HOW DOTH THE LITTLE BUMBLE

B. H tTi*°# } he , little Bumbla Bee Delight to bark and bite, And (sometimes) save a bob a day J-o spend ten pounds at night

H Wifl! OTh0 T h t O . pil £ h a ?, d screwr a *d sting With J aek-m-office blow Whilst Norris runs the show.

Wheneer I take my walks abroad Sow many poor I see; How thankful should I be to God Who madd that Bumble Bee! '

Mr Hornibrook wanted to know what the question as to whether the signatoriee of the Tepid Baths Petition wore ratepayers had to do with the matter. He remarked, with great truthfulness] that ratepayers weren't t3io only people who wanted tepid baths, or words to that effect-. Lots of folks who aren't ratepayers could do with, all sorts of baths and plenty of soap, six times a day,, judging from the chunks of olfactory torture you could cut out of any crowded tramcar.

There i& something entirely pathetio about the demand of th© Russian Duma for the abolition of capital punishment. To realise their feelings, you must imagine a Parliament composed of tortured souls in hell, allowed by Old Nick to play at reforming that locality. Naturally, their first demand would ba for the abolition of frying, even, before they considered the question of a water-sup-ply. What a splendid training, by the by, a membership of the Duma would .be for an intending New Zealand legislator. If anything could teach him that silence was golden, and waste of time a sin, it would be the knowledge that every word he uttered, and every I minute he sat, added to the probabilj ity,- ndy, certainty, of being beheaded, or disembowelled, or something of that sort, at the first convenient opportunity.

This is a grate oouflt-hxy, Hinnissy, for inspiqtshin. Our back primysis are irospicted. Our infints are inspicted. Our labour eonthracts "are inspieted, our thramway tickets are inspicted, our ox and our ass an' the sthraagher witlhin our gates are in-ajHct-ed. A payternal govmint inspicts

us from th' eraydle to th' grave, so it does. And our soles (if we've gotamny) will be inspicted in th' nixt worruld. An' now Mr Bishop wants our careussus inspicted. An' th' docthors agrees wid him. Ay coorse they does ! They're iverlistingly gropin' an' pokitt' an' scratchin' , and dosin', and they natch©l% likes to know which ay their ixpiximiirte ib was that did the thrick. Th' sole, ye undherstand, doesn't objict. It sorter hangs around till pewtryfaskshin sits in, but it don't object to th* docthoxs doin' a bit ay diggin' at a guinea a job. But it's ddffrint wid local bodies, Hinnissy. Their sole leaves before pewtryfaotiom sits i». It leaves whin they begin talkin' ''rot." Anid it ginerally takes their bowels wid ut, so it does.