CLIPPINGS FROM NEW BOOKS.

Evening Star, Issue 6491, 7 January 1884, Page 4

CLIPPINGS FROM NEW BOOKS.

TROLLOPE AT HARROW. " My two elder brothers had been sent as day-boarders to the Harrow school from the bigger house, and may probably have been received among the aristocratic crowd—not on equal terms, because a day-boarder at Harrow in those days wa3 never ao received —but at any rate as other day-boarders. I do not supposo that they were well treated, but I doubt whether they were subjected to the ignominy which I endured. I was only seven, and I think that boys at seven are now Bpared among their more considerate seniors. I was never spared, and was not even allowed to run to and fro between our house and the school without a daily purgatory. No doubt my appearance was against me. I remember well, when I was still the junior boy in the school, Dr Butler, the head-master, stopping me in the street and asking me with all the clouds of Jove upon his brow and all the thunder in his voice whether it was possible that Harrow school was disgraced by so disreputably dirty a little boy as I ! Oh, what I felt at that moment! But I could not look my feelings. I do not doubt that I was dirty ; but I think that he was cruel. He must have known me had he seen me as he was wont to see me, for he was in the habit of flogging mo constantly. Perhaps he did not recognise me by the face," TROLLOL'K'S interview with a COMPLAINANT. A gentleman in County Cavan had complained most bitterly of the injury done to him by some arrangement of the Post Office. The nature of his grievance has no present significance ; but it was so unendurable that ho had written many letters, couched in the strongest language.' He was most irate, and indulged himself in that scorn which is so easy to an angry mind. The place was not in my district, but I was borrowed, being young and strong, that I might remove the edge of his personal wrath. It was midwinter, and I drove up to his house—a squire's country seat—in the middle of a snowstorm, just as it was becoming dark. I was on an open jaunting-car, and was on my way from one little town to another, the cause of his complaint having reference to some mail conveyance between the two. I was certainly very cold, and very wet, and very uncomfortable when I entered his house. I v/as admitted by a butler, but the gentleman himself hurried into the hall. I at once began to explain my business. "God bless me !" he said, " you are wet through. John, get Mr Trollope some brandy and water—very hot." I was beginning my story about the post again when he himself took off my greatcoat and suggested that I should go up to my bedroom before I troubled myself with business. '' Bedroom !" I exclaimed. Then he assured me that he would not turn a dog out on such a night as that, and into a bedroom I was shown, having first drank the brandy and water standing at the drawingroom tire. When I came down I was introduced to his daughter, and the three of us went iuto dinner. I shall never forget his righteous indignation when I again brought up the postal question on the departure of the young lady. Was I such a Goth as to contaminate wine with business? So I drank my wine, and then heard the young lady sing while her father slept in his arm-chair. I spent a very pleasant evening, but my host was too sleepy to hear anything about the post office that night. It was absolutely necessary that I should go away the next morning after breakfast, and I explained that the matter must be discussed then. He shook his head and wrung his hands in unmistakeable disgust—almost in despair. " But what am I to say in my nport ?" I asked. " Anything you please," he said. " Don't spare me, if you want an excuse for yourself. Here I sit all the day, with nothing to do; and I like writing letters." I did report that Mr was now quite satisfied with the postal arrangement of his district; and I felt a soft regret that I should have robbed my friend of his occupation. Perhaps he was able to take up the Poor-law Board or to attack the Excise. At the post-office nothing more was heard from him. —"Autobiography of Anthony Trollope" (Blackwood and Sons). ALSATIAN KARMINU. We noticed the nic,; vegetable gardens that each cottage possessed. A large space was invariably given to the small-leaved tender lettuces that appear dressed with oil and vinegar at every dinner and supper. No lettuce grown in England can compare with them for their crisp tenderness and delioate rlavor. There were always onions, cabbages, potatoes, and many other vegetables, and generally some currant and gooseberry bushes as well. The gardens were neatly kept, and a few flowers were generally planted near the houses. Garden culture seemed to us better understood than field. The crops for the most part were though to judge by forests and wayside flowers, the 30JI must have been rich. Doubtless the poverty of the small proprietors accounts for this, as they can afford no machines of any sort, nor suf'Jcient manure to produce good crops. All the labor is hand labor ; and that in connection with what seemed to us a very poor sort of implement, a kind of hoo which turns up only a small clod of earth at a good deal of expenditure of force. But thoir gr..at-great-hundredth-grandfathere doubtless used this tool—possibly their antediluvian ancestors in.eiited it—and the Alsatian would sooner starve than do better than his forefathers. What ;b the use of a man's having ancestors if he is go/ng to know more than they did ! So the women— jor the women rlo the Held work—v>eck at the rich earth with their little houa, and work hard and toil all their lives, and get about a quarter *u mucli from the land as an English farmer with a good landlord gets from his, and when the peasant dies he leaves his laud to his children, and each one of them just gets enough for him to starve on, and to give him sufficient excuse for never trying to better himself in any way. in all Alsace I never faaw a working woman with a smile on her lace, oi' who was not wrinkled ten years before her prime, or a man who did net look as if the wolf of hunger was never more than one spring from him. In this, of course, I am speaking only of the peasantry. Only once did I ever see a child play. They have no time to do so, poor little things ; they work in the vineyards and fields when our children are learning their letters. They are patient and good beyond belief, but wofully unchildlike.—" In tl;e Alsatian Mountains," By Catherine Lee, PHILADELPHIA. . The free use of pure fresh water characterises the Philadelphian at home, and is one of tho chief factors iu the cleanliness and good health of the oity. Tho foroous Fairmount Waterworks are located in J/'airmouut Park, and consist of a dam crossing tho Schuylkill River; a vast system of turbine wheels and machinery, by which the water is made to pump itself up ; and the receiving'reservoirs, on the summit of the hill, containing 27,000,000gal } and connected

with the central districts of the city by countless mains. In the tranquil middle period of the Republic, before it was considered de, rigeitr for every cultivated American to visit Europe and import the splendors of the Latin and Gothic capital, the tea-garden architecture of the Fairmount Waterworks was held by the peaceful Quaker citizens to be one of the greatest wonders of the world. There are now independent ■■■>. aterworks at the Northern Liberties, Kensiugton, Belmont, and Roxburgh, run by steam power, and pumping t'o waters of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers into distributing reservoirs. The Btreets are underlaid by 800 miles of water - pipes, supplying almost all the dwellings, and entering more than 80,000 bath-rooms. Scores of drinking fountains, some of them highly ornamental in design and finish, have been erected at various points by philanthropic societies, and are constantly used. Philadelphia is one of the healthiest cities in the,world—thanks to its advantageous site between two rivers, the copious water supply, and the home-life led by the people. The death-rate is about twenty-one in a thousand per annum, and life goes on more surely and to a greater length of years than in London and Paris, Berlin and Vienna, the Italian and Indian cities, and New York. It is well said that this is "The City of' Homes," for it has a greater number of dwelling-houses in proportion to the population than any other American municipality. The average number of persons to each house is six, while in New York it is nearly fifteen. There are more dwelling-houses here than in New York and Brooklyn united, although their combined population is double that of Philadelphia.—"Cities of the World." MARRIAGE AT GENOA. Marriage brokers are quite important business men in Genoa. They have pocket books filled with the names of the marriageable girls of the different classes, with notes of their figures, personal attractions, fortunes, etc These brokers go about endeavoring to arrange connections; and, when they succeed, they get a commission of 2 or 3 per cent, upon the portion. Marriage at Genoa hj quite a matter of calculation, generally settled by the parents or relatives, who often draw up the contract before the parties have seen one another, and it is only when everything is arranged, and a few days previous to the marriage ceremony, that the future husband is introduced to his intended partner for life. Should he find fault with her manners or appearance, he may break off the match on condition of defraying the brokerage and any other expenses incurred. ROYAL TOURISTS. It is not often that one is so fortunate as to get a story like this from the fountainhead. The following was told the writer by one of the royal tourists when travelling in the Austrian Saltzgammergut in 1877, and actually happened in that year. A party of tourists, consisting of eighteen persons, alighted at the Semmering station. They immediately set out to ascend the Sonnwendstein. On the road they were joined by three Btudents in Tyrolean costume. As they were all bound on the same excursion, no ceremony was made, and they became fast friends. Arrived at the summit, after interchanging pleasant remarks as to the scenery, etc., one of the students proposed an exchange of cards. Unfortunately the caravan of eighteen had no cards, so were compelled to fall back upon the formality of introducing by name. One of the party then said, in all simplicity and frankness, " I have the honor to present to you their Imperial Highnesses the Princes Otho and Ferdinand of Hapsburg, sons of His Imperial Highness the Archduke Charles Louis, the Countess de Hoyos, the Counts of Degenfield, of Aichelburg, of Nostiz," etc This appeared to the students such a capital joke that they thought they would improve matters; so one of tluni, acting as the spokesman, said, "Allow me to introduce myself as the King of Spain, travelling incoqiulo. This gentleman on my right is the Crown Prince of China; and our third friend is no less than a direct descendant of the famous Artaxerxes !" The feelings of the students may be imagined when, later on, they ascertained that they were the only pretenders.-—'London Society.'