Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/31

ii s. VIIL JULY 12, 1913.] NOTES AND QUERIES. Saunders | wife of the above | who died June 6th 1839 | aged 69 years.

52. John Salter | who died March 31 1797 | in the 70th Year | of his age.

53. An upright stone, top broken off, and nothing legible.

54. Mrs. Mary Ann Little | of Great Russell Strt. London | who died | January 30th 1833 | in the 31st year of her age | Also of | Love Saunders | Aunt of the above M. A. Little | who died May 28th 1853 | aged 87 years.

55. Mr. Cooper Dawson | who departed this Life | the 6 of June 1820 | aged 54.

56. This stone is of a very perishable kind, and most of the inscription has peeled off; below is the remaining portion:

F M D

HO LIFE

AP 9

I" \D

WIP )

HO IFE EPTI 22

in UN

who died November 20th aged [3 or 8?]9 years.

57. Mr. Charles Axten | who died on the 12th May 1846 | aged 45 years | Also of | Eleanor his wife | who departed this life | March 3rd 1882 | in the 63rd year of her age.

58. Mr. Charles Axten, | who died December 2nd 1826 | Aged 47 years | In Memory Also of his Widow | Mrs. Mary Axten | who departed this life | on the 20th of May 1835 | Aged 58 years.

On the 29th of June, 1855, the Newspaper Stamp Act having been passed on the 15th of the month, the first number of The Daily Telegraph and Courier appeared. It was published at twopence, and, consisting of only four pages, it promised to be short-lived; but in September of the same year it passed into the possession of the Lawson family, and on the 17th of the same month they, by a bold stroke, reduced the price to one penny. Thus it has the honour to be the first daily paper to be issued in London at that price. The duty on paper was then 1½d. each pound, and so continued until its repeal on the 1st of October, 1861. The second portion of the title, and Courier, was dropped on October 28th, 1856.

The object of this note is to record the completion of Mr. John Merry Le Sage's fifty years' service on the editorial staff of The Daily Telegraph, a fact which, we think may be regarded as unique in the history of the daily press, though instances have been known of such jubilees in connexion with the weekly press a notable one being that of William Chambers, who for fifty years both edited and published the journal he founded.

The Hon. Harry Lawson, M.P., in th& absence of his father, Lord Burnham, pre- sided at the banquet given to Mr. Le Sage on Saturday,, the 21st of June at which the* entire editorial staff Was present and' referred with just pride to the history of the great journal, which he evidently regards with a personal affection. He said he " believes in a newspaper haying a soul and a mind which was something higher than, and dif- ferent from, the aggregate of all the intelligences^ and all the feelings of those who composed them."

We join with Mr. Le Sage's friends and he is the friend of all who know him- in hearty congratulations. Although he indicated that he should not remain with his comrades much longer, we trust he has many happy years before him. In his speech of thanks he at once revealed the secret of his success. Being asked by a. young member of the staff to tell him some- thing about the " dark and dull days " when he commenced work on The Daily TelegrapJt^ he replied that there never were any " dark and dull days on The Daily Telegraph."

JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS.

AN AMBITIOUS POSSESSIVE CASE. For some time I have been watching the growing" use of a possessive case which conveys a meaning very different from what is in the mind of the speaker or Writer. As I cannot find that this matter has been noticed in recent books such as ' The King's English r (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1906), I should be pleased to see it submitted to the judgment of the readers of ' N. & Q.'

If I say, for instance, " Peter is Alfred'^ friend," or " Peter is the friend of Alfred,' r every one will understand that the two are- united in the bonds of amity. But if I were to say " Peter is a friend of Alfred's," the* hearer, with little consideration, Would detect an ambiguity in the phrase. " Al- fred's " what ? he would ask. " Friend " t If so, it might be that Peter, being- the friend of Alfred's friend, was Alfred's bitter enemy, which is a state of things thatjiad never entered my mind.

I think that this misleading possessive is almost unknown amongst our old^writers r