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  • May 1, 1879
  • Page 25
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The Masonic Magazine, May 1, 1879: Page 25

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    Article TURF SMOKED. ← Page 8 of 9 →
Page 25

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Turf Smoked.

invariably clad in black . He , as I have indicated , Avore more rings on his fat fingers than any man I ever saw . He Avas a Freemason . Of Avhat Lodge ? I know not , but I do knoAV that he Avas a Past Master of the craft . He talked so loudly and talked so much that one Avould have thought it impossible to fail to detect his avocation . He wasn't connected Avitb the establishment . That information I obtained by bribing one of the elderly Avaiters ; but that was the sum total of the intelligence I could extract . My mentor not only did notcould notor would not communicate his professionbut

, , , professed that he didn't eA'en know his name . "He has sat there everyday and all clay long for more than forty year . He has a power of money , and the RE-OAX-EIAES he smokes -Well—there !" Once be—not the uncommunicative Avaiter , but HE—displayed in my hearing such consummate acquaintance Avitb the " price current" of tbe day in tbe matter of saltpetre , Bengal chutnee , Bologna sausage , Calcutta curry , and Westphalian hams ,

that I at once set him doAvn for a drysalter ; but , the next time I saw him , bis fingers were deep iu a piece of dirty Avhitey-brown paper , containing say a sterling million ' s worth of glittering crystals , Avith half a dozen very black and curly polls , and a dozen heady , greedy eyes , and six highly developed beards clustering around him—all tbe heads together in a centre as they stooped over him , the seedily clad limbs and bodies radiating . They reminded one of certain of the passengers on board the good ship " Iberia " in Thackeray ' s capital description of the White Squall , where they'd

" a hundred Jews to larboard , Unwashed , uncombed , unbarbered , Jews black , and brown , and grey ; " and also resembling those unsavoury Hebrews , " Each man moaned and jabbered in His filthy Jewish gaberdine "—

ancl then I set him doAvn for a diamond merchant . Happening once to mention some transactions in Pernambucos in Avhich I Avas temporarily interested , he let off a Avhole Stock Exchange calendar of information , illustrated by a perfect menagerie of bulls , and bears , and stags , ancl ducks , lame ancl otherwise , and then I changed my mind , and made sure he Avas a stockjobber ; but I soon afterwards had reason to think , from Avhat he let fallthat he Avas a heavy speculator in hops . On one occasion he displayed such

, a number of gold watches and chains from different receptacles about his person that I began to feel perhaps it Avould be as well to fi ght shy of him , ancl had suspicions that he might be a dealer in stolen goods . I know he ' Avas a Conseiwative , for he denounced briar root pipes as revolutionary , ancl induced the then proprietor of Louey ' s to refuse

them permission to be enjoyed in the apartment . I suspect that he Avas more than a Conservative—I Avould say a Tory , only Mr . Gladstone has recently familiarised us AA'ith the employment of that title as a term of reproach , and I don't like to be rude . I remember that he vehemently protested against the supply at the establishment of pale brandy . This Avas about tbe year ' 48 , the Revolution year , and he predicted , from the abandonment of broAAn brandy as a beverage , the imminent overthroAV of the monarch y ,

and tbe speedy doAvnfall of the Church of England . He protested in vain though , —the straAV-coloured innovation ivas provided , although I am bound to admit that it never , in the estimation of the regular customers Avho " used " the " Anchor " ( and Louey ' s , be it remembered , encouraged a parlour trade , although transacted in an apartment AA'ith a bar crossing one end of it , as the " Garland , " on the contrary , rigidly restricted itself to bar practice ) superseded the broAvn Nantz to Avhich he of course stuck till the last

, . Till tbe last ! Ah ! the end of my tale approaches . I rather think he was killed b y A ppolinaris and Bellthal Avaters . Almost the last discourse I heard from him Avas an account of a more or less logical association in bis mind of tbe introduction of those li quors Avith 'the outrages of the Commune . He had a " seizure" Avhen they were first provided at Louey ' s . He lingered on—in protest as it were . He mildly shook bis A'enerable head as rash youth qualified their potations from the fizzing bottles on the

“The Masonic Magazine: 1879-05-01, Page 25” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01051879/page/25/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
LIST OF LODGES (CONSTITUTIONS), 1756. Article 1
A CATALOGUE OF MASONIC BOOKS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Article 6
A CHANT OF SPRING. Article 14
INSANITY AND FREEMASONRY. Article 15
SPEECHES. Article 17
TURF SMOKED. Article 18
PAST AND PRESENT. Article 26
THE MASONIC CHARITIES. Article 30
BEATRICE. Article 36
THE HEROIC DEFENCE OF RORKE'S DRIFT. Article 40
FAINT HEART. Article 41
JOY OF MY LIFE. Article 42
WHY WE HAVE ANTI-MASONIC CONVENTIONS IN AMERICA. Article 43
MASONIC NOTES AND ODDS. Article 46
THE DYING MASON TO HIS BROTHER. Article 48
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Turf Smoked.

invariably clad in black . He , as I have indicated , Avore more rings on his fat fingers than any man I ever saw . He Avas a Freemason . Of Avhat Lodge ? I know not , but I do knoAV that he Avas a Past Master of the craft . He talked so loudly and talked so much that one Avould have thought it impossible to fail to detect his avocation . He wasn't connected Avitb the establishment . That information I obtained by bribing one of the elderly Avaiters ; but that was the sum total of the intelligence I could extract . My mentor not only did notcould notor would not communicate his professionbut

, , , professed that he didn't eA'en know his name . "He has sat there everyday and all clay long for more than forty year . He has a power of money , and the RE-OAX-EIAES he smokes -Well—there !" Once be—not the uncommunicative Avaiter , but HE—displayed in my hearing such consummate acquaintance Avitb the " price current" of tbe day in tbe matter of saltpetre , Bengal chutnee , Bologna sausage , Calcutta curry , and Westphalian hams ,

that I at once set him doAvn for a drysalter ; but , the next time I saw him , bis fingers were deep iu a piece of dirty Avhitey-brown paper , containing say a sterling million ' s worth of glittering crystals , Avith half a dozen very black and curly polls , and a dozen heady , greedy eyes , and six highly developed beards clustering around him—all tbe heads together in a centre as they stooped over him , the seedily clad limbs and bodies radiating . They reminded one of certain of the passengers on board the good ship " Iberia " in Thackeray ' s capital description of the White Squall , where they'd

" a hundred Jews to larboard , Unwashed , uncombed , unbarbered , Jews black , and brown , and grey ; " and also resembling those unsavoury Hebrews , " Each man moaned and jabbered in His filthy Jewish gaberdine "—

ancl then I set him doAvn for a diamond merchant . Happening once to mention some transactions in Pernambucos in Avhich I Avas temporarily interested , he let off a Avhole Stock Exchange calendar of information , illustrated by a perfect menagerie of bulls , and bears , and stags , ancl ducks , lame ancl otherwise , and then I changed my mind , and made sure he Avas a stockjobber ; but I soon afterwards had reason to think , from Avhat he let fallthat he Avas a heavy speculator in hops . On one occasion he displayed such

, a number of gold watches and chains from different receptacles about his person that I began to feel perhaps it Avould be as well to fi ght shy of him , ancl had suspicions that he might be a dealer in stolen goods . I know he ' Avas a Conseiwative , for he denounced briar root pipes as revolutionary , ancl induced the then proprietor of Louey ' s to refuse

them permission to be enjoyed in the apartment . I suspect that he Avas more than a Conservative—I Avould say a Tory , only Mr . Gladstone has recently familiarised us AA'ith the employment of that title as a term of reproach , and I don't like to be rude . I remember that he vehemently protested against the supply at the establishment of pale brandy . This Avas about tbe year ' 48 , the Revolution year , and he predicted , from the abandonment of broAAn brandy as a beverage , the imminent overthroAV of the monarch y ,

and tbe speedy doAvnfall of the Church of England . He protested in vain though , —the straAV-coloured innovation ivas provided , although I am bound to admit that it never , in the estimation of the regular customers Avho " used " the " Anchor " ( and Louey ' s , be it remembered , encouraged a parlour trade , although transacted in an apartment AA'ith a bar crossing one end of it , as the " Garland , " on the contrary , rigidly restricted itself to bar practice ) superseded the broAvn Nantz to Avhich he of course stuck till the last

, . Till tbe last ! Ah ! the end of my tale approaches . I rather think he was killed b y A ppolinaris and Bellthal Avaters . Almost the last discourse I heard from him Avas an account of a more or less logical association in bis mind of tbe introduction of those li quors Avith 'the outrages of the Commune . He had a " seizure" Avhen they were first provided at Louey ' s . He lingered on—in protest as it were . He mildly shook bis A'enerable head as rash youth qualified their potations from the fizzing bottles on the

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