Battersea

“ The congregation of the silent dead seems to make the place sacred, and gives it a solemn air. Here lie the mortal remains of the late Venerable John S. Jenkinson, M.A., for 24 years Vicar of Battersea, he died 17th October, 1871, aged 74, much beloved and greatly lamented. An appropriate text of Holy Scripture, I Thess. 4, 14, is engraved round the beautiful block of granite that covers his grave. ”

“ An old-fashioned print represents the former Parish Church of Battersea with square tower crowned with lantern and pinnacles, not far off is the Swan Tavern with stairs leading down to the river where persons arriving by boat might land. ”

“ An aged Pilgrim's triumph o'er the grave.
Here is a grave planted with Laurels, having a Rhododendron in the centre, the stone at the head bears the inscription—In affectionate remembrance of Philadelphia Emma, the beloved wife of Ephraim Wilson, of Bridge Road, Battersea, who departed this life, June 24th, 1875, aged 27 years. ”

“ A plain head-stone marks the resting place of all that was mortal of that good man William Henry Hatcher, born at Salisbury 21st January, 1821. Died at Sherwood House, Battersea, 2nd August, 1879. This stone was erected by his colleagues and Fellow Workers.
THE UNCERTAINTY OF LIFE.
Beneath our feet and o'er our head
Is equal warning given;
Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven.
Death rides on every passing breeze,
He lurks in every flower ”

“ “Her Grace tells me that a respectable Battersea architect has discovered a dead man in his bath.”
“Indeed, my lord? That’s very gratifying.”
“Very, Bunter. Your choice of words is unerring. I wish Eton and Balliol had done as much for me. ”

“ Lavender Hill seems to have been long noted for its nursery gardens. Situated on the Hill was Lavender Villa—at the foot of Lavender Hill was a brook. Now Lavender Hill has the appearance of a busy town. Splendid shops, handsomely decorated and well stocked line both sides of the main thoroughfare, and rows of respectable houses and semi-detached villas forming roads and streets have sprung up in all directions. The same may be said of a great portion of Battersea Rise extending to Bolingbroke Grove. ”

“ Waterman's rates from London Bridge to Chelsea (Battersea) Bridge—oars, whole fare 2/6, sculls 1/3, with company each person oars or sculls 4d. Not more than eight persons in any passage-boat between Windsor and Greenwich. Over the water directly every person 1d. and sculler's fare 2d. No waterman could be compelled to go below the Pageants, and Ratcliff Cross Stairs, or above Vauxhall and Feathers Stairs after five, from Michaelmas to Lady Day, nor after nine in the evening from Lady Day to Michaelmas. ”

“ His earnest constant labours to the last for the education and welfare of the young are of untold benefit, while rich and poor alike have lost in him a kind and sympathizing friend, whose loving and Christian spirit will long be remembered in Battersea. ”

“ Mr. Wright took the house of Mr. Swaine, but after Mr. Wright left, the house was taken by a man of the name of Ireland.
James Rock, a respectable ferryman and lighterman, whose house was hard by, was accidentally drowned in the river Thames, August, 1874. His son, George Rock, is now Pier-master at Battersea Park Railway Pier.
The "Red House" was famed for aquatic sports. Adjoining the premises were grounds for pigeon and sparrow-shooting, and the performance of athletic feats. Pigeons were there sold to be shot at, at 15s. per dozen; starlings at 4s., and sparrows at 2s. ”

“ Brayley "it would seem to have been eventually successful, a certain portion of the Common being now held on lease of Earl Spencer as Lord of the Manor of Battersea."—Brayley, Surrey Mantel, Vol. III. p. 281.
[1] The Manor of Peckham in the Confessor's reign belonged to this Parish, which has since been thrown into Camberwell; Penge being still continued as part of the Manor though separated from the rest by Streatham and Lambeth.—Manning and Bray's History and Antiquities of Surrey, Vol. I., p. 327.
Last century Clapham Common was little better than a morass; it covers 202 acres. ”

“ The agitations which disturbed the Wesleyan Connexion in 1851 and following years were felt with great severity in Battersea. The congregation and Society were so weakened by the separation that took place, that the Lessees, after allowing the Chapel to be occupied for a time by the seceding party, finally surrendered their lease into Mr. ”

“ Joseph William Hiscox, 2, Altenburg Terrace, Lavender Hill. (Vestrymen who retire in 1883) .—Andrew W. Cameron, 65, Salcott Road; John Cleave, Eaton Villa, Vardens Road; Horace Turnor, 63, Northcote Road; Edward Wood, 6, Shelgate Road. (Vestrymen [Pg 178] who retire in 1884) .—Francis Cowdry, 25, Belleville Road; William Haynes, Rotherstone House, Salcott Road; R. W. Oram, 13, Clapham Common Gardens; William Wilkins, St. John's Road, Battersea Rise. Auditor.—John Tomkins, Heather Villa, Nottingham Road, Wandsworth Common.
Parish Clerk.—James Spice, Bridge Road West. ”

“ The earth has been broken, and fissured, and worn away. The Elbe sweeps majestically at the foot of the Bastei; a plain is spread beneath, closed in by an amphitheatre of huge columnar hills, which do not, as is usually the case, begin with gradual upland, but rise at once in shape fantastic,—isolated one from the other. Some of the highest and most abrupt have been used as fortresses. The sides of the precipices of the Bastei are clothed in a forest of firs and other wood. [1] The whole scene was bathed in dazzling sunshine. ”

“ I cannot parallel the phenomenon you witnessed at Batticaloa, as produced by marine animals, with anything with which my past experience has made me acquainted in marine zoology. Excepting the faint clink of the Tritonia arborescens, repeated only once every minute or two, and apparently produced by the mouth armed with two dense horny laminæ, I am not aware of any sounds produced in the sea by branchiated invertebrata. ”

“ Bateese ’ongry an’ Cairlo ’ongry too—pouvre Cairlo!—’Ome, Jos’phine.”
“You’re always thinkin’ of your dinner, Bateese. Greedy little thing, you are. Very well then, (giving him a push) , go home, an’ you'll see they'll beat you an’ won’t give you any dinner at all.”
Bateese stood dismayed. His round eyes slowly filled with tears and the heart of Josephine melted within her.
“See, Bateese,” she said coaxingly, “Josephine got a copper here” (exhibiting the nobbly corner of a pale gray pocket handkerchief) . “You know them buns with the sugar on top an’ currants on the bottom? —Um!” ”

“ In the careless joy of the day they had almost forgotten Bateese.
“Your kid,” answered Josephine excitedly. “He ain’t hardly got any clothes left on him an’ he won’t come out.” She pointed to a flight of steps leading to the cellar of a deserted house, and, simultaneously, there came a wail therefrom; a long wail as of much pent suffering and sorrow too great to be borne. Pat and Patty alighted and hurried to the spot. Crouching against a cellar door, with tear-stained countenance raised imploringly, was the luckless Bateese ”

“ The wheels of the carriage rolled softly over the sandy road, the leaves of the trees were unfolding silently, stirred by a tiny breeze which lifted them tenderly now and then to see that they were being properly aired and sunned on all sides, the birds hopped almost under the horse’s feet and a great peace descended upon the harassed souls of Pat and Patty. They spoke seldom and in low tones, and Bateese was in a state of dumb content; sometimes he held Patty’s hand fast in the plump moisture of his own, but more often kept both arms around the neck of Cairlo. ”

“ Batterly was on went down off Cape Flattery. Mr. Batterly was rescued by a man who shared his stateroom—a man he had known for years. But my little boy—my Baby—was never seen again.”
In the silence that followed, Haidee shuddered and closed her eyes, biting her lips that were writhing and gray. After a short interval she went on in a low, strained tone:
“Mr. Batterly and I parted soon after. My mother died that summer and I went to Paris to study art. While in Paris last winter, in a Seattle paper, I read of Mr. Batterly’s death at Nome. ”

“ While we lay at Batesville we were unusually active in the matter of drill and reorganization; and this, with our engagements in the town, kept us too busy for much recreation; but Ludlow and I managed to work in a daily swim in the White River, with old saddles on our horses, and scant clothing on our persons. Talk of aquatic sports! there is no royal bath without a plucky horse to assist; and a swim across the swift current at Batesville, with a horse like Ruby snorting and straining at every stroke, belittled even the leaping at Lebanon. ”

“ Some genera of Batrachia have almost a world-wide distribution; while the tailed Batrachia, such as the newts and salamanders, are almost entirely confined to the northern hemisphere, some of the genera spreading over the whole of the north temperate zone. Fresh-water fishes have often a very wide range, the same species being sometimes found in all the rivers of a continent. ”

“ Batson tiptoed to the window and looked importantly out.
"We don't want to be seen talking together," he said cautiously, and Milly smiled at the far-off echo of the Corbin methods repeated with the muffled emphasis of Batson's expansive calm. . . . He looked to right and to left and he leaned forward and peered out through the window. A horn sounded among the trees.
"Maybe the new car," said Batson. Then his face lost interest.
"It's the mail, ma'am. Excuse me, please. I'll have to get it." ”

“ Dimly he could see the taut seaweed ropes stretching down from the top of the Peary to the sea-bottom. It looked hopeless, and to these men inside it was hopeless. He knew he must speak in confident, assured tones to drive away the uncaring lethargy holding them all, and he framed definite, concise words with which to do it.
"These creatures have caught you," he began, "and you think they want to kill you. But look at them. They seem to be seals. They're not. They're men! Not men like us—half-men—sealmen, rather—changed into present form by ages of living in the water. ”

“ As we were doubling the Point, the cable which held our montaria in tow astern, parted, and in endeavouring to recover the boat, without which we knew it would be difficult to get ashore on many parts of the coast, we were very near capsizing. We tried to tack down the river; a vain attempt with a strong breeze and no current. Our ropes snapped, the sails flew to rags, and the vessel, which we now found was deficient in ballast, heeled over frightfully. Contrary to José's advice, I ran the cuberta into a little bay, thinking to cast anchor there and wait for the boat coming up with the wind ”

“ Eight hours later she dared remember it, like any schoolgirl. Small wonder that she glanced about to make sure the room was empty. It sent her to bed shamefaced.
The fourth day came, with the golden road still unfolding before them and her fairy prince still beside her. Then the fifth day, and that night they stopped within sight of the ocean. It came as a surprise to both of them. It was as if, after all, they had reached a destination, when as a matter of fact they had done nothing of the sort. ”

“ There is a scuffling of heavy footsteps in the sand, and Captain Bartlett appears,{9} followed by Horne, who in turn is followed by Cates and Jimmy Kanaka. Bartlett is a tall, huge-framed figure of a man, dressed in a blue double-breasted coat, pants of the same material, and rubber sea-boots turned down from the knees. In spite of the ravages of hunger and thirst there is still a suggestion of immense strength in his heavy-muscled body. ”

“ What might be gained if one only had the vitality of this batrachian! You have been overtaken by a stupidly dull era, or are disgusted with life. What an advantage to call on some friend to pack you away in ice, and to thaw you out only when the next quarter-century bell rings! Since we cannot go safely over this bridge with the batrachian, it is not well to put such a discount on his ugliness, nor [182] is it well to be too exclamatory, if you tread on him in the twilight. ”

“ Trent as reason why she (Josephine) should become the guardian of Bateese during the absence of his “Pa and Ma.” This being arranged, Pat and Patty whirled off in a hansom on the morning after arrival, feeling like scholars out for a half holiday. After their weariness and anxiety they were ready to enjoy everything and quite confident that the problem of Bateese was to be settled—somehow—very shortly. Such a beautiful reckless day they had, lunching at Sherry’s; being whirled through the park in an automobile ”

“ The Battas are in their persons rather below the stature of the Malays, and their complexions are fairer; which may perhaps be owing to their distance, for the most part, from the sea, an element they do not at all frequent. ”

“ Pat was silent. He had made up his mind he would not tell that insane cream puff story again except under dire stress of circumstances. Some papers were produced and the party proceeded to a desk to sign them. No one noticed the children had quietly slipped out of the room, with Bateese’s pet in close attendance. They were now standing by the outer door, Josephine shaking poor Bateese savagely.
“You must run, Bateese. They’re goin’ to shut us up and beat us with straps, an’ p’raps kill us, an’ we’ll never git out of an iron place for years and years.” ”