Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue XVI, 18 April 1903, Page 1060

Here and There.

Time, 1 a.m. Not Semi-Teetotallers. “Shay, Bill, ish I hat the moon or a ’lectric lamp?” “D’no; wait till I feel if there’sh a posht under it.”

The latest contribution to the pages of automobilious literature is as follows:—

Have you heard of the new motor-car, That papa lately gave to mamma? They went out all alone For a ride on their own; Do you ask if wc'ie orphans? We are*. The youthful King of Spain is a fluent linguist in four languages, and possesses a surprising knowledge, of his country’s history and traditions —a study of which he has made a specialty. He has been carefully taught, and seems to have inherited much shrewdness and sharpness from his able mother. He has original opinions, curiously up-to-date, considering the conservative and rigid etiquette and formalities of the Spanish Court on subjects both social and political.

There are at present 239 railway companies in tlie United Kingdom with lines actually in existence; but many of these are leased to or worked by other lines. This reduces the number of those owning rolling stock to 107. Of these 80 are in England and Wales, 16 in Ireland, seven in Scotland, two in the Isle of Man, and two in the Isle of Wight.

Mr. John Philip Sousa, the conductor of the famous American band, has taken io authorship, and Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. publish a weird and fantastical story from his pen, entitled "The Fifth String.”

The saying, ‘"When in Home do as Home does,” has been puzzling a correspondent. St. Ambrose, when asked advice as to the observance of Sunday, is said to have aiisv.’Sred: “When I am at I’ome. 1 fast as the Homans do; when I am in Milan, I do not fast.. So, likewise you, whatever church you come to, observe the custom of the place, if you would neither give offeiu-e to others nor take offence front them.”

Draperstown, County Londonderry, Ireland, has been the scene of a somewhat peculiar matrimonial affair. A septuagenarian widower named Quinn some time ago intimated to some of his relatives that he was about to be married again, whereupon his daughter and her husband broke into the old gentleman’s dwelling oil the wedding morning, ami, as alleged, after assaulting him, hid iiis clothing. Nothing daunted, however, lie .succeeded in obtaining some scanty wearing apparel, proceeded to the church, got married, and, after the ceremony. procured a warrant for the arrest of the. accused, who were subsequently brought before the magistrate and remanded.

A traveller has made the observation that coffee-drinking people are v<ry seldom given to drunkenness. In Brazil, for instance, where coffee is grown extensively, and an the inhabitants drink it many times a day, intoxication is rarely seen. The effect is not only noticeable among the natives, but the foreigner who settles there, though (Possessed of ever such a passion for strong drink, gradually loses his liking for alcohol as he acquires the coffee-drinking habit of the Brazilian.

“I'll •smart’ you,” said Miss Marie Corelli to the smart woman of society. And well she has done it in the “Lady’s Realm” in an article on “The Decay of Home-life in England.” Head this: “The modern gad about who suggests a composition of female chiinpanz.ee and fash ionable ‘Johnny’ combined, is a kind of sexless creature for whom home would only be a cage in the general menagerie. She (or it) would merely occupy the time in serambling about from perch to perch, screaming on the slightest provocation, and snapping at such other similar neuter creatures who chanced to possess longer or more busby tails.*’ *

Many have doubtless heard of the famous travelling stones of Australia. Similar curiosities have recently been found in Nevada, which are described as almost perfectly round, the majority of them as large as a walnut, and of an iron nature. When distributed about upon Hie floor, table, or other level surface, within two or three feet of each other, they immediately begin travelling towards a comma’ll centre, and there huddle up in a bunch like a lot of eggs in a nest. A single stone, removed to the distance of three and a-half feet, upon being released, at once starts off with wonderful and somewhat comical celerity to join its fellows; taken away four or five feet, it remains motionless. The stones are found in a region that is comparatively level, and is nothing but bare rock. Scattered over this barren region are little basins, and it is in the bottom of these that the rolling stones are found. They are from the size of a pea to five or six inches in diameter. The cause of these stones rolling together is said to be found in the material of which they are composed, which appears to be loadstone or magnetic iron ore.

The officers of the Union-Castle liner Gaul, which recently arrived in the East India Docks, speak in the highest terms of the Boer contingent for Somaliland who were recently transported by the. Gaul from Capetown to Obbia. One of the ship’s officers described the men as Cue smartest cavalry troopers they had carried during the war. “The way they handled their horses,” he said, “was wonderful. “The Boers,” added the officer, “appeared delighted at the chance of seeing some more fighting. There were some English infantry and artillery on board as well, and they and their late foes were on the most excellent terms.”

The Earl and Countess of . Glasgow have been paying a visit to Devonport, where, they have been the guests of Admiral Lord Charles and Lady Scott, at Admiralty House (says a late Home journal). Lord Glasgow and the Com-mander-in-Chief on the Plymouth station are very old friends, and almost shipmates: for they entered the’ navy within a year or two of each other, and served together both during the Crimean War and in the Chinese War of 1857. Lord Glasgow’s eldest son, Viscount Kelburne, lias followed his fa-

ther’s profession, and is now serving as First Lieutenant of the Alacrity, on the China station.

’ The Earl and Countess of Ranfurly are coming home from New Zealand in the spring to be present at the festivities in honour of the coming of age of their son and heir, Viscount Northland, who will be twenty-one in June. Lord Ranfurly has been Governor of our remotest colony since 1897, his term of office having been prolonged beyond the usual five years, to the great satisfaction of the New Zealanders, with whom he is extremely popular. The family, seat is in County Tyrone, and Dungannon, one of the chief centres of the Irish linen industry, is almost entirely owned by Lord Ranfurly. Lord Northland is in the Coldstream Guards, and served with them in South Africa.— “Modern Society.”

The last resting place of Bend Or, the famous English stallion, is close to the box where he lived, and is beside the grave of the great mare “Lily Agnes,” dam by Bend Or of the horse of the century, Ormond, who never knew defeat. Close by their graves is a little house, which contains the perfect skeleton of Bend Or’s great ancestor, Touchstone, and in this skeleton a curious discovery was made. Touchstone was originally buried in a place where the tree stands in the centre of the stable yard at the Eaton Stud, and close by the grave of Bend Or. One of the Dukes of Westminster thought he would like to set up the skeleton of Touchstone; it was exhumed, and the strange discovery was made that Touchstone possessed an extra rib on each side. This curious freak can now be seen at Eaton. In the same little house can be seen the bone of the famous mare Beeswing, another Derby winner, and also a memgrial to Angelica, dam of Orme and own sister to St. Simon. Ou Orme (by Ormonde out of Angelica) now rests the fame of the Eaton Stud. .

A member of the “Brotherhood of the Pierced Heart,” who announced his intention of killing Rear-Admiral FitzGeorge, son of the Duke of Cambridge, is now in the hands of the police. This was the extraordinary letter he sent to the admiral's house in Eaton-square on Wednesday night:—“Most' Noble, and Illustrious Sir, —I am sorry to inform you that your career is about to end. You had the honour of prosecuting a man of the name of Henry Saunderson at Westminster Police Court for obtaining a shilling by false pretences, and ha was sentenced to three months’ hard labour. That young man is myself. I now intend to have revenge. I shall lie in wait for- you on Sunday as you are going to church, and I shall shoot you

dead. I don’t care if I hang for it. I am doing this for others as well as myself. I have the honour of belonging to the Brotherhood of the Pierced Heart, a society which takes upon itself the honour of doing away with all tyrants of the aristocratic line. The motto of our brotherhood is ‘Sic semper tyrants.’ . . We are known in society as Anarchists, which, of course, we are. This is all I have to say.—Yours truly, Geo. Swatland, 8.P.H.”

The tailor comes in for a lot of hostile criticism, and even abuse, but he can in a new way get back on his customers. The following criticisms of the dress of certain Al.P.’s is taken from the “Tailor and Cutter.”

Lord Hugh Cecil. —Tightly-buttoned froek coat; well fitting; has the gait of a mechanical toy. Lord E. Talbot, —A “passably good” morning coat. Trousers jerk up and down like the bellows of a full-stretch-ed concertina when he walks. Mr Trevelyan.—Should be taken in hand by a kindly critic; morning coat has a sagged front, and hangs in ugly folds, with the back skirts kicked off as if in rebellion at the contents of his pockets. Sir E. Carson.,—Dark morning coat; general ensemble lacks sufficient colour. “Tailor and Cutter” suggests a frock coat.

Innovations in journalism are not generally looked for in Europe, but Paris of late has been doing a few thing? in that line which have been distinctly new. The latest is a journal for beg gars, which has been started for th i purpose of disseminating useful information among the mendicant fraternity. The price is twopence halfpenny a copy. The advertisements furnish interesting reading for beggars temporarily out of a job, though it is difficult to understand how the advertiser could exp net to receive an answer to the following: “Wanted —A blind man who can play the flute a little.” Probably some unfortunate dumb man will tell bis blind confrere of the vacancy. Here is another sample of an advertised vacancy which requires awkward qualineations: “Wanted—A lame man for the seaside; one without a right arm preferred.” In addition to “ads” of this kind, notice; of forthcoming christenings, burials, and birthdays of rich people are printed, that the beggar may know where to go to prosecute his vocation with success. Evidently the trade of mendicancy is established on a good business basis in the French capital.

Here is a story of a newspaper man to whom was assigned the duty-of interviewing Mr Pierpont Morgan on an important public question. Several times the scribe called fit Mr Morgan’s office, but each time admission to the shipping king’s private sanctum was refused. That same day, during the course of conversation with a “big man” in the shipping way, who is connected with “the ring,” the reporter and he exchanged cards. Immediately a bright idea occurred to the perplexed scribe, and. wishing his genial friend good-bye, he hastened off to the Morgan office and -presented his card, together with that of his recently-made friend, the other shipping magnate. Immediately he obtained admittance, and a gracious reception awaited him. “1 would like to hear your opinion on —” “What!” interrupted Mr Morgan, “another newspaper man? Now, look here, young man, you are the sixteenth reporter who has called on me to-day to discuss this question, and I have refused admittance to everyone.” “I surely ought to know that,” replied the scribe, “seeing that I nm the.whole sixteen.” This persistence so pleased Mr Morgan that he broke his rule, and discoursed for some time on the subject on which the reporter came to see him.

“Perhaps the most eccentric man who ever lived was the great composer, Beethoven,” writes Mr Rowbotham in the

“Strand Magazine.” “Even his music he did not write like ordinary people, but had a remarkable notation, often without lines. . . which resembled the contents of a pepper-box strewed upon paper, and was often so illegible that he could not read it himself.” One of Beethoven’s favourite diversions after playing the piano for hours was to eool his hot hands by pouring cold water over them till the basin was full. Frequent-

ly. however, the basin was forgotten, and then, intoxicated with musical inspiration, he often seized the water-jug and walked about the room, pouring the water first on one hand, then on the other, ignoring the existence of a basin altogether. Mozart is credited with being the author of a most extraordinary document. He wrote an agreement, which he drew' up in the presence of a notary, at the request of his future mother-in-law, binding himself to marry one of this lady's daughters within a period of three years if she would have him. Failing the marriage, Mozart further pledged himself to support her, no matter where she lived or how she lived, all her life by the payment of an annual sum. Wagner was almost as notoriously eccentric as Beethoven.

There is a very interesting article on the “Poisoned Eden,” as Monte Carlo is called, in the last issue of “Chamber’s Journal.” The writer describes two things which strike every visitor to Monte Carlo—first the “awful air of disciplined indifference which the players preserve.” Really there isn’t a stir or sound, not a whispered prayer or an uttered curse, or even a quick and feverish gesture, to indicate that men and women are playing—as many of them are—for honour and for life; perhaps also for the honour and lives of other people. It is only when you refleet that you realise—as this writer says—that “all this apparent callousness is but a surface above a lava-sea of agitation, like Hecla in its quiescent moods.” And in thus concealing their feelings women are even better than men. There they sit, with their pencils of blue and red, and their purses in front of them; the fresh English Duchess and the rouged and be-diamoned Parisian actress, the coarse-featured bizarre Jewess from Berlin, and the high-bred beauty from Madrid — a most motley assortment of Eve’s mysterious daughters, all doing their best in this grim race for gold.

Not every reader of Mr. W. Le Queux’s famous Nihilist js aware that the material for them was gathered at first hand while he was acting as special correspondent of “The Times.” In consequence of one of his articles he one day received an anonymous letter asking him to call at a house near Regent’s Park at midnight on a certain date. Such a message was a little mysterious, not to say alarming, but, armed with a revolver, he kept the appointment. On arriving at the place indicated he found himself confronted by several desperate men. He was actually in the presence of the dreaded Nihilist Executive Committee! But lie had no need for his revolver: instead,

they at once thanked him for placing the. true facts regarding Russian oppression before the British public, and gave him much valuable information, which he utilised in a. further series of articles. These articles not only alarmed the Russian Government, and effected some reforms, but resulted in a substantial sum beingsubscribed ly “Times” readers for the Nihilist Relief Fund. Soon after their publication Mr. Le Queux returned home one evening to find awaiting him a. Russian official, who. had been sent all the way from St. Petersburg to present him with an edict solemnly forbidding him ever to set foot in Russia, and placing all his books on the index expurgatorius. The indignant novelist complained to the Russian Ambassador, and eventually received an apology for the irregularity of the proceeding. Since then the Russian Government has given him every facility in travelling. Indeed, he has hold i ukase from the Czar enah’ing him to visit any prison in Russia at any hour of the day or night—an unprecedented favour.

■ Seen through American eyes, an Old Bailey trial is a peculiarly interesting spectacle. They do things differently in the United States. Judges, barristers and court officials dress as they please, and an untravelled Yankee would regard an advocate in wig and gowti as a fitting candidate for a lunatic asylum. The Old Bailey would be regarded with strong aversion by every American barrister. The narrow, uncomfortable seats for counsel, th? huge dock wherein the prisoner is displayed in charge of uniformed keepers, ami the close, cramped appearance of Ute court-room in general would seem unfitted for the administration of justice. When a man is tried for bis life in an American court he is not put in a cage and elevated above the rest of the occupants so that everyone may observe

him plainly. On the contrary, he sits at the counsel table beside his attorney, with the prosecuting counsel on the otherside of the table, not four feet away. Apparently he is as free as any man in the court. A watchful warder in plain clothes may be near, but he is not marked by any distinguishing badge. Assuming that every man is innocent until he is proven guilty, the law permits the accused to appear liefore the jury on an equal footing with his accusers. Ho even walks into court through the same door as that used by attorneys. There is no special staircase. cut off from the rest of the world, leading into the dock from cells below, as at the Old Bailey.

Boris Sarafoff, the chief of the Macedonian revolutionary league, is one of the most romantic figures in Europe. He is only thirty years of age, but his power in Bulgaria and Macedonia is so great that a word from him would set the Balkan peninsula ablaze. Sarafoff has something of the fanatic and something of the desperado in him; and if he believed that the Macedonian cause W’ould be thereby advanced, he would without hesitation do his utmost to make a great European war inevitable. When still an infant he was taught by his parents to hate the Turks deeply, for they were Macedonian Christians who had suffered exceptional hardships through Turkish tyranny; and while be was little more than a boy he began to train himself for his self-imposed task of heading a great rebellion, which in his youthful enthusiasm he believed would be the means of overthrowing Turkish power, and of driving the Turks out of Europe. During his holidays he went on long tours in Turkey, and in the course of these wanderings he became acquainted with hundreds of miles of hidden paths and remote byways, which he made good use of in his subsequent raids into Turkey. He studied at the military academy at Sofia, and, before accepting a commission as an officer of the Bulgarian army, he served in the ranks for six months to become familiar with the life and duties of a common soldier. He was an officer for two years; and then, having gained the knowledge that he required, he threw up his commission to devote himself exclusively to the Macedonian cause. Sarafoff organised the Macedonian league which has figured so largely in all the Balkan troubles of the last few years. This league is a union of many local committees under the direction of an executive at Sofia. Each district committee has a staff of

voluntary secret agents and “executioners” attached te i<; and th* method of operations is as follows: An agent of the committee presents a blank receipt to a wealthy merchant, and bargains with him regarding the amount he shall contribute to the Macedonian cause. If no agreement is arrived at, the local committee arbitrarily fixes the sum, and the money is peremptorily demanded. If the victim is still reluctant to pay, a revolver, or something equivalent, is held at his head; and in nine cases out of ten the desired amount is then forthcoming, lu the tenth case, when the victim remains obstinate, he is summarily “ex-

ecuted” for his lack of zeal in the Macedonian cause.

Sir Frederick Luga rd, on whose shoulders will fall the duty of pacifying the new territory in West Africa, now that Kano has fallen, is one of our modern Empire-makers. tie has seen much service in Darkest Africa, and was as one time in Uganda. In 1894, when France was about to make a treaty with the King of Nikki. Colonel Lugard, as he then was, was sent to forestall him. It was a race against time. On July 24, 18114. Captain Decoeur left France for Dahomey; four days later Colonel Lugard left England. Colonel Lugard reached his destination on November 10, saw the king, signed his treaty, ami was five days’ march nearer home when Captain Docoeur arrived. Lady Lugard is better known perhaps as Miss Flora Shaw. She was for some years the "Times” Colonial editor, and had travelled all over the Empire. She was cross-exam-ined by the Jameson Raid Commission; and "Labby” had to admit she was too clever for him. “I could get nothing out of her.” he said, “that she wished to conceal.” Everyone is laughing over the modern Froissart of Mr Carruthers Gould, who wrote “Sir Dickon Seddon,” which we published recently, but it is rare to find anyone with more than the vaguest idea of the personality of the ancient Froissart. But Jean Froissart, who was born at Valenciennes, in Flanders, in 1337, and lived to the ripe old age of seventy-three, must have been a. charming individual. lie was not so much an historian as the chronicler of great events in which ho either took part or of which lie had been told first hand. For lie passed from Court to Court, and wherever he went he was

Welcome. He travelled in Englund, Scotland, France, Germany, and Italy. Of himself in his youth he wrote: “My ears quickened at the sound of uncorking the wine-ilask, for I took great pleasure in drinking and in fair array and in delicate and fresh cates.” This character he maintained more or less all his life, for he was a most genial companion, and no man has ever lived Who enjoyed life with greater zest.

The town marshal of Elnora, in Indiana, was called to the telephone the other day by John Ketchem, a farmer, who lives eight miles away. “You have a warrant for my arrest,” shouted Ketchem. “Please be good enough to read it.” The officer did as requested, ant added: “Consider yourself in charge.” “Certainly,” replied Ketchem. “I plead guilty to being drunk and incapable.” The officer then called Judge Hastings to the telephone, who severely rebuked Ketchem, and fined him one halfpenny, and twopence costs.” “Thanks,” came the reply. “Money shall be sent on by next post.’

Great preparations are being made by the Dominion Government and by the Canadian Pacific Kailway for the advent of new rettlers in the western part of the Dominion this spring. This month 500 families will arrive in Manitoba to settle on land secured from the Government. They :re gong into the Dominion from the United States under the auspices of a Roman Catholic mission, whose headquarters is in Minnesota. At Regina, still further west, settlers are expected as soon as the weather permits, numerous land grants having jeen taken up in that district, with the result that land values have increased very materially.

America is exploiting a new system of advertising the lowest novel. The book must be morbid, choked with anguish, and purple passion. The author disappears and leaves a note behind, saying this vale of tears is beyond him. His publisher sends an announcement of his death to the papers, and affixes it to all advertisements, worded something like the following: — SNOOKS.—By suicide. Edwin Angelus Snooks, poet and man o*' genius, and author of "Out of the Limelight” (just published), in his twentieth year, etc., etc.

He was a man of about 45, short and stout, and dressed like those extremely impecunious financiers, the Yarra-bank-ers. His clothes were very old and very mixed, ami loo’ked as if they had come to him through a long succession of wearers each more poverty-stricken than the previous one. His nose was red, and he had a vicious eye. He appeared at the window of a small suburban post office near Melbourne, and said to the young man inside, “I say, young feller, do I get them income tax schedules here?” “We supply income tax schedules,” replied the youth. “Well, gimme one, will you?” The postal official looked surprised. “You know it isn’t necessary to fill these in unless you are earning about 8/ a day,” he said. “Oh, I know all about that, replied the beat, “Im not earning eight farthings a day, but early last year I earned about £l5OO. I Loosed it up in seven months, and now I’m rather wondering how the Government’s going to collect my income tax.”

The new comic opera, in which Miss Edna May is to make her re appearance in London, is now’ in active rehearsal. The contracts with Mr Paul M. Potter (of “Trilby” fame), who has written the libretto, and with Mr Leslie Stuart for the music, were made nearly a year ago, but Messrs Charles Frohman and George Edwardes, who are to produce the opera, have only recently received the completed work. The piece is in three acts, ami is entitled “The School Girl.” The first aet takes place in the gardens of a convent in Paris, which, with their air of seclusion, will form a delightful contrast to the scene in the second act. This presents the interior of a stockbroker’s office, with clerks and typewriters at work on the details of a trust flotation. In this scene, Miss Edna May, the school girl of the first aet, is mistaken for the new typewriter, and becomes the recipient of innumerable confidences, which heighten the intrigue of the piece. The third act is Bet in a Paris studio. In addition to Miss Edna May, Miss Hilda Moody, Miss Marie Studholme, and

Miss Ella Snyder—a rare quartette of beauty and talent—have been engaged for leading parts, and Mr George Edwardes has induced Miss Violet Cameron to return to the stage in order to sing the important “numbers” allotted to the mother superior in the first act.

It is fashionable in Worcester, in the United States, to take cast out for walks. This practice is not unknown in England. A common sight at St. Albans every morning is an elderly maiden lady taking her tom cat for its constitutional, a pi sctice she has never missed for years. The cat is a fine specimen of its breed, with the sleekiest coat of black, relieved with a white “cravat,” or spot, under its neck, and white paws. Its owner has had specially made for it a red leather leading strap, which is attached to red leather harness, which fits over the cat’s shoulders. The cat practically leads the lady, who all the t,me keeps up a running conversation with her pet. It is understood that the authorities of the cathedral drew the line at the animal being present at the Sunday morning services when its mistress appeared there with it.

“Why must a driver of an automobile look like a mountain goat in order to keep in the fashion?” Such is the problem propounded by a correspondent to an English paper. The growing weirdness of motoring clothes, he asserts, makes the motorist such a fearsome object that some reform is urgent. “When I purchased my motor-car,” said one prominent business man, “I thought it was for the purpose of riding about. The real object, however, seems to be to give motor-car tailors a chance to sell me strange garments that I do not want, but which are considered indispensable for every well-conducted automobile establishment. And the fashions are getting worse. The driving-eoats are becoming heavier and more un= wieldy. An able-bodied man feels helpless when hidden in one of these bulky garments. A small man looks like a doormat, while the fat man resembles an animated ball of fur.” A dealer in motoring garments admitted that the tendency was towards more ample and expensive coats. He defended the “mountain goat disguise” by emphasising its warmth. The publie in general does not view the new fashions with approval. The other day the proud owner of a 20 h.p. Mercedes stood on the pavement in front of a Pall Mail Club, struggling into the depths of a huge hair-covered coat. A costermonger who witness the operation stopped and regarded him with tender interest. “ ’UIIo, matey,” he said, admiringly, “hit's lovely. Cut us off a pup!” Similarly a street urchin, after wandering around a shaggy motorist in Re-gent-street, in a vain effort to discover “which end bites,” came to a baffled halt, and exclaimed, “Bow-wow, Fido—shake verself.”

A New South Wales federal legislator became the owner of a new motor launch, and with a select party he started it on its maiden trip down Sydney Harbour. All went well until the refreshment call at Clarke Island came to an end, and an attempt was made to resume the journey. “Just turn the little wheel,” ordered the legislator with the easy confidence of the expert. An obliging member of the party turned the wheel, wit' the determination of an experienced miner at a windlass. But without success. When he gave up all took turns at turning the wheel, but to no effect. As a police boat approached the owner of the launch was forced to hoist signals of distress. “We'll tow you back,” offered the policeman; but such an indignity was too much, and the offer was declined. An hour was spent in trying to master the mysteries of the machinery. Then one of the water- police scad. “I think you turn that wheel to make her go,” and suiting the action to the word he sent the launch skimming over the harbour. Afterwards it was necessary to slow down, and the launch suddenly came to a stop in mid-harbour, near the berth of H.M.s. Phoebe. A suggestion to make fast to the man-o’-war and obtain assistance was met with the objection that the sentry would probably order the bo t away. “If he does, I’ll vote against the naval subsidy,” said the owner of the launch; but happily Buch an Imperial tragedy was averted, and the motor was once more put in working order. Next, without warning,

it dashed straight for the side of the Phoebe, and the ramming of that mau-o’-war was averted only by the promptitude o a Melbourne visitor, who gave the launch a sudden turn at imminent risk of failin'- into the mouiu of a big shark which was hovering about.

The recent unfortunate illness of the King, which caused the visit to Chatsworth to be postponed, brings to mind the enormous cost which has to be borne by entertainers of Royalty. A week-end visit from King Edward, if he were on your visiting-list, would cost you just about £5OOO, exclusive of special entertainment. Lord Knollys, King Edward's private secretary, writes to the host, giving the smallest details of everything required, and all the King’s lik cs and dis • likes. His Mojesty takes his own cigars with him; he is only allow-ed five a day by his doctor. He must not be served ■with Indian tea, but prefers the China kind. Tea, by the way, is the first neces sity in each day, and the host is instructed to have a service of it taken to the King’s bedchamber at 8 a.m. Breakfast must be ready to the minute at nine, and served in the King’s private room. Lor i Knollys instructs the host that King Edward is not allowed bread, but, to keep his weight down, must eat rusks instead. The King breakfasts by himself and most of the morning is taken up with State business. When that is finished, His Majesty joins the house-party. A list of the other guests has to be submitted to the King, before he comes, for his approval; in fact, he suggests himself the number that shall be asked, and some of their names. If you are asked to a house-party that includes the King it is equal to an announcement that the King wants to see you, and it is just as u'.fgent 'that you should go as it would be if you were commanded to Windsor. Besides this the host must send the King a list of the amusements he is preparing for him beforehand. At

this time of year there is sure to be a day’s shooting, and if there is anything interesting in the neighbourhood an excursion must be arranged to go and see it. Lunch, at two o’clock, costs, with wines, about five pounds per head. Oniy the finest and costliest vintages in the world are o- red to the King. Then comes the afternoon's shooting — King Edward is one of the best shots in Britain—and when the shooting party returns there must be a good solid te.» ready for him in his rooms. Dinner is at eight {-.’clock. IS; is especially 1. d down before the visit that dinner must not last longer than an hour, for King Edward dislikes dawdling for a long time over dessert and wine, as the Georgian habit was. He drinks little, but of finest quality, and the dinner will cost a clear six pounds a head. When the ladies have gone the King smokes his fourth cigar of the day, leaving one for the last thing at night. When the part” moves to the drawing-room there will be some music, which settles down into cards until bed-time. In most games the King stakes in five - pound units, but when “bridge” is played this is reduced to halfcrown points, which of course comes out very high in each game. It is altogether forbidden, by the way, for anybody to withdraw for the evening until the King gives the sign, and breaks up the party by rising himself. When he goes upstairs King Edward has supper in his private room, beeominz host himself, and invites his entertainer and one or two of the men to join him.