Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 93, November 26, 1887Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 93, November 26, 1887
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
But, Sir, between the Landlord who won't put it on, and the Water
Company who will cut it off, what is a poor Tenant to do? In one day I
read, first, that Mr. WILLIAM CHRISTIE is summoned by the Sanitary
Inspector of St. Saviour's, Southwark, for obstinately refusing to
provide a suitable water-supply to twelve houses in Park Street,
Southwark; secondly, that the East London Waterworks Company is summoned
by a Mr. ERNEST BRANSEMER for cutting off the water at his house in
Boundary Passage, Shoreditch, without lawful excuse. Looks encouraging,
doesn't it? True, Mr. KEBBELL, the Company's Solicitor, assured Mr.
HANNAY that the Company was really in the right, and that the man had
suffered from the fault of his Landlord. Perhaps so, in this case.
Anyhow it seems to be admitted that the man suffered, and suffered
unjustly. In this case, too, the Company (said its Solicitor) had been
"very good," had paid the man and settled the matter. Mr. HANNAY is
reported to have said, "Really!" which seems almost to imply a mild
surprise. Surprised at the "goodness" of a Water Company!!! Well, it is
a painful fact that the prevailing faith in the proprietors of
Waterworks is much of the complexion of _Sam Weller's_ in the
"Waterworks" of the Mulberry One. Only that the Companies, as a rule,
are not quite so ready to "turn it on at the main," as was the
lachrymose and deceptive _Job Trotter_.
"The Company do not fear the Magistrate's decision," said Mr. KEBBELL,
loftily. "It is the trial by newspapers which follows, which is so
objectionable." Doubtless: from the Company's point of view. Whether the
Consumer shares that opinion may be questioned, perhaps.
Anyhow, _Mr. Punch_, my own confidence in the "native worth" of Water
Companies and Landlords, being a plant of slow growth, which, indeed,
has hardly yet appeared above ground, I should like to call attention to
the dilemma which the "tub"-loving, fever-fearing Tenant is liable to
fall into between the two. If this savours of that obnoxious practice,
"trial by newspapers," I am sorry; but really, Sir, the Tenant has his
"trials," of another sort, which are very "objectionable" indeed, and
which, I fear, without the publicity afforded by the Press, neither the
justice of Landlords, nor the "goodness" of Water Companies could be
implicitly trusted to relieve him from. At least, such is the experience
of
Yours truly, AQUARIUS.
* * * * *
KEPT IN;
OR, THE LEAGUER BELEAGUERED.
_A Right-thinking Radical requests information._
Hast thou seen that lordly castle,
The home of Mr. PYNE;
How round its patriot portals
The Peelers prowl and whine?
I suppose those brutal butchers,
Without the slightest fail,
Would stretch the M.P. on the rack,
And afterwards impale?
_An Unfeeling Unionist answers him_--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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