Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Manawatu Herald, 3 December 1896, Page 4

ja^| r^j-i, ,|| -» >1 ■,*■ ■- '- illiiii«iniilw<Vgrii itiT-f |T -— "_ **'' ' ■ " I OLD LONDON SQUARES. Dating From Charles IV* Reign and Associated With Interesting Memories. The square was invented for the purpose of supplying a number of contiguous houses of a good clas3 without entirely foreßoing tho advantages of having something green tor the eyes to rest upon. The older squares In the west of London chiefly date from the days of the second Charles' reip;n. LeicesST. JAMES' SQUARE. ter Fields and Lincoln's Inn Fields were made into squares in the reign of Charles 11, and Soho and St. James' squares were formed during the same period. Perhaps Leicester square most of all has become changed from its orignal condition by new buildings. But the house— the very room even — in which Sir Joshua Reynolds died still remains and is virtually unaltered, save that it is now used as a bookseller's shop. Soho square has the reputation of having been the gayest square in London in the latter part of the last century, and its houses, although destitute of any striking architectural feature externally, possess some very fine interiors, with spacious rooms, handsome staircases and panels in Rome cases ornamented with paintings of great merit. The history of the place during the eighteenth century is closely associated with royalty and fashion. St. James' square, depicted in the accompanying illustration, has a host of interesting memories. From the date of its conBtruction (1663) to the present it has been inhabited by eminent or interesting people. • George HI was born there, and Dr. Samuel Johnson, in company with Savage, once walked round and round it for many hours at night when unable to get a lodging. Old Grosvenor, built in 1695, is still held in favor by the aristocracy, its houses being spacious and handsome and its garden well laid out. It is a somewhat curious fact that the inhabitants preferred the uncertain . flicker of oil lamps for the illumination of the square after all the other London squares had adopted gas. Superstitions About Salt. In some parts of the north country it is regarded as unlucky tb put salt on another person's plate. Hence the couplet: Help me to salt, Help me to sorrow. A second helping, however, is supposed to avert the ill luck, on the homoeopathic principle that "like cures like." For salt to fall toward a person at table portends (in, the west of England) coming dire disaster. The spilling of salt has for generations been counted unlucky^ in many parts of England and Germany. A curious picture of mediaeval art on the subject of "The Last Supper" represents Judas Iscariot overturning the salt — a dark foreshadowing of an awful doom. In the isle of Man there is a lingering _ superstition that to carry salt in the pocket Is a help to good fortune, and to exchange or accept salt is so good an omen that a beggar has been known to decline food unless salt was added to the gift. The Term Nihilist. The term nihilist was probably first used by the Russian novelist Turgeneff and was given to the party now known as nihilists in derision, because its members sought the destruction of the existing order and government without proposing to substitute any order or government in its place. The earliest advocate of this doctrine was Michael Bakunin, who in 1847 advocated a Russian republic and in 1868 founded the International Alliance of Revolution, a secret society having for its object a popular uprising against all monarchical governments. This society was undoubtedly the parent of the many secret organizations that have since sprung into existence throughout Europe. The Courteous Swede. The Swedes are a quiet, taciturn people. There Is no jostling even among the lower classes. When a train leaves a platform ox a steamboat a pier, the lookers on lift their hats to the departing passengers and bow to them, a compliment which is returned by the passengers. You are expected to lift your hat to the shabbiest person you meet in the street, and to enter a shop, office. or bank with the hat on is considered a bad breach of good manners. In retiring from a restaurant you are expected to bow to the occupants. Bowing and hat lifting are bo common that the people seem to move around more slowly than Jsewhere, in order to observe the courtesies, says an exchange. Sir John Moore's Burial Place. What schoolboy does not know and what man does not remember from his schoolboy days the lines of Wolfe entitled "The Burial of Sir John Moore?" Recall the closing words: We carved not a line, we raised not a stone. But left him alone in his glory. But an exchange tells that Moore's body did not remain in the unmarked grave where his comrades left it. A few years after the close of the war in Spain the grave was opened, and the remains of the gallant soldier were transferred to the cemetery at Corunna, where a handsome monument was erected above them. The Value of Gold. Edison is quoted thus: "Gold is only valuable because it is rare. It is not nearly so useful as iron, which is the real precious metal. Aluminium is too soft. It is light, but it lacks strength. The metal of the future is nickel steel, which combines strength with pliability. Gold is not worth as much as lead in commerce, and brass Is more than worth its weight in gold." • A Bfagnincepti/og. The immense Mexican mahogany log on the south side of the Forestry building at the Chicago exposition was purchased by a London firm. It is 42 inches square and 41 feet longti It contains, 6,Q27,£eet of iuraber. 'or 120,540 square feet *of ■ veneers cut 20 to the inch. , " .,. In Memory of Lucy Larcom. The Appalachian Mountain club has rec ommended that a White mountain peak near Mount Whittier should be named Mount Larcom, in perpetual memory of j/ucy Larcom, the nature loving poet.