When Sir George Head published his "Bubbles," he set people almost as
mad as they were during the great "Bubble Mania;" and like all the
mining and other associations, they have proved but bubbles at last. It
is said that one hundred and thirty-five thousand passports were taken
out last year to go up the Rhine, by people who wished to see the pigs
go through their daily manoeuvres, to an unearthly solo on the horn, and
to witness the decapitation of the Seltzer-water bottles, which were
condemned as traitors. Now, so large an influx of people to these
German watering-places could have but one effect; that of a glorious
harvest to the innkeepers, and those who had lodgings to let. The
prices, at these places, have now become so enormous, that three florins
have been asked for a single bed, and everything else has risen in the
same proportion. The reaction has now begun to take place, and every
day and every hour we have carriages returning through Liege, and other
towns, from these watering-places, the occupants holding up their hands,
quite forgetting the pigs and bottles, and only exclaiming against
extortion, and everything German. They have paid too dear for their
whistle, as Franklin used to say; the bubble has burst, and they look
with regret at their empty purses. And yet, all that Head said in his
amusing book was true. He rambled through a verdant and unfrequented
lane, and described what he felt as he stopped to pick blackberries. An
immense multitude have followed him, the green lane has been beaten down
into a high road, and, as for blackberries, they are only to be procured
at the price of peaches in May.
And now let us reflect whether the bubble will not also burst with the
Germans. Formerly they were contented with moderate profits, and
received their visitors with humility and thankfulness. Now, that they
have suddenly made large profits, they have become independent and
unceremonious; and, like most people, because they have reaped a golden
harvest for two years, they anticipate that it will continue. The value
of property at these places has risen, speculations have been entered
into on a large scale, provisions and the necessaries of life have
become dear; new houses are building against time, and the proprietors
smoke their pipes with becoming gravity, calculating upon their future
gains. But the company will fall off more and more each succeeding
year, although the speculations will continue; for people always find a
good reason for a bad season, and anticipate a better one the next. At
last, they will find that they are again deserted, and property will
sink in value to nothing; the reaction will have fully taken place,
prices will fall even lower than they were at first; honesty and
civility will be reassumed, although, probably, the principal will have
been lost. Thus will the bubble burst with them, as it has already with
deserted Spa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account