OUR ILLUSTRATED LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume V, Issue 49, 6 December 1890, Page 9

OUR ILLUSTRATED LONDON LETTER.

BALMORAL CASTLE.

Hee gracious Majesty is off once more to her Highland Lome. Every hillside around Balmoral has resounded with the slogan of the clans who a-sembled to greet their i/ueen : and for the next two months Her Majesty will go in and out in homely fashion amongst her Aberdeenshire tenantry. We London people are accustomed to grumble when the Queen, with her retinue of society and wealth, leaves London : but Balmoral is dear to Her Majesty athe home built and presented to her by the late Prince Consort, and as the place where, above all others, she may cast off the show and ceremony, the gaiety and the glitter, that clothe the functions of a royal house. Oft, when holiday-making in the vicinity of Balmoral, have I seen the Queen praying her simple visits to the poor and aged, laden with little treasures ; or wandering to the little churchyard on the hillside to drop a tear at the grave of a faithful and honoured servant. Her Majesty is not so vigorous now as she was in those days, but still she never forgets the older people whom for many years she has been wont to visit. In her absence, too, the'affairs of the estate are managed with the same consideration for dependents : tor her commissioner. Dr. Profeit, is one of the most genial and kindhearted of men. - The Standard on the Braes o’ Mar.’ was ‘ up an’ streamin’ rarely.’ when last week the buirdly sons o’ the mist ioined in the manly sports of their native heath in the pre sence of a right royal gathering of Britain s nobility, and under the approving eye of their Sovereign. The Braemar Gathering is a time honoured festival which has always, except in the very worst of weather, commanded the presence of Her Majesty : but this year it acquired additional significance from’ the fact that the place of rendezvous was changed, for the third time in the history of the gathering, to the royal estate of Balmoral. Formerly it was held on a level mead at Braemar under the shadow of Old Mar Castle, the scene of many a feud between the Duffs and the Farquharsons in old days of clan jealousies. The castle, now a hoary relie of antiquity, was situated within the Farqnharson territory, and the Duffs, when their Highland blood was roused, used to attack the strong hold. It is supposed to be the place at which the Earl of Mar raised the Stewart standard in the time of the national rising. Only thrice, as I have said, have the sports been held in the royal demesne at Balmoral: once—in 1859 I think —at the request of the late Prince Consort, a second time in the jubilee year, and again last week. The Queen, who is surrounded this year by a large bevy of the English and Scottish aristocracy, was prarticu la: ly anxious to be at the present gathering, and lest a cloud on the brow- of dark Lochnagar might prevent her from attending, she made • siccar by bringing the mountain to Mahomet, and having the gathering within ea-y distance of the noble baronial pile of Balmoral. THE AGE OF SKY-SIGNS. WHAT LOXBOX STREETS MAY COME TO. It is well that public attention has been directed to the subject of sky-signs. In these days of advertising we never know what extraordinary measures will be resorted to for the purpose of advertising some savoury soap, or of fattening condiment- Every conceivable method is adopted to bring wares before the public. Prizes in kind and money are given in abundance at every rifle meeting to advertise the name of some firm or other: pianos, bicyles, sewing machines, are given as prizes in halfpenny newspaper com-

petitions; while Beecham advertises the virtues of his omnipotent pill by providing a lifeboat service down the Thames. Nor do these enterprising ones confine themselves to the earth and all that in it is. but they must even encroach upon the heavens, ami sky - signs are fast becoming an intolerable nuisance. If all our vendors of specialities were to take to this form, of advertising, our streets would be I’S dismal as they are on Lord Mayor s day, and yonr artist might do worse than let your readers see what terrible possibilities are in store for us if this mania be not checkers. St. Paul’s might be entirely onecured, while even the Houses of Parliament themselves might be utilised to spread the fame of soap or starch, or the like. Ludgate Hill has already a little history in regard to skysigns. A lawyer lived next door to an enterpwising merchant there, who had an inflated elephant suspended over his premises. This festive anima] used to pierform the most wonderful freaks when the wind blew, and one of its consuming desires seemed to te to get through one of the lawyer's windows, much to the annoyance both of the man cf law and his clients. In vain he remonstrated with his neighbour. But one night he stole from bis bouse with an air gun : and in the morning a small flabby piece of skin was all that was left of the gay Jumbo. MM. ERCKMAXX-CHATRAIX. A great name in the world of literature ha- been removed from the roil of living genius by the death of M. Alexandre Chatrian, one of the authors of the Erckmann Chatrian stories. Chatrian came of humble parents, his father being a glass-blower, who fell into difficulties while his son Alexandre was yet young. What he lacked in opportunity, however, young Chatrian possessed in literary genius, and after being engaged for some time in the glass-blowing business in Belgium, he took to literary pursuits, and was introduced in 1847 to M. Erckraann. a bookseller’s son. a native of Phalsbourg. who had been studying law at Paris. Thev began to write stories in prartnership for local newspapers, while Chatrian also acted as accountant, and afterwards as head cashier, of the Eastern Railway at Faris. In 1348. they brought out a play entitled, ‘Alsace en 1814,’ at Strasburg, but it was stopped by the Prefect. Less than five years afterwards, however, they achieved distinction outride Alsace Lorraine, by rhe publication of ‘ L’lllustre L*octor Mathens.’ Then followed • Waterloo." and manyother thrilling tales of revolutionary ami Napoleonic times. They also wrote several plays in which the antiTeuton spirit was strongly manifested. The captnte of Alsace-Lorraine did not inteifere with the partnership, until a delusion seized Chatrian that Erekmann was treat ing him falsely in regard to his share of the profits, and the latter ha I to take proceedings in a conit to clear himself before the public, who, through the pnblie prints, had favoured Chatrian. It was then revealed that Chatrianfaculties weie impare-i. MATRIMOXIAL AGEXCIESs Tn these days when matrimonial agencies are falling into disrepute, it takes a bold man to launch a new one amid a Sourish of trumpets. That courage, however, in which angels have been found lacking, belongs to the valiant ‘ General ’ of that portion of the Church militant that affects a partiality for red jerseys and scoop bonnets. The General has got schemes on the brain just now. The Salvation Army is no longer to concern itself with things spiritual and military only : it is to be a labour bureau, a charity distributing agency, and a host of other things, one of its chief functions being the manufacture, sale, and exportation of wives I ' How many thousand- of men are there.’ says the General. * in far away prarts of the earth, who would be glad to get good wives and cannot get them True, Mr Booth : and when you are on your philanthropic errand, it might be as well to remember that there are also thousands of men who have bad wives and would be glad to get rid of them. If you could do something for them, your fame is established throughout a'l the earth. * How many women are there,’ continues the General. * in the ranks of our home society, who would make the best of wives, but w ho remain spinsters!’ To these two classes the General’s heart g-ves out, and he has conceived a great scheme by which those classes could l<e* brought in touch witheachother." ‘Register, register, regi-ter !’ will no longer be the exclusive cry of the partv politician or caucus monger. * Register, register, register !' will have a new and a greater significance. What a flutter it will cause in those young hearts that are nowpining in hopeless solitude! Longlists will be kept, processions of photographs will gladden the eves of the matrimonial editor-General, ami genuine marriage certificates will l>e sold tn the market place at fabulously low prices.

The General ought to invoke the aid of the Daily Ttltgrair'. M ho knows but it is to General Booth to solve the riddle, * Is marriage a failure 1’ RVBYARD KIPUXG. We have in evidence amongst us just now an original genius of our Indian Empire in the writing of Mr Kndyard Kipling, who is fond of describing himselt as • The Man from Nowhere.' This gentleman is a native of India, and his family has been associated with the Civil Service there. The particular drift of Mr Kipling's genius lies just now in the direction of interviewing, and he has had the hardihood to make Mark Twain one of his victims, notwithstanding the humourist’s picture of the fate of a former interviewer. The result of this interview has appeared in several London papers, but it strikes one on reading it that there is much mote of Mr Rudyard Kipling in it than Mark Twain, and I am afraid that the interviewer who speaks three sentences for one of the person interviewed, would have rather a bad time of it if he had to reckon with the ordinary newspaper editor. Mr Kipling is about forty years of age. and Iras written a good deal in India, and occasionally courts the Muses. It is only within the last two years, however, that he came before the Western world, and he was then in San Francisco, where he became a sort of hero tn society. From San Francisco he went to Boston, and he found his way afterwards to Mark Twain’s place at Hartford. He also met Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe, who resides there. He is an unma: ried man of a roving disposition. and has evidently a pretty good opinion of Mr Rudyard Kipling. The charm of bis witting consists in its style, rather than in the matter: he writes somewhat after the fashion of Robert Louis Stevenson.