HERE AND THERE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1523, 28 February 1901, Page 12

HERE AND THERE.

What is. said to he the first attempt that has ever been made to estimate the annual sale of boohs in London, states the figure between 10,000,u00 and 12,OdibUOO; not counting sixpenny reprints or secondhand’ books. *,* * *

Music hall “ turns ” are now to be seen at the smartest “ functions/’ and the professional musician feels the competition •severely. A price list of a. universal providing establishment admirably illustrates the market prices or Christmas entertainers. A humorous ventriloquys u comes first at £5 ss, a conjuror (with marionettes) next at £3 7s 6d, performing dogs, £3 3s, humorous sketches a la. b-ros-smith, £3 3s. A lady palmist,juggler, and conjuror, acrobat and comm singer ar© all quoted at two guineas. ‘k uncu. and Judy” varies with quality ot dog and duration of performance between £1 5s and £2 12s 6d ; (note the odd pence), Each performer in string or vocal quartets is " worth a t guinea, hast' of all comes die 'lady Pianist, who. for playing four hours ‘extorts—l2s 6d<! Subtracting cab rare ■ and commission,. ■•cliassicaiL music thuvs " works.;out at 2s Tdian'houir. 'ine m- • loom© ox ,the _ performing dogm as per price list, Is - , just five times tnat of the ’ interpreter of Beethoven. :'*\* .. * * * Sqmq..years ago there was. a- . fire &b '• St; Johifs/ Kewfoundland, which burnt ; 1572 >uildi%3 and made 11,000 persons homeless/ )and' it .came/ from neglecting "a' "inxmiiber" of little things'. ■. The fire began in. a- sfoe di where/ 60 tons of hay were stored; it was oetlievech that a ' man had lit his pipe and tossed the lighted miyteh into the hay. 1 The thermometer registered 87 in the 'shade, and yet ' the 'authorities had shut off the whole water. supply of the town to mend a pipe. • Close to the shed was a reservoir for 25,000 gallons of water, but there had' been a fire brigade practice a, month before, when all the water was used and thi© reservoir had not been refilled.' The "fire-hose leaked, so that the water could .not be sent to the house-tops';; the apparatus for pulling down buildings was .rotten ; the brigade captain was away in the country, and he had neglected! to leave some one in his place. Truly, an accumulation of carelessness! * •» a »

The machinery for the enlargement of the Government cool stores, Flinders . street) Melbourne, is now on the ground 1 , .and when installed will greatly increase ' the capacity of the stores. The work • will be completed: in about three or four weeks, - After allowing for a moderate increase in the requirements of the blitter andi rabbit business, enough accommodation will be av ailable next season for, the,, treatment of 300,000 carcases of ;maut J tbh and'' lamb, against TOO,OOO last year). ?' .' ' /" "M ' '"

... Charles Dickons. has been dead for nearly thirty years, but. there is a man still alive in Australia who .remembers him when Jx© was a young reporter on the “Morning . Chronicle,” knocking about London and -collecting material (for. his first book. ''‘Sketches by B-oz/” This venerable Antipodean, now in his -eighty-fifty year, is a Melbourne tobacconist, and still stands behind his counter, .hale,. hearty, ruddy-cheeked and keen-eyed. It was in his little crib or at St. dement Danes, as. a-mem-ber of the fire brigade, that young Charles Dickens occasionally paid .him a visit, and! on one occasion the future 'novelist: was his. guest, for the whole ;oight. : *

. A writer calling himself “Ex mmo lucem” in the “Contemporary” is allowed to announce that the incandescent .1 gas-lights are superceding the electric arc in street-illumination. Berlin and - -Paris have rejected the arc light andi I''.- reverted to gak and Welsbach. . Liverh pool manufactures. its- own electricity, X; feut has Jit-rts.--streets;.with the incan- " descent gas. ' Gas companies will doubtless be grateful to: the writer; - A wider r' public will at: any rate appreciate an :: ' opening paragraph P# his : —Several atc 'tempts, have -beeii made 'to fix upon the v! ©bfitifoy sdpae peculiarly distinctive ap- .. pdllatioP.- 'lt has been Styled : the Age 0 of Steel, the Age of Steam, and so forth; but it might as fairly be called, 1 also, the Age of Light , inasmuch as it r has witnessed- thp birth and development of one of the boldest conceptions . of human mechanical skill and power of organisation—the systematic provision of artificial light in anw desired quan- ’ . txty, for any - purpose, distributed throfigh every town and available at any '-/ hour, for the mere turning of a tap or ;• a button. The dreams of all the Utopyrfbns of past ages never compassed any v- such impressive reality. They never do. The dreams of dreamers remain dreams; ' ; while the' Workers continually endow ; ’ the race with unexpected! boons. -■j -r:r& r ■■ *' ■: ! » ■"<

Among £ the valued privileges of the married woman, there is the comforting , tone that she cannot be . committed for failing to pay a court debt. _ She gained this freedom by th©. Married Woman’s Property Act, but' this of her true position has only slowly come h to her. Nowadays the knowledge is be»ooming, common, and if a woman have wisdom she gets married when there is judgment against - her. At a Birmingham: County Court the other day a .woman described- as a widow and a press worker was summon-

6s 9d, instalments- due on a, debt to a firm of drapers. She- promptly set up the defence that she was a married woman. The solicitor for the plaintiffs asked her. When were you: married)? Defendant : Twelve Have you got your marriage certificate? No, I haven’t got it with. me. Who went with you when you got married? A young girl. Was anybody else with you? —No. Where was your husband?- —Se was not there. . (Laughter.) Wasn’t your husband present when you v, ere married? —No. (La.ugn.ter.) Then you got married by yourself? Tne judge signified his appreciation of the ceremony by ordering the defendant to be committed! for seven days unless paid the debt by instalments of Is 6d a month.

A good cat story is taken srom. tne Augustine, Kilburn. "Parish magazine : to the dinner table with me, and: uadi his napkin round his neck, and his plate and some fish. He used! his paw of course; but he: was very particular, and 1 behaved! with extrajoir'dinary decorum. When he had finished his fish I sometimes gave him a piece of mine. One day he'was not to be found when.- fine ••dinner bell' rang, so we began without him'. Just as the plates were being pat •round for the entree, piles cam© rushing upstairs and . sprang - into his- chair, with two mice in his mouth.- ..Before he could be stopped he dropped a mouse on to his own plate and then: one on to mine. He divided his dinner witn me as I divided! mine with him/’

The German Emperor was lately stated! from a well informed source to be ‘‘introducing to- Court, financiers, literary men, eminent scientists'’ and others from the . dregs of the populace. These are even admitted! to the Kaiser’s private suppers—the most exclusive entertainments at his Court. In aristocratic Vienna, mere men of genius are os xate tolerated in respectable society. But is this wise? We must have a'standard of manners and-fashion, and the Emperor or King is an expert in manners. H© is a professional gentleman, as the archbishop is a, professional saint, and the inventor, poet or musician is a professional genius. He need 1 not necessarily be good (all the better if he is) or clever (this is rather a drawback). Assuming that fashionable/society is a, necessary evil, even the Socialist should! prefer to see it composed of ‘‘sons of a hundred! kings” father than that the Republican ‘■Johnnie” .should prevail, who, after a,'few years' reign '‘goes oust'’ in a too clever-“corner” in pigs’ trotters, leaving . a young' tallow-chandler king to reign in his stead. ' . ...

Sidney Smith cut. the following from .a. newspaper and preserved,.it. for himself:. .“When you'rise., in the morning, form a resolution to make the day. a happy one to a fellow creature. It is easily done; a left-off garment to the man who needs it-, a, kind word to the sorrowful and encouraging expression to the striving, trifles in themselves light as air, will do it at least, for twentyfour hours. And if you are young, depend upon it. it will! tell when you l are old; and if you are old, rest assured' it will send you gently and happily down the .stream) of time to eternity. By the most simple arithmetical sum, look at the result. If you send one person, only one, happily through each day, there are 365 in the year. And supposing you live 40 years only after youi commence that course of medicine,' you have made 14,600 beings happy, at all events for a time.”

The profession of nursing has now been thrown open to French girls. Hitherto'nursing has been done -by' Sisters of Mercy, but. devoted as these are they cannot possibly cope with the demand , for nurses. ... The first training school fof nurse* has just been opened, in. Paris, with a small hospital attached to it The uniform! is to be made in dark blue cloth, of sober out-, with a knot of muslin at the throat, .and our bonnet with floating veil is /to be . replaced by, a, toque. with, choux of white cloth. Their name is a great difficulty; the - temptation to .translate ; “nurse” “nourrice,” Which, of course, means wetnurse or foster mother, is overwhelming, and leads to confusion. An English lady, who prides herself upon her knowledge of French, lives in a garrison town in Brittany. Her eldest daughter is a nurse, and on her return from the London hospital) where she was.' trained, was introduced to a roomiul of young officers by her proud mother mother as “My daughter who has been a nourrice in England.” There was one mo-, ment of utter dumoioundment,; but the daughter being pretty - and attractive, the officers rose to the occasion andrealised the error! * * * • * *

The Italian people of the lower classes are among the most industrious in the world: In natural fertility their country is-secohd only to France, the richest ih Cqntjnentai Europe. 'Still, the people are poof, deplorably poor,, and they remain so because everywhere the soil is taxed 33 per cent, of its net prodflet. . This impost is so administered that it falls with crushing weight upon the shoulders of the very poof, and forks its devastation upward,, tying- the hands ; of the *'small-IffhddoWners tufefs until. they ' are • unable to Work their fields or factories at a profit-; The net lesult of this oppressive system does

treasury- If it aid, some slight recompense.- oia the ft .tio-Q administrative system is so corrupt, and the methods of applying the taxes oner conscienceless officials so many opportunities to steal, that scarcely more than one-third of the plunder is available to the Government. In the meantime, other public functionaries go without their salaries, and the .school teachers subsist on charity.—“Munseys Magazine.” -* -:t- * * New South Wales Congregational "Union set. to work t’other 1 day to rend one of its members —Kev. Bennett- tor marrying in one year for a Sytmey matrimonial agency 531. couples. The •offender, however, wasn't as sorry as was expected, and: even went so- far as to say that he had thus done a, lot or good! in marrying) people who otherwise might have done worse. It looks, anyhow, as if these matrimonial agencies supply a. pressing want, otherwise oho of ’em wouldn’t bring together nearly 4000 couples in six years in Sydney a!o-ne. —“Sydney Bulietin. ’

During the next few years, the clefiiofji and erection of large central nower stations for the generation, and bution of electric energy in bulk /promise to be the most important and teresting problem with which meenanioal engineers in this country will have to .deal. Central station work in this country, -so far as magnitude of the undertakings is concerned,.is undoubtedly behind when compared with American and Continental practice: but the future development promises, to- be on an . unparalleled scale ‘ ‘Engineering. ’ ’ * * * * . -

Tire con'Scientious young man of fashion how: ibrusligs • his ■ hair ■differently when wearing a hat. Chancellor.. Tisdall, the acknowledged Beau Rrummel of Dublin .in his . youth, had inexpressibles variously cut for-walking and tor sitting, and once sat down in the former with disastrous, results! Not long ago ■O, milliner advertised, with a. newly-in-vented! hat that it “necessitated the mouth worn slightly open.’/ What shall we come to- next ?—“ Vanity hair"

Jockeys of the first rank on either side ■of the ocean easily command incomes far larger than the salaries of the Justices of the Supreme Court or those of the members of the Cabinet. They are petted and flattered to,, a ridiculous extent. Many of these riders are' mere boys, whose early' training has taken place in. unfortunate surroundings and under evil influences. Their temptations are much greater than those which allure the average lad. Is it astonishing then, that most of them sooner or later get ' into trouble"? —“Tribune,” New York. • -

A sensational article was published in a paper called “G Portuguez” at Lorenzo Marquez, Belagoa Bay. The article appeared in the Portuguese language; under the heading of “General de Wet,'’ and is as follows: —“We affirm that the famous Boer general; —the ‘Phantom General,’ as he is termed by the British soldiers, was actually, in Lorenzo Marquez on Sunday and Monuay. last. We do not know what this gallant Transvaal warrior came here’fcfor, but. we presume it was to enter into important negotiations, because should his mission have been unimportant he would have sent some delegate to see what was going on! in Lorenzo Marquez. We make it known to the public that De Wet submitted to us for publication an agreement between himself and General Buller, in which the latter declared upon his word of honour that he would not on any future occasion take up arms against the Transvaal. This agreement is partly confirmed by the fact that General Buffer had been previously taken prisoner by the Boers, who set him. at liberty after having given the agreement above referred to; - and in order to further prove the bona tides of tms cloo ; ument -General De Wet informed us that he keeps in his possession- all the medals and decorations belonging to General Buffer. We do not publish the agreement because it might result in unpleasantness for the Government. The Portuguese Governor-General suppressed ,th©' -paper. - ' ' * .* * ' NeTpart of the English coast is so rich in native gems as that stretching between Tynemouth and .Blyth, in ivmberland. The choicest specimens ol amethyst, , cornelian, agate, and crystals may be picked up by a careful observer. Many are well worth polishing and setting as. .jewellery. Not- a few officeis serving in Highland regiments have th© hilts, of their" dirks,, also their encrusted with gems found in this part of .the coast. Another part of Britain rich in stones is the Grampian range of mountains in Scotland. Cairngorms of the finest quality are found there and are used in the manufacture oi seals, etc.

It is the desire of every Obinaman’s heart to possess a pair of magic bracelets* Anh rings or bracelets are thought a good deal of in the Celestial Empire, the custom of wearing them haying been handed down from . time . immemorial. Usually made, of jade stone, the Chinese arm ring of to-day is of one in variable shape. The.custom in China is to/place the bracele c on A young mfiifls -arm. just beforethe hand stops growing. ' A tight fit is usually secured, and once placed the amulet arm ring is worn throughout

ed a lucky one, and if there is a son whom it will fit, the bracelet is removed. Among other wonderful properties a good amulet is believed to act as a fairly trmstworthy barometer. * * * * *

A medical practitioner to a London hospital said : ‘‘While l it is true that a man’s brain is larger and heavier than that of a woman, this is only the case when the comparison is made between, the two brains. Putting the question, on the basis of the weight of the brain in proportion to the weight of the body, the case is reversed, and woman is found to have the advantage over man. 3 iris, arises from what may be regarded as a curious fact, namely, that in proportion’ to the body-weight the smaller animal lias always the larger brain. Thus the brain of a baby is proportionately five times a© large a© that of a grown mm, the brain of a eat, six or seven times as a© that of a tiger, and so forth. These are interesting examples of Nature’s paradoxes, but they m no way show that intelligence turns upon - ■be size of the brain. It is, almost entnejy ■a question -o'f quality, although it has been observed that -a large head generally aces with large mental capacity. "*#*** ‘To Germany/’ observed a Teuton;© visitor, apropos of a. recent elopement, “■a runaway marriage is unknown, lor the reason that'ho marriage holds good without the consent 5 of the parents.. Our marriage customs, indeed, differ widely from yours. A-~marr must be at least eighteen years, of age before he can nmne a proposal of marriage. If Lins is a incepted, betrothal follows, a; stage of the courtship which; is marked, by a dinner or supper given by the father of the bn.de (as the engaged yqund lady is then i ailed). The betrothal ring-is a plain gold hand like an. ordinary wedding img. Marriee may follow betrothal at- any time, “although sometimes for lack _oi means the betrothed' couple remain knee and bridegroom, for a number of years. In some places the guests at the wedding feast pay for ail they eat and drink, a custom which enables the happy couple to tide over the wedding expenses and sometimes have a. surplus over, xoa m some instances the wedding guests are numbered 1 by the hundred.’

“Try to imagine the whole sky covered with full moons,” remarks air astronomer. “You\ would think that- such a glare would) he Intolerable, that we should be deluged with an overwhelming light. Yet it is perfectly true that we could very well live under _ a sky whose every, part was just as hrignt as the moon itself. This is proved: for when we compare the brightness ox the full moon with the brightness of the •sun, we find that the sun is as bright as six hundred thousand hull moons!”

Yokohama anal the neighbouring Tokio are said! to have about fifty earthquake shocks a year. Must of them*, are insignificant, but now and then corn.es one of a different sort. Here is the experience of a. man who had witnessed one of the most terrible of its kind. He had! just finished dressing when, the first shock came. He crawled andi dragged! himself out of' the house, for to walk was all but impossible. Then, looking over Ms shoulder, he saw a great and! ancient temple, which, he had: been admiring the previous day, leap into the air and fall in dreadfud ruin. Looking again to his front, he saw the whole town in an instant swept away beforo his eyes, and! out of the great cloud of dust came a screaming, gesticulating, wildlv. frantic crowd of men, women, and children, rushing hither and thither, they knew net where, for refuge from the" great destruction vyhich had ■ come upon. them. - , ■ -s- * * * *

Rome, was not built in a day, but then Rome was very much behind, the times. Things are done more quickly now. On. • the outskirts, of. Chicago -a feat was accomplished. not long ago that wonM have astonished Rome. ; It, .may be a little astonishing even to present-day readers. A contract was -signed on Friday for the. building.of a church.: The document stipulated that the church should " be' ready for dedication on the following Sunday. Just .one clear day was; left for the erection of the . building,- which. ’ was : to ecconimodate three thousand persons. At four o’clock on the morning of Saturday : the work was -begun, and! .at.. seven; .o’clock that evening" the men were putting in windows; hanging doors, and getting in the electric lights, which were specially provided for in the’contract. No floor wps laid, and there was no time to gather up the shavings, but by twelve o’clock that night everything else was done, and the dedication services were held in the building on the following day. ;/*'. m ... • .Y;.„ ,*». " r * A decidedly wonderful .feat, : and. one in which; haste , wa® justifiable, was the building of a .field: hospital and having it ready for patients in exactly one hour from the time when, it was begum Doctor Tiofgraeif , an army surgeon, under- - took to demonstrate to the Austrian: military authorities that .eight men could build a hospital measuring fifty ‘ by ’twenty fe ct in an hour. .. All materials Were ready, and- no : tools were required. Bleepers, panel®, bolts, rods, waterproof packing,' all Were prepared fibeforehand- every plug for its hole, and every gfoove for its setting. .There was niotmiig to do but to; put the building . together. The value of a hbspital that ' can be erected on the. spot at such

Folly and disgraceful extravagance in the fashionable world can hardly go farther than in the case of a pet poodle owned by a wealthy lady. This favoured animal has a whole wardrobe oi costly garments, including nightdresses edged with lace, a te-a gown, a set of silk hand-embroidered coats, some of which have’ lace ruffs and are fastened with jewelled clasrxs. When fully dressed the wrletohed/ animal weans gold bracelets on each of its four paws and a collar of diamonds and other stones. It is also provided with a set of silk handkerchiefs, towels, table napkins and washing and feeding utensils of cut glass and Dresden china. The foolish mistress of another dog not only lavishes on her pet care and expense which would be better bestowed on some little human waif, but. actually leaves her dog’s card with her own wiien paying calls. Even after death certain pet dogs have been the object of the wasteful freaks of their mistresses, and there are stories of rosewood silk-lined coffins, with silver handles and plates. In one case a dog * was buried wearing a solid sold collar. *' * * sfc"

A man after spending the first thirtyyears of his existence as a deaf-mute gave a graphic, account cf his sensations when by some spontaneous process he was enabled to hear. Sound to, him at first, was a nameless something which filled him with terror. The new sense becran to awaken while he was in the street of a country town, and the noises round him fairly stunned and bewildered him. Fearing lest the strange sensations were the precursors of madness, he .littered a cry, and 1 was horrified to find that he was himself producing the phenomenon which so startled him. He entered his home in a panic*, but was astonished to observe that instead of sharing his fears his friends were delighted. Gradually he became accustomed to the new thing called “sound,"' and in course of time began, as a child might do, to learn words, and to distinguish sounds.

Many of the Chinese Boxers- have a much better claim to be called farmers than the rifle-bearing, game-hunting agriculturists of the Transvaal. John’s farm is usually a patch of land of an acre or two, cultivated to the last inch. He bestows upon, it the minutest care, and from a single acre will raise sufficient to maintain himself and his family in comfort. With two acres he is well-to-do, with ten acres he i§ weaitliy. His crops include wheat, rice, sugar-cane, potatoes, indigo, tobacco, ancl ginger. As a rule, no milk, butter, or cheese is to be obtained on his farm ; and he does not favour the breeding of cattle. As an instance of the rigid economy that prevails, it may be added that- a Chinaman often trains his liens to follow the harvesters and pick up any grains dropped in the stubble.

“There is no doubt,” said a medical electrician whose opinion was asked, ‘‘that the brain can derive very great benefit from electrical treatment. Here,” he continued, displaying a small box furnished with two handles, and with which a metal hair bruish was connected by means of a. wire, “ here is a little apparatus for imparting strength to the brain. Overworked students or scholars who are about to enter on a severe course of study, have gained the greatest benefit from an application of electricity to their heads by this means. It has reinvigorated * the exhausted worker and greatly increased the power of those entering on a spell of brain work. The apparatus is a patent, and is to some extent of a secret character. But there is no denying its results; and the knowledge that electricity is such an aid to the brain opens up very great possibilities for mental workers.”

As showing the attachment of Germans to their native customs, it is said that amongst certain colonies of Germeans in the United States and elsewhere a curious little ceremony precedes a _marriage. A few days before the wedding the elder brother, or some ether male relative of the bride, starts out on horseback to summon the guests. He is called! the “brautbeter,” which literally interpreted means the “bride inviter/’ and 1 his verbal invitation takes the place of the wedding invitation card of more conventional circles. At every house where the “brautbeter” calls to bid the inmates to the wedding feast, like some rider of old romance, he is presented with a gift—a ribbon, coin, trinket, or amongst the wealthier families of something of greater value. By th© time the “brautbeter” has finished' his rounds he is fairly loaded with gifts, which become his perquisites. It is needless to say, therefore, that the office of: “brautbeter” is a coveted one.

Most dogs have good memories; a few dogs have marvellous ones, and from these marvellous stories spring. “I once took my bull-terrier to Florence,” remarked a globe-trotter, “and lost him at the sffation. I at once notified the police of my loss,, and then sought out a hotel. What was my astonishment, on being shown upstairs to a room, to find my dog sleeping on the mat. ' It was then I remembered that some years back I had visited this very hotel, my dog being with me. I did not recollect having occupied this particular room; but on reference to the hotel register such was found to be the case.”

One of the optimistic and most general expectations indulged in at the pre

sent day is the realisation during the coming century of what is pronounced the greatest of prospective inventions, namely, a machine for storing the heat of t.Ue sun and transforming it into electricity or some other form, which wovtl t be suitable for ready employment. It is believed by many to at such heat, though now permitted to go to waste, will, by means of the resources of invention, be applied to the running of mills, the warming cf houses and every ether purpose for which energy is utilised. The field for such a discovery and its worldwide importance are at once suggested by the ascertained fact that every square yard of the sun’s surface emits heat equal to that of a blast furnace consuming one ton of coal every ten minutes.

The feature of the St. Louis Exmoition in 1903 will be a watch as big as a house and an exact reproduction of the best Swiss movement, 16 jewels, balance action and conrpensatid. It wnl be on its back, will have a polished metal case, and will be so roomy inside that people will be able to walk about in it among the moving wheels and to watch them as they revolve. It will be nearly 75 feet across and more than 40 feet high, with neat ’little stairways running all about in it, and all the wheels properly protected so that no one can be hurt. The balance wheel will weigh a ton. The part called the “'hairspring' 5 in an ordinary watch will be as big round as a man’s wrist. It will take about two minutes for the balance wheel to swing round and back again. It will be pivoted on two enormous agate blocks—substitutes for diamonds —and will be made of brass. One of the greatest difficulties will be in getting a balance spring of sufficient size and strength to stand the strain and retain its elasticity. The mainspring will naturally be an enormous affair, something over 300 feet in length and made of te,n spring steel bands, two inches thick, bound together, as it would be impossible to roll so large a piece either in thickness or in length.

“Long life,” said a physician recently, “is, of course, mainly a matter of constitution and heredity; but any person of average health who aims at length of days may do much to gain his ambition: The great point to study is what may be called economy of living; if people were as thrifty with their vitality as they are with their money,' they would add years to their lives. An enormous needless strain, for instance, is put on the digestive organs by the general tendency to o ver-aat. Strict moderation in diet is one of the secrets of long life; all centenarians have been frugal livers. Deep, full, regular breathing is another requisite. Increase of oxygen in the lungs assists in the elimination of . effete and poisonous matter, and thus the bodily apparatus works more freely. Hurry, bustle, anxiety, and fretfulness are all enemies of long life. Nearly always the man who arrives at a ‘green old age’ has been notable for his tranquility and self-possession.”

“We are accustomed,” observes a. recognised authority on China, “to laugh at some of the habits and customs of the Chinese. From my own personal observation of the Chinaman ‘on his native heath,’ so to speak, I should think he occasionally joins m the laughter-—in his sleeve. The fact is that the Chinese follow out many customs simply be cause their ancestors did sc, and not from any affection or respect for the customs themselves. Take, for instance, the elaborate ceremonial to be gone through by the better classes when meeting in public. Over and over again I have known a Chinese gentleman to pass a friend in the street without recognition on either side, eaoh desiring to avoid the tedious forms prescribed by the native etiquette. The mother-in-law question is a joke amongst Britons—it is anything but a joke to the Chinese. The regard for parents is carried to such extremes and the mother-in-law is given such absolute power, that she often, becomes a family despot. So intolerable is her yoke at times that many of her victims take to flight or even suicide to escape it. The moral is that a Chinese relishes some of his own customs quite as little as a European would 1 do.”

American bridges are to be built on the Uganda Railroad, thus supplying the central link of the chain of which this country has already construotec both ends. Ultimately, it will be “From Cape to Cairo, via road made in America.” —“Tribune,” New York.

Mr Joseph Chamberlain has demonstrated that even a man who wears a monocle rriay be hot stuff to handle.— “Times-Herald,” Chicago.