GOSSIP AND NOTES.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10410, 29 July 1899, Page 9

GOSSIP AND NOTES.

How "Royalties''—especially nunor.onos—• must .long for a clearing sale,ia; ..thiejr, tuiuues outMui.on&hy. tiaro-y'»' week passes at one hears of -some wonderful prtweuUtion from loyal subject* somewatre. - New* 'C-i;ffte.i iattit yiiUan come* from Italy. Xhe receipt of a bicycle of sali* gold by tne Queen of Italy caln. scarttay be a raoject ior congratulation, 'ihe Que 4 ii, to begji with, 13 _o ejeim, and so iae'o«dy and useless toy will probabiy find its way to •soma strong room, where its sate custoVry wiu be a -constant cause of anxiety to nut concerned. ■ ■■' A Ladt has been Humphrey in the "Lad/s Kotorial" i&at her hair c\ai€ her about Jb'ltAJ a one way and an-t-tuar. The fashion m Cviiibs j* for e-rei changing, and one must buy new ones, cr be quite ouf of it. The '"Pciij-paaour," now al tne .rage, will soon be snpt-rs-eata by something else. Her hair bill for sjt months came to" £&J, merely for wa-.oiug and waving, and occasionally trying a new ui/iuure. t octa who write oats to ruy iaay's flowing tresses should note these facts. A CHABACTiBniSTic story of Lord Kitchener v to.v in tee -Outlook." His loraship wished to get back quickly to England to hear the House of Commons debate on the Soudan. He was on the point oi emeu-k----ing at Alexandria, not at tnat time in quarantine, when driving to the quay he heard that three cases ot cusease had broken out in the town. His companions said, "All right, it is not in quarautine." "it will be, rejoined Lord Kitchener; and forthwith he turned the cai> about, travelled to Port Said, and took a steamer to Fiume. Even there some difficulties were made, but finding a menagerie on its way in the same boat; a gia irom the Mikado to tbe .Lmperor of Austria, Lord Kitchener represented that the animals would die if kept oack, prevailed' anu went on; he attended the races at Vienna, and arrived in London in good time. Db. Watson, who recently returned from his latest lecturing tour in America, greatly enjoyed his trip, and although the expenses of the lecturing U.ur were very heavy his share Of the net profits, the "Independent" states, came to £'<J4OO. Dr. Watson, with Mrs Watson and a party of friends from Boston, witnessed a performance of the dramatised version ot "Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush" at the Providence Opera House. Dr. Watson was delighted with the play, and said that it surpassed all his expectations.

The "Academy" prints a number of interesting suggestions from writers as to the beat month's holiday for a literary man'of average mean* who has completed a hard year's work and needs rest and change. Professor Skeat prefers to "remain quietly at home, where rest is assured and a sufficient change of employment is perfectly attainable." Mr William Archer recommends a walking tour in the Italian Alps, "given fine weather and good company." Mrs W. K. Clifford says there is nothing so good as the sea.- "Take ship and sail to anywhere; a fortnight off and back again." Mr Sidney Lee believes in such hackneyed Swiss resorts as Zermattand Malofa; but "if tihe holiday-maker be a townsman unaccustomed to violent exercise, any spot on earth in the open country a thousand feet or so above the sea level. . . would serve the turn of tne seeker after rest and 'change."

Mb Stephen Phillips ia all in favour of a cycling tour in Normandy, 'Vith as little haste and method as possible." To the literary man, if much exhausted, Dr. Robertson Nrcoil recommends "one or other of tfcree Surrey villages," which/he declines to name. If he is not too much exhausted let him go to Switzerland. Mr Pett Ridge is of opinion that London can furnisn all the change of surrounding that the literary man wants. On the other hand, Mr Silas Hocking says, "Get right away from London -or from wherever your work lies"—to Cornwall or Cumberland or Norway or Switzerland. Dean Hole suggests Glengariff, Ireland; Dovedale, Derbyshire, or Folkestone; while Mr Max Beerbohm'a prescription is "A fourpost bed in a field of poppies." It is sad to think that the symbol of marriage—the ring—should in some cases only be lured. The bride must feel that the tie which hinds her to -her lord end master is one not meant to last long when the ring ia not iters,to have and to nold for ever, and may even be distrained upon. There are .cases where people have substituted for the golden circlet the key of the church door, and even that hi more satisfactory than something which is only hired. It must be hoped, however, that Mrs Dawson's marriage is in no way affected by the peculiar tenure of her wedding sing, and for the balance of the hire of which she was sued at Lambeth recently. The terms were Is c month, and in default its return, though after 32 weeks' payment' it was to become the property of the bride. Judge Emden said he had no idea that wedding xings were 'hired, and he had heard of many extraordinary things in his time. Mrs Dawson had held the article in such low esteem that she had pawned it, and, in addition, stopped her payments. She was ordered to pay 2s a month until the debt was satisfied.

A fbw years since the official public cxcI cutioner at Brussels died, and a substitute was - temporarily appointed.' On one occasion this person was ill and unable to attend. But at the appointed hour a stoat, middle-aged woman presented herself at the central police station and quietly remarked to the assembled functionaries: "I've come for tihe tiecution. My husband is not very Sell this morning, and has asked mc to take is pjsce. Please let us get -to -business." The general stupefaction can easily be imagined, which, being noticed by the would-be woman executioner, she added, in a reassuring tone: "Oh, this is not by any means the kfirsfc tune." It .afterwards transpired that , the woman, whose name was Marie Rege, iha 3 officiated on several occasions at execu- ' tiona in Kep of her -husband. Dressed in his i clothes, and her face masked, «£ie had been the public executioner at several executions, ! and never had the proceedings been interI rupted by a single hitch.

"A novel experiment, which has both a practical and an amusing side, has been tried in connection with one of the "religious denamiiiatjons at Knighton," says the "Lon-J don Daily Telegraph." "A few mortfiis ago a penny wfcs given to each of thirteen, children, who wore told to see* how much | they could make out of it by trading with it. The stipulation was that they could adopt what means they -liked, provided they j were/ honest The money \J»a< *beea-i :c*Ecd in to be given to toe support of a cawd at a mission station in' Obota Nagpur. The j experiment proved a great success, the pennies received realising no less than £4 Is sd. Curiously enough, one child hit upon the idea of starting wiUn a pennyworth of batter and sugar, in order to trade in toffee; a second invested in mnstard add cress. , while a third dispensed halfpenny glasses of lemonade at a jecreation class. The most successful trader, a little girl, earned 12s.

It would now seem from experiments, which have been carried on by Professor G. T. W. Patrick, of the University of lews, that we do not taste many of the things which we cat at- our daily meals. It is asserterT confidently that wo merely smell them. If the nose is tightly closed in the ordinary man and he is blindfolded, he -will not be able to distingukh coffee from water or a weak solution of quinine. This has been | proved by experiments made on many persona. . Common coffee was said to be water,. lit was also said to be quinine. Water was ' said to be coffee. Tea was called coffee. was calkd pork. Raw* apple was 1 called grape juice. Malt extract was sherry, | Lard was pronounced butter. In short, experienced persons were unable to distinguish, .many common foods and drinks when sensations of smell were removed,- and the conclusion was reached that a person might even practice economy- in eating' by merely blindfolding the eyes, and snbsftituting lard pork and beef, for butter, turkey snd venison, while if the further precaution was taken to dose the nose a. very weak solution of quinine would pass for good coffee and vinegar for the most costly wine.