The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-10-29
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49, -
NOISY DOOR KNOCKERS.

Antiques which sem Adoru the Doors of
London Aristocrncy.
Each caller at house had his own
particular knock. There was the post
mans knock, the Doctors knock, the tax
and rate collector knock and tho knock
Of the master Of the house. There was
no end, of course, to these characteristic
signals, and in long streets their noise
was as uninterrupted az IL was deafen.
ing.
They were not only Of practical use,
but they were source Of no end of
amusement for the mischief loving
youth Of the neighborhood, who took
especial pride in the number Of knockers
they could wrench from their fastenings
during the night. Lord Charles Beres.
ford was one Of these pests, and many
. race has he given the metropolitan
police.
But knockor wrenching has gone out
| Of fashion. and preceded the knocker
for a few years This is good thing,
for many Of those that now adorn doors
in London are worth hundreds and
some Of them thousands Of dollars
Many of the nobility take great pride
in their Knockers, and many are formed
on curious and artistic models These,
Of course, are 20 be found Oh tho doors
Of distinguished people only. The knock.
ers on I've gates of the Piccadilly en-
trance oil the Duke of Devonshirc's pa
latial abode are fully worthy the latter
They came from Italy. and were made
in the seventeenth century. Lord Port
man has a couple Of pompeiian knock
ers. They had lain concealed in the
ruins of Pompeii 1900 years. In spite
Of this, they do not show any corroding
effect on the part Of time, and the Diana
done in bronze is still as perfect and as
clear us IL must have been in the days
of Christ.
When Lord Charles Beresford was
younger, he tried several times to
wrench off the bronze dolphins which
serve as knockers to the doors of the
town house of the Marquis Of Bath.
The result Of his last effort Is thus told
Late one night he drove up with his
intimate friend and chum, the Marquis
Of Queensberry, in hanson TO tho resi-.
dence of Lord Bath. The features Of
the cab driver might have been recog-
nized as those of Lord Ribblesdalo, mas.
ter Of the buckhounds in tho last ad-
ministration, who for some reason or
other is known to his friends by the So
briquet Of Dribblesquash. with which
he was endowed years ago by Lord
Charles Beresford. As soon as the han
som halted, Lord Charles and Lord
Queensbery hoped out, carrying a
stout rope. One end of this they attach.
ed to the Knockers and the other to the
body Of the cab, which they re-entered,
ordering the titled driver to whip up.
This he did. Tho horse sprang forward,
and out came not only the knockers, but
also the panels Of the door. An exploit
OF this kind could not be long kept Sc
cret, and very soon Lord Bath was in
possession of the names Of the robbers.
What next followed was wrapped in
mystery, but before week elapsed
knockers and panels had disappeared
from the bachelor "diggings" of Lord
Charles and had been restored to their
proper place in the doors Of the Bath
mansion in Berkeley square"
The fact that these old things still re-
tain their places indicates the hold they
had on the public. They survive for
years tho introduction Of the electrical
button, and their existence is a fine tri.
umph of sentiment. Thoy recall other
and nobler times of those who still use
thom--aro, in fact. indissolubly con-
nected with the earlier history of Eng
land. st. Louis Dispatch.