296 NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
Bartholomew (who was an aged man) in his occupation of the Lodge. He
died about Michaelmas last, and we have since resumed possession of the
property and thrown the 21/2 acres of land into the Forest. Most of the out-
buildings are in a very ruinous and insanitary condition, and will be entirely
cleared away, but we have instructed Mr. Surveyor to consider whether it is
possible to adapt the house, or any portion of it, for a keeper's residence."
Visitors to the Forest will regret the disappearance of an ancient land-
mark, but if the house is too far gone to allow of repairs nothing can be said,
and, undoubtedly, its removal will add greatly to the quietude and seclusion of
that section of the woodlands.1 — Ed.]
Boring for Coal in Essex.—As a matter of scientific interest, we
regret to announce that the third experimental boring at Great Wakering,
Essex, which was alluded to in the article in the present volume (ante pp.
136-139) will in all probability not be carried out. The Directors of the
Eastern Counties' Coal Boring Association have issued a notice to the share-
holders that inasmuch as sufficient funds for the third boring have not been
subscribed, they recommend that the Association should go into voluntary
liquidation. The cost of the experience gained has been £4,829 19s. 11d., of
which £492 went in preliminary expenses; £1,645 on the Stutton contract;
£1,132 on the Weeley contract ; and nearly £300 for the current expenditure
for four years, leaving a balance in hand amounting, with interest, to £1,275.
The Directors consider that about £700 more would be required, and up to
the present time this money has not been obtained. Should the Association
be wound up, there will probably be an end of boring for coal in East
Anglia for another generation. It is certainly unfortunate that this third
experiment should, for lack of only a few hundred pounds, be unmade,
especially as two-thirds of the total sum required stands to the credit of the
Association. Possibly the shareholders will yet reconsider the matter before
it is too late.
The Essex Hailstorm Relief Fund.—As a sequel to the story of the
great storm given at length on pp. 112-128, we may quote a few figures from
the final report which has now been presented to a meeting of the Fund.
The statement shows that a total sum of £45,753 15s. 4d. was raised in
donations, of which £45,147 4s. 4d. has been given in relief to 3,168 cases,
while £564 4s. 11id. has been devoted to general expenses (including an
honorarium of £157 10s. to the Honorary Secretary, Mr. F. Whitmore),
leaving a balance of £42 6s. 1d. at the bankers. As shown in the balance-
sheet, there were over 2,500 cases in which the grants made were under £2.
These recipients chiefly consisted of labourers, who had lost their harvest
wages, cottage-gardeners and allotment-holders. A resolution was passed
expressing thanks to the subscribers and to the Chairman, the Hon. F. C.
Petre. The most disastrous storm of modern time so passed into the dim
domain of history.
1 Since the above was in type, the whole of the Lodge has been pulled down, and the
land on which it stood will be thrown back into the forest. The workmen informed us that
the building did not appear to be more than 150 or 200 years old, but that some of the oaken
timber seemed to be very old and to have been re-mortised when the house was put up—
also that many of the old bricks had been chipped and refaced. Their idea was that the
house had been built up of the remains of some still older building. A view of the Lodge,
with the fine old oak by its side, by Mr. H. A. Cole, will be found in the Essex Naturalist
for 1893 (vol. vii., p. 80),