Instru-
mental In Saving the House from
Ruin-A Syndicate Of Englishmen
Hurry to the Rescue-Relics.

The hundreds OF American tourists VINO go
to Stratford-on-Avon every year and inspect
the little house where the immortal William
first saw the light never hear the most IN
teresting of all stories about the place. Per
haps it was my luck during recent hasty
trip abroad to get this information. Perhaps
il was my newspaper instinct that was always
prying into things and asking the most alb
surd out-of-the-way questions The reason
can not give But the fact came TO me all
the same 1t was one Of the neat maiden
ladies who have charge of the Shakespeare
birthplace that impaired the information.
feel pretty sure she did not mean TO impart
it. English men and women are not over
anxious 10 praise anything Americans may do
for England, or for any of England cherished
heroes. The maiden lady in question let the
information slip out by mistake She had
kept herself in restraint hitherto to Ameri
cans, but she divulged enough to arouse my
curiosity. l at once dropped the character of
a tourist and became an interviewer. / even
threw aside my pilgrim phase far enough to
take out pencil and notebook and jot down
the story as she told it TO me.
THE RELIC OF ALL RELICS.
1t seems the old house in which Shakespeare
was born had begun 10 decay very fast after
the first quarter of this century had passed
The people of Stratford were Indifferent TO
the historical value attached to the place
The tourists who arrived from day to day
simply had tie house pointed out To them.
and were then hurried on to Hathaway cot
tage, where the sweet William did his court
ing, or to the church where the great
dramatist is buried. The owner of the
property, who got it from one of the Shake
spearean descendants, viewed the estate
merely from a financial standpoint In pos
session or sale was a matter of pounds and
shillings with him He had no other use for
it In 1915 he advertised the property for
sale Strange to say, it went begging for a
purchaser.
For over a year there was not even bid
der. Ii never struck the proprietor that by
fitting the house up, so that it was safe t.
enter. he could capture many shilling, or
even half-crown, from the tourist and the
eager admirer Of Shakespeare. All Strat-
ford seemed TO overlook the fact that the
most interesting relic of all relics that re-
minded people Of the towns chef citizen was
the house where he was born, and in whose
shadow he passed his boyhood and mos;
of his youth The bench on which he
sat and made love to Anne Hathaway was
Dft>tIhtti Dui Ir'il Al WHICH HdtiNfbf
occurred and the bed in which he slept We're
allowed To go to rack and ruin. The lines
young William wrote to the gentle Anne
Hathaway, every verse of which ended
Anne hath a way, A nne hath a way
For making love, Anne hath way"
were carefully kept framed and hung on the
wall in the Old Hathaway cottage But the
initials Wv S. carved 10y the boy with his
knife or scrawled on rough characters on the
walls of his room at home were permitted TO
die out and I've obliterated 1t was a strange
commentary on the English inhabitant OF
interesting towns. Generally he is eager tc
save all relics and charge heavily for tn,
sight of each article of interest.
Ii was in ls4s that F. T. Barnum went to
England for the first time He was in sesrch
of curiosities that would add to the fame he
had already acquired at home. While in Lon
don one day he heard accidentally that
Shakespear,,s birthplace was for sale He al
once saw glorious opportunity. He would
buy the house. move 1t bodily to America.
and exhibit it as part of tine greatest show
ON earth. The next day him at the Red
Lion in at Stratford, in search of the owner.
Somehow he missed him, and left word that
he would give SIS, 900 for the property.
GOT AHEAD OF THE SNOWMAN.
60 far .s material x,lua was CONCERNED :,
ans tom +ip,.s ,,., the hons. was yvo,tl, Rut
tho n,,onrie,or tbougbt the nro,a,tv was
,,raatlv Desired nv some ono from tho ,ric,.
,,,Y.raj and be demanded 81, ooo for If Rar-
,um wouIa willingly have maid that s,m Inn,
bafore he had n ,s,nca To hid HIGHER several
wealthy Englsb,nap learned of IN. American
offer hurried Ia Stratford and maid the price
asked They Suddenly awokc To the danger
hat Threatened the old hons. and concluded
Il would never do 70 have Shake,;I-.ar,.'S birth
-l,ce leave ENGLAND or Stratfor,i- on Avon
Barnum felt sore over the matter. for he
lznaw There WAS money and fame IN the trans
action P,rbans his soreness has kent him
from telling the nul,lic how he rescued one of
the most interesting spots in the world from
utter ruin. Had il been bought by an ordi
.,ary Citizen he yyonId have converted IL int,
, modern dwelling place and taken away even
he semhlanca If its original aprearance and
historical halo
The men who purchased the property
'ormed a stock company and appointed nus
,e,-s to take charyt. of the house. Money was
subscribed in order that Sbakes,s.arean relics
If all kinds might be purchased and put on
exhibition i'm the house The two estimable
maiden ladies who still have personal charge
were appointed. They were quite Young
m 1850, but today they are decidedly
antiquated. and therefore, In keep
ing with their surroundings. Everything
was put in place. about the house and ar
ranged as nearly as possible as it was when
Shakespeare was boy. Shakesreare's father
-, -. - -, ,,,,.,,,,,, ST.,
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The old ladies are walking encyclopedias of
Shakesfeearean lore. They are ready to re
flute all scandals connected with dear VIII
iams name, and to narrate marvellous and
hitherto unpublished tales of his greatness
They are particularly emphatic IN denying
the stories of the great hards bihulous tend
encies, and declare that he never lay under
an apple tree for twenty-four hours IN
drunken Sfufor,