Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXI, Issue XVIII, 31 October 1903, Page 12

Here and There.

A well-dre-sed young American and his wife, while passing through St. Paul’s churchyard, London. one day last month, caused considerable amusement among the fair sex by the novel manner in which the dutiful husband was carrying the baby, slung iu front of him in a broad leather strap, which was passed round Lis neck.

Three Fisherrow fishermen were out on the Forth when' a storm arose, and for a time it looked as if they were not- likely to successfully make the harbour. At this juncture one of them said. “Tam. cau ye pray!” "Naw, Wattie. I canna.” Wee!, jist lilt a bit hymn.” "I dinnae ken ony.” Lori preserve's, Tam. we maun dae somethin’ releegiotts.” "Wed, War tie. let's mak' a collection!'’

Tire question who invented the clever phrase "the kailyard school.” to describe Scottish fiction of the present day.' is set at rest by Mr. J. 11. Millar, in lii* "Literary History of Scotland.” The title was given to an article by Mr. Millar, which was published in the "New Review" when that periodical was edited by the late Mr. Henley. Air. Millar has. therefore, been generally supposed to have originated the phrase, but he explains that Mr. Henley himself, in his editorial revision of the article. invented at.

The Pope's mother is still living. “'What a proud mother she must be. ’ remarks a Catholic contemporary- In the study which Cardinal Sarto has occupied fcr the last ten years the only ornament was “the picture of a grey-haired peasant woman- in fustian dress, and with a kind. intelligent face’’—the mother of the new ruler of the Catholic Church. Hi* three sisters—Maria. Rosa, and Anna Sarto—arc- also “living, and are well-preserved women of over GO.” an excellent peasant tvpe of Northern Italy.”

Visitors to Stratford-on-Avon may frequently see two ladies driving a small trap drawn by a pair of shaggy 'Shetland ponies. The occupants are probably Miss Marie Corelli and Miss Viva, who is her great friend. One day quite recently the local guide pointed out Miss Corelli's residence to an American tourist- “Well. I guess,” he remarked. "that is a fine house, and I wonder Miss Corelli has never married.” “Well, you see. sir," replied th? guide. "Shakespeare

F. Weiss, the Australian champion bil-liard-player. who is touring South Africa. played a match recently at Ladysmith with A. Johnson, who was conceded a start of 3-50 in 750, while Weiss only counted breaks of 50 or upwards. The local man won, scoring 750 to 510 by Weiss. Johnson's highest break was 31, and Weiss' 9S. In a match with H. Levy, at Ladysmith, Weiss conceded 200 points in 500, and counted breaks of 80 and upwards. This time he won easily. He made breaks of I Oil. 110, 134, 82, and SO (unfinished}: while he once broke down at 78.

A well-known figure at Baltimore has passed away in the person of a man named Miller, who in face and form was the ideal model for "Uncle Sam.” Miller was tall, thin, with aquiline nose, prominent features, c-lean-shaven upper lip, and a bunch of white chin - whiskers. When he donned the gorgeous raiment accredited to the pait, he seemed to fill perfectly the fanciful character of "Uncle Sam, " so familiar to every American. He first appeared in public at Washington many years ago. and since then he has taken part in practically every inaugural parade. He was in the World's Fair procession at Chicago. As Miller grew older the better he played his part, and even took to drawling his words through hi* nose-. He was a great favourite with children, who believed him to be the real character he impersonated. ,

Mr. Stephen Fortescue, promoter of the project of a bowling team from the Mother Country visiting Australia and New Zealand, has announced the reluctant abandonment of the undertaking. In addition to communicating with several hundreds of leading clubs and most prominent bowlers, Mr. Fortescue made a tour in Ireland and Scotland as a member of Dr. W. G. Grace’s bowling team, and throughout the whole route traversed did his utmost to enlist supporters on behalf of the movement he has laboured so devoutly to make a stieves*. The notice, "Smoking strictly forbidden,” which appears near the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, was posted up two years ago in consequence of the nuisance caused by workmen then engaged in the building—smoking under the porch and filling the cathedral with the odour of pipes. "Since that time,” says one of the vergers, “we have had great difficulty during the dinner hour in preventing people from smoking under the porch, and even inside the building. Foreigners are the chief offenders in this respeet, but a still greater evil is the objectionable habit of spitting on the floor indulged in bv manv American visitors.”

It has been asserted by some of those who have seen the kinematographic view? of the Royal visit to New Zealand that the films are hopelessly bad, but Sir Joseph Ward evidently thinks that they are of some value, for he told Mr Herries in the House last week that the views are in the hands of the Government, together with the necessary appliances for exhibiting them. The Government are now considering the advisability of sending some qualified person through the colony with these to give free exhibitions to the several publie schools and institutions. It- would, Sir Joseph thinks, be unwise to allow these films to be used by private individuals.

The wonderful tone of the old violins depended on the varnish a great deal. The secret has been lost. “We don’t know to-day how the old varnishes were made. An expert who went into this subject deeply claimed that oil with gum in solution and colour evaporated in spirit were the bases of the best varnish. But whether he was right or wrong no one knows. A violin consists of from thirty to seventy pieces. We make violins to-day just as they were made in the past, but we don't varnish them the same. Sense varnishes contained ground amber. Recently, to the ruin of a priceless Guarnerius. its varnish was scraped off and analysed, and an abundance of amber powder was found.

Air W. T. Stead is responsible for a new book called “The Despised Sex,” in which ail the time-worn arguments in favour of a woman’s suffrage are woven into the texture of a story—the impressions of a mid-Afriean on a visit to London, remarks an Home paper. If Mr Stead had contented himself with steering clear of his wellknown tendency to cast odium upon his own countrymen, he might have succeeded in making an exceedingly entertaining book. Englishmen are .not so sensitive that they resent just criticism, but when this is turned into endless abuse of their country, their habits, and their customs they feel that even an anti-English Englishman like Air Stead should be discouraged. "The Despised Sex” is worth reading merely for the purpose of testing the temper. A Briton who can read the book without feeling his ire rise against the author may claim the prize for phlegm.

A Wellingtonian who recently visited the Auckland Peninsula gave an exceedingly doleful account to a local paper of the condition of the alleged roads in the district, and in the House of Representatives Mr Harding took advantage of the text to ask tins Minister for I’ublie Works if he intended to take remedial steps. The reply

was not of a very encouraging nature, the Minister stating that the difficulty, referred to is common to nearly all newly settled districts during the" winter months, and does not apply onlv to the district north of Auckland' During the last few years the Government had spent large sums of moucy by way of grants and otherwise oil these roads with the object of permanently improving them. It is hoped that during rhe current year further progress will be made in this direction. “I don't wish to take up your time.” the caller said, "unless you think it is likely I might interest you in the subject of life insurance.” "Well,” replied the man at the desk, "I'll not deny that I have been thinking about it lately. Go ahead. I'll listen to you.” Whereupon the caller talked to hint forty-five minutes without a stop. “And now,” he said at last, “are you satisfied that our company is one of the best, and that our plan of doing business is thoroughly safe'.” “Yes.” "Have I convinced you that we furnish as good insurance as any other company, and at rates as cheap as you can get anywhere f’ “Yes; I am satisfied with what you say—perfectly satisfied.” "Well, don’t you want to take out a policy with us!” - “Me! Oh. no! I'm a life insurance agent myself. I thought I might be able to ger some tips from you!”

In reply to Air Hanan, the Pre ini-'r stated in the New Zealand House of Representatives that he was of opinion that power should be given to coroner*, judges, and magistrates to suppress the publication of the horrifying details similar in character to that in the case of the inquest on Airs Niccol. “It must, be harrowing to the feelings of those bereaved, it does harm to the younger generation, and no good results follow therefrom. The prurient-minded should not be gratified at the expense of good taste and morality. The views thus expressed may be unpopular. They mar be held to be a restriction of the freedom of the press, but if all journals are placed upon an equal footing there can be no good ground for complaint. It is owing to one paper doing that which is referred to in the question that others follow iu like manner. If all were forbidden the ends of justice would he met without contaminating our public morality.”

John Alexander Dowie, head of the Christian Catholic Church in Zion, who was nearly mobbed in New York the other day. has planned for his American capital on the shore of latke AHehigan yhat he says will be the largest tabernacle in the world devoted exclusively to the worship of God. The structure will cost £300.000, and seat sixteen thousand persons. It will occupy a ground space of 330 ft by 340 ft, and will be Oriental in architecture. The prophet's attempt to raise five million dollar* to help build this palatial structure are not. if we can believe the cables, being enthusiastically aided by the New Yorkers. Two large galleries, in the shape of a horseshoe, will be built in such a manner that the public finding seats there will be able to see plainly, the face of everyone sitting on the platform. These galleries will seat about 8400, the ground floor about 6000. the choir and officers’ galleries about 1800, giving a total seating capacity of 16.000 persons. On either side of the basement, directly under the choir gallery, robing rooms for the candidates for baptism will be arranged, on one side the women, on the oilier -the men: both' rooms will be seventy by fifty-eight feet in size. On leaving the robing room the candidates go directly to the river-like baptistry by way of separate corridor*, one for men and one for women, entirely hidden from public view until the large, stairways leading into the baptistry proper are reached. Two hundred persons uiay be baptised at one time, and so complete will be the arrangements that one thousand can easily be baptised in one hour. The baptistry basin will be twenty feet wide and sixty-five feet long. It is to be arranged with flowers and shrubbery, while the water will come from a waterfall under the speaker’s platform. The water will fall in full view of the public, flow through the entire length <•< the baptistry, and pass out of sight under the floor of the auditorium.

Wheu President Roosevelt, in his official capacity, opens cattle shows, fairs and exhibitions, he does not weary his hearers with a political address, but delivers a little sermon, inculcating moral maxims, approving of this, disapproving . t that. Next morning his sayings are published in the same columns as the Kaiser's. No doubt our readers have heard -that he approves, among other things, of strenuousness, fruits and large families. It may be news to hear that he also approves of the Bible. Yet sueh is the case. The New York Bible Society recently issued Bibles with an endorsement by Mr Roosevelt, which they publish "with the kind permission of the President.’’ A lady detective is now employed to watch the mail packets at Dover in eon-wquenk-e of the continued extensive traffic in young girls from the Continent. The work of detecting the victims is very difficult because, although moss of them come from humble surrounding.;, they are provided with good cloth, ing before leaving their country. Many of the girls are decoyed away front their homes under a promise of remunerative employment on the stage or elsewhere. Several ease.? have been discovered, and in these the victims after being warned of their probable fate have at once consented to return, their passage money beng handed to them out of a special fund.

It i- very difficult to do anything new nowadays (says “Sport"). The doings of the world have a trick of repeating themselves, and so. we presume, it will be to the end- When the news arrived that M. Edmond Blanc supplied the first three in the Grand Prix, it looked as if hr had established a world’s record, but it appears that in having three horses placed in a classic event he was anticipated some 70 years ago by no less a personage than His Majesty King William IV, who had a similar experience in the Goodwood Cup of 1830- In this event the then King had Fleur de Lys, Zingarn, and The Colonel engaged, and. he gave directions to run the lot. they finishing first, second and third, in the order named, in a field of nine- M. Blanc’s trio—Quo Vadis, Cains, and Vinieius—were placed in a field of If. And so, in addition to the fame whieh Li* connection with Monte Carlo blings him. M. Blanc shares a unique record with a dead King.

The Auckland Board of Education last week laid on the table the annual returns of the Travelling expenses and allowances of the members. The charges of the present members were as.ftfflow: —L. J. Bagnall i.Tnruai, £33 12 6 (previous year £69 12 6 ; A. R. Harris (East Taraakil, £lO 17/ (elected August, 1902); R. Hobbs (Pansonby), nil (elected August, 1901); XV. Lambe (Papatoetoe and Morningside), £l9 4,6; (previous year £2O 3 ; s. Duke ( Otahuhu) £ll 10 i previous year £lOs;.P. M. Mackay (Auckland), nil (elected May, 1902); J. D. McKenzie (AVhangareit, £73 4 (previous year £74 6 •; J. Muir (Rexnuera). £23 9 6 /previous year £10); J.. G. Rutherford (Reuiuprai. £l5 8 (elected August, 19011:-total; £lB7 it. 6. The chairman, Mr R. Hobbs, moved that the returns be submitted to the Finance Committee for them to reporton. He thought the charges required some revision, because he was* not aware till these returns were prepared that members living in the city or suburbs were drawing allowances. It bad never been done in his time, and he never knew it done before till lie saw the present returns. There was another matter whieh he thought would require « more definite arrangement; that was the allowance to (say) a member from Whajigarei. It did not appear to him to lie quite in accordance' with the intentions of the Audit Department that a member leaving his home by steamer at night should charge IP.' for that day, as well as for the day of his return, when his steamer arrived l ack at six o'clock in the morning. He thought there should be a rule that twenty-four hours should constitute a legal day, and that the other points he had mentioned should be defined. It was right that members should have a fair allowance, but it was not expected that members of the Board should draw more than would be considered fair and equitable. The chairman's motion was carried Without futther discussion. ’ 'x.

“I see that a dancer has married an Archduke near Faris,’’ said the beatrder who reads all -the papers. ••.She evidently kicked —I mean aimed —high,’’ said the idiotic boarder. ".“he certainly took steps to secure him,’’ the oldest boarder suggested. “1 vc no doubt she’ll lead the poor man a pretty dance. ” sniffed the l.u dlady. And -.hen the idiotic boarder en.le-1 it. “Hell, be said, “let’s at least give her credit for getting there with bith feet."

The paternal management of the Berlin tramways, impre=sed by the awkward and even dangerous method in which the more or iss lovely women detach themselves from their caravans, have resorted to a desperate remedy. They have plastered up in the ears sv couple of photos on the “before’’ and "after" principle. In the one we sec a dainty person descending the right way. to the admiration of the crowd, with a possible offer in the offing. In the other is represented the wrong way. The catastrophe has occurred, and lovely woman appears on the asphalt as a mere whirligig of chiffons, and a couple of agitated understandings “a-waving in the breeze," ami-1 the disrespectful attentions of a wastrel public.

The reorganisation of the personnel of the British Navy which Lord Seibome began at the end of last year is net yet completed. Two important changes are pending-—the merging of the accountant branch and the abolition of v&apiains. In a word, the paymaster ar. : the parson are shortly to disappear. The supervision cf the former department will henceforward lie delegated to executive officers. In fact, the paymaster of the near future will be as much an executive •‘specialist” as the existing gunnery, torpedo, and navigating officer. With regard io the chaplains, it has long been felt that the duties they perform can weil be carried out by the captain or commander. In some ships the chaplain is also naval instructor, tut the duties of this latter office arc to lie delegated to some other rank. In addition to these change* a variety of reforms are expected by the navy medical branch to take effect. The chief purport of these i? to give young doctors seniority more rapidly than at present. In regard to this, however, nothing de-

A envious fact has been brought under our notice which, considering the interest now taken in the question of Imperial preferential trade, deserves a certain amount of public attention. On some large classes of goods imported from Japan to New Zealand duty is levied on the basis of about 2,'0.j per yen. In Japan the exchange value of the yen is very nearly 2/2. one of the last quotations being 2 1 15-16, and it is only very recently that it has fallen so low. It is clear that if the yen is rated here at about I’d less than its exchange value, the exporter of goods item Japan to New Zealand practically gets a bounty amounting to about 51 per cent. There are many lines of merchandise in which Japan. competes more or less directly with England in our markets; and there are many more in which the cheapness of labour helps the Oriental producer to keep British manufactures cut of our markets. It is plain that to allow the Japanese exporter a 5' per cent, better rate of ex clianse here than he enjoys in iiis own country means a heavy premium in his favour, and practically gives him the benefit of a differentia! duty as against England. Possibly investigation would reveal ether inconsistencies of a similar nature; but in any case here is a small opportunity which the Minister in charge may easily seize to give Brit ish trade a chance of competing with its rivals on absolutely fair terms, L t '

Miss Katie Seymour, the Gaiety favourite. died after a brief illness on September 18th, at the Paddington Nursing Home, London. It was only the previous Friday that she returned from South Africa, where she had been touring. It was understood that the cause of her death was Bright’s disease. Miss Seymour was only thirty-four years old. It is no exaggeration to say that Miss Katie Seymour was oue of the greatest dancers the English stage has »;cn since Kate Vaughan. Iler

dancing was largely individual, for although she -lid not wear the attenuated skirts of ihe balk-t dancer, she did not use the trailing robes worn by Miss Letty Lind and the other "skirt” dancers.” She was, if the phrase may be used, a humorous dancer, and her movements were full of an irresistible lightheartedness. To play goers her name will always be associated with the Gaiety Theatre, now dosed for ever, though .before she went to that playhouse in 1890 she had already won a considerable reputation in the musichalls. At the Gaiety she played vis-a-vi- to Mr Edmund Payne in "The Shop < iiri," “The Runaway Girl," "The Messenger Boy,” and “The Circus Giri.” After leaving the Strand she first went to America and played in "The Casino Girl’’ under the management of Mr George Washington Lederer. Then followed an engagement at the Alhambra, and mere recently a tour in South Africa.

Mr J. M. Barrie appears to be still without honour in his own country, in spite of the fact that at ihe n-'-sent time l.e lias three plays running at the three first-class West End theatres. A Loudon Scot, writing home from Kirriemuir (Thrums) says that the natives here look upon the author of "A Window in Thrums” as "a haiveriu’ body,” who lias made money out of books that have nothing in them. "If ye tak' the lees oct,’’ said one of his critics, “there’s naelhing left tat the ordinal’ crack an' conversation ye mil-lit hear among folk in the High street any e'nir. An’ I assure ye no one o’ tl.se things in thae buiks ever happened.’’ The correspondent says that when "ITie Little Minister" made a hit, an old Thrums woman, who had known Barrie "from a bairn,’’ remarked, “Wrel. it’s a glide thing the laddie can mak’ somethin’ at his writin’ —he coui.l never ha’e made his livin' in the mills.” Working at the mills was (he old dame’s standard of respectable employment, it being the staple work <•:’ Thrums, and seeing that Barrie was l ?° (physically weak) to earn l:is bread in that way. it was a mercy lit could get it. even if only by "writin’ haivers.” Heroes and heroines arc in danger of rapid extinction, according to the whimsical suggestion of a writer in the "Popular “Acme Monthly." Tin* alarmir.g prcspect for the readers of fiction is based on the low birth rate in novels united with the abnormal death rate. Low as this birth rate has alwayg been, the writer says that he is under the impression that ir. is decreasing, and that while families of a respectable size may occasionally be found in the older writers, they scar. Ay exist in the most modern. The f liowing analysis of th-? size cf families in "Vanity Fair’’ give* p-.-.mi to the eontentiui:. it being stated that a family of three keeps the population stationary:—ky Sharp was an only chilli, r.or do we hear of uncles or aunts. Aanity Fair’ is a novel v it bout :i hero. Sir Pit: Crawley, twice married, has four clti’dren, his

brother five, and his Uster n*ne; «r there is an average fumiiy of three., juae sufficient to maintain that questionable line. Oalorne and Dobbin each have two sisters, and we have again the family required for a stationary population. The Sedley family consuls of brother and sister. In tiie next genera tion, however, things are worse. Amelia has two husbands and two children. Becky one child. Sir Pitt one. anti Jcsh none. This is apparently an average family of 1.83, which is almost exactly that of the Harvard graduates, aeoeiding to President Eliot.”

The Jamaica negroes, ar- of tcLom are great dandies in tbe : .' way. make a soap out of cocoanut wi and home-made lye; and a fine srap it is, smooth and fragrant. This eoccanut-oil soap is used for shaving (says “Tlcalth">. When a man wishes to shave in the morning he starts out with his cocoanut-sheli cun and his donkey-tai! brush and a hottie It is never any trouble to find an emptybottle in Jamaica, even in the moun tains. At least twenty generations of thirsty people have lived there and thrown away the empty bottles. The man carries no mirror, because lie has none to cany. Not one negro cabin in a dozen has even a eheap looking-glass. But Nature provides the mirror as well as the soap. The man goes to a convenient poo! in the mountain stream, where the water is still, and there i« hi* mirror. He breaks hi* bottie on a stone, and picks out a good sharp piece. Then he lathers his face profusely, and begins to scrape away with his piece of glass, which works almost as well as a sharp razor.

A spider and a tiv can’; make a bargain ’ Fine harness does not make a" fast horseGilded youth is quickly tarn’shed byadversity. J. Little things console us because little things afflict us. Prejudice roosts on a perch from which facts are barred. Love is sometimes blind, an I sometimes it is only a blind. The more you speak of yortrself the more you are likely to lie. Better say only’ half you think than think only half you say. Poverty may pinch an honest man. but it never destroys him. Curiosity js looking over other people’s affairs and overlooking our own. Some of the blessings that conic in disguise never take their masks off. There is nothing new under the sun except the methods of expressing old thoughts. The important difference between the natural and human sponge •« that mu can’t squeeze anything out of the terTruth is not a dress-suit conseeratej to special occasions: it is (tie strong, well-woven, durable homcsputi for dai — living.

The Cunard liner Campania has achieved the di-tinctiun of establishing the first wireless money order office at sea. Mr Henry Robertson, one of the saloon passengers, was dismayed on finding in the middle of the voyage for Liverpool that he did not possess sufficient ready money to pay the Customs dues on arrival at New York. To add to his difgculties, he had no friends on board to whom he could appeal. He rememliered, however, that his mother had sailed from New York in the Lucania on the same day that the Campania left Liverpool. When the liner was in mid-ocean, Mr Robertson sent a Marconigram addressed to his mother on board the Lucania, with which communication had been established when the two vessels were fifty miles distant. The message transmitted by Mr Robertson to -the Lucania read; “Pay purser Lucania £lO, a-king hint to advise purser Campania to pay me.” An hour later the purser of the Campania received the following message from the purser of the Lucania: “Pay Henry Robertson £ 10. Have collected amount from his mother aboard Lucania.”

It has frequently been said that muscles in excess of the’ practical wants of the body become not only useless but a danger. As soon as training ceases, the muscles must degenerate, this de?eneration sets loose in the system harmul salts which poison the blood, and render one very liable to disease. A celebrated writer says: “A big arm, fine biceps, and deltoid development may be very pretty to look at, but such arms have ofttimes cost their owners their lives.” Again he says, “One of the greatest pugilists quitted his regular occupation to enter the counting house. He died within a year of tuberculosis. The immense lungs necessary to the prize ring fall into disuse in the counting house. Disuse meant degeneration. Death followed. I have had under my professional observation several professional athletes in whom a similar result occurred.”

Writing on “Death Warmings” in the “London Morning Post,” Mr. Andrew Lang tells what he describes as “a really original and gruesome death warning.’” The anecdote, says Mr. Lang, comes to me at fourth hand. A saw the phenomenon, and told 8., who told C., who told me. A was driving westward from Euston Station in a hansom. He saw approaching him on the pavement a servant girl, who appeared to have been sent out on an er-rand. She met a man, whose back only was visible to A, she looked at him. gave a shriek of terror, and fled. After driving on for some thirty yards A stopped his cab, alighted, and walked back to confront the man who had frightened the maid. The man had the face of a corpse! A watched ham go to a certain house and let himself in with a latchkey. Next day A went and reconnoitred the house. It had a bill offering apartments to let, and on tin- excuse of wanting to take rooms A rang the bell, and was admitted. There were two sets of rooms, but, as to one set. the landlady was uncertain whether she could let them. They were held by a Mr - > who was at the front in the South African war (as a volunteer, apparently), and a report of his death had appeared in the newspapers of the previous day. Till the report was confirmed the rooms could not be let. The report was confirmed, and the inference was that A and the maid had seen a phantom of the late tenant, with a phantom latchkey, which opened a material door.

A dramatist like Mr. J. M. Barrie, whmse plays have tirmlv caught the pub’ he on both sides of the Atlantic, who has had for some time two comedies running in London and America, to say nothing of the provinces, at the same, time, must have been taking as toll from the theatre going public quite £5OO a week for a considerable time, or allowing for certain months in the year w hen the theatre Is practically dead, the income of the playwright who attains to the eminence of Mr. Barrie may, with out exaggeration, be put at the com fortable sum of £25,000, says a correspondent in a London paper, discussing the earnings of dramatists. It must bo remembered, too, that though a play often disappears from the ken of the London playgoer after its first run, it will, in man cases, be toured * the provinces year after year, every

week making some addition to the royalties it has earned. A successful play, therefore, may be stated to be worth £ 10.000. A very fairly successful novel is certainly not worth more than £ 1000, and very few novels reach that figure. It is, therefore, easy to see that of all men who earn their livings with their pen the dramatist is most to be envied, particularly as the actual num ber of words in a play rarely exceeds 8000 —that is, rather less than seven columns of the ordinary newspaperwhile few modern novels are less than 90,000 words, and many of them reach as much as 120,000.

There is an old wine mellowness about London, a softness, a quietness that is ono of its chief charms (says an American writer named Fremont Olden in the ’Frisco “Bulletin”). No one is in a rush, and no one talks loudly or excitedly, and for true politeness—politeness that has the ring of sincerity to it—you will find more of it in London than in any other European city. As an evidence of it, I rang the bell at Grey’s Inn the other day and asked the servant who answered'it if strangers were allowed -to enter. He said I might see the hall. He disappeared and presently returned with an elderly gentleman with gray hair and a. kindly face, who said he was a “bencher,” and would show me the hall. He spent an hour in taking me about the place, giving me •th;’ history of every window pane, picture, chair, and table. After he had gone I learned that my guide was none other (ban Sir Arthur Collins. Justice of the Supreme Court of India.

A charming little love-story reached the “live-happy-ever-after” stage at Earl’s Court Exhibition. London, recently. It began in far-away Egypt, where, in a little village close by the mighty Nile, dam, Hamdim Salaeh, a stalwart hunter, of the Bishari tribe, first met Halima Mahanred. Though Halima was but fourteen she could not withstand Hamdun’s love-making, and, in direct defiance, of tribal etiquette, met him several times in secret. Hamden then sent his mother to contract a bargain on his behalf for the hand of the maiden, and a marriage was arranged. Everything was going smoothly, when suddenly there oven, red a hitch in the shape of Halima's basbfulness. She expressed a determined abjection to marrying anyone until a year had elapsed, ;ind as this could not be overcome the two left Assouan in January last, engaged to visit London in the same troupe, and sailed from Egypt for Earl’s Court. The strange land, the chilly and wet summer, and homesickness, all combined to weaken Halima’s resolve, and as Hamdun was persistent and devoted in his courting by the Great Wheel, she at last consented to an immediate marriage.

There is of course a dark side to London, as there is to all great cities. It lies in wluit is known as the East End. There the poorer classes live, and there the criminal element abides. An Englishman who knows London well told me that very few of the workingmen of East London are married to the women they live with (says an American writer in the course of an article on “The Great Smoke"). A clergyman of his acquaintance. learning of this deplorable condition, decided that it was because these men were too poor to stand the expense of marriage. Arriving at this conclusion, he took up temporary residence in that neighbourhood and" made it known that he would marry the entire community free of charge. He expected to do a tremendous business at once. But no one came. Then he looked up a man whom he knew to be living with a woman not his wife, and asked him why he didn't marry. “I don't believe in it," the fellow said. “There is nothing in it for me. As it is. me and my woman get on all right 'together. She stays at home, does her work proper. and behaves herself. Why docs she? Because she knows if she doesn't, I'll turn her into the street. Now sup--I>ose I were to marry her. She’d negcct me; she’d run about with other men and she’d drink, and if I turned her into the street, she's go to the parish and say she was a married woman, married to a brute of a man who wouldn’t support her, and I would find myself in gaol. No, sir. No marriage for me.” The clergyman thereupon took down his sign and moved into a more congenial part of London.

The following extract from “The Little Revenge” in the the August “Scibner” gives some interesting facts about old Clovelly, the picturesque little Devonshire village: The boat shot from the landing like a high-strung horse given his head, out across the unbordered road of silver water, and in a moment, as we raced toward the low white clouds, we turned and saw the cliffs of the coast and the tiny village, a gay little pile of white, green-latticed houses steeped in foliage lying up a craek in the precipice- Above was the long stretch of the woods of Hobby Drive- Clovelly is so old that its name is in Domesday Book; so old, some say, that it was a Roman station, and its name was Clausa Vallis. But it is a nearer ancientness that haunts it now. Every wave that dashes on the rocky shore carries a legend of the ships to the Invincible Armada. As we asked question after question of our sailor, handsomer than ever today with a red silk handkerchief knotted sailor-fashion about hts strong neck, story after story flashed out, clear and dramatic, from his answers. The bunch of houses there on the shore? Yes, that had a history. The people living there were a dark-featured, reticent lot, different from other people hereabouts. It was said that one of the Spanish galleons went ashore there, and the men had been saved, and had settled on the spot, and married Devonshire women, but their descendants had never lost the tradition of their blood. Certainly their speech and their customs were peculiar, unlike those of the villages near. He had been there and had seen them, had heard thorn talk. Yes. they were distinct. He laughed a little to acknowledge it. with an Englishman’s distrust of anything theatrical- A steep cliff started out into the waves, towering three hundred feet in almost perpendicular lines. Had that a name? Yes, that was called "Gallantry Bower.” No; $ was not a. sentimental story—it was the old sea fight over again. It was said that an English sailor threw a rope from the height and saved life after life of the crew of a Spaniard wrecked under the point.

rhe average weight of the human brain (male) is about 49Aoz at forty years of age, the period of its highest development. The proportionate weight of the brain to that of the body is far greater at birth, when it is as 1 to 6. Little wonder that babies learn so rapid! v! At ten years the proportion is as 1 to 14. which accounts for boys of that age being so “fresh” with their superiors. When able to vote this proportion is reduced to 1 to 30. and after the young man is settled in life it is further reduced to about 1 to 36J. It has been said often that Daniel Webster had the heaviest brain of any man in the world in any age. This is pure guesswork. His brain actually weighed 61J oz, or about 30 per cent, above the average. The ordinary brain begins to lose weight after the fortieth year at the rate of one ounce every decade. Webster's continued to grow till the day of his death. Even his skull increased in size, as if to make room for the brain. His hats were always getting too small for him. He dared not leave his mea-

sure with a hatter because it had to be changed every year or two. The heaviest brain of which there is accurate reeord was that of Tugenieff, the celebrated Russian poet and novelist. It weighed 71 1-3 ounces, nearly ten ounces more than Webster’s. Cuvier, father of modern comparative anatomy, a man of gigantic intellect and ceaseless activity had a big brain. It weighed 65.7 ounces, or 1 1-5 ounces more than Websters. Byron had brains to spare, if weight counts for anything. His cerebral organs were nearly as large as Webster’s, weighing C 3.8 ounces. Schiller, another poet, owned 55.8 ounces of grey matter. While Dante, still another, had 50.2 ounces. Bauss, the great German mathematician, had a brain of 52.7 ounces. Professor Virchow has found a brain weighing 67.7 ounces, but its owner was absolutely without high mental development. He may have been sickly, as men with big brains usually are, the body being unable to nourish well so much head power. When you see a man whose Derby or silk hat becomes him, seems a part of him, “sets off,” and adds much to the tout ensemble, you may rest assured that he has a 6J head. But you cannot tell whether he possesses a brain of high quality or not. In brains it ia quality first, quantity next.

Philadelphia may produce a new motive power by harnessing the heat of the earth and utilising it for the driving of all classes of machinery. The discovery of the practicability of this is claimed by Mr H. C. Demming, mineralogist of the State Board of Agriculture“lt is now possible to have hot water and steam through holes bored into the earth,” says Mr Demming. "It is not only possible, but, with modern appliances, practicable. As coal and petroleum become dearer, it will finally be necessary to heat our buildings with something else. Some are looking to electricity, generated by wind or water power; but others, practical men, are Inquiring whether we cannot economically make use of the heat within the earth.” Hot water, Mr Demming continues, can be had from a depth of 7000 ft, and there should be no difficulty, he thinks, in obtaining steam lower down, as the average rate of increase in heat as one descends a mining shaft is IdegFahrenheit for every 60ft. Mr Demming proposes that, to raise steam, twin holes should be bored down to the hot area. The boles would converge at the bottom. Water poured into one would be heated ar>d turned into steam, which would oass thiongh the second hole to the earth’s surface for use- “The pressure of such a column of steam would be enormous; for, apart from the initial velocity, the descending column of cold water would exert a pressure of at least 50001 b to the square inch, which would drive everything movable through the second hole. Give me a dozen pairs of holes,” says Mr Demming to the Philadelphia local authorities, "Ift in diameter and each 12,000 ft deep, and I will guarantee to run continuously every movable piece of machinery in the city; with 24 pairs of holes I will, in addition, supply enough electricity to illumine every street and building from sunset to sunrise; and with 36 pairs every part of the city can be heated as well ”