The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-04-13
A RetrOsDpCt,

gular characters who had their habita-
ton in the then small town Of Will
mington, Of whom the present genera
ton, we take it, haVc never heard, but
who are we'll remembered by the few
old citizens who yet remain-old fossils,
as the youth of the present day de-
ligslt in calling them-and to whom
they think the Re mark, "Superflous lag
the veterans on the stage" is justly ap-
-plicable. It has occurred to us that
possibly a brief sketch of some Of those
individuals and their peculiar charac-
teristics might amuse our readers for
a moment; but, if it should not, it will,
at any rate, serve to fill up some unOc-
cupied space.
Nearly three score and ten years ago
Sir Charles J. Peschall made his advent
into Wilmington to assume the duties
OF the British vice ~consulship at this
port, to which he had just been APP
pointed by his government. There were
no railroads in those days, and the only
means of travel, or, rather, the prin-
cipal one, was by stage coaches which
ran through Raleigh and Fayetteville
twice q week to Wilmington, and land
ed ali passengers on the opposite side
OF the river the termnu Of the cause
way, and from which point they were
transferred to the dock at the foot of
Market street by a small ferryboat and
open fiat, where they and their lug
gage were dumped out upon the wharf.
There was an English gentleman
here at the time by the name of An
thOny Milan, attending to the duties of
the consulate, a very stout, a very
pompOus and extremely aristocratic in
dividual, who look down upon Ordi-
nary people with the utmost contempt,
but paid great court to titles and nobil-
ity. AS soon as he learned that the
stage had arrived he hurried to the
wharf, in full dreSs-and he was always
faultlesSly attiTed-tO greet the diStin-
guished arrival, and, seeing a man
standing in the midst of trunks and
other baggage and dressed in a kind of
a fatigue uniform, he approached him
with hat in hand. and. bowling pro-
foundry, inquired: Have l the honor
of addressing Sir Charles J. Peschail?"
The individual to whom the inquiry was
made very quietly replied, with a
strong smack of the brogue: eff it is
me master you name, ne has gone up to
his boarding house." 1t is impossible
to describe the chagrin and mOrtifica-
tion of Milan when he discovered his
mistake, and that instead of greeting
the barOnet, as he supposed. he had
ildut OtDtlSdlICC ~ IBo NolCL VI oCl olll
He quickly turned upon his heel, with
an expression OF most intense disgust
depicted on his countenance, and beat
a hasty retreat amidst the half sup
pressed merriment of those who wit
messed the scene.
Sir Charles had been an officer in the
British army and was Ounde in the
4hrOa at the battle Of Waterloo, which
almost deprived him Of the power Of
a<+ic111atiOn TT WAS oytrpmp1V difficult
to understand him, but he would talk
necessarily, or, at least, try to do so,
and would betray Impotence If not
readily understood. He brought with
him when he came several small ter
riers, and he vas an amusing figure
ON horseback, gallOping through the
woods with the pack at his heels, Civ
ing them exercise, he was accustomed
to say. He had few business qualifi-
cations, if any, except to draw his SAL
airy, which he understood doing
thoroughly; he was well paid and his
expenditures were liberal. 1t was gen.
orally supposed that, like many others
of the decayed nobility, who, perhaps,
had done the state some service, it was
necessary to provide for him and that
he was sent to this place, where there
was little to do, on a good salary, to
uphold the dignity of his office. Inc
duties of the consulate were performed
by his clerk, or secretary, as he styled
himself, a rough, raw Irishman named
Charles Manning, with the richest
brogue imaginable. but who prided
himself upon his familiarity with the
English language and the correctness
with which he could pronounce the let
tiers "th." in which he claimed that
none of his nationality who then resid-
ed here could approach him. For in
stance, he would say, There's old Jim
my Usher, who has been here for years,
and yet he can't say 'Nortrop' North
rop) to say his soul. and if he was to
be bombed for it, he couldn't say tun-
der ~(thunder). Upon being asked for
the correct pronunciation Of these
words he would promptly reply,
'Nortrop' and ~'tunder," and no argu-
ment could convince him that his pro-
nunciation was the same as "old
Jimmy Usher's."
Sir Charles at one time owned that
place on Wrightsville sound, now the
property of c. S. Ellis, Esq, and his
first act after taking possession was
to have every door and window shutter
in the house painted a brllllant scarlet,
which made it the most conspicuous
building in that region of the country
and attracted the attention of all WIS.,
itors to the s~eacoast. There he resided
with his clerk and his dogs, almost a
recluse, for he had no family n no
apparent affection for anything except
his terriers. To them he was devoted,
and the more they increased in num-
bers the greater was his delight in
looking after them. He had openings
made at the bottom of each door SO
that the could run in and out of any
room in the house and make themselves
entirely at home. He was a quiet, in
offensive man, and quite eccentric.
with but little force of character and
no desire to make himself conspicuous
or at all obtrusive. We think he died
here. but of this we cannot speak with
any degree of certainty.
There Is more Catarrh In this section OF the
conntrv than all other diseases put together,
and until the last few years was supposed 10 Dc