The Difference between a Squib and a Puff

[probably to be taken with a pinch of salt, like all articles 'revealing' the true nature of the criminal underworld]

It appears by the Enquiry made by the Justices of the Peace for the City and Liberty of Westminster, that there are in the Parish of St. Paul's Covent-Garden twenty two Gaming Houses, some of which clear sometimes 100l. and seldom less than 40l. a Night.

The Gamesters have their proper Officers both Civil and Military, with Salaries proportionable to their respective Degrees, and the Importance they are of in the Service, viz.

A Commissioner or Commis, who is always a Proprietor of the Gaming Houses: He looks in once a Night, and the Week's Account is Audited by him and two other of the Proprietors.

A Director, who Superintends the Room.

The Operator, the Dealer at Faro.

Croupees, two who watch the Cards and gather the Money for the Bank.

A Puff, one who has Money given him to Play, in order to decoy others.

A Clerk, who is a Check upon the Puff, to see that he sinks none of that Money.

A Squib, who is a Puff of a lower Rank, and has half the salary of a Puff.

A Flasher, one who sits by to swear how often he has seen the bank stripped.

A Dunner, Waiters.

An Attorney or Solicitor.

A Captain, one who is to fight any Man that is peevish, or out of humour at the loss of his Money.

An Usher, who takes care that the Porter or Grenadier at the Door suffers none to come in but those he knows.

A Porter, who at most of the Gaming-Houses is a Soldier, hired for that purpose.

A Runner, to get Intelligence of all the Meetings of the Justices of the Peace, and when the Constables go upon the Search; his Fee half a Guinea.

Any Link-boy, Coachman, Chair-man, Drawer or other Person who gives notice of the Constables being up on search, has half a Guinea.

1. Daily Journal, 11 January 1722

A Proposal to put a stop to Street Robbing, 1728

To the Author of the London Evening Post ...

First, That an Order be directed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, and by the Justices in the Out-Parts, to the Constables of the respective Parishes, commanding them to be at their Watch Houses by Eight o'Clock in the Evening, from Michaelmas to Lady-Day, and by Nine o'Clock from Lady-Day to Michaelmas; and that they call over their Watch every Evening at the Time above-mentioned; and every Constable disobeying the said Order, for the first Office to forfeit 10l. the second Office 20l. and the third Offence 30l. and one Months Imprisonment, (the Money to go towards defraying the Charge of the Watch.) And that no Constable presume to go off of his Duty, or leave his Watch-house, unless on his Rounds, which he is to go once in an Hour, or two at farthest, under the abovementioned Penalties; there being nothing more common than for a Constable, after he has impanelled his Watch, either to go home to Bed, or else to the next Tavern, and leave the Care of the Inhabitants and the Watch to a drunken Beadle; by which Neglect in the Constable, many a House and Shop has been broke open, many a drunken Gentleman abused by the mercenary Beadles and Watchmen, by extorting Money from them to buy Drink, as well as many a Villain let go for a Bribe.

Secondly, That the Number of Watchmen in every Parish be doubled, and none younger than Twenty four, nor older than Forty-five at most employed, and their Pay doubled; That every Watchman be sworn to a due Observance of his Duty and the Orders which shall be given him in Print, at the Time of his Entrance, by the Constable, who should be authorized for that Purpose. And that no Constable discharge his Watch till Six in the Morning from Michaelmas to Lady-Day, nor before Five from Lady-Day to Michaelmas. And that each Constable discharge his Watch in his own proper Person at the Times abovementioned, under the Penalty aforesaid, and call them over at the Time of discharging them. That every Watchman be armed with a Brace of Pistols and a Hanger at the Parish Charege; (but as these are of dangerous Consequence, the Watchmen should be regulated according to a further Scheme printed in this Paper the 10th of October) that each be loaded every Night before the Constable with Powder and Ball, and drawn the next Morning at the Time of their Discharge, and left in the Care of the Constable till next Night. And that every Watchman be hired [....] Constable and Churchwarden and at the time sign an Instrument with a Penalty for his true and due Performance of his Duty for that Time, to prevent his leaving his Place on any Reprimand, or the like on Male-Behaviour. That no Watchmen beat his Round or call the Hour, it being very notorious that when a Villain is breaking open a House, the Watchman, by calling the Hour, gives Notice of his Coming, the Rogue has then nothing to do, but to conceal himself till the Watchman is gone by , and then he knows he has another Hour to work, in which Time he seldom misses to effect his Villainy; and by this Means most of te Shops and House are broke open in the Night, which, by the Watchman's going his Round silently would be prevented, and the Rogue often-times apprehended, by coming upon him unawares. That the Watch go their rounds every Hour, two together, without talking, unless upon a Challenge of Who's there? Who comes there? or the like. And every Watchman that shall come drunk up to his Watch, to be found so when upon it, or be absent at the Time of calling over either at Night or Morning, or otherwise neglecting his Duty, or disobeying his Orders, which as it will be Perjury so to do, shall for the first Offence be whipt and forfeit forty Shillings, and for the second Offence be pilloryed and discharged. These may seem to some very severe Injunctions and Impositions; but it is certain that our Watch have for many Years past been very negligent, (not to say any worse of them) and without a strict Regulation and Reform of THEM I dare undertake to say twill not be in that Power of human Prudence to prevent STREET ROBBERIES.

Thirdly, That every Street-Robber that shall be taken, whether Man or Woman, upon Conviction of the Fact, be executed in this Manner; if a Man Convict, as soon as he has received his Sentence, he shall have one hundred Lashes on his naked Back with a Wire Whip, and three Days afterwards be hanged in the same Street where the Robbery was committed. If a Woman as soon as convicted and Sentence past, she shall have a hundred Lashes in the same Manner as the Man, and be burnt the Fourth Day in Smithfield. Every convicting Prosecutor to receive the Reward allowed for such Conviction in open Court, as soon the Verdict is brought in, without any Fee or Reward whatsoever; and the Charge of such Prosecution to be sustained by the Parish where such Robbery was committed. Tho' this rigorous and severe way of Punishment may startle some at first, yet let such consider the Nature of the Thing, and the absolute Necessity there is for it; for is a base Set of Miscreants, who are so abandoned to Vice and Villainy will, in Defiance of all Laws Human and Divine, become the Pest of Society, and laugh even at the extremest Punishment which the Law has at present provided (HANGING) I think it highly reasonable and necessary, there should be some more severe Punishment constituted for them than at present, that DEATH might appear in his Ushering in more terrible, and the Execution more exquisite and dreadful; for it's Severity in the Punishment that must deter others from these Villainies: The unheard of Barbarities in these STREET-ROBBERS, do in strict Justice require as severe Punishments; and till they find it, all Efforts to suppress them will be useless and vain. I know very well none but the King and the Legislative Power can do this; and as the Sitting of the Parliament is near  approaching, I humbly and earnestly recommend it to the serious Consideration of our Worthy Representatives of this City, to think of the Heads of Bill to lay before that August Assembly, and heartily wish them Success in their Undertaking. For surely nothing can more redound to their Honour, than to excite themselves in the Defence of the Liberties of that City they represent, and which is now so villainously disturbed by a Set of Miscreants, that us Inhabitants with the utmost Hazard go about it, to transact their lawful Affairs, to the great Decay of the Trade of this NOBLE CITY.

Fourthly, if his Majesty at any time upon the Conviction of a Street-Robber whether Man or Woman, should (our of his Royal Goodness and natural Propensity to Mercy) be pleased to mitigate the Sentence of Death by Transportation, I wish it was humbly moved to his Sacred Person that the Offender might first be branded in the Forehead with these Letters (S.R.); and then transported for 21 years, under the Penalty of suffering as above on returning within the Time; then, like CAIN, all Mankind would know them.

I question not but if these four Articles (with the former inferred in this Paper) were strictly put in Execution, the Number and Mischiefs of these Miscreants would soon lessen./ For there's nothing more in it than to stop the Cause, and the Effect will naturally cease; and I believe the Articles with the former point out the Way in a good measure to it.

London Evening Post, 31 October 1728

A Caution to prevent Foot-pad Robberies during the Summer Season

A Caution to prevent Foot-pad Robberies during the Summer Season.

Whereas nothwithstanding the Number of Foot-pads who have lately been Apprehended, some of whom are already brought to Justice; Outrages of this Kind still continue to be committed in the Fields, and different Avenues to London, and 'tis feared that Robberies of this Sort will be frequent during the Summer (when Persons as well from Business as Pleasure are apt to be out late in the Evenings) except a Patrole, raised and kept up by Subscription, becomes general from all the Villages round this Metropolis, the Utility of which the Patrole lately fixed in St. George's Fields sufficiently evinces: It is therefore recommended that Patroles be fixed from the following Places, viz. from Kensington to Hyde Park Corner, which, at present, is only provided in the Winter Season; from Paddington to Islington, from Kentish Town to Southampton-row, Islington to furnish one from Sir John Oldcastle's along the New Road to Doghouse-Barr, Bow to Whitechapel; and Stepney to furnish one to patrole in Stepney Fields, and the New Road leading from the London Foundery to the Turnpike, the end of Cannon Street St. George's; and if this Plan be found imperfect, it is submitted to the Gentlemen and other Inhabitants in the above Neighbourhoods, to correct as they shall seem meet: But Experience shews, that unless a Plan of this Kind be immediately put Execution, it will be absolutely unsafe for Persons to pass and repass  near Town, on their lawful Occasions, especially for a Time, till the Men discharged from the Army and Navy are turned to the former employments.       J. Fielding

Public Advertiser 24 May 1763

Radical Bladders

Mr Bethell begs leave to call Mr. Wright's attention to a nuisance which the Inhabitants of the extreme part of Southamptton Buildings next Staple's Inn have to complain of. Persons passing through that part to and from Staple's Inn conceive themselves at liberty, from its being a retired and quiet situation, to satisfy any call of nature against the low wall as immediately below the rails of the Inn and though Mr Bethell has had Notices fixed up yet they are wholly useles in stopping the practice. The rabble too that congregate at the Mechanic's Institution on the nights whem Mr. Cobbett or the Radical Reformers meet leave the street in the most filthy state and Mr. Bethell has accordingly spoken to the Secretary of the Instituion who state that the Committee are desirous of pujtting up fresh iron rails so as to exclude approach to the wall.

15 March 1830 Paving Committee Minutes of St. Andrew and St. George Holborn Vestry

In Henry Street, the Urinal at the North West Corner of this Street which is of Wood, is very incommodious and a nuisance to the Neighbourhood and should be taken down and a new Urinal of Stone set up in its place and the water carried away by a drain into the sewer.

15 May 1830 Paving Committee Minutes of St. Andrew and St. George Holborn Vestry

In Robert Street the urinal has been removed to accommodate various Inhabitants of this street and the Neighbourhood and it cannot be placed in any situation where it will create a less nuisance than at present and therefore ought not to be removed but that an upright stone on the Northside of the urinal would screen persons using it and that a Stone of this description should be placed there.

22 August 1831 Paving Committee Minutes of St. Andrew and St. George Holborn Vestry

 [residents] 'much injured and annoyed by a certain nuisance etween the houses no.22 and no.23 in the same street [Gloucester st] respectfully request you will have the goodness to cause the same to be removed and a proper convenience substituted in the passage betwene Gloucester Street and Devonshire Street which is a very private and proper place or elsehwere as you may deem fit. We beg to observethat this nuisance is so public and offensive as to prevent Females from approaching the Windows of the opposite Houses without being disgusted by the sight of the above nuisance.

7 May 1832 Paving Committee Minutes of St. Andrew and St. George Holborn Vestry

... 'There is a Doorway adjoining the County Court which being seldom opened and from its locality to the court is the constant resort of Men for the purpose of making Water. My house being exactly opposite and the street very narrow my Wife and Family whose occupation is from necessary a great part of their time in the shop are consequenlty subject to great annoyance by this indecency, because the unwholesome accumulation of filth which it occasions in so confied a situation.

5 November 1832 Committee Minutes of St. Andrew and St. George Holborn Vestry

Breast Feeding

Here's a great article from the London Literary Gazette of 1827 on breast-feeding. The author (controversially) is against nursing mothers consuming ale and porter, considers 'breast is best' ("There can be no question as to the moral duty which is imposed on every woman who becomes a mother, to suckle her child") and, although he countenances wet-nursing, he does not think much of society women who ignore their moral duties (" the infant is left to mewl and writhe in the nurse's lap, tormented with the cravings of hunger, while the unnatural mother is listening to the scandal of a coterie, or to the pretty vapourings of some empty dandy") ...

1. Food of Early Infancy.—If Providence have ordained that man be born in a state of health, the same beneficent Power has bountifully provided nourishment of a quality adapted for the delicate nature of his digestive organs, and for easy assimilation; so as to promote the rapid growth and the evolution of new parts in the body of the infant. The necessity of a distinct kind of food for this state, is demonstrated, not only throughout the animal, but also in the vegetable creation. The oak, which for centuries has braved the tempest and drawn its support from the soil, was nourished, when its first leaves were evolved, by a milky emulsion formed from the cotyledons of the acorn; and a lactiferous fountain is formed in the bosom of every mother, for the support of her infant, almost immediately after its birth. There can be no question as to the moral duty which is imposed on every woman who becomes a mother, to suckle her child; but the artificial state in which society has placed the human race, suggests the inquiry—Is every mother capable of performing this office?
    Although nature has provided that the food of the infant should be prepared in the maternal system, yet, the fitness of this food for the purposes for which it is intended depends greatly on the health, both corporeal and mental, of the mother. Thus, if a mother be in a state of disease, the secretion of the milk is necessarily impaired; and it may be both deficient in quantity, and of a quality not only not calculated to afford the nourishment which the infant requires, but likely to disagree with its stomach and bowels, and to be productive of disease. A woman so circumstanced, is, certainly, incapable of performing the duties of a mother; and in such a case, however revolting the idea may be to maternal feelings, the infant must be suckled by an alien. I employ the expression "must be," because, as I shall prove afterwards, no circumstances connected with the health of the mother can authorise the hazardous experiment of dry nursing, or bringing an infant up by the hand. But, where one mother is rendered incapable, by disease, of nourishing her infant, hundreds become bad nurses, and injure their offspring, by circumstances altogether under their own control. It is wonderful, and yet the fact is every day before our eyes, that even delicate and otherwise unhealthy females acquire a state of robust health previous to child-birth; and become, and they might continue, good and efficient nurses, were they properly managed. The supineness, however, in the exercise of their reasoning faculties, which makes them the slaves of custom in clothing their infants, renders them the victims of the prejudices of education, opinion, and of self-indulgence, with respect to the diet and regimen which are requisite for constituting them good nurses. "La! ma'am," says the old monthly attendant, "what nonsense the doctor speaks, about eating mild things and not drinking no ale nor porter: how can such a great boy be supported on such washy fare? I knows that milk never can't be made without ale nor porter, ay, and brandy and water—and good living to boot." The advice of so sage a counsellor, seconded by inclination, is followed; the habit of the mother, which was cool and admirably fitted to secrete healthy nutriment for her babe, becomes heated and feverish; the functions of the lactiferous glands are disturbed; the supply of milk is diminished; and what is formed is of a bad quality. The same effect on the secretion of the milk is occasioned, at a later period, by the bustle of visiting, late hours, irregularity in the periods of suckling, and mental irritation. A woman, therefore, who intends to do her duty to her offspring, cannot be a nurse and a votary of fashion at the same time: and every source o£ anxiety, or of mental agitation, must be carefully avoided. The latter circumstances, indeed, are too often unavoidably connected with situation in life and domestic occurrences; and impede the exertions of many an excellent and well-disposed woman to perform her maternal duties: but in numerous instances, irritability of temper being unrestrained, and feelings ill-regulated, women become fretful and peevish with trifles; and, consequently, cannot continue the duty which, they have commenced, and the performance of which they find even delightful. Thus situated, a woman becomes incapable of nursing her child; and, in providing another nurse for it, not only the health, but the equanimity of temper of the individual should be carefully ascertained.
    As it is only among the middle ranks and higher classes of society, that infants can be transferred from the breast of the mother to that of a hired nurse, the moral character of the duty imposed upon every woman of suckling her own offspring has been too much over-looked; and it is thought to be sufficient, if a mother behave kindly to the menial who supplies her place, and sees that she performs her duty to the infant intrusted to her care. But mothers are not alive to the responsibility which they incur, by exposing the infant of the hired nurse to the danger attendant on dry nursing; for few of the unfortunate children whose mothers are engaged as wet-nurses are suckled; and hundreds, I might say thousands, of infants are sacrificed annually to the necessities or the cupidity of their mothers, and to the unnatural habits of fashionable life, improper management, self-indulgence, or unrestrained temper.
    But whether an infant be suckled by its mother or by a hired nurse, it is evident, from what has already been said, that no other food can properly supply the place of the breast milk in early infancy. It is of importance, therefore, to inquire what diet, supposing a woman to be in health, is best fitted for promoting the due secretion of good milk? what exercise a mother who is suckling ought to take? and at what periods the infant should be suckled? In reply to the first query, I advise every woman to adhere, as much as possible, to plain, light, and nutritious diet: to abstain from highly-seasoned food, salted meats, and pastry. A very mistaken notion prevails among the fair sex, that vegetables should be avoided by nurses: on the contrary, every nurse should eat a moderate share of well-boiled vegetables at dinner ; and ripe fruit, if it agree with her at other times, cannot prove hurtful whilst she is suckling, provided it is eaten in the forenoon. From the fluid nature of the milk, nurses require a larger supply of beverage than other women; but this should neither be strong nor soporific, but diluting, bland, and cooling. In females of delicate habits, and during the progress of suckling, when the nurse is conscious that her strength is failing, ale or porter, or a moderate quantity of wine, may be requisite: but if these are indulged in, they should be accompanied with a large share of mild and diluting liquids, as weak tea, milk and water, barley gruel, or rennet whey. If the individual belong to the higher class of society, the most substantial repast should be made at lunch-time ; for a hearty meal of animal food taken at six or seven o'clock in the evening, is more likely to be productive of fever in the habit of a nurse than to favour the secretion of milk. Supper, however, is a meal which every nurse, who performs her duty to the infant, requires ; for she who resigns her charge at night to a nurse maid, to have its cravings supplied by the feeding-bottle or the spoon, scarcely deserves the name of a nurse. With respect to exercise, every nurse should walk out daily, or take exercise in a carriage, if too delicate to walk without suffering from fatigue: but no exercise should be taken which can hurry the circulation of the blood ; for, as the milk is formed from this vital fluid, it is evident, that its secretion or preparation in the glands of the breast cannot be properly effected, if it be carried in too rapid a current through them. Hence nurses ought to refrain from dancing, and even from riding on horseback, unless the paces of the horse be extremely easy. For the same reason, as has already been hinted, every agitation of spirits should be avoided ; for the softness and serenity of the female character is essential in the nurse; and it is vain to expect a bland and healthful rill to flow from the fountain of infantine nutriment, when the poison of discord is infused in the bosom, and the heart is swelled with acrimony and vehemence. But in securing that complacency of disposition in the nurse which is so necessary for the well-being of the infant, both parents must concur; for who can expect equanimity of temper in the wife who is harassed by contradiction and debate, and who seldom feels the solace of those endearments, and of that tenderness, which esteem and love only can secure in connubial intercourse? Nothing interferes more with the duties of the nurse than irregular hours; and thence I repeat, that no character is more opposite than that of the nursing mother and the woman of pleasure. In respect to the periods of taking food, it is true that infants may be inured to any habits that the nurse adopts; but the child who is accustomed to be suckled at fixed periods is always the most healthy; the stomach is less likely to be overcharged from excessive hunger, or to be nauseated by one meal being crowded upon another, in order to accommodate the engagements of the nurse. Young children require to be more frequently nourished than those who are more advanced in age; at first, the interval between each period of suckling should not exceed two or three hours; but when the child is four months old, it may extend to four hours, and to six during the night, if the child sleep well. To females who have the true feelings of a mother, these intervals are sufficient to permit exercise and the pleasures of society, as far as they ought to be indulged in by a rational nursing mother: but to one who regards her duty to her infant as secondary to her amusements, these intervals are far too limited ; the infant is left to mewl and writhe in the nurse's lap, tormented with the cravings of hunger, while the unnatural mother is listening to the scandal of a coterie, or to the pretty vapourings of some empty dandy ; and when at length its wants are supplied, the meal it obtains is heated by retention, or by the flurried state of the thoughtless mother, when conscience awakens her recollection of her infant, who has been suffering for hours from her inadvertence. Again I repeat, such females ought not to undertake the nursing of their offspring. On the other hand, many excellent women, from a mistaken tenderness, nurse their infants every time they cry or seem uneasy ; and not satisfied even with this, add a meal or two of thick pap or arrow root. By thus constantly stimulating the stomach, the little creatures acquire artificial appetites, which cannot be satisfied; the food is never fairly digested before the stomach is replenished; and the thick pap, from passing in a crude state into the bowels, produces diarrhoeas and other complaints : thence the frequent aid of medicine is requisite to correct the effects of the thick food and repletion. Indeed, it is not easy to say, whether greater evils result from this error or from dry-nursing. The repletion itself is sufficient to weaken the powers of the stomach; but the addition of the thick food forms an imperfect chyme, which, passing in a crude state into the intestines, originates an acrid chyle, which obstructs the mesenteric glands. On this account, the nutriment cannot enter into the blood, to supply the waste and exigencies of the frame; the stomach becomes inflated and tumid, the limbs are emaciated, and the child sinks into a state of atrophy, and falls a victim to inanition, in the midst of profusion. The physiognomy of an infant starving from over-feeding, or from improper diet, is the most deplorable picture upon which the eye can rest: the plumpness of the cheeks being sunk, the angles of the jaw-bones project; while the skin, which is sallow, hangs in wrinkles ; and there being no teeth, the chin rises and projects forward, so as to give the countenance the similitude of an old shrivelled face in miniature, distorted with pain. Yet there is a semblance of patience or resignation in the expression of the face; the cry is feeble, and the sunk but large eye seems to turn a deploring look upon the beholders, and to powerfully speak a language expressive of suffering and anguish. Mothers and nurses, nevertheless, look daily upon a picture so heartrending ; and, although they are apprised of its origin, yet go on administering to the evil; so impregnable is the stronghold of prejudice and self-deception.
    From all that has been detailed, the following conclusions may be deduced respecting the food of early infancy :   

1. That the breast milk, being prepared by nature for the support of the infant, is preferable to every other kind of food.
2. That when the mother is healthy, and the supply of breast milk is sufficient, the infant should be supported on it alone.
3. That, in order to secure a healthful and abundant supply of the breast milk, the diet of the mother or the nurse should be light, nutritive, and unstimulating; that her mind should be kept in a tranquil state; that every thing should he avoided which can hurry the circulation and heat the body; and when either mental or corporeal circumstances flurry the spirits or irritate the temper, the child must not be applied to the breast until the agitation have subsided.
4. That an infant should be suckled only at stated hours.