Savannah daily herald. (Savannah, Ga.) 1865-1866, February 11, 1865, Image 1

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    SAVANNAH DAILY HERALD.
' _ c iliA I '2l
VOLU>IK I.\
No. SB. j
Sailg^jeralt)
IS PUELI6IIEI)
EVERY EVENING, SUNDAYS EXCEPTED,
. RY
£3. W. MASON & CO.
At 111 Bay Street, Savannaji, Georgia,
terms:
Per Copy Five Cents.
Per Hundred $3 50.
Per Year .$lO 00,
advertising:
. t limited number of Advertisemeets will be re-
C ived at the rate of Twenty Cents per Line for
dist insertion, and Fifteen Cents per Line for each
•mbsequen insertion ; invariably in advance. Ad
vertisements should be handed in before noon of
each day.
JOB PRINTING
ia every style, neatly and promptly done.
THbl MAD ENGLISHMEN.
Iq the year 1817, two Englishmen ar
rived in Ostend ; and from their move
ments, ' appeared to he two singular
originals. One was short, stout and red
haired ; the other was tall and thin.—
Tue tall one was named Richard Mow
bray, and his tali companion was Wil
liam Feathering!on. Roth were in tiie
prime of life, between forty-five and
fifty-five. From head to foot both were
gentlemen, and their passports were in
the best order and regularity. Upon’
stepping ashore, they were conducted,
at their desire, to the Scheldt Inn, on
Gudule street. The host was by name
Rysvoort, and his inn had by no means
the best reputation in Ostend. The inn
keeper was of course enchanted by the
arrival of such unlooked for guests.—
Tney occupied the best apartments in
the House, and ordered the choicest
fare. Tne cook busied herself in setting
before them a most miserable dinner,
and our host did the same by two bot
tles of execrable wine. The islanders ate
acd drank with the most perfect satis
faction. But the reckoning ? Upon
this point the host was quite at ease.
The next morning his enormous charges
were paid with tne utmost indifference.
Thus far all was excellent; but Van
Rysvoort, unused tov.such birds of Par
adise, feared every moment they might
depart, and continue their journey to,
Brussels. He very sagely concluded"
that, the Englishmen did not cross the'
sea to see Ostend merely, and to pay
dearly for this bad cheer,
Tne pair, however, showed no signs of
departure; a diligence offered them
every opportunity. The Englishmen
remained quietly ; all intercourse With
tne townspeople they avoided—the
sights they troubled themselves not at
all about. Every day they walked into
the country, and ate and drank, smoked,
slept, and read the papers, and lived as
quietly and peaceably as angels. No
letters, came to them—they sent none
off; the world was dead to them, and
they- were dead to the world.
Every third morning they regularly
paid their bill; took nothing off, al
though the landlord daily charged a
threefold price lor everything. Van
Rysvoort spoke Usually but little 100, and
troubled himself about his guests still
less, since they paid so well; but these
sell-same Englishmen took up all his at
tention. He puzzled his brain over and
over again, and at last took his i- wife
into his counsels ; but as they could.not
ey n conjointly solve the mystery, they
consulted with friends and neighbors
Upon what these Emrlisiimen could pos
sibly be doing at Ostend.
“They are spies,” said one, “birds of
flight, who are escaping punishment, ’
said others.
At last tbe town clerk, who had been
some years ip England, settled the’mat
ter. - '
1 “Do not trouble your hea ls : Iff tell
you what these two Engiis mien are— ]
SAVANNAH, GA., SATURDAY EVENING, FEB. 11, 1865.
they are nothing more nor less than mad
Englishmen. Do you Luow what that
means? Listen, and I’ll tell you. I
knew a man' m London * who, in his old
age, took to leading such a beggarly life,
that for fifteen years he lived as the most
wretched of paupers. From his fellow
beggars.he received every kino, ot an
noyance ; his mode of lile brought on
him euo; gel ings and imprisonments: but
he still persisted’. At last, one morn
ing, lie was lound in a lane frozen dead!
And listen, he left a will—valid, and
drawn up by a notary—b} r winch lie dis
posed of more than £50,000 to fit village
he had never seen nor known. Con less
that that was a mad Englishman- Such
are those now lodged in the .bcheiut,
So spoke this clever man., ■ ■ R
But Van Rysvoort answered, “Mad or
not, they are good customers; and il l
only for five years could keep such
guests, I should become a made man.”
A week after this conversation, • and
three after their arrival, the Englishmen
called their host, and thus .addressed
him : “Herr Van Rysvoort, your hotel
pleases us very much, and it our pro
position pleases you we may continue
our acquaintance with each other.” „
“My lords,” answered the delighted
host, with, a low obeisance, “I am quite
at your disposalsay your wishes and
they shall become mine ; for I know
what I owe to such distinguished
guests” <■' c
“My good friend,” said the little fat
man, “your hotel is by no means so large
as it ought to be ; you know you have
but three apartments in which a gentle
man can be accommodated, and these
look upon the street- The rattle of carts
and carriages make noise without end.
,We love quiet. We are here every in
i slant disturbed. In short, the übise is
unbearable: ’
“I am very sorry to hear it, my lord ;
what can I do ? You are quite right. It
is true‘the traffic is without end, but I
cannot shut up the street.”
Gertainly not; but the thing is not so
difficult after all.” *
, “What does my lord mean ?”
“Tne cost cannot be important, and
we will tyiliingly bear the half.”
[ “Pray continue, my lord,” cried out
the landlord, with a trankness and
t warmth most unusual to him.
“ You have, behind your house a
small garden, in which nothing grows ;
the old wad is also in ruins. Could you
not build there a small house, with three
ctomfortabfe-rooms, and there we shall
Lind a quiet lodging ? If you freely give
in to our plan as we have said, we will
pay one half. When we leave, tbe
house will belong to you, but should not
this please y in, we must go, although
we would willingly remain.’
Van Rysvoort seized eagerly upon the
proposal, finding his own advantage in
every view ; he kept his customers, and
enlarged his house at their expense.
Tue same evening the honest Van Rys
voort consulted with a builder,wlioatone
and tfie same time, was his gossip and
godfather The builder stt 'briskly to
woriv next morning tor the Englishmen
would admit of no delay; and as they
marked out the ground, all was quickly
iu progress.
From morning to night Mr. Richard
Mowbray and Mr. Wihiam Feathering
ton never left the workmen Ytu Rys
voort took great interest in what vvas
going on, but said nothing. It is true Tie
was not quite contented That the haste
with widen the Edglislimen hurried On
the building, gave no guarantee of its
durability. He would have been better
pleased, perhaps, bad the building not
be* n raised quite so much in the corner
by me old wall, and had it been carried
up a story or so higher ; but his guests
were inexorable', and would only allow
ol one floor. In fourteen days the gar
den house was completed,* as if by
magic. Tiie Englishmen were so de-
[ ■ feu
ligiitd, that they took immediate, pos
sesion.
* van Rysvoort a K nd'ftis'wife were now
cehvinced that none'biit mad Eoglish
iHtyfOiwouM leave a* good dry house tor a
'nqw and wet ones* * Hpyvpver, that was.
j the business of bis guests, and being to
lal| appearance"'a freak, thfcy resolved
tjtat itsisuqid he Wjbll paid for. The en
tire building, according to j.thc accounts
iq’ the artificer's employed ‘upon it" cost
jS BF4 florins—for his own benefit. Mon
te juus \yas the bill presented 'to them,
t min, the Englishmen paid it, the avoir
ii dons host consoling his conscience with
file reflection,, that it .was all liftle
efidugh fot* accommodating subh crazy
tmatics with his priimises. <: J
and This matter'being settled, the English
men being installed in*, their garden
house, seldom made tifeir appearance
out. of it. 'they ate, dfadk, smoked and
read the papers, as usual; but the most
curious part of oirr story is that they al
lowed no 'one to enter, and even *' made
their beds themselves.
All this time their accommodation was
jUoi of the best order. Perhaps the Frau
iVan Rysvoot wished to try how little
they could be pleased. Nothing could be
’worse than tlieir eating and wine ; for
honest, Herr Rysvoot,'s reasoning was,
that before mad Englishmen should drink
of a good vintage, they must learn to
value it. The facility* with which they
paid bis double charges was only equall
ed by the uneomplaininguess-with which
they swallowed his ill-prepared viands,
i . .The more shamelessness lie exhibited,
.the greater became the forbearance of
j»is guests/ The brain of mine host was
always at work to solve so much myste
ry ; he evten ventured to display a certain
idogged anger; still he moved not ,;the
'equanimity oi his customers. The most
puzzling and annoying circumstance, was
the making Os their own beds. Why
did they always keep themselves
in ? Wky did they burn a light at ni n t ?
They moved into the garden for q U * ie *t
sleep; and yet, since they possess
ion, they appeared not to Aeep at all.—
Van Rysvoot lost himself in wild con
jecture. He stood at his window whole
nigh ts watching the lights in the English
mens' rooms; and at last so puzzled his
senses with his guests that he could no
longer enjoy life. The bewildered and
tormented landlord now took a good
friend or two more into his counsels; and
the result of a long deliberation was, that
the, two Englishmen were neither more
nor less tliau false coiners. Van Rysvoot,
not a little alarmed at this verdict,passed
in review the whole of the gold pieces he
had received from the two Englishmen,
but found amongst them not- a spurious
piQee. Urged by his thrifty batter half,
he took tbp gold to a neighboring Jew
money changer to ascertain its weight
and purity. The Jew made every usual
test, out declared it good. Now was the
hottest inn-keepei quite at his wit’s end:
so was* his wife, and so was bis gossip
1 and his godfather, the builder.
Things went on in this manner until
tim middle of October,when the English
men suddenly changed their mode of liv
ing. Each bought a gun and shooting
pootch, aud went out—but never together
-rHs they, said, to sport upon the dunes
and canaip. At last, one evening, Mr.
Featlicringb n called the innkeeper, and
! informed, him that they were both going
upon a three clay’s shooting excursion;
And sure enough, the following morn
ing, long before sunrise, a carriage was
waning at the door, and the Englishmen,
in fell iV rting trim, jumped into it, and
tr ve off.
1 ‘bo precipitate were they, that the inn
keeper had no time to make- them his
lowest bow, nor to wish them a pleasant
excursion. During the next three days,
Van Rysvoort was in a state of consid
erable perplexity. The Englishmen had
taken with them the key of the garden
house; and a hard struggle ensued in
his breast,between curiosity and difCMt—
tton.(, .Curiosity sard, break open tires
garden house: discretion said, such an*
intrusion, would lose him his guests, . a
! 'Wednesday, the fourth day from th>*/
departure of the Englishmen,
and still they did pot appear. In tbev.
evening a council was acid in the inn,-.;
the sitting was long and stormy; aii*
sorts of surmises and strange hypothecs**
were indulged in. On Thursday, Yam
Rysvoort put on his great coat.most to
fully, aud went to give inforriptSon
the public. He, however, took this gtep>
very unwillingly, as he wisely calculate
that in the event of liis guests having*;
met with an untimely end, he could coV
quietly possess himself of their valuable**
The commissary and three gens-cVarmea*
attended at the’inn to clear up the my<f*
tefy.
Asa matter of form, three knocks aA;
the door summoned to a surrender. (M
no use—no rephr. Then, as n, matter og/
course, followed the forcing the entrance
The happy, long-wished-for moment wa.f '.
now arrived. Lo! what came-to sight >
JNothing, literally nothing!
The police functionaries and the inn
keeper started back in amazement.- r
Then followed a long-drawn breath fro
jthe head-over-head piping band of r ®
rious friends and relatives pressing
the back ground. A gendarme dre*
sword, and valiantly nished intr ;
apartments. But there was not> f
encounter but two empty trmpkr "iff * r >»
open letter. "With these tro? L ncl J 1 **
•came back.* A nfctv movetr 5
took place. The ccmimsssn ,/
. follows: • • y read aa- <•
, “My dear Van Rysvoort _ i
!that you are well versed f
iclesofyd' andr town as y< M in * .
, edger, whose exact Tde £
us nothing to ctouh\ r it. may be
to tell you* that Ostend, in the be
ginning of the seventeenth century, Woes.
mixed up in the war then raging be
tween Spain and Holland. Your iowi»*
was, from the year HiOl to ICO4. expos- ’
ed to those vicissitudes'that all so situa
ted are liable, until the. Dutch, garrison? 4
was forced to, yield t ti> life i/iTmiWngen
eral Spinola. (Lq
who fought like heroes under the colors
of the United Provinces, were EnzHsfW
men, sons of the first families of qua*
country. In this band was treasurer of'*
the expedition. Before the town capit
ulated, he with great caution hid troirfci
the capture of the Spaniards the treasure-,*
box.
Soon after, he returned to England amid
died, but not before he had given to Br» \ -
family some intelligence of the concern?~
ed treasure. This good fortune devolv
ed upon us; your house and garden wer&r
pointed out as the spot. Once upon ozup
track, we lost no time in installing our -
selves in your inn, and soon feund rea -
son to be satisfied with our operations.
We have succeeded, without giving rise?
to any suspicions, iu obtaining poises—
sion of the treasures so long and deeply
, buried in oblivion, and in appropria -
ting* them to ourselves, their right destfr
nation, flow we operated- need/ njo*
longer be a secret; but Herr Van jfijjjrs*—
voort, we must premise our • disclosußfe •
iby declaring, upon our honor as gentle-
I men, that we have fairly let you Into?,
one half ol thf? treasures. So long s*
Ostend exists, no innkeeper will hater
again such profitable Tmests. * You have -
robbed us throhgh tbmk and thin, as >
Though we had fallen into the hands of Aa
bandit. You haye not only doubly,
.hundred fold chidaned us.
were determined to shn* onr
to yonr proceedings. As we
you have profited. In the farthest rooiw
you wiii find a pojrtion of the fi-*)**
broken up ; you will also find a hole ten*
feet deep, at the bottom of which lies ait#
iron dhest. We took our time in re
moving the old ducats ot Charles V-
The chest we beqnear li to you, with tires*
/ PRICBT«
\Five Ceßto.