Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-10-17
OLD-TlME ADVENTURES.
Queer Enterprises That Astonished Lon
don In tho Last Century.

Queer Enterprises That Astonlshed Lon
don I'm tho Last Century.
Cox's extraordinary enterprise, which
he set going in l77l, come rather UNI
der the head of lunacy than swindling.
His fixed idea was to combine the
wealth and luxury of Asia with the
mechanical inventions of Europe in a
series of extraordinary artificial pro-
auctions. To rotlize his monster
whims he devoted considerable pri-
vate fortune and an imaginative bent
which was far above the common, and
loaded with his fantastic command the
most skillful engineers, inventors,
clockmakers, goldsmiths and jewelers.
in France and England. He thus, ere
long, saw himself in possession of a
vast collection OF marvels and master
pieces, finished TO the highest perfec-
ton of the art workers powers. Cox's
scheme was to transport all these to
Asia for sale to Eastern potentates. He,
however, kept the collection-not an
unfit precursor of those modern shows
which we call exhibitions-some nine
years in London, where he charged
half a guinea for inspecting it. Gold,
silver, diamonds and other stones
were worked into all sorts of animal
forms-camels, elephants, and SO on
which moved and seemed to breathe;
birds that sang, ducks that swan,
game that ran about in a thicket. A
castle six feet high, which cost over
f100, 600, was destined for the Great
Mogul, and a copy. of it was actually
sent to Pekin. for the Emperor of
China But debt with it's lengthening
chain, fatally encompassed the vision
ary;, he never could realize more than
fraction of his large scale Asiatie
programme; only part of his collection
got. to India and the rest was sold up
in London. Then there appeared in
1880 that king of native quacks, the
Scotch DIR. Graham, with his occult
celestial bed, which cost-or so he
said-f16,000 His house in Pail Mall
he called the Temple of Health and
Hymen, of which deities he pro-
claimed himself the high priest. This
temple was decorated with glass of all
colors, precious vases filled with rare
perfumes, statues of the human form
divine in their Groves of Barney cos
tunes, and the rest of it. His book on
the principles of Health" cost half 8
guinea, and recommended cleanliness,
moderation, early rest and early ris-
ing; sleeping in the light, especially in
moonlight; singing, drinking his divine
balm at ''only half guinea the
bottle and sleeping, first at one hun
dred guineas night, and for fifty
mark note, in the marvellous and
celestial magnetico electric bed, the:
first, the only one in the world, OR
which ever had existed. 1t was situat-
ed in the holy of holes, in front of his
charming hermitage" It was isolat-
ed on six massive and transparent
columns and covered by a vast canopy
of brass rods, which communicated
with an enormous electric machine
lodged in an upper chamber.
In the bed-posts were inserted
vases of ether, which was first
volatilized and infinitely subdivided
by the electric fluid and then breathed
with the atmospheric air by those
who chose to pay DIR. Graham for a
nights lodging. The sheets were of
purple and sky blue satin and the
mattresses perfumed with the most
precious essences of Araby. The
electric cylinder conducted into the
bed chamber and into every part of
the bed the all divine, celestial, cleo
trio fre-the fluid which animates and
WHITES every thing-including "She,"
and in this case, He" too; for it
sounds like a vulgarized anti-climax to
the African tale. To all this was
added the melodious tones or ''toons"
of the harmonica, the soft sound of
the flute; the charms of agreeable
song and the mellihuous notes of the
organ. The farce drew host of
wealthy gulls until 1884, when Ora
ham, showing the better part of valor,