Who then couldn t remember where the hotel was Jeremy Clay The Burglar Caught By a Skeleton by Jeremy Clay is a collection of stories from circa 1900 extracted from tabloid and newspaper articles of the day The title of the book is also the title of one of the many selections offered in this collection of Singular Stories from the Victorian Press The author has done reporting of what has been published and cautions that some items possibly have been exaggerated so it will be up to the reader to evaluate some details of possible vintage fake news There is nothing to review as far as content critically These anecdotes are works of reporting.

Well what can I say about this collection other than you have really got to love the Victorians This pulls together the numerous stories that titillated amused and horrified the paper reading public during Victorian times as the papers were getting to grips with what when and how to report the various goings on in the UK and the world at large The stories range from the heart wrenching to the side splittingly funny with everything in between and then some all told in the pragmatic stiff upper lip manner that dominated the press of the time with no hint of irony sarcasm or humour no matter what the situation or circumstance Probably best not read as a novel as I did but excellent for dipping in and out of to pass a moment or two Clay has even been kind enough to provide some update notes and clarifications for some of the memorable tales included within this volume s pages Jeremy Clay I tagged this as humour and though I laughed I must admit I finished this book thoroughly depressedJeremy Clay a journalist himself compiled the most bizarre news articles from the Victorian age and presented them divided by category Animals Love Marriage and Family Food and Drink Health and Medicine Coincidence and Luck Sports Hobbies and Pastimes Inventions Life and Death Superstition Arts and Entertainment and a few others which defied classification. Not to say that each and every one of these categories didn t contain extremely amusing stories but often than not there were articles about husbands beating and selling their wives parents selling their children people committing suicide in front of an audience sometimes the audience was entirely comprised of children mothers losing their children in horrific circumstances and children living in appallingly abusive conditions. I cannot say I didn t get fair warning before each section Clay writes a short intro I must say these intros were the weakest points in the book and that s saying something when often than not Victorian journalists eschewed description with the handy events may be readily imagined than described Clay uses similes which try to be shockingly funny but end up being neither for instance Like a spray of urine from a territorial tom cat these dates merely mark the boundaries of our interest. I ll finish with my favourite article to give you a taste of the book A Strange Adventure A curious canoe adventure is reported from Frankfurt Some members of the boat club in that city resolved to row to Mayence by night They started at 12 o clock and pulled away vigorously all night enjoying the pull exceedingly At sunrise it was discovered to their great chagrin that the anchor had not been weighed and that they had remained at the same spot where they had taken leave of their friends by whom they are now known as the explorers The Evening News Portsmouth November 4 1882 Jeremy Clay A collection of newspaper clippings from the 1800 s some funny some tragic and some unbelievable The one annoying thing about the book is that at the start of each chapter we re given a preface which includes one of the stories included in the chapter Solved this by not reading the preface and going straight to the clippings. Also pleased that Clay added a short section to tell the reader what happened to the child left at a hotel by his mother so I will only examine the structure of the novel Jeremy Clay explores fifteen topical themes in 247 pages The language used is the vocabulary of the time and this might be of interest to students of the History of the English Language I will select my favorite example from each of the fifteen themes and provide a short paraphrase or quote of essential points using present day English I will provide a credit for each selection so the skeptical reader will be able to find the original report Some reports are truly mind boggling. I rated this at four stars within its genre which is reporting I did not give it five stars despite my interest in some bizarre reported incidents because of formatting Some pages ended with a headline and I had to scroll back several times to get an idea of the headline that introduced the article In a preface to the book note the author s comment on headlines the ways they were or were not used Animals A miner named John Hanes left off shaving with a straight razor to check on a disturbance in his back yard leaving his three pet monkeys alone The father of the two young monkeys picked up the blade and nearly decapitated the younger two then slashed his own throat Hines returned to his room to find the two young monkeys dead the father died two days later Reported 20 March 1890 in The Royal Cornwall Gazette p. Love Marriage and Family A Protestant clergyman wanted to perform a marriage ceremony for his daughter but became so ill a few days before the wedding that several around him assured him he would die before the scheduled wedding He recorded his part of the ceremony on a phonograph and spoke the critical words at the wedding Reported September 5 1900 by The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette Louisiana p. Food and Drink Mrs Beeton s Book of Household Management offered advice on whether a drunk man should be hung by his heels Her advice It was better to stick him in a bath and tickle his nose with a feather p 55. Health and Medicine An incredible medical discovery was Dr J Collis Browne s Chlorodyne which promised to assuage pain of every kind from toothache to cancer Another doctor provided a testimonial saying that nine doses had cured him of diarrhea Perhaps the mixture of chloroform tincture of cannabis and laudanum made the doctor not care about the sickness as he chose instead to enjoy the nine doses p. Coincidence and Luck Mr Thomas Ellis and his friend Mr John Kester were both in declining health and near death Kester sent a message to his friend saying that he would soon meet him on the other side of death One hour after the news both were dead They were born on the same day and hour and died on the same day and hour aged seventy five p 91. Sport Hobbies and Pastimes Several members of a boat club committed to a long distance canoe trip The journey would begin at midnight bound for a distant neighboring town After rowing until dawn the rowers discovered they had failed to weigh anchor and were never than a few feet from their starting point p. 99 Inventions An American invented a tapeworm trap Housed in a capsule the afflicted would fast a few days before swallowing the medicine A small string leading from the capsule would attract a hungry tapeworm which would detect food inside the capsule The tapeworm would pull on the line the spring loaded capsule would open the tapeworm would try to extract the food and be trapped when the jaws of the capsule closed The patient would then pull on the end of a different string to pull the capsule out of his body much like fishing Rinse and repeat p 116 Life and Death Brooklyn Dr Park was observing undertakers carrying the body of his wife when Mrs Park sat up completely conscious The shock along with other illnesses caused Dr Park to die immediately p 118. Superstition Belief and the Supernatural Mother Shipton a well known predictor of the future forecast that the world would end in 1881 Kate a 10 year old girl read and believed the prophecies Kate even knew the night it would happen She told her parents and went to bed In the early morning hours Kate had a fit a doctor was called and Kate died two hours later The power of belief in superstition was durable p 159 Crime and Punishment A woman in France wound up in court when she refused to pay for a glass eye She claimed that it did not help her see at all and that she had been tricked into believing false expectations p 180. Wagers In a political wager Henry Winsted of Indiana promised to engage in a butting match with a full grown ram if Mr McKinley was elected while should Mr Bryan be the victor John Burns of the same town would drink three pints of hard cider while standing on his head in a barrel p 193. Accidents and Disasters A man who did not trust in banks withdrew his life savings and concealed the money in a drawer in his home All the notes were eaten away by mice There was a happy ending p 202. Fashion and Clothes An outbreak of rheumatic fever that left the fondly regarded Princess Alexandra Scotland lame As she was a trend setter fashion conscious women in the capital were soon to be seen affecting a hobble Boot makers even designed special boots to induce healthy citizens to appear afflicted p 211. Arts and Entertainment An operatic star Mlle Hading during a performance in Paris was pelted by thrown cabbages potatoes and similar missiles It was said that Mlle Hading had captivated the husband of the amateur pitcher p 223. What Happened Next This section is reserved for the author to go back to several incidents described in the book and follow up to answer the question Where are they now The answer is a very satisfactory wrap up which should please readers as they discover not everyone died not every event had a tragic ending p 244 247. I found this collection of oddities a fascinating Saturday morning read Perhaps the examples from each section will encourage others to explore the weird reporting at the turn of a distant century reported in this collection Does such reporting occur today The question is almost rhetorical Jeremy Clay Just a fun little collection of odd bizarre amusing and just plain messed up things that happened around the world during the good ol Victorian days This just convinced me that the Victorian age was a wild ride from start to finish and I for one would not have lived long Jeremy Clay

The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton And Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press By Jeremy Clay

1848316003

9781848316003

English

320

Hardcover

The Bunny Suicides of the 1880s extraordinary bizarre and often morbidly funny stories from the depths of the Victorian press HOLIDAYMAKER FIGHTS OFF AFRICAN LION IN WELSH HOTEL ROOMMAN SWALLOWS MOUSE AND DIESWIFE DRIVEN MAD BY HUSBAND TICKLING FEETPALLBEARER KILLED BY COFFIN IN GRAVEYARDLIBERALS EAT DOGFrom the newspaper archives of the British Library Jeremy Clay has unearthed the long lost stories that enthralled and appalled Victorian Britain. Within these pages are the riotous farces and tragedies of 19th century life a time when life was hard pleasures short lived and gloating over other people s misfortune a thoroughly acceptable form of entertainment. Deliciously appalling and deliriously funny The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton will have you one way or another in tears The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton And Other Singular Tales from the Victorian PressThe Burglar Caught by a Skeleton and Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press 2013 This book is a compilation of bizarre news articles from the Victorian era divided into various categories Love and Marriage Animals Food and Drink Health and Medicine Arts and Entertainment Coincidence and Luck Crime and Punishment etc Appealing to those who are morbidly curious most stories are unbelievable some have an amusing aspect to them while others are also quite traumatising and no laughing matter especially since they happened as a result of poisons being freely bought and sold adulterated food and drink consumed serious respiratory illnesses and other diseases being treated with powerful narcotics and new scientific discoveries and inventions misused There are stories of somnambulists deadly bets and women disguising themselves as men There are also such extraordinary but sad cases as a child found drunk after going to a pub to make a collection a citizen of Eastbourne driving four nails into his brain and miraculously surviving without any adverse effects a presumably dead woman discovered alive only after her photographer started to compare his photos of her corpse a man killed by a coffin at another man s funeral and a duel being fought in hot air balloons Jeremy Clay I have to admit I requested this book based on the title you don t really hear about weird Victorian news these days or I suppose any day since most people don t read the Victorian newspapers. The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton is basically a collection of weird Victorian news stories that may be exaggerated or made up or perhaps reality really is that strange The topics covered range from animals lots of wild animals in Britain apparently to health and medicine and even wagers Some of the weirder stories include monkeys committing suicide a large headless turkey ghost The latter half of the book is quite sad though since it covers tragic incidents rather than the ludicrous The last section is a brief follow up on some of the stories. While the stories are definitely strange and unbelievable they aren t told in a very interesting way It seems like the newspapers like to report things rather drily so this isn t really a book that I wanted to binge It was however pleasant to read it over several sittings to take in the strangeness that managed to pass as news back then. By the way the titular burglar caught by a skeleton is really what it says A burglar was in the house of a doctor got his hand caught by a skeleton while fumbling in the dark and then promptly fainted and was found by the doctor whose house he was in. This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile Jeremy Clay The Burglar Caught by a Skeleton and Other Singular Tales from the Victorian Press is a collection of eclectic and often downright bizarre newspaper articles from the Victorian era The newspapers are all British but some of the stories deal with incidents outside the United Kingdom remarked upon in British newspapers at the time I must say that although the book is clearly intended to be humourous many of the stories are downright tragic and it takes a good deal of black humour to find some of them even remotely funny Although the book is organised by subject i. the book can t be called structured Each little paragraph is a newspaper clipping from some British newspaper from some year during the reign of Queen Victoria and there s very little general comment at the beginning of each chapter to provide any context While the book provides a fascinating and often enigmatic glimpse of a by gone age I can t say that I personally found it entertaining enough to keep me engaged and I honestly had some trouble getting through it Recommended to fans of black humour and everyday history but there are better books out there Jeremy Clay For lovers of Victoriana this will be of great interest It s an interesting collection of articles some of them funny some of them just plain horrendous The introductions to each chapter really didn t add much to the book but I find the articles don t really need an introduction I would have liked to read a thorough historical study of the articles though but that s the historian in me speaking. Some claim that people have gotten stupid with the rise of Internet but quite frankly after reading this book I m just convinced that mankind has always been stupid and didn t need the Internet for thatA fun read you can dip in and out of easily but that remains quite compelling Disclaimer I received a free digital copy of this book courtesy of Thistle Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review Jeremy Clay An interesting collection of genuine Victorian news articles Some humorous some tragic some just bizarre A few of the reports have their contemporary bw illustrations to go with them of the Illustrated Police News variety which were also quite entertaining A good book to keep dipping into Jeremy Clay .

: But for anyone interested in the bizarre and the Victorian era which often than not go hand in hand it s well worth reading. And Finally A shower of meat lasting two or three minutes fell on Benicia California in 1851 There are multiple explanations as to the origin of the meat p, Overall this was an interesting collection of stories that will appeal to people who like weird and obscure history: Disclaimer I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. food and drink crime and punishment entertainment and the arts etc: It can be highly frustrating at time as the end of the story isn t always given in the article but it s a real eye opener into Victorian society.27.44.71.236.Looks like skeletons may be better than guard dogs.e