Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue II, 9 January 1904, Page 13

Here and There.

Madame Patti, on her tour in America, insured her voice for the trip for £ 10,000. If she could not sing at any one concert she was to receive £ 1000-

Iceland has received a new coat of arms representing a white hawk on a blue field. The former arms consisted of a crowned codfish, to which objection has long been raised, “codfish” being the Iceland equivalent for “blockhead.”

Mascagni, having been refused reinstatement as director of the Conservatoire of Pesaro, has uttered a terrible threat. He will settle in Paris, and will not let Italy have his ashes when he is dead!

H. W. Stevenson, the ex-billiard champion, who has been on a tour in Australia, America and Canada, returned to London on November 14 last. He was away eight months, and altogether travelled 35,000 miles.

An American gentleman who committed suicide in Bloomsbury, London, left a note bequeathing his body to St. George’s Hospital for dissection “in the interests of science,” The coroner pointed out that such a bequest is not valid in law. Relatives conveyed ths body to America for burial.

An amusing story is told in Rome of an incident that happened recently. A tailor of the name of Pius Santopadre was to receive a sack of beans, but as the address ran “Santopadre Pio Sarto” the beans were conveyed to the Vatican and used in the Papal kitchen. In vain the sarto (tailor) waited for his beans, and he has now brought an action against the Vatican for illegal appropriation of the goods.

The expression “baker’s dozen,” which is in point of fact thirteen, has a history. For a baker in the olden times to give short weight in bread exposed him to considerable penalties, and thus the custom arose of adding an extra loaf to the dozen as compensation for any possible deficiencies in the rest of the batch. The additional one was originally a safeguard to avert the chance of a heavy fine.

Owing to a burglar llford, England, a lady, before going out to spend the evening, placed a box containing £3O, some jewellery and titledeeds in a basket filled with rags, which stood in the garden, and where it remained all night. Next morning a rag-and-bone man called, and the servant, with the mistress’s permission, sold him the contents of the basket for fourpence- Soon after the man had gone the lady remembered the box, but no trace of the man could be found.

It has often been remarked how both Lord Kitchener and General Baden-Powell persistently fight shy of matrimony. But it is worth noticing that a large number of our greatest soldiers are without heirs male. Poor Lord Roberts was left sonless by the death of his only son at Colenso. Lord Wolsely has no son, neither has Sir Redvers Buller. Another example of a sonlcss fighting man is Lord Charles Beresford.

A very curious fact Ib the impossibility of moving your eye while examining the reflection of that organ in a mirror. It is really the most movable part of the face; yet, if you hold your head fixed and try to move your eye while watching its, you cannot do it—even the one-thousandth of an inch. Of course*, If you look at the reflection of the nose, your eye must move to sec it. But the •trange thing is that the moment you endeavour to perceive the motion the eye is fixed. Ibis is one of the reasons why a person’s expression as seen by himself in a glar is quite different from What it is when seen by others.

In the “Medical World,” Dr. Moses describes a novel method of removing a fish-bone crosswise from the throat. The bone was too low to be reached by any forceps at hand, and the author recalled a method of procedure told him by an old doctor who had been taught it by a boy, namely, to tic a string in the eye of a smooth button, and let the patient swallow the button, edgewise, of course, and drew the button back by the string. This was done, and the bone was promptly dislodged-

A story is told of a major in a certain regiment who has a great contempt for incapacity of any kind, and is somewhat impatient. Some time ago he was in charge of a detachment of men guarding the lines of communication, and a sergeant complained to him that he could get no man to undertake the duty of barber to the company. “Is there no gardener in the company?” asked the major, testily. “I seem to remember one. See if you can find him and send him to me.” The man was duly sent, but, on receiving orders to act as barber, ventured to expostulate. “Great guns!” cried the major. “If you can cut grass you can cut hair! Go and do it!”

In Japan the nose is the only feature which attracts attention. The nose determines the beauty or ugliness of the face, according as it is big or small. This is probably due to the fact that difference in noses constitutes about the only distinction between one Japanese face and another. The eyes are invariably black, the cheekTbones high, and the chin receding. In Japan a lady who has a huge proboscis is always a great beauty and a reigning belle. There are a few large noses among the natives, and lucky is he or she upon whom nature lavishes one. In all Japanese pictures representing the supposedly beautiful woman the artist invariably Improves on Nature by depicting this feature as abnormally developed.

Mr J. P. Sousa, the well-knowij bandmaster and composer of inarches, who was recently thrown from his horse with unpleasant results, is a great equestrian- Some years ago, when he was recovering from the effects of typhoid fever, saddleback exercise was prescribed by his doctors, and he has been devoted io riding ever since. He is alsj a craek shot, in former days was a baseball player of distinction, and goes in also for boxing and bag-punching as a means of keeping himself in condition. But Sousa always declares that his daily performances alone give him plenty of exercise. He asserts that many a professional athlete cannot boast such a remarkable chest and arm development as he displays.

Mr Austin Brereton has written a very Interesting work on the Lyceum Theatre and Sir Henry Irving The author doea ample justice to the actc- in many of his famous characters. But I may supplement his comments respecting Sir Henry by alluding to his great services to the stage in rescuing it from the odium attached to the theatre for a century past. Never before ban the actor’s art had such recognition from society, never has it been so popular as at the present day. Even the gull and wormwc'Ad of the Nonconformist has lost something of its bitterness latterly, and it is by no means unusual to see clergymen at the theatre. This pleasant change is entirely due to the genius of Sir Henry Irving, and quite recently his generous conduct towards the shareholders of the Lyceum bar, won golden opinions from all circles of society, and the good influences of the famous actor have gone beyond London limits, and have borne fruit in America. Mr Brereton does not tell us much as to the future of the Lyceum, but I believe there is a prospect of a limited liability company taking over the theatre with all its dead weight of responsibilities, and once more attempting revive its past glories.—“P.l.P."

Keats, it is said, was born in a livery table. Verdi’s youth was spent as the son of a peasant in the arduous duties of the farm. Claude Lorraine, the landscape painter, when a boy, v. -s an apprentice to a pastrycook. Molierc, the French dramatist, began like as an apprentice to an upholsterer. James Mill was the son of a cobbler, and himself for a short time worked at the bench. John Calvin was an apprentice at the copper’s trade. Turner, the painter, spent his boyhood in a barber’s shop. Athens, Greece, the only capital in Europe which cannot be reached by rail, is separated by several honrln d miles from the European main railway system, of which Brindisi, Salonika, and Constantinople may be regard id as the three southern termini. A projected line, from Athens to Salonica will bridge the last gap in the chain. When this is completed it will be possible to run through carriages from Calais to Athens, and the Greek capital will be brought within three days of London. At present the quickest transit is five days, via Brindisi and Patras, which involves a sea voyage almost as long as that between Brindisi and Egypt. A health expert who has been airing his views, claims to have solved the problem of how to add ten years to lifeAccording to this gentleman, those who wish to add a decade to then’ existence should avoid over-eating, especially flesh meat, shun alcohol, sleep in fresh air with open windows, never exceed three meals a day. walk as much as possible in the sunshine, breathe deeply, and sleep on the right side so as to allow free action to the heart. The great mass of humanity, he says, suffer from ignorance of dietetic pi .- ciples, whereas the study and obsers ance of these principles would make people healthy and able to enjoy life to the full. It is related of Mr Zangwill, ths famous editor, that many years ago, when an obscure lad teaching in r, Jewish school in London, he sent a short poem to one of the best-known American monthly magazines. The poem came back by the first mail. But he kept it by him, and a long time afterwards sent it on again to tbe same magazine. This time, on its receipt. he received a cable from the proprietors of the magazine offering to buy the “world’s rights,” and almost hrmediately thej issued a huge poster Intimating that their next issue woula contain a poem by Mr Zangwill. This was the same poem, word for word. Mr. Cyril Maude, in his now book, about “The Haymarket Theatre,” telli us that the venerable playhouse once possessed a notable old stage carpenter, Oliver Wales. One night, the present King, as Prince of Wales, visited the theatre, and went behind after the “show,” “The Prince had lit a cigar, which ho smoked while Mr. Tree explained the various features between the scenes. When they got to the back of the stage, who should the manage;’ espy but .old Oliver Wales quietly enjoying a pipe in a corner! Can one imagine his Royal Highness’s consternation when Tree called out peremptorily, •How dare you, Wales! Stop smoking at once I” A hero of the Boer War named Parker has died from his injuries at. Billnrlcay, England recently. While re ohr noitering with his party in South *'.ic.« a call was made for some one to volunteer to ride towards a kopje. w,.era the enemy was supposed to be concerned, and draw their fire- Parker io<fl out at once. His horse was killed, ami he was shot in the spine. He was invalided Home, and when Queen Victoria visited Netley she remained some tiire by Parker’s bed conversing with him, and was distressed on learning from tl?d doctor that nothing eould be dono to eave the men’s life. On leaving, tbl Queen gave Parker the bunch of lilies which she carried- When the Queen died Parker sent a bunch of lilies, a-J the King ordered them to be placed on the Queen’s coffin.

The new Lord Mayor of London —Sir James T. Ritchie—is an elder brother of the ex-C'hancellor of the Exchequer, and the brothers have a striking facial resemblance. The Lord Mayor had a short career in Australia in his early tnanhood, bub, returning to London, joined his younger brother in a jute business at Stratford. He was well on in his fifties before he came into any prominence in London civic life. Like his brother, he is a progressive Conservative, but politics have not had for him an abiding attraction. “The World’’ says that Sir J. T. Ritchie studies keenly the delightful “art of being a grandfather,” and his two little grandsons And him in leisure moments an indefatigable companion and playmate- As he is a widower one of his daughters will act as Lady Mayoress at Mansion House functions.

The Hereditary Princess of Wied, born a Princess of Wurteinberg, is now engaged in the endeavour to “engraft upon Berlin an up-to-date social life,” to quote the words of a circular which she has just issued to all the leading ladies of the German capital, urging them to organise “five-o’clock tea receptions from four to six.” These social gatherings are to be held, not at the private houses of the ladies, but at the Kaiserhof Hotel. The object of these “gemuthlivhcn Tasscn Theo,” unlike Carlyle’s “aesthetic teas,” is a charitable one, so that tickets are to cost eighteen pence; but in spite of the social opportunities thus presented it is doubtful whether these Kaiserhof entertainments will prove as attractive as the “Kaffeeklatsch” institution, which is the favourite afternoon recreation of Gennan Indies. It is something new to hear that tea-drinking is becoming more popular in the Fatherland, as hitherto the decoction has been regarded rather as medicinal than social.

Tn a certain town, which shall bo nameless, there once lived a couple of young fellows who had gone into partnership in a barber’s business, and in order to pass the time one particularly dull afternoon Tom proposed to Dick that they should indulge in a quiet game at “Nap.” The. quiet game went on hour after hour, and when the shades of night had fallen for some time neither of them noticed that a customer had entered. He surveyed them in silent contempt for some few minutes. “Sorry if I interrupt,” he said acidly at last; “but I’m in a hurry. Which of you fervid sportsmen is going to shave me?” Tom looked over the hand which had just been dealt him. Then, in a voice full of suppressed excitement, he said: “Just one moment, sir. Wait until we sec who owns the shop!” A now reason for going to church is given by Mr Joseph Shaylor, in “The Book Monthly.” Young authors in search for good title?, he says, if they follow carefully- the reading of the lessons and the hymns that arc snug, will be sure before long to find what they want. We do not recommend church attendance on such grounds, but there is no doubt some of the most effective titles for novels lyave been found in a familiar Bible phrase. A couple of generations ago the practice would probably have been condemned ns irreverent, and perhaps not without reason. Miss Braddon was one of the earliest offenders. and one of the worst, “Strangers and Pilgrims,” “One Thing Needful,” “Golden Calf,” “Thou Art the Man,” are some of her titles, and also “Just as I am.” Two, at least, of those titles seem to transgress due bounds. Women novelists especially were early disposed to take titles from Scripture. Long ago our friend Miss Worboise chose “The House of Bondage,” Mrs Amelia E. Barr has “Feet of Clay/’ Miss Rhoda Broughton “Cometh Up as a Flower”—all quite unobjectionable. Anthony Trollope has “An Eye for an Eye;” Edmund Yates (from the Prayer Book), “For Better for Worse;” Thomas Hardy “The Laodicean” and “The Well-Beloved.” Mr Baring-Gould 50 years ago, as a young man of 20, published “The Path of the Just.” Mr Kipling took “Many Inventions” from Ecclesiastes. Other recent, titles drawn from Holy Writ will be in the minds of readers. Mr Shaylor found that nearly SO of the books published in one month lately had been named in this way.

A great many years ago the people of Egypt, had many idols, worshipped the cat, among others. They thought she was like the moon, because she was more active at night, and because her eyes changed like the moon, which is sometimes full, and at other times only a light crescent, or, as we say, a halfmoon. Bo they made an idol with a cat’s head, and named it Pasht. The same name they gave to the moon, for the word means “the face of the moon.” The word has been charged to “Pas” and “Pus,” and has come at last to be “Puss,” the name the most of us give to the cat. Puss and pussy-cat arc pet names for kitty anywhere now. Who ever thinks of the name as given to her thousands of years ago and the people who then bowed down and prayed to her?

Twenty thousand guineas is a great sum for a racehorse to fetch, but this price, which was given for Ard Patrick, has been topped at least twice within twenty years. Flying Fox, the Derby winner in 1899, was sold for £39,375, the largest sum ever given for a racehorse. The mighty Ormonde, winner of the 1886 Derby, went abroad for £30,000, and St. Blaise, winner of the Derby in 1883, was sold for £20,000. The three highest priced horses in racing history hav-e been decured by foreigners. Such enormous investments turn out very profitable, as the stud fees yield a very handsome return afterpaying an insurance premium and the stable expenses. A stud fee of 250 gns, is nothing uncommon. Yearlings by Derby winners have been known to fetch as much as £5 500 guineas cadi. The late Captain Machell in one season laid out 40,000 guineas on yearlings of the highest class, and all they won between them was £BOO.

Some of the Oriental methods of treating various flowers as edibles, in the way of salads and sweets, have recently found favour in this country. Chrysanthemum salad is appreciated by many people, and flower fritters are now made. Many of these dishes have a delicate quality that should cause them to find favour nt women’s luncheons. What could be more tempting to a young woman, for instance, than a sweet made of chrysanthemums, another made of violets, and a third of rose-petals? Each of these flower fritters is made in the same way. Take, for instance, the seasonable chrysanthemum one. A fresh chrysanthemum is selected, and is carefully washed. Then its petals are plucked off, and a little of the green leaf is ehoped and stirred into a batter made of beaten eggs and flour. Then the petals themselves are dipped in the batter, and afterwards they are dropped lightly into a pan of boiling oil, which browns them in a moment. They are taken out of the oil. and placed on absorbent paper, which drains the grease from them. They are served warm, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

M. Paderewski is said to be sometimes annoyed at the silly stories published about him—and small wonder. “It is natural that the greater part of my audiences should be made up of women, especially in America, where the men do not have so much time to devote to music as the women have. But the stories about the numerous ladies who have asked for locks of hair and photographs are mere invention,” he protest- ■?<!. The great player awards the palni to Germany as possessing the most musical women. That is because a love for music is traditional in Germany, and has become now a habit. As far as instinct for music is concerned, the German women are no better off than the American. French, or English. He also finds Italian women very musical, but American women perhaps the most appreciative. Mme. Paderewski laughs at the idea of her being jealous because all the ladies adore her husband. She thinks it is beautiful; no, more than beautiful—wonderful. It is homage given 'to his art. “When we were last in Boston” (she said) “we arrived only an hour or two before the concert and drove to a hotel near the hall. And there I saw already a long line of young girls and women waiting for the doors to open. Most of them had worked hard all day, too. I said then to my husband, ‘Well, I, am afraid I could never show you sueh devotion.’”

The little man was expounding to his audience the benefits of physical culture.

“Three years ago,” he said, “I was a miserable wreck. Now what do you suppose brought about this great change in met” “What change?” said a voice from the audience. There was a succession of loud smiles, and some persons thought to see him collapse. But the little man was not to be put out. “Will the gentleman who asked 'What change’ kindly step up herel” he asked suavely. “I shall then be better able to explain. That’s right!” Then, grabbing the witty gentleman by the neck: “When I first took up physical culture I could not even lift a little man, now (suiting action to word) I can throw one about like a bundle of rags.” and finally he flung the interrupter half a dozen yards along the floor. “I trust, gentlemen, that you will see the force of my argument, and that I have not hurt this gentleman’s feelings by my explanation.” There were no more interruptions.

“The way to discriminate between functional disorder of the heart and an actual organic disease is to note, first, whether the abnormalities that present themselves are constant, or whether ■they are only detected occasionally. If the pulse is quite irregular at times, but strictly normal at others, this is evidence that the disturbance is functional, not organic,” writes a physician. “But very few cases of so-called heart disease are anything more than functional disturbance, due either to chronic dyspeptic conditions or to some other cause.

“If the patient is dyspeptic, then the treatment must be of the kind that will restore tone to the digestive organs. There are many things that will aid in this—a correct dietary, plenty of exercise in the open air, increased capacity for breathing, a certain amount of bathing and rubbing, a sufficiency of sleep, periods of rest for body and mind, cheerful surroundings, and so on. “Many a patient has found his ‘heart symptoms’ disappear after getting rid of his dyspeptic conditions, and he who is troubled with abnormal affections of that organ need not regard his case as hopeless until he has first ascertained whether those affections are, not dependent upon some other functional disorder.”

Victor Emmanuel 111., King of Italy, who recently visited though not the youngest of reigning monarchs, is very young to be saddled with the troubles of kingship, being only thirtyfour years of age. His early "life was one of hard study and physical weakness. In his childhood he suffered from rickets. Blain living and hard learning undermined his health, so it was only through the prompt action of liis father, the late King Humbert, in sending him about the world that he was in a great measure restored to health. King

Victor is an enthusiastic soldier, and in the army he is beloved and has th® reputation of being a severe commander. He is a keen sportsman, and is very, fond of the water, and also has a collection of 20,000 which is said to be the finest in Europe. His consort in a brunette with dark eyes, jet-black hair, and a very fair complexion. She plays both the piano and the violin, is devoted to sport, and is as fond of the sea as her husband. She speaks four languages, including Russian. It is entirely through her relations with the Russian Court that the Czar and her husband are sueh good friends, each having played into the other’s hands jp the matter of love-making.

Our Northern friends seem to know as little about negro lingo as they know about negro character. If they write “am” for “is” and “b” for “v” or “h” and ring in a “done” in most unexpected places, and write “massa” for master, they think they are writing dialect. They have manufactured a. dialect of their own and stick to it. It is strange to us that they do not study the writings of Joel Chandler Harris, Frank Stanton, Tom Page, Polk Miller, and other Southern authorities. If so they would save themselves many a blunder. One of the most notable blunders the Northern dialect writers make is the use of the word “massa” for ths genuine negro word “marster.” Strang® enough, some Southern writers of the new generation have fallen into the same error. If we remember, Miss Winnie Davis, in one of her books, puts the counterfeit into the mouth of on® of her negro characters. Wc have often wondered where the counterfeit came from. Surely, we never heard a. slave say “massa,” and we have never seen any Southern man who did. Perhaps it originated in the old song, “Massa’s in de col’, col’ groun’.” But where did the composer of the song get the word? Does anybody know? We have repeatedly asked the question, and have never received a satisfactory reply.—* Richmond (Virginia) “Times-Dispatch.”

Mr Andrew Lang, like Coleridge, wants every poet, novelist, essayist, and historian to be his own reviewer. He proposes —facetiously, of course — tliat, some capitalist should start a paper called “Every Man His Own Reviewer, * for which literary men should write signed reviews of their own work. Mr Lang (writing in the New York “Independent”) argues his droll idea onl with all the earnestness of Mr G. K* Chesterton propounding one of weird paradoxes. No man, he insists, could have criticised “Macaulay’s History” so well and so tartly as Macaulay himself. And Mr Lang adds a little, autobiographical flavour to the suggestion by a confession that, long ago ((11® says), I was asked by a newspaper editor to review anonymously a volume of the “Encyclopaedia Britannica,” to which I had contributed an article: «n Moliere. Too late for correction, I had

discovered errors which only a person who had worked hard on the subject was likely to notice. These blunders I rebuked, but the editor of the Encyclopaedia was not pleased by my candour.

Who of us has not suffered untold misery and humiliation during storms on account of the ribs breaking from their sockets in our umbrellas? The inevitable puncture to the covering that follows such breaks, and the subsequent impossibility to make the injured article close properly, have caused many of us to desert our rain - protectors in the street. Few people ever have common umbrellas repaired after the ribs break, and fewer still are aware of the fact that a simple precaution against rust in the rib-joints will make them last twice as long as usual. When you purchase a new umbrella, before using it, inject a small quantity of vaseline into the hinge portions of the frame. Vaseline, will not spread like other oils and spoil the covering, and it is a sure preventive against the rust that is the primary cause of the ribs parting from their sockets or rotting off.

Mrs Dowie and her son, Dr. A. J. Gladstone Dowie, conducted services in London when they went to England after the New York fiasco. “The Rev. Jane Dowie, Overseer of Women’s Work in the Christian Catholic Church in Zion,” as she was described on the handbills, wore a black gown over a loose white robe, while Dr. A. J. G. Dowie wore academic robes of Chicago University. At an interruption from the audience ho exclaimed, “If there are any cads here who wish to make a noise, will they get out? And will they go quickly and at once? I won’t stand any impudence—not one bit, either in England or America.” Mrs. Dowie, in her address, remarked that when the people began to receive the Dowie-given blessing of Divine healing, when the blind were receiving sight and the deaf hearing, the ministers of the Churches started to tell “abominable lies” about the work, and, she added, “If a minister starts to lie he can do it even better than the newspapers, and that is saying a good deal.” Ihe address was mainly devoted to a scathing criticism of the press, of i lookers, of medical treatment, and of a certain intractable member of the Dowie family. Dr. Dowie, senior, was constantly refered to as “Elijah, the Restorer of all things.”

Sir Frederick Treves, who, it will be remembered, attended and operated upon the King during his serious illness of last year, has, according to the “Onlooker.” stated that one of the deadliest of sweetmeats is preserved ginger, which cannot be eaten with safety by anyone who has a tendency to appendicitis. Pineapple,, fresh or preserved, is said by the great surgeon to be almost equally risky; and oranges, figs, raspberries—in fact, all fruits with pips, are stated to be very dangerous eating. Inquiries at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, made by a London paper, resulted in replies which tended to confirm Sir Frederick’s gloomy view of matters. "It is quite true,” said one of the house-surgeons; appendicitis is more common than you suppose, and fruit pips are frequently the cause. In many cases they set up inflammation, and cause a swelling which prevents the foreign body from being ejected by ordinary muscular processes.” Dr. S. Kellett Smith discussed the question of appendicitis in the “Lancet” some time ago, and said that in his student days the disease was rare, and he was further of the opinion that the trouble frequently arose from the different feeding conditions, adding, “Probably four-fifths of the chief perishable comestibles are frozen or chilled for transmission or collection before reaching the consumer. Chilled or frozen meat, fish, poultry, game, etc., are notoriously prone to rapid decomposition when removed from the cold store, and degenerate more onickly after cooking than unfrozen articles.”

Following the argument, Dr. Kellett Smith thought that the ingestion of ehilled or frozen food especially liable to rapid decomposition might result in a more septic state of the intestine than in presold storage days, and possibly cause inflammation of the appendix.

Last week, says a recent “Sketch,” witnessed the triumph of two remarkable mechanisms, namely, the Lebaudy airship and the Locke chainmoker. The large steerable balloon known as “Le Jaune,” belonging to the Lebaudy brothers, made a trip from Moisson, near Mantes, to Paris, a distance as the crow flies of 34J miles. Moisson lies northeast of Paris, but as the wind blew from the south-south-west at 61yds per second the course taken by the aeronaut made the actual journey nearly sixty miles, which was accomplished in Ihr 42nnn. During the voyage the aeronaut, M. Juchmes, used 2861 b of ballast out of 6381 b which he took with him. The greatest height attained was 1000 ft, but the average was only a third of that. The descent was aided by the workmen who are engaged in demolishing the remains of the 1900 exhibition, and the presence of the balloon soon attracted a large crowd. The chaimnaker introduced by the Locke Steel Chain Company at Crowe’s Market, Tottenham, Loudon, is a marvel. At one end you see a belt of hoop steel drawn in, at the other it emerges as a linked belting chain. The upper section of the machine looks like a steam hammer, but the anvil upon which it descends is not entirely a fixture; a section of it moves in unison with the upper ram. Both the upper and lower parts have dies fixed to them, and it is these dies which ingeniously accomplish the cutting and linking trick when the two massive parts come together. The chain thus produced in a continuous reel is afterwards hardened and tempered by being fed through a gas furnace, from which it issue: to pass into a tank of water. The coil is then lowered into a tank of hot oil in order to effect oil tempering. A ton of hoop steel produces a ton of chain. The machine can turn out 2000 ft of chain per diem.

Sir Mortimer Durand, who has been appointed British Ambassador to Washington in place of the late. Sir Henry Herbert, used to be an Inveterate smoker, and thereby hangs a tale. After his successful Mission to Kabul he returned to England, and, with Sir Salter Pyne, the Amir’s agent, was commanded to Osborne to dine and sleep. Arter Her Majesty the late Quean had withdrawn they discovered, to their horror, that Osborne did not possess a smokingroom, so they retired to their sleeping apartments, held a consultation, and as a result range for cigars. Presently the door was flung open, and a majordomo ushered in a small army of finelooking men in scarlet and gold bearing small tables and trays with all sorts of refreshments, and a variety of priceless cigars, which, like good servants, they comfortably arranged in a trice and noiselessly departed. Then the two visitors lit up, but knowing that Her Majesty detested the smell of tobacco, and fearing that her apartments might possibly be somewhere in the neighbourhood, they deemed it expedient to take a leaf from the schoolboy’s book, and to—smoke- up the chimney!” The recent sale in London of the “nobleman’s” gown worn by King Edward when at Cambridge has revived a stock of reminiscences of His Majesty’s undergrad’late days, several of which will be new to the present generation. “Many a time have I seen the Prince,” says an old townsman, “walking down Trinity-street with his gown thrown over his arm, his hat tilted slightly on one side of his head, and smoking a big cigar—in defiance of the regulations, of course. But what would you? He was the Prince of Wales, and, as such, secure from the interference of the Proctors.” It may not be generally known that the Prince, when an undergraduate, was very fond of cricket, and would often go down to Parker’s Piece (the public recreation ground at Cambridge, and used alike by Town and Gown before the University Club acquired "Fenner’s”) and take his place at the wickets. On these occasions he would sometimes place a sovereign on the middle stump as a reward for the first bowler who should succeed in dislodging it; and it is perhaps superfluous to add that he never had need to complain of the class of halls sent down to him. But it may nlso be noted that the Prince was no indifferent bat, and did not succumb to the bowling ei

the professionals quite as readily as they would have wished. A great lore of music was an attribute of the Prinee, and he was generally to be seen on Bunday afternoon at the service in King’s College ChapeL But he seldom, or never, occupied a seat in the choir stalls, preferring to sit in the antechapel. The expectation of his attendance always had the effect of filling the building, and the members of the fair sex never lost an opportunity of showing themselves off to the best advantage for his especial delectation. The London New><” tells a remarkable tale of how a bookmaker in one of the Thames resorts was swindled. The bookmaker in question was out fishing the other day, and in the course of the afternoon the professional fisherman who accompanied him mooted the subject of racing, and said he had received an unexpected £5 that morning, and expressed his inclination to have a “flutter” of a couple of sovereigns on a certain horse in the throe o’clock race. It was a little past the time, but the two men were by themselves in the middle of the river, which is practically deserted at this time of the year. The fisherman had had no intercourse with anyone, and there could be no possible ground for suspicion. The bookie took the two sovereigns, and found when the boat returned to shore that the horse had won at 20 to 1. He went fishing on the following day, and to give bis lucKy client a chance, took £5 off him on a named horse in precisely the same way as on the preceding day. This won at 6 to 1. On the Cambridgeshire day, the fisherman had a gamble of £lO on Hackler’s pride, while the two were again fishing. Later in the evening, the bookmaker overheard a casual remark from the keeper of the lock below where he had been fishing to the effect that some people must, have had a wonderful fancy for Hackler’s Pride, for he had found the horse’s name written on over half a dozen wooden chips floating about the lock. The remark set the bookmaker cogitating, and he came to the conclusion that with the combined aid of the telephone, a confederate in n boat a little higher up the stream, and a judicious floating down of sundry wooden chips with the winning horse’s name upon it, some of which were certain to lodge behind the punt, he had been cleanly defrauded of a sum which the fisherman afterwards gleefully described as “his winter’s keep.” The announcement that the Royal Artillery are to be trained in musketry is an interesting one, and shows that one of the lessons of the Boer war has been taken seriously to heart. The fight for the guns which formed so tragic a feature of the disaster at Colenso might possibly have had another ending had the Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery been expert riflemen and been placed in position to make the best use of their weapons. It is with a view to preparedness for such emergencies that FieldMarshal Sir Evelyn Wood hrs promulgated his scheme for the instruction of the Artillery in the Second Army Corps in Musketry. To the “moral” effect created by gunfire the Artillery in future will, when occasion demands, and the

guns are useless, be able to add the effect of rifle fire at close M is a valuable reserve power, calculated to give increased confidence in action.

There is an incident connected with old St. Paul's, remarkable in itself, but made still more so by the many celebrated writers who allude to it. In the year 1600, “a middle-sized bay English gelding,” the property of Banks*, a servant to the Karl of Essex, and a vintner in Cheapside, ascended to the top of St. Paul's, to the delight, it is said by Dekker, of “n number of asses.*’ who brnxed below. Bankcs had tau* .it his horse, which went by the name of Marocco, to count, and to perform a variety of feats. “Certainly,’’ says Sir Walter Raleigh, in his history, “if Banzes had lived in older tin es, ho would have shamed all the enchanters of ihe world; for whosoever was most famous among them could never master or instruct any beast as he did his horse.” When tho novelty had somewhat lessened in London, Bankes took his wonderful horse first to Paris, and afterwards to Rome. He had bettor ’nave staged at home, for both he and his horse (which was shod with ’.’ver) were burnt for witchcraft. Shakespeare a‘hides Io “the dancing horse”; .•••.<! in a tract. 1595, there is a rude wood*”, it of the unfortunate juggler and his r moUB gelding. Has it ever been your lot to sit at a table with a .up of young folk who ate the meal h; silence, or, with few <• ’’strained words, lool<ed askance at the head of the family before venturing on any remark? Many will have seen such a sight on more than one occasion. Doctors have told us over and over again of the beneficial results arising from a meal eaten with a contented fianus of mind and with cheerful surroundings; but, sad to say, there ait; many households where each meal is p, constant scene of bickering, nagging, and fault finding. This is not only the case where there are young children who require a reprimand occasionally for carelessness, but also frequently in those homes where the girls ard boys are well in their teens. Wrong is thatparent—either father or mother - who chooses the hour when all are assembled round the table to mention some ha If-forgotten grievance, or to find some fault. If any trivial thing has been dons wrong, or any duty omitted, wait until dinner or ten is over, before you scold, blame, or reprimand. More indigestion, nervousness and other derangements are caused by the too common fault of uncomfortable mealtimes than many people would suppose; and it is our positive duty, which we should all try tn remember, to make those hours of the day cheerful and agreeable to the children, and to set them an example which you would be the first to notice and approve in others.