Daily Mail first edition 1896

Daily Mail dated Monday 4th May 1896

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This is the first edition of the Daily Mail sold as ‘the penny daily for a half-pence’.  As was usual at this time the front cover was given over to small-ads. 

I like the Personal ad in column 2:  ‘Uncle Jim – Come home at once, all is forgiven. Bring the pawntickets with you – Niece.’  I wonder what sad story lies behind this, or could it be a coded message? 

I'm pleased to note that the Hotel Cecil is ‘fire-proof’.  I’m not sure that modern advertising rules would allow such a claim, unless the place was made entirely of asbestos.

I can’t wait to get my copy of ‘Narada Sutra: An inquiry into Love’ Translated from the Sanskrit by E T Sturdy.  I do hope it’s illustrated.

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Muswell Hill was a wealthy neighbourhood in 1896 and the 79 year old Henry Smith lived there alone in a large house. Rumour had it he was a wealthy miser.

Smith's body was discovered on the morning of 14 February, a few hours after his murder, by his gardener.  The police found that he had been bound with shreds of blankets and had sustained several head wounds.

Inquiries led to two men, Albert Milsom and Henry Fowler, and a police raid captured both of them in Bath. Milsom gave up meekly, but Fowler had to be beaten into submission.

Fowler and Milsom blamed each other for the killing and, during a recess in their Old Bailey trial, Fowler suddenly started throttling Milson. A number of policemen pulled the attacker off. They were both found guilty of the murder and sentenced to hang, but the authorities were afraid that Fowler might attack Milsom again, so it was decided to hang the two men with a third one between them.

A recent double murder had been committed in Whitechapel of a pawnbroker and his housekeeper by a burglar named William Seaman, who was also sentenced to hang. He was put between Milsom and Fowler on the gallows built at Newgate Prison on 9 June 1896. 

Actually it should have been a quadruple hanging on that day because Amelia Dyer the notorious baby farmer, who had been found guilty of murdering 3 children in Reading, was supposed to be hanged with them, but it was decided that her execution should be delayed until the following day.

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This is an editorial piece. 'The motor carriage will never replace the smart trotting pony...' - The Daily Mail as ever had its finger on the pulse of modern progress.

Why not re-introduce the 3mph speed limit? It would cut fatal accidents and save a fortune on fuel. 

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Not the first name I would have chosen.  ‘Dobbin's’, ‘GeeGee's’ or  ‘Tasty's’ but not ‘Krog's’, there again I don’t suppose the horse minded what it was called.

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No extractions required?  Were they offering a second set of teeth to go behind or in front of your existing set?

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This from Wikipedia’s entry for English cinema pioneer Robert W Paul – 

In 1896, R W Paul pioneered in the UK a system of projecting motion pictures onto a screen, using a self-developed ‘Maltese cross’ system. This coincided with the advent of the projection system devised by the Lumiere Brothers. After some demonstrations before scientific groups, he was asked to supply a projector and staff to the Alhambra Music Hall in Leicester Square, and he presented his first theatrical programme on 25 March 1896. This included films featuring cartoonist Tom Merry drawing caricatures of the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II (1895), and Prince Bismarck (1895). Merry had previously performed his lightning-fast drawing as part of a music hall stage act. (The Lumieres were appearing on the bill at the Empire Music Hall, nearby.)

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By Gad, Sir, I don’t care what state the bloody Joanna’s in; if the Memsahib dips a soft rag in my alcohol, I’ll beat her on the wrong side and no mistake.  Pass the brandy!

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In last week’s post I admitted to not understanding cricket scoring.  This week I admit to further sport related ignorance.  The baseball entry seems fairly straightforward - 16 runs beat 13 runs – but the tennis lost me at ‘allowed 15 and bisque’, and as for the billiards, which I thought was like snooker with a top score of 147, I have to wonder how long do you would have to play to score 24,000 points?

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By Gad, Sir, (again), ‘Museum of instruments of stern discipline’ eh?  That reminds me I’ve got an appointment tonight with a damn fine... well… never you mind whom with.  Pass the scotch! 

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At first look I thought the advert was referring to cocaine, but that's from a different plant, this is just good old-fashioned caffeine. And lots of it.  The extract of the Kola Nut is used these days in drinks such a Red Bull’s Simply Cola, so you know what to drink if you want to carry a 176lb bag of coffee for leagues.  And you don’t have to be an ‘old negro’.