In 1811 a gentleman made a bet of one thousand guineas, that he would
have a coat made in the course of a single day, from the first process
of shearing the sheep till its completion by the tailor. The wager was
decided at Newbury, on the 25th of June in that year, by Mr. John
Coxeter, of Greenham Mills, near that town. At five o’clock that
morning, sir John Throckmorton, bart. presented two Southdown wedder
sheep to Mr. Coxeter, and the sheep were shorn, the wool spun, the yarn
spooled, warped, loomed, and wove; and the cloth burred, milled, rowed,
dried, sheared, and pressed, and put into the hands of the tailors by
four o’clock that afternoon: and at twenty minutes past six the coat,
entirely finished, was presented by Mr. Coxeter to sir John
Throckmorton, who appeared with it before upwards of five thousand
spectators, who rent the air with acclamations at this remarkable
instance of despatch.
* * * * *
_For the Table Book._