The Strand Magazine, Vol. 17, February 1899, No. 98.Various
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 17, February 1899, No. 98.
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
Mr. Coxeter stands just behind the sheep-shearer, watching with an
anxious eye, whilst to the right may be seen a tent, which was erected
presumably for refreshments, and schoolboys climbing a greasy-pole and
generally making the best of the holiday which had been accorded them in
order that they might witness this singular spectacle.
The sheep being shorn, the wool was washed, stubbed, roved, spun, and
woven, and our next illustration, also from an old print, shows the
weaving, which was performed by Mr. Coxeter, junior, who had been found
by previous competition to be the most expert workman. In the background
of this picture may be seen the carcass of one of the sheep; of which
more later. The curious-looking objects in the basket, held, by the way,
by another of Mr. Coxeter's sons, are wool spools, while in the extreme
background, looking out of the window of a quaint old cottage, may be
seen "the gods in the gallery."
When we compare the primitive-looking loom seen in this picture with the
powerful machinery of to-day, the record then established certainly
becomes all the more wonderful.
The cloth thus manufactured was next scoured, fulled, tented, raised,
sheared, dyed, and dressed, being completed by four o'clock in the
afternoon, just eleven hours after the arrival of the two sheep in the
mill-yard.
In the meantime, the news of the wager had spread abroad among the
neighbouring villages, bringing crowds of people eager to witness the
conclusion of this extraordinary undertaking.
[Illustration: THE FINISHED COAT.
_From a Photo. by C. J. Coxeter, Abingdon._]
The cloth was now put into the hands of the tailor, Mr. James White, who
had already got all measurements ready during the operations, so that
not a moment should be lost; and he, together with nine of his men, with
needles all threaded, at once started on it. For the next two hours and
a quarter the tailors were busy cutting out, stitching, pressing, and
sewing on buttons, in fact, generally converting the cloth into a "well
woven, properly made coat," and at twenty minutes past six Mr. Coxeter
presented the coat to Sir John Throckmorton, who put the garment on
before an assemblage of over five thousand people, and sat down to
dinner with it on, together with forty gentlemen, at eight o'clock in
the evening.
[Illustration: MR. CHARLES COXETER, THE ONLY LIVING EYE-WITNESS.
_From a Photo. by C. J. Coxeter, Abingdon._]
Through the kindness of Sir William Throckmorton, its present owner, we
are able to give our readers, in the illustration shown at the bottom of
the previous page, a photograph of this wonderful coat. The garment was
a large hunting-coat of the then admired dark Wellington colour, a sort
of a damson tint. It had been completed in the space of thirteen hours
and ten minutes, the wager thus being won with an hour and
three-quarters to spare.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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