TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12569, 11 August 1906, Page 8

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A competition condnctNow od' recently by tho Limericks. " Westminstor Gazette "' in that weird and fascinating 'form of verse, tho Limerick, produced some very interesting efforts..

In-giving competitors the , litre;-*! was a young man of M&dr»3 tft " Westminster inij*ht have kaowl most of the verses would refer iS Boyal marriago, ox the outrai«3 M: ~ -^ w? 6 " 5 wae a yolws mM »' of Midi >VJw> got on a housetop and KtfiS Ho shouted ' Alfonso'! .... H«w «a» yo« Co on no? ,\ *<1 IH stop your procoseion.' Hi di£ Thiß sounds excellent, but it <&# get the prize; the "WcefcniiS wanted a less obvious ideal-*! given sentence, "They eaid 4 lt*i)j to say it occurred," was wovcnS verses on the Chicago ecatwl*l»li;' "There was a Maltese named I* Who considered his wife a vii*2 They said 'It's absurd ™ To say it occurred'; S But—she DID disappear in GbjiaSfl Tho finding of a third rhyme arad terror wae porha/pe the cult part of tho competition, '*fa prizo-wintner solved it ' rfa " There once was a babu of BmJuP Who swallowed- an idol in «*rari His friends stcoj aghast *J At this sinful repast— '% The end of this tale. »a terrorji Also difficult to handle wae "A m kidney potato , ." True, it sugaad Cato and Plato, but $ you " Westminster " prizes you murt 'wM tho obvious. Wiiat appears to him moat original Limerick of all vu-M following:— %M " There onoo was a man- who <mI Limericks, he had no lee* JMj thirteen separate trice, Thie is one of them, and so there*! twelvo others, tliroo longervd shorter, suid five of tim-aS leiiigtih, or f«r tJio sake of™ rhyme I will cay sizo. They said, ' It's absurd, >m To bay it occurred,' 129 Wlion I nesuTod tliom tliat tlie I!m| in a momont of mental'abmi tio.:ii was iwrsundcd into avM| inp; this oocontric (poet the w guinea prize." '^β This competitor «ot no mere-ly the consolation of editori^^ Tho sampler of Neodlo has been despieed ,,jM Pictures. bariVhod, only to bdf| called as an artistic, wi kost an aftltiquacrian, troasiire/,J« wliicli tJio present-day maid , ' *« found a ma{sazino article. l| iiaoilowork-picture, in Hko Mauni ontly twtmty years ago wae ecorneda a bygemo prcduot of art's dark titt Yet now colloctofe are envying ,m other their finer specimens, art nu sines give pases to their praieo, jpj an oxliibition liae lately been 'hM solely <to revive a proper intoroefcS tlieso pictures wrought out so ly in silk or wool. It epoake:jM for that nearly oftTlior pictures have jects. Tho Ccctbinontal n«odle\)s|j| followed humbly aStor Murillo, '-Hm| brandt, and liapliaol—who may.n| enjoyed tlie sensation, of seeing w iaasterpieoos copied vrith Buch aOCOM as <wuld bo acltievt'd by ncodlo indtg of brush. Ono of tho finest <aamptN§ tho "Ecco Homo " in tho style of Iμ brandt, preserved in the Lyons,ln oum. Bnglieh needles also cople|w the most part, but more adventftia ■n'orlcu'omen would 0> Biblioal story, and xeproduco KeiM|H they imagined thorn, with char*™ dressed Bonipuloueiy in the beafc fuM of the day. So needlework piclflfl illuoninatied -their own periodi|| showing up topi as en Engliehniain of Jamee .the time,* or Queen, Esther in an Ish| betbam tuS. When ctitchery wei'fl Biblical, it was HstoricAl and laflj Roj'aAist ladies were especially oddsM to portraits of Charles I. worketijj hie own hair; tho granting of. the puirpoee being ono of die curioiwß of old tJrrondcke. cordflj by' tho way, are full of <$fom names. ' Queem Elisabeth, heredf,fli| great with needle ac mth of iHardwiclce was another d<etu>gin| od scmiwtreee, and poor Mary left embroddory and euch quality ac epeake for the ioq| hours it filled during her teen years ac a prisoned picture* are ■knowta by the emblem of the dynasty, mtid l ti&im oognoeaoce for the worker' in .tibcim In Queen Anne's time,- tio taste gave way tx> copies ,ot porary ecturte, wnd.Cflrinwe first appeared in mbterial or._»» GhencUe delighted Mario AntoJnraj who was qaLek to peroerve its effects readied earlier throughrlM toil in knot-etitohw , broidery made an artistio iatechM but taste soon fett to oolaeM oroßs-etitch, wMch still in skilful fe«M has given -wonderful effect*. croae-etitohi kt which that Mw KailM exoeHod, who was dutineukbeaM Boewell as "tiheQosJcer that , ' eutile pictures." Art wdth tb» ail hae the tradition, of a £3000 oSei|S one such triumph. And the **jm coUector daring yewre when needlework was decried, ,h*s P«W once more "the team of one genersM is the de%ht of the next." ' - 'JM Tbore is a ' vim Can Everest bility that MM Be Conquered? long an *tt«|| ■ frill be , inede^ climb Mount Everest, the tugM! mountain in, tine, world. Mr QyM Abraham, a olimbor of experience, bean devoting a good deal of atM| tion to "Übo Lady of the Snowa,|J the (natives call the mountain, after careful enquiry be come* tO"4 conclusion that to cHmb her odd feet irould not be so dimoaH|| it looks. Viewed from afar, AejN Everest does not look difficult , ; >• M question would, of course, be tJwpO*! biJity or otherwise of living at eudCN altitude. Tho general belief i» tt| existence at such an altitude is inJM sible, -and many instances of pTOml ■tioa at great heights, ere Bupport of it. Mr Abraham, Jm| ever, points out that in the ascentlj iKabru, in the Himalayas 1883 by an Englisbman. named GraMl and two Swiss guides, which he f « clairee to be etill tho record the olimbers <felit no various due to the rarity of the air. O%J mouinftaineetns have climbed to £r*j heights without being ill, the oM notable case being itha.t of a man. wP felt wdl at an altitude of 21,000 m in tho Himalayas. There ie, in w| good reason to - believe <**j$ Mr GTaham) that man is il» proving in his ability to live witbogl suffering at iiigli altitudes, for e»r|| Alpine expioreVs suffered much jnWg from eick«cßs than do tihe climber* i| to-day. Mr Graham thinks that caw of prostration aro cautod by Jtfffl plo-arique or want of traimdrij. JB| feels euro that if n raav tan Tun ill tlie last 200 ft of Mount Elaao at a-faj speed, he ie capable of making groaM

coords than have yet been made in the Himalayas. Men vrlvo sot out to cononer lofty Himalayan peaks sdioukl Ls this t«t, which would save a "Jreat amount of time, expense, disapSirtnwnt. and suffering. Ho would form a warty for the conquest of Brorost if two Swiss guides and two amateurs, and train coolies aaul portera with several months ot climbing .-ork. To a party of perfect physique throughout, with a band of .higldy porters, tho conquest ot .Mount Everc-st should bo possible, and before long Mr Abraham hopes to put his theories into practice.