a
quarter to eight
-LRB- Special -RRB- `` The much-discussed meeting of the Zoological Institute , convened to hear the report of the Committee of Investigation sent out last year to South America to test the assertions made by Professor Challenger as to the continued existence of prehistoric life upon that Continent , was held last night in the greater Queen 's Hall , and it is safe to say that it is likely to be a red letter date in the history of Science , for the proceedings were of so remarkable and sensational a character that no one present is ever likely to forget them . '' -LRB- Oh , brother scribe Macdona , what a monstrous opening sentence ! -RRB- `` The tickets were theoretically confined to members and their friends , but the latter is an elastic term , and long before eight o'clock , the hour fixed for the commencement of the proceedings , all parts of the Great Hall were tightly packed . The general public , however , which most unreasonably entertained a grievance at having been excluded , stormed the doors at a quarter to eight , after a prolonged melee in which several people were injured , including Inspector Scoble of H. Division , whose leg was unfortunately broken . After this unwarrantable invasion , which not only filled every passage , but even intruded upon the space set apart for the Press , it is estimated that nearly five thousand people awaited the arrival of the travelers . When they eventually appeared , they took their places in the front of a platform which already contained all the leading scientific men , not only of this country , but of France and of Germany . Sweden was also represented , in the person of Professor Sergius , the famous Zoologist of the University of Upsala .