HERE AND THERE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10409, 22 March 1910, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

A SPANISH GOVERNMENT LOTTERY. The drawing of the Spanish lottery has provoked the usual scenes of excitement throughout the Peninsula. Spaniards are disappointed at finding that the first prize £240,000 lias gone to enrich Brazil. The second prize, of £120,000, and the third, £BO,OOO, it turns out, were split up into numerous shares, mostly among the poorer classes of Madrid and Tarragona respectively. One > family, consisting of father, mother and seventeen children, lias been raised from penury to comparative affluence. Some curious incidents are reported. A citizen of Tarragona, tor instance, has won £40,000 on number 8209, which for some superstitious reason he had stuck to regularly or years, as his father had done before him, without winning a single peseta until now. On the day of the drawing a Madrid woman, hysterical with excitement, gave herself up to the police and begged for protection. She explained that she had been fraudulently trafficking in shares of a ticket which she never possessed, and, as fate would have it, the number selected at random came out with the second prize of £120,000. She now goes in fear of her life, for all the people to whom she had sold the bogus shares would tear her to pieces if the police had not taken adequate precautions. ENGLISH MONARCH'S MANY THRONES. King Edward lias more thrones than any other monarch in the world. He has three in his London palaces, one in the House of Lords, one at Westminster, and a sixth is at Windsor Castle. The most ancient is at Westminster, where each ruler of Great Britain is crowned. The coronation chair is a massive throne of oak, in which seven Edwards have sat. Beneath the seat is a sandstone block known as the "Stone of Destiny," from Scone. The throne, in the House of Lords is of Burmese teak and is carved and gilded and studded with crystals. The throne in St. James' Palace is large, with a canopy overlaid with crimson velvet, embroidered .with crowns set with pearls. The most costly throne is at Windsor. It- is composed' entirely of carved ivory, inlaid with precious stones, especially emeralds. It was presented to Queen Victoria by the Maharajah of Travancore. A ROYAL JEHU. A prince of the royal house of France —if his claim could be proved—has-just received from the Paris prefecture a license as a taxicab driver. H& styles himself Charles Louis of Bourbon, a grandson of the pretender Naundortf, who according to his own statement and the belief of his adherents was really Louis XVII., the son of King Louis XVI. of France and Marie Antoinette. Naundorff died in 1845 at Delft, Holland, after many unsuccessful attempts to establish his claim to the throne of France, and his tomb in the little Dutch city bears the inscription: "Here lies Louis XVII.. King of France and Navarre." The third French - republic, with a shrewd notion that quarrels in the ranks of the various sections of the royalists would rather serve than damage its interests, lias never expressly forbidden Naundorff's descendants to use the family name of Bourbon and to call themselves princes if tliev liked, and so it. is that they may be found in "Tout Paris," the French society directory. The taxi driverprince belongs'*to a younger branch of the family. The head of the family is a quiet individual who is engaged in the wine trade.

A MISER SPENDTHRIFT. A characteristic story is told of the late George Salting's closeness in matters that did not appertain to the acquisition of art treasures. A certain lady was anxious to see his wonderful miniatures. "Come after tea on Monday—iiOj come before tea," Mr Salting said. Knowing that hospitality was not among the collector's extravagances the lady replied that she would come early, before the light failed. Wondering whether the invitation included tea the lady arrived at the non-committal hour of 3 and found that her host had provided refreshment. An exquisite eighteenth century urn was boiling over a spirit lamp, a Queen Anne teapot glittered on a tray beside an empty Oriental plate of great rarity. "I have bought you a cake," said Mr Salting, producing it from a paper bag. "How much do you think I paid for it?" he continued anxiously. She hazarded a shilling. "It was only sixpence," he said with evident signs of relief, "but they cheat you so fearfully in Bond street." A sudden knock at the door postponed tea operations and a youth staggered in with a weighty picture. Mr Salting eagerly unpacked it and asked his visitor how much she thought it had cost. She explained that though a great student of art she knew nQthing about-prices. Mr Salting confessed to paying £6OOO. Meanwhile the messenger was waiting, evidently hoping for a tip. Mr Salting, slowly comprehending the situation, searched his pockets for a small coin. Eventually' 'after a prolonged search, through his rooms the messenger was sent away with the sixpenny cake as a reward for his services.