Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/509

 ii s. ix. JUNE 27, 19U.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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Some of the articles treat on subjects such as the London Guilds and the evolution of the Livery Companies. Col. Newnham- Davis discourses on ' Clubs and Taverns,' his article being illustrated by pictures of "The Tabard Inn" and "The Cheshire Cheese," while underneath is thg Savoy grill-room, with its handsome columns and luxurious chairs, in striking contrast to the wooden benches and homely fittings of the ' Cheshire," where BO many celebrities have enjoyed their chops and steaks, some indulging in the old-fashioned porter for which the house was famous. How cold it was when drunk from a pewter tankard !

A note should be made of an important addition to our tables in recent years the banana. It seems almost inconceivable that in the middle of the last century the fruit was never seen in this country. The Times tells how, somewhere in the sixties of the last century, Capt. Bush, the master of a schooner trading between the United States and the West Indies, shipped, as an experi- ment, a few bunches of bananas in Jamaica for sale in the United States. The venture was so successful that in 1869 he was able to keep seven vessels engaged in carrying the fruit to America from Port Antonio, which i-* still the principal seat of the American tanana trade with the West Indies. He was followed by Capt. L. D. Baker, who founded the Boston Fruit Company, which became the United Fruit Company. In the Canaries Sir Alfred Jones was the pioneer. During last year the imports of bananas into the United Kingdom amounted to 7,539,984 bunches. If we allow an average of 150 bananas for each bunch, the number of bananas thus imported would be 1,130,997,600. The Times might well re- print these valuable articles in volume form. This number of The Times weighs a pound and a half, and if the Paper Duty the repeal of which was strongly opposed by The Times had been in force, the duty would have been 2%d. a copy, and upon a sale of 140,000 copies the total would have been 1,3121. 10s A great change in the appearance of The Times has be^n brought about by its inser tion of displayed and illustrated advertise ments. One is puzzled to think what woulc have happened to an old gentleman in th fifties or sixties who, after having carefully dried his copy of The Times by ttn fire turned its pages to enjoy the leading article and found himself confronted with picture of ladies in the latest fashions, copied fron " Superb Creations on Living Models."

In those days neither The Times nor any ther London daily paper inserted displayed idvertisements, and all advertisements ap- peared in single column with a limited supply )f capital letters. So strict were the rules hat two advertisements having the same ^ords were not allowed to be placed to- gether. Publishers were not permitted to quote any criticism of a book as from The n imes, so the custom was to use the words ' morning paper," which came to be gener- ally understood as referring to The Times. publishers also had difficulty as to the posi- Jon of their announcements, and Mr. B. B. Vlarston informs me that the late Mr. pson Low, jun., suggested to the pro- Drietors of The Times that a column of book advertisements should be placed next to reading matter. This was agreed to upon the unders anding that the books advertised should be restricted to those published within the previous three months. There were also other regulations. At the head of the column were the words : " The Times Special Column of New Books and New Editions." These advertisements had to be sent through Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston & Co.

There were restrictions besides in announce- ments of deaths. No quo'ation from Scrip- ture or poetry was permitted. When the custom arose of inserting " In Memoriam " advertisements, they were for some time placed with recent deaths ; but this was found to lead to confusion, and now notices of this character are placed at the end. The proprietors of The Times have made up their minds tha their paper is going on for eve~, and are prepared to enter into con- tracts to insert an "In Memoriam " adver- tisement in perpetuity ! Thus for 151. one's name can be brought forward annually till the crack of doom.

The first London da ; ly paper to insert displayed advertisements was The Daily News. This was done on the initiative of the late Josiah Harrington, the advertise- ment manager, who had teen associated with the paper from the time of the short editorship o r Charles Dickens. At his sug- gestion, in 1869, two spaces at the top of the first page one on each side of the title w re put at the disposal of advertisers, and I believe that the firm of Tarn & Co., then of Newington Causeway, was the first to take advantage of the opportunity. It was rot until about ten years since that The Times began to insert disp^yed ad-- vertisements. JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS. ''

(To be continued.)