284 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[NOVBMBI-.R, 1905. 



and justly celebrated as a recreation ground for boat- 

 loving Englishmen, yet above bridge so narrow and 

 crowded, below so dirty and overrun with shipping. 



And even here we are threatened with the possibiiitv 

 of further disasters. Has anyone calculated what 

 would be the consequence of the river, say at Kton, 

 rising three feet higher than it has done? Owing to 

 the gradual contraction of the hanks and wharfs in 

 London preventing a free flow, a sudden great rise, 

 such as might be caused by an abnormally heavy rain- 

 storm, would certainly have most disastrous con- 

 sequences on the towns and villages of the valley of the 

 Thames, and many thousands of pounds' worth of 

 damage would certainly be done, and there would be 

 great probability of a serious loss of life. 



One more matter regarding this London and its 

 river. What if an invading army were to land in 

 England and advance against it ? Military geniuses 

 are full of their schemes for erecting forts on the hill 

 tops of the North Downs, but recent authorities tell us 

 that a river is the most efficient barrier, when properly 

 guarded, to the progress of an invading force. Yet 

 where is the desired river? The TTiames, as it is, does 

 us no good in the defence of London. 



r?ut enf)Ugh of this commentorv on the wonders and 

 on the ills of London, and the Thames, and let us hear 

 how a great change came about at a period not very 

 clearlv located in the annals of the centurv. 



CHAPTER H. 



CORNELIL'S J. Tusil. 



In one of the busiest corners of this busy city a 

 small group of men might have been observed. The 

 one on whom our attention must be fixed is a middle- 

 aged, rather short, clean-shaven man, with clear-cut 

 features, typical of shrewdness, if not cunning. His 

 clothes have the appearance of being well cut, and even 

 show signs of dandyism and a display of wealth. Vet 

 on closer examination they will be seen to be old and 

 well worn, and should have been discarded ere this by 

 a wealthy beau. Note, too, the face. Is there not a 

 shade of disappointment? Are there not evident traces 

 of failure and mental suffering? And who are his com- 

 panions? Just the ordinary typical City men, but evi- 

 dently from their manner they hold our friend in 

 reverential awe. Having finished their confabulation, 

 they respectfully take off their hats and pass away. 



Bateson ! " called this man to one of the group, who 

 at once turned back, " Remember! don't mention my 

 arrival in this country till the appointed day. Mean- 

 while I reckon you know what to do." " Very good, 

 Mr. Tush," responded the other, " trust me." oo 

 they parted, and .Mr. Tush wended his way back right 

 through the City, and on, sadly and pensivelv, to the 

 south of the river. Still onward he goes towards 

 Lambeth, up one small street and down another, pick- 

 ing his way in the mud (for his delicately-made boots 

 are worn and broken out in places). There is much 

 mud here, too, for an exceptionally high tide has caused 

 the river to overflow, and for a day the streets have 

 been almost impassable. He turns up the steps of an 

 ordinary-looking little house fiver the front door of 

 which is a fanlight and a card inscribed with the word 

 "Apartments." Our friend knr>rks on the rusty 

 knocker, and a stout old female, with sleeves rolled up 



and a dirty apron covering her portly front, opens the 

 door. A smile beams on her fat face as she recognises 

 the visitor, and taking from a small shelf two or three 

 letters, she hands them to him. The letters bear the 

 inscription " Cornelius J. Tush, Esq.," followed by so 

 many addro5.ses .scratched out and re-directions put in 

 that the poor postman must have offered a silent de- 

 precation as he endeavoured to decipher the desired 

 destination of the missives. 



Cornelius ]. Tush ! Can this be the great American 

 millionaire? He with the world-wide reputation for 

 vast wealth and keen sagacity in all commercial enter- 

 prises? He, the clever son of the great " Hutton 

 King," Abraham Tush? .Aye, verily! but what a 

 come-down. His history of the last few weeks is easily 

 written. He had been li\ ing in domestic happiness and 

 luxury in his home near Philadelphia, when affairs 

 began to go wrong. His great scheme of the Cirand 

 C-entral Railway had failed. The Pacific Canal was 

 not yet near completion, although absorbing millions 

 of his invested dollars. The inventor he had set to 

 work to experiment on a large machine, which was to 

 have revolutionised the world's methods of trav<'l, had 

 at last to acknowledge that he was completely ballled 

 after expending some 500,000 dollars in experiments. 

 One thing after another had gone wrong, and Cornelius 

 had to own to himself that he was a ruined man. 



Frantically he endeavoured to struggle against the 

 rising tide. All kinds of wild schemes did he propose 

 to his erstwhile disciples, but all New Vork had be- 

 come suspicious, truth will leak out ; and though no one, 

 of course, knew exactly where Cornelius' money lay, 

 or in what quantities, dark rumours began to spread 

 abroad, and people shook their heads and said to thcm- 

 .selves, " Avoid Tush." It was, indeed, a time to make 

 a man think; but Cornelius was a determined character, 

 and the more hopelessly he found himself sinking in the 

 mud, the bolder and more pretentious were his schemes. 

 He thought of his father's methods, which were to go 

 in for that which will .sell by the million, never mind 

 what it is or how small the article, so long as it sells by 

 millions. " Now look at buttons," he used to say, 

 " why, every man on the face of the globe, or no, 

 e\ery civilised man, has a dozen on each of his trousers 

 alone, and, then, look how easily they are lost ! " 

 Why can't one think of something new, something that 

 everyone needs, invent a boot sole that won't wear out, 

 or a new food that everyone would eat? 



Well ! New Vork was played out, and with it ail 

 commercial America. Hut the name of Tush was well- 

 known in I'2ngl;md, and here, pf)ssibly, the sinister 

 rumours had not filtered through. He would see if a 

 'cute ^'ankec could not " hlulT " the Britishers. No 

 sooner thought of than the plan was.put into execution, 

 and Cornelius bade a touching farewell to his young 

 wife, the beautiful Alma l^alvine, and his little only 

 daughter, Libertia, and lof)k the boat to seek his for- 

 tune on the far side of the herring pond. 



Arrived in London, Cornelius set to work to care- 

 fully reconnoitre his ground. He had m.-magcd to 

 bring away, as almost the last remnants of his great 

 fortune, what most people would c.ill a good round 

 sum of ready money, but this would ref|uirc to be very 

 carefully expended, :md he had determined to be as 

 economical as po.ssible so as to have the more when the 

 time came for definite action. 



So for the first week he " lay low " in his miserable 

 lodgings in Lamb<-th, deciding that when all was ready 

 he could " cut a dash and set things humming." 



But first of all it had to be noised abroad ih.il the 



