NOTES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12549, 12 July 1905, Page 7

NOTES FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

An important personage in his own eves and those of everyone else in the royal household is M. Menager, the French chef, to whom his Majesty pays an annual salary as large as that received by an admiral of the fleet, and larger than that of most bishops. Menagev, a jovial soul of some 40 odd summers, is a native of the south of France, and as monarch of a monarch's kitchen enjoys a rare good time.. He does not sleep under his master's roof, but owns a pied-a-terre in a street not very far from the Buckingham Palace road. With, his master's breakfast he has nothing to do, and it is not until 11 o'clock that he steps into a hansom and is set down at the palace doors. In a sunny kitchen overlooking the lawns, surrounded by an army of adjutants, men and women, he begins the work of the day. After luncheon, on the principle of reculer pour mieux 'sauter, Menager goes back to his own domicile until the hour arrives for the preparation of the royal dinner to commence.. Dinner is always served a£ Buckingham Palace at 9 o'clock, and at Sandringhama quarter of an hour eai'lier. Scarlet coats, made in swallow:-tail style, with dark blue waistcoats, gold braided, is the livery—a unique one—worn by tho servants. The men sport gold stockings, but do not wear collars., White satin breeches and[ white silk stockings complete a costume which might be adopted for picturesqueness by the frequenters of fancy balls. A n American schoolboy has written an essay on the "Merchant of Venice,'' full of original matter. This is his view of Portia:—"Portia was a , kind and true-hearted young lady; she was very good naturodj especially to some of hei gentlemen friends, when those young men was going to choose their coffins." But tho gem of the article relates to Shakespeare himself. "The story was written by Shakespeare, who married Hiawatha. He was borif" in Venice, whero ho and the merchant shot'^jJSows o>: tho same fly when boys. It was here that ho learned to season mercy with justice." Anne Hathaway turned into Hiawatha is a really interesting case of derangement. ' | ' An interesting;discover^ i^^gard*io the nervous system has %en fnade by Dr. Head, Fi.R.s- as the of experiments carried out *ipo§ himself. Dr. Head had the sensory nertei^in his own arm divided^ and watched .the various sensations; disappear. The iierves were then reimired b;y stitching^ ;and the pro<;c|}sfi of ''recoye^rf day '•fty^fftiyV ■ Asv^;reJ^|fs|sias discovered 'that :tnere are' two "M'lir^iyjdistinct setf of nerves to' the skin carrying different kinds of sensations. The first set convey sensations of pain, heat, and cold; the second set carry sensations of touch, and enable us to localise our sensations accurately. The healing power of the skin depends entirely upon the first set. v ■<■;■.

Kisses by lottery were the fun of the fair at a charity bazaar in Chicago. Tho happy man with a successful ticket was entitled to choose the lips he fancied. But when a gentleman who had been divorced appeared on the scene and claimed his right to kiss the lady who had divorced him, the situation became tragic. The lady exclaimed "Kiss ycu? Never!" and could not be moved from this resolution by the argument of the other ladies that it was all in the causo of charity. Her late husband concludes that he has a grievance on a point of law, and is said to be suing for that kiss in the courts.

While driving recently near Philadelphia in a drag, Miss Blanche Farley, a lady prominent in social circles in that city, was alarmed by her horse bolting. She shrieked, and a ragged tramp rushed from tho woods, and at the risk of his life stopped the runaway. Miss Farley offered him money, but the vagrant declined it gallantly, and quoted passages from Byron and other poets in praise of feminine beauty. He said that a kiss would amply repay him. Tho lady hesitated, but finally complied, and drove quickly away. Local society is now animatedly discussing the question, "Did she do right?" Miss Farley says, "A kiss was considered a reward by the brave knights of old. I see nothing wrong in kising an unknown man who bravely saved my life at tlio risk of his own."

Mr. Takahira, the Japanese Minister at Washington, recently overheard two Americans discussing his nation. "The Japanese," said one of them, "ought to bo excluded from this country. Their young men come here to school, and no sooner do they arrive than they begin r. systematic course of cheating." "How i* that?" asked the other. "They pay tuition for one," replied the complainant, "but they learn enough for two or three."

A woman in Ohio recently obtained a divorce on the ground that her husband had made her remove forty-three times in nine years. An absurdly insufficient reason for dissolving the marriage relations it undoubtedly was, yet one can imagine what their "Wandering Jew" existence had meant to the woman and her children. Romance clusters about a place that has been lived in a century or more, but sentiment does not gather about a house lived in to-day and abandoned to-morrow. The family may havo flitted in and out of splendid rooms, yet all the time they were homeless ; for one must grow into a house and a neighbourhood, and that is a slow process.

Napoleon was as impatient of rules as other men are of breaking them. When ho played chess, and he was a poor player, he would move a piece any way he chose rather than bo checkmated He regarded a game as if it were life ; while other men regard life as if it wero a game; and this; by itself, is enough to account for his fearful success.