OUR LONDON LETTER.

Evening Star, Issue 8529, 30 May 1891, Page 4

OUR LONDON LETTER.

ANGLO COLONIAL NOTES. London, April 18. 1 am glad to be able to assure the numerous New Zealand relatives, friends, and acquaintances of Mr H. Marriott Watson that •Richard Savage' was produced at the Criterion Theatre on Thursday afternoon with every symptom of complete success. Pahlic curiosity aueut the piece proved far greater than anticipated. Though the performance had only been advertised in a most perfunctory manner, the cheaper parts of the theatre filled directly the doors opened, and by three o'clook there wasn't an inoh of standing room anywhere. The audience, in fact, was one of the most remarkable seen at a matine'e for many a long day, The stalls and circle were crowded with actor*, managers, the critios, and all sorts and conditions of literary men. The Savile Clttb sent Lang, Henley, \vemyss Reid, Barry Payne, Maclaren, Cobban, Rudyard Kipling (in a brown velvet coat, pink tie, and pot hat), and others. Whistler and Marcus Stone represented art; Wyndham, Hare, Hawtry, Bancroft, and Beerbohm Trte were some of the managers present; and amongst a veritable horde of leading Thespians may be mentioned Ferriss, Forbes, Robertson, and Fred Terry (each of whom would have liked to play ' Savage'), Julia Neilson, Lady Monckton, Miss Norreys, Arthur Cecil, Lady Martin (Helen Faucet), George Alexander, Genevieve Ward, and John Mason. The bouse was friendly, yet critical. It received the first act (which is the weakest) languidly, but warmed to the Btory in the second, and when the curtain fell gave the actors a hearty recall. From tftis point the success of the play became praciically assured. The authors have wisely reserved their sti ongest situation to the last, and thougti Mr Bernard Gould was scarcely equal to its exigencies the possibilities of the scene were obvious. The entire comp my were thrice recalled at the close, and then arose an imperative cry of " authors." For a long time this was ignored, bue the audience declined to disSsrse without seeing Messrs Watson and arrie, and at length the tall New Zealander and short Scotchman bowed embarrassed acknowledgements. The Dick Savage whom Messrs Watson and Barrie introduce to us is a wild, erratic, irrepressible Bjhemian, soured by debt and the knowledge that he's "nobody's son," and hungering to be loved. He nourishes a grande passion for his friend, Sir Richard Steele's, daughter Betty, and out of pity the giil has half engaged herself to him. Her heart is really to a young fellow named Aynatow. In the first act we learn how a certain Colonel Jocelyn, who desires to marry the wealthy Countess of Macclesfield, discovers that the bastard son she thought died in infancy is alive, and that the reckless Savage is he. The proofs lie in the hands of Jacob Tonson, a publisher (to whom they were confided years back, sealed up), and Jocelyn promptly resolves to possess and destroy them. Unfortunately, he finds in Tonson au honest man, who declines to part with the letters. Not only does the Colonel fail to obtain the precious packet, but ho rouses Tonson's suspicions by offering largo sum 3 for it, and partly convinces him that it contains information of serious import to Savage. Realising that he baa bundled matters the Colonel determines to get Savage out of the way before Tonson fin see him. Br>th men at

once seek Savage at Wills's Coffee House ; but eld Tonsou has the wisdom to enlist

pretty Prne (the landlord's daughter) on his sid°." Everybody likes poor Liiek Savage, and when Tonson explains that the pott will suffer if "the man in the grey (Jocelyn) gets at him first," he secures an effective ally. An accident ioes throw Dick in Jocelyn's way first, but the latter has scarcely secured the young man's confidence by promising to pay off an imaginary bumbailiff supposed to be watching for him outside, before Prue cleverly checkmates the colonel by ushering Savage into Xonson's presence. The discovery that he has a mother living fills lavage with oveiflowiDg delight, and the first curtain fulls on Dick excitedly proclaiming the great news to his friends, promising them all sorts of good things, and inviting them grandiloquently to Lady Macclesfield's reception next week. "I shall be there to greet you," he confidently avows, but Jocelyn murmurs significantly " I think not " la the second act we are at Lady Macclesfield's reception. The guests are full of the scandalous story of Savage's relation to their hostess, but she herself has heard nothing. Their nods and smiles and significant references to one Savage, however, puzzle her ; and when Jocelyn arrives the questions him. The Colonel suppresses the fact of the discovery of the papers, and simply states that a scurvy scribbler, one Dick Savage, has been claiming to be her son. To scop the talk he had the rascal kidnapped a m eek ago and shipped off to the Virginian plantations. The party were masked, and Savage can have no possible clue to their identity save a handkerchief of the Countess's, which was accidently left behind. Presently, Savage himself weak and wayworn, bursts through the window. He escaped from the vessel in the channel, and after parlous sufferings has tracked Jocelyn, whom he suspects of being the kidnapper, to this house. Savage has three clues to his enemy—the handkerchief left behind, the fact that he must be wounded in the left shoulder, and a peculiar Spanish oath, " Maldita," which the fellow used as Dick's Bword pierced his fitsh. Lady Macclesfield chancing at this moment upon Savage, leads him by a careleßß exclamation to suppose that she was privy to the scheme to kidnap him, if not its absolute inventor, Jocelyn she swears is innocent. " Prove it!" declares Savage, mercilessly, "or I'll stab your paramor before your eyes." Savage slips behind the curtains, and Jocelyn is summoned. Lady Macclesfield dare not give him the smallest spoken hint, but she places the incriminatory handkerchief which Savage has fortunately dropped in a conspicuous position. A glance at this and the drawn curtains gives the wicked Colonel his cue, and when the Countess announces tremblingly " Savage is in London," he says " Savage in London ! Thank God ! I feared some evil had befallen hiji." Savage thereupon emerges, and apologises for his unworthy suspicions. Evidently the Colonel is not the Countess's accomplice. Full of bitterness against the lady, Dick summonses the gay company and shames the unhappy woman before them all. For Jocelyn's sake the Countess makes no attempt to justify herself. The third act is mainly taken up with the humors of the Kitkat Club. Jocelyn, we learn, is utilising his position as Savage's trusted friend to keep Lady Macclesfield and her sou apart. He continually brings poor Dick insulting letters from his mother. Betty Steele, however, distrusts the genuineness of the documents, and seeks out the Countess personally. Mother and son are then brought together by a stratagem and reconciled. Jocelyn discovers them embracing, and swears " Maldita !'' Dick hears the word, but can't tell who is the speaker. One of the members of the club must be the man he wounded in the shoulder. Savage draws his sword and guards the door, only letting the half-amused, halfperplexed guests pass out one by one. Occasionally he twists one of them significantly by the shoulder, but without result. Jocelyn, who is left last (having guarded the other door), hopes to escape unchallenged, but Dick's suspicions have returned. He seizes him roughly by the shoulder, and when the Colonel writhes with pain realises the truth. He has been duped throughout. The pair arrange a duel to the death, and the curtain falls. In the lart act Savage, who has killed Jocelyn, is brought in wounded, and after a painful scene with his mother, appears to die. A screen is drawn round the corpse, and Dick's bereaved mother and friends discuss the

catastrophe in subdued tones. Recovering presently from his fainting fit the unfortunate man learns that he is supposed to a fee* dead, and that on the whole everybody seenn relieved it is bo. Had he lived, Savage would, Steele points out, have been, imprisoned for killing Jocelyn, and Betty Steele would have sacrificed herself and S'ven up the man of her heart. When poor ick understands his Betty never loved him, he tears the bandages from his wounds and4ies in grim earnest. I regret to say that this is a wretched account of the piece, but I havn't time to write a proper one; so it must suffice. More about the acting, etc., anon.

Thirty-four languid and gloomy shareholders attended the ordinary meeting of the New Zealand Antimony Company on the afternoon of the 3rd inßt. Mr James Gibberd (in lien of Henry Naidley, deceased) oooupied the chair. He had a gloomy tale to tell, and it amounted to this: The new Board- had done their best, but they had failed to materially mend matteis, and the company must either raise money by issuing debentures, reconstruct, or liquidate. The story of the past year was the story of an unending struggle with untoward circumstances. Amongst other misfortunes the local inspector (Mr Fitzherbert) had made an error in localising lode No. 1, whioh had cost the embarrassed company LBOO uselessly.—(Groans.) The services of this expert had been dispensed with, or rather he was permitted to resign. The Board regretted he had ever been appointed.— (Bear, hear.) With regard to the future, the chairman feared debentures were out of the question, and the New Zealand shareholders would not assist any reconstruction unless the funds were placed at the disposal of a local Board. The New Zealand ere considered the present Board incapable. He held in his hand the report of a meeting at Wellington, in the course of which very hard things were said of himself and his codirectors, and it was freely asserted they had been throwing away the ore sent Home. Uoder these circumstances, he thought be and hia remaining brother director had better confer with a committee of shareholders to see what should be done. They were quite ready to retire, if that would simplify matters. Having referred to the famous syndicate agreement, the chairman said their legal advisers urged them to proceed at once against Sir Walter Buller for restitution of promotion money. Had this been done long ago they would now be in funds. After Mr Simpson had read a lengthy statement favoring the prospects of the mine, from the manager in New Zealand, Mr Jackson expressed his faith in the present Board, and voted for reconstruction. A shareholder asked whether the New Zealand holders paid for their shares, or whether they were vendor's shares. On its being explained that the latter was in most instances the case, the meeting did not seem to consider New Zealand opinion mattered much. Ultimately a committee, consisting of General Brett and Messrs Comfort, Arbuthnot, and Jackson, were appointed to confer with the Board (Messrs Gibberd and Simpson), and the meeting adjourned for a fortnight. It was stated that the last act of poor Naidley on his death bed was to try and draw out a memo, setting forth what he thought should be done in the present emergency. The proposal to forthwith proceed against Sir Walter Buller was well received by many present—in fact, but few of the late chairman's friends appeared to have put in an appearance. I hear, however, there was some mistake concerning the hour of the meeting, which accounted for the scanty attendance, Certain rumors which have reached here to the effect that Mr Ballance is seriously considering the possibility of replacing Sir Francis Dillon Bell with Mr W. R. Reesare, I trust, inaccurate. I should not mention them but for the circumstantiality of my informant at Wellington, who says that Mr Rees has undertaken, should be De appointed, to alter things in London considerably " Divil doubt it!" say I. If Mr Ballance desires to bring the already tottering credit of the colony down with a crash he cannot do better than entrust the responsibilities of the London office to a harutn - scaruni financier and politician like Mr Rees.

The " firebrand " characteristics of Mr J. H. Wilson (the secretary of the Seamen and Ftremen'a Union) have got him into serious trouble at last. When the dockers and other London unionists declined to be forced into a strike by his ill-advised exertions, and the disputes between the Australian companies and the stevedores, etc., fizzed out, Mr Wilson betook himself to Cardiff. There he appears to have bestirred the populace to eome purpose. Unfortunately the Bench at Cardiff Quarter Sessions took a pessimist view of the worthy demagogue's proceedings. They called them " unlawful assembly and riot," and sent Mr Wilson to prison for six weeks. It is consoling to reflect that during this period peace and quietness will continue to reign at the Royal Albert docks, and that imprisonment is not likely to enhance the energetic secretary's prestige. This had already been a good deal damaged by the failure of the strike. The Federation scored all along the line, and when peace was mide the unionists discovered to their dismay that the best billets were filled up. It was understood that Federation men were not to be turned off to make room for them, so they had to take just what they could get. And this proved to be the net result of Mr Wilson's tall talk and bold assurance, that if they would hold on they would wins Why, the Federation (which has so far behaved well) would have gladly paid twice the money to teach the unionists the lesson they have now learnt. Whilst that venerable Auckland citizen, Mr J. C. Firth, was in England holidaymaking, his one great hobby was to impress upon everyone who chanced to get into conversation with him the immense advantage derived from using pumice as a nonconductor of heat. He usually illustrated his arguments by displaying a very ancient wooden pipe, of diminutive dimensions, into which he had inserted a thin layer of pumice, and which he avowed always smoked cool and sweet. Being an ardent votary of the " weed," I naturally tried Mr Firth's dodge, and found it to answer admirably—far better, in fact, than any of the complicated devices for obtairing coolness in smoking which characterise the patent " health pipes " of the present day. Now, I find, the advantage of pumice as a factor to the enjoyment of tobacco in its cheapest form have been recognised by pipe manufacturers. The proprietor of ' Pearson's Weekly' has contracted with a firm of manufacturers to produce a pipe which can be retailed at a shilling, the feature of which is the presence of pumice in the bo*d. "Pearson's pipe," as it is called, is selling largely. I can vouch for the fact that pumice prevents all unpleasant heat in pipe smoking from personal experience, and no doubt it would act similarly if used in connection with cigar or cigarette holders. It is quite possible that the inventor of " Pearson's pipe " picked up the idea for his novelty during a brief chat with the author of ' Nation Making' on the top of a penny bus. Mr Firth, I know, patronised this form of conveyance largely, and, moreover, was always pleased to converse with any intelligent person on any subject, from "a probable Aryan descent of the Maoris to the beauties of London in summer.

Sir George Grey's stirring speech at the banquet given to him on his arrival in Sydney, to take part in the Federation Convention, has attracted unnsal attention from the Home Press. The «Pall Mall Gazette' devotes no less than a column to reproducing its most striking features. A smart Anglo-Colonial wedding took place last week at St. Mary Abott's, Kensington, when Miss Lizzie Clogstoun, youngest daughter of the late Captain £. L. Clogstoun, of Mount Four Peaks, New Zealand, was united to Robert, eldest son of Major general Sir William CrossmaD, K.C.M.G., M.P. The Rev. Dr Linklater and Rev. Mr Peebles, respectively brother-in-law and uncle to the bridegroom, officiated at the ceremony. Sir William Crosaman visited New Zealand in ISSI whilst inspecting and reporting upon the defences of the principal oolonies. Mr Holdship arrived in London on Thursday morning. Mr John Hay and the Rev. David Bruce and party also reached the metropolis the same day, and will be the guests of Dr Honeyman, at Kensington, during their stay in England. Mr and Mrs R. R. Hunt, of Auckland, who arrived Home some weeks ago,' have been making good use of their leisure hours. Ap-. parently they have been to almost everything worth seeing in the theatrical way, rnd seem to be enjoying London life generally. On Thursday when I called on Mr Hunt at his office in, the fl^ymarket he was on the point 7pf starting to keep an appointment at the iHousa^f-Commons, and could not spare much time for conversation.

If the New Zealand athletic team can put in an appearanoe whilst the Yankees are with,*] ub they will at orice be able to gauge their athletic capabilities by hoth the.American and English standards. NfledleßS to,,remark almost, it will be the verie*t r torn-1 foolery to send us any but really good men.

Whoever has tha task of selecting the team will do well to remember the fate of Shaw, the Christchurch ••hurdler," He was introduced to us with a tremendous amount of trumpeting, and we fully expeoted him to "knock spots" out of our timber-toppers. But he signally failed to make his mark even in second-rate company. The following letter, whioh appeared in the 'Star' one day this week, contains a hint which New Zealanders might make a note of. The writer, a Mr D. J. Sproats, says:—"lt is well known that during the months of April and May English poultry is not only of inferior quality but exorbitant in price. It is quite a difficulty to get a goodsized tender fowl, and if by good fortune one falls in with such a luxury the purchase money varies from 4s to 6s. What is tbe result ? Only those who care not what they pay and those who pay not at all oan 'go in' for such a delicacy ; whilst the middle class must be content with * old hens,' and the poor folk with ' tough Russian cooks.' . . . What an advantage it would be to have poultry from New Zealand. I understand full-grown chickens are retailed there at the modest sum of Is to Is 3d, and moreover they are in their prime about January—the very time they oould be despatched for delivery in April and May." Verb. sap. What Mr Sproats puts forward is perfectly true ; there is certainly an open market for poultry in London in the spring and early summer. The report in the papers to the effect that the Marquis of Lome's reasons for retiring from his candidature for the Handsworth division are not wholly unconnected with the appointment of first Governor-General of the Australian Commonwealth are, needless to say, fudge. Lord Lome might have been Lord Carrington's successor had he chosen, and would personally have liked it extremely. Unfortunately, Princess Louise could not be persuaded to expatriate herself. She suffered both in health and from want of congenial society in Canada, and fancied Australia would entail similar drawbacks. Whether the enthusiastic descriptions Lady Carrington gives of Antipodean society have changed H. rt.H.'s views I don't know, but I should think not. On all sides I hear it opined that great efforts will be made to provide a royalty for the first GovernorGeneral of Australia. The Duke of Connaught would not, it is understood, object to the appointment, and in the end it may be found H.R H. is the man.

Miss E. J. Lacy, the heroine of the Quetta disaster, who has become quite a notoriety since her return to England, celebrated her sixteenth birthday at Carlisle last week.

The Cunard Company are building three steamers of 12,000 tons apiece for their Atlantic service. These boats will be 600 ft long and 65ft broad, and will cross "the herring pond " well within five days. The cost of each is estimated at L 400.000. The sixth examination for certificate of proficiency," bearing with it the title of A.R.C.M. (Associate of the Royal College of Music), was concluded last week at the college. Forty-seven candidates were examined, including some half-dozen from the Antipodes. Miss Julia Buck, of Adelaide, was amongst the successful ladies, and obtains a certificate of proficiency for singing (solo performance), as does Miss Isabella Webster, of Ballarat, Victoria. Miss Rachel L. Ross, of Christchurch, obtains a certifi cate of proficiency in teaching the piano, together with Bpecial marks for competent knowledge of harmony and counterpoint. Miss Jessie Mitchell, of Ballarat, who is the next Australian student at the college, must have friends on the Press, as she has already been freely paragraphed in both dailies and weeklies. For a giri of seventeen the youog lady certainly seems to have achieved an extraordinary number of distinctions. She now holds Sir William Clarke's scholarship for three years.

Mr John Roberts, jun., accompanied by bis wife and family, left England for an extended tour of the Australian colonies on Friday laßt. The champion goes in the first instance to Natal, where his son is about to establish a billiard - table manufacturing business. From there Mr and Mrs Roberts will return to Cape Town, and pick up an Orient liner for Adelaide or Melbourne. They sailed for Natal by the Dunottar Castle on Saturday. The champion cueist means to visit all the leading towns in the five principal colonies. He expects to be away altogether for a couple of years or so. At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday evening last the royal and other awards granted by the Council to distinguished explorers were announced by Sir M. Grant Duff. Sir James Hector was given the founder's medal for his papers on Sew Zealand and British North America Dr Nansen, the intrepid explorer of the inland ice of Greenland, was awarded the patron's m?dal; and the Gill memorial was given to Mr A. E. Pratt for his paper on • Two Journeys to Se-chuen and the Tibetan Frontiers of China.' This paper was read during the evening, and it proved a most interesting account of the zoology and physical character of a little known region of China.

A former Postmaster-General of Queensland (the Hon. Walter H. Wilson), who is now in England endeavoring to arrange for a parcels post to Queensland, was the first Antipodean to use the new telephone to Paris. Mr Wilson spoke as follows to some person at the French end : —" Permit me as an Australian to join in the congratulations between England aud France on the occasion of telephonic communication. It might be too much to expect th&t Australia -will one day be joined to Europe by telephone ; but who shall say it is impossible in the light of the scientific achievements of the present age ?" To this the unknown replied :—" We receive Australian congratulations with great pleasure, and think the extension to Australia within the bounds of possibility." M'yes—possibility, perhaps; but what price probability ? A consignment of some forty cases of dried bananas from Queensland, which recently arrived in London and were purchased by the Army and Na?y Stores, have sold readily at 6d per pound. The fruit, when chopped up, forms an excellent substitute for the finest Sultana raisins. The manager of the Army and Navy Stores believes that a very lucrative trade with England in dried bananas is open to the colony which can put the fruit on the London market at prices allowing a profitable margin to retailers selling at 3d or 4d a pound. Is the North Island quite "out of the hunt" in this repeat ? The extreme importance and ultimate profit attached to the growing of really first-class fruit in New Zealand for export cannot be better illustrated than by noting the fate of a portion of the experimental consignment of apples fiom Papanui, which arrived by the Tongariro a few days back. This fruit, having been most carefully packed, arrived in excellent condition ; and although English apples are on sale at from 2s to 10s per bushel, so splendid was the quality of this New Zealand fruit that, when exposed for sale by auction in Covent Garden by Messrs W. N. White and Co., it realised the extraordinary price of 15s to 25s per bushel case. This result is especially gratifying to me, for since my interview with Mr Sheppard, of Spitalfields, on the subject of Australasian fruit for the London market some two years ago, I have never ceased hammering at the importance of careful packing as a primary factor in the ultimate success of the trade.

The inaugnral address of Sir James Heceor at the opening of the Australasian Association at Christchurob has been most favorably received and commented upon by scientific men in England. There is a breadth and catholioity of spirit about it that is quite refreshing—a genuine modesty as to the value of his own Bcientifio labors, and a generous recognition of the achievements; :pf others that is very creditable to one holding so distinguished a position. No one, however, has done more for the promotion of science self, and hie lengthy address on this occasion is pronounced-Uy^oompetent authorities to be a very able review of the riße and progress of scientific research at the Antipodes during the last fifty, years. Lord Onslow's extempore addresß, too, dealing as it does with abstruse questions of soience and local problems in natural history, is highly Bpoken of. Mr Pond, the newly appointed master of classics antf'fnglish *to the Auckland Col%ei saflf;lor .Zealaiid' by the Tongariro, wnion leaves Loudon on' April 30. ~.,„,,, •

Aolub, which has for its object the pronidlfd'h' of friendly intercourse among

Australasian students residing in London, has been opened at 61 Ghanoery Lane. The hon. see, Mr W. Kemp Hughes, has issued invitations for the inaugural "smoker" on May 2. A club of this desonption has long been needed and deserves support, if only for the reason that it may induoe a percentage of the youog Antipodeans who frequent the shady "supperclubs" whioh abound iu and about Bioomsbury to mend their evil ways.

A week ago to-day (Saturday) there was launched from the yard of Messrs Napier and Son, at Govan, a new steel twin-screw steamer for the Orient Company. The new vessel is named the Opbir, and has the dis tiaotion of being the largest shipas yet built by her contractors. The Ophir is 482 ft long, 53ft in beam, 6,700 tons gross, and has been constructed under' Lloyd's special survey for the 100 Al class, and to meet the requirements of the Admiralty as an armed cruiser. Two sets of triple expansion engines, capable of propelling the vessel at eighteen knots an hour, will be fitted in, Steam will be supplied by seven boilers, working at a pressure of 1601b, The fittings and passenger accommodation arrangements will be of the most complete and Jin de ttiecle description, so as to ensure comfort on the voyages between London and the Antipodes. The last mail brought Home the report of Mr Ballanoe's speeoh at the banquet given to him by his Wanganui constituency on 12th February. There is but one opinion as to its ability and moderation in tone and sentiment. His remarks on the evils of further borrowings in the London market are pregnant with meaning, and it is to be hoped that he will carry his party with him in this respect. With regard to the reform of Native land laws, the feeling here is that an egregious blunder has been made in the appointment of a royal commission with Mr W, L, Rees as chairman.

I regret to record the death of Mr Archibald Bryce Douglas, managing director of the Naval Construction and Armaments Company (Limited), Barrow, which took place at Ardrossan last Sunday week after a brief illness. The deoeased, who was only in his fifty-third year, was one of the prime advocates of the scheme to connect Vancouver and Australia by a fast service of steamers in conjunction with the CanadianPacific mail route, as opposed to the San Francisco service. Mr Douglas was the son of the Rev. Bryco Douglas, minister of Ardrossan, At an early age he displayed signs of mechanical ingenuity, and in due course was apprenticed to Messrs Elder, of Glasgow. Later he went out to New Zealand (in what capacity I knownot) and from thence went to the west coast of South America to fill the place of resident engineer to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. Whilst holding that position he erected the company's works at Callao. Returning to Scotland, Mr Douglas was appointed chief engineer to Messrs John Elder and Co, In 1889 Lord Hartingtou persuaded him to accept the managing directorship of the Naval Armaments and Construction Company, a position which he filled with great credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.

A young man named Alexander Munro, whose parents are said to be living in New Zealand, was sentenced by the Croydon magistrate last week to twelve months' hard labor for "till tapping" ie, creeping round the counter of a shop and abstracting the contents of the till. The detective who arrested Munro stated that he was a wellknown character, and associated with the most daring gang of till-thieves to be found in the metropolis.

In the current issue of the * Nineteenth Century' there appears an article entitled ' The Seamy Side of Australia,' by the Hon. J. W. Fortesaue, ex-private secretary to Lord Onslow, the object of which seems to be to cry down the credit of the colonies Certainly, it is calculated to make patriotic Australians swear vigorously. According to the writer, the colonies have only attained to such prosperity as has come to them by the lavish and reckless use of English capital. Moreover, be maintains that the average Britain is utterly in the dark as to the actual condition of the Australian colonies, and it is quite time he was given a fair and square view of the "seamy side." If Mr Fortescue is correct, the debt is growing in all the colonies alike faster than the revenue. Of course he recognises tbat the resources of the continent far outweigh her debt, but he is not satisfied with the method of development. Everything, he argues, is being sacrificed to the "working man," who is supreme in Australia, and who cares for nothing so long as he can live in & town and enjoy high wages and short hours. Then, too, Mr Fortesque quarrels with the anti-Chinese edict. By preventing the influx of Chinese labor, without which the resources of the tropical portions of Australia cannot be tapped, the Australians really " cancel a large proportion of the assets on which they have borrowed and are still borrowing millions of money." The writer does not apparently fear any repudiation proposals at present, but opines that the ugly work will bespoken by and-bye if things are not mended ; and he urges British investors to reverse their present policy for the Australians' sake and thtir own. The abjeot failures of the last South Australian and Victorian loans would seem to indicate tbat the British investor really is getting decidedly uncomfortable, if not suspicious. Mr Patohett Martin will contribute an article on the character and career of Adam Lindsay Gordon to 'Murray's' for May. The information with regard to the life of " the poet of the bush " is from unpublished sources of unique interest, and will doubtleas be read even more eagerly in Australia and New Zealand than in England. 'The Life of John Boyle O'Reilly, with His Poems and Speeches,' compiled by J. J. Roche, is another new book likely to be read with special interest in your part of the world. I suppose there must be many colonists who will remember the Fenian daring escape from Fremantle (wasn't it) in an open boat. In an otherwise notice of ' Coo-ee,' the ' Athenaeum,' which is nothing if not " oulchawed," falls foul of Mrs Caffyn for writing of one of her heroines as having " a banana-fed voice," and of another as " a baby out on the spree." Possibly this last phrase is a trifle strong, but " banana-fed voice " I approve. It fills ont an effective picture in three words. The oumberßomely christened ' Vicissitudes of Bush Life in Australia and New Zealand' is a well-meant attempt on the part of Mr Dugald Ferguson to follow in the footsteps of Rolf Boldrewood. The life and incidents are necessarily mnch the same in this book as in 'A Colonial Reformer' (which I consider contains the most graphic and unexaggerated pictures of bush and pastoral life in Australia ever written); but Mr Ferguson has not the capacity for making the bald details of a dull up-country existence entertaining. In Mr Boldrewood's hands Benjamin Lilly would have become as bold and original a sketch as M'Nab in ' A Squatter's Dream.' Mr Ferguson merely outlines him.