GOSSIP AND NEWS ITEMS.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 6964, 18 January 1888, Page 6

GOSSIP AND NEWS ITEMS.

r On December Ist the remains of the late Earl and Countess of Dalhousie were buried together in the parish churchyard of Cockpen, within a short distance of Dalhousie Castle, Midlothian. Although th& relatives desired that the funeral should be private, several hundred gentlemen from Edinburgh, and the gentry and farmers from all parts of the county, attended. Wreaths had been sent by the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, and many of the nobility. The obsequies in the Church of St. Honore, Eylau, of the great fur merchant, M. Revilon, were, says a Paris correspondent, interrupted in a startling and dramatic way. M. Covin, the organist, was playing a "Dead March," when he suddenly fell back on his chair. His wife, who was with him, cried aloud for aid, and from nervous excitement continued doing so after assistance came. Her husband had been seized with total paralysis, and died as he was being carried out of the church.

Among the objects of value in the shape of jubilee presents to the Pope, which are daily pouring into the Vatican, one recently presented by Monsignor Lecot, Bishop of Dijon, has a singular history. It is a picture by Annibale Caracci of the " Ecce Homo" which was stolen from the Vatican by a French soldier at the time of departure of Pius VII. The picture passed through various hands in France, and finally came into_the possession of a priest in Burgundy. Upon the representations of Monsignor Lecot the picture was given ' up, to be consigned to the Pope on tlu . occasion of his jubilee; and the Bishf ~ had the pleasure of presenting it personr AL to his Holiness, together with s round f as Peter's pence collected in his dioee* # ' Mr Bantam's agent in England h -..' jt is stated,, practically purchased T /'_____ well's menagerie, and almost ever / class of animal lost in the late disastro- I*_\t__ at Bridgeport, Connecticut, has _ZL n re placed by purchase within a ff. days - in England and on the Continent ' -«_ ____. num proposes visiting Engla. d with his " show shortly.

The London fc nf th „ r .-„,_ pool Post writes:-Mr hard at work making Reparations for

the issue of his new evening journal, the first number Of which will appear on the 2nd of January. The name of the new venture is to be the Evening Star, and extensive offices have been taken in a new buildingin Stonecutter street, which adjoins St. Bride street. Several of the best writers now on the staff of the London Echo Will secede to the Evening Star, and Mr O'Connor has also, with characteristic shrewdness, gone to other offices and secured the ser\ices of some of their smartest men. The editor of the new journal says he means to mane it" a live paper." The Evening Star will, of course, be strongly Gladstonian, but I understand it will contain features which will appeal strongly to non-politicians. M. Sardou does not approve of Shakspeare, and thinks his fame " a weak invention of the enemy"—that is, of the Germans. " Hamlet" specially excites his contempt; and he discovers several absurdities in it, some of which are real, others imaginary. But to a dramaturge like M. Sardou who. will pay any price for success, "Hamlet" should have this supreme claim to respect, that whatever its faults it is eminently successful. Indeed, it is the most successful stage play ever written, and the most effective. In spite of a serious structural flaw —the comparatively languid movement of the fourth act—it never fails to produce snch an impression upon its audience as even the author of "La Tosca" might envy. Thus in his own peculiar trade, effecthunting, M. Sardou might learn a thing or two from the despised " William." Why do women earn less money than men for doing the same work. Tbat was the problem which Mrs Fawcett set herself to discuss in the bright little speech which she addressed to the thirteenth annual meeting of the Women's Protective and Provident League, and her answer is worth noting. It is not because woman's work is worth less than man's ; it is not because women workers have no one dependent od them, for they very often have ; it is not because they have no trade unions, it is simply because there are so many of them and so few openings for their employment. The few trades open to women lead to their overcrowding those trades to which they are admitted. This brings down their wages, and that in turn is the chief argument used against admitting them to other trades, in mauy of which women are regarded as little better than the Heathen Chinee in California, We use them in a vicious circle, from which it is difficult to escape. The revival of boxing, (says a Home paper) is universal. Sullivan, the fighting man, with the talking men of America and of home growth, are feted and feasted like conquering heroes. They dine by night in luxury at the invitation of lively lords and merry marquises. But boxing is not only growing in favor again among quick aristocrats and among sportsmen. It is the most popular of the recreations in the East end. In the humblest of clubs there is a place called by courtesy a gymnasium. This in some instances is a cellar, without a scrap of furniture in it. So long as there is a good floor for the boxers to stand upon there is nothing to be desired.

Many a storm has been created Ln Presbyterian quarters by that musical instrument contemptuously called by its Scottish opponents the kist o' whistles. Now it is in the synagogue that the organ controversy rages. A Canadian orthodox Jew writes home to his English brethren, warning them against being influenced by the craze for worship reform, and places the organ first in a series of steps from " moderate reform" to infidelity in America.

A writer in the Nineteenth Century tells us how long it takes one on an average to think; how long it takes one to perceive an object; how long to distinguish its identity, and how long to name it. He says it takes about one quarter of a second to translate a word from German to English, about one second to" find a rhyme, and about two-thirds of a second are consumed in calling to mind the country in which a well-Known town is situated. He might have added, however, that " circumstances alter cases."