Here and There.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue XXV, 18 June 1904, Page 13

Here and There.

A story is going the round about Admiral Alexeieff, the Czar’s Viceroy in the Far East, which is not altogether to the credit of that high official. Some twenty years ago Alexeieff, in command of the Russian cruiser Alaska, visited Victoria, British Columbia, it was at a time when relations between England and Russia were strained almost to the breaking-point. Yet the Alaska, in defiance of all naval etiquette, sailed in with ports open, and omitted to salute the British gunboat Opal, then iu the harbour. In result, the captain of the Opal gave the Russian two hours to clear. Clear lie did. and that without paying sundry bills for provisions which he had contracted.

Great pictures have an unhappy knack of disappearing, and lucky would be the individual who should find Sir Joshua Reynolds’ “ Countess of Derby,” for it would realise an enormous sum. This was acknowledged to be Reynolds’ greatest portrait; but not long after it was painted it disappeared from the Earl of Derby’s collection, and has never since been heard of. There are also two Vandykes and a Rembrandt missing, for which collectors would willingly P a y £50.000; and, no doubt, the Earl of Crewe would give a five-figured reward to anyone who restored the Cupid cut by some vandal from the picture of a former Countess of Crewe and her son, who was painted as the little sprite.

The popularity of bridge is a most serious rival to the society entertainer in London, which has so long been his happy hunting ground. Musical sketches, conjuring, and thought-reading are displaced by the all-absorbing game, and many artists who were making good incomes three years ago now find it most difficult to procure an engagement. Hostesses who used to spend large sums on entertaining now find their guests prefer to play bridge to having amusement provided, and, in fact, regard anything that takes their attention off the game as a nuisance. All the agents tell the same story—nothing doing in the entertainment line.

That the number of new peerages created does not swell the numbers of the House of Lords to bursting point is due to the fact that old peerages are constantly becoming extinct. During the past century no fewer than 124 peerages died out through lack of heirs. There are at present quite a considerable number of peers without heirs. Lord Milner, for instance, has no heir. Neither has Lord Lister. Lord Janies of Hereford and Lord Llandaff have no one to succeed to their titles, lands Hobhouse, Haliburton. Field, and Welby are in the same case; while everyone must regret that when_ the popular Lord Brampton (better known as .Sir Henry Hawkins) dies there will be no one to perpetuate his well-won title.

The hurrying mouths are passing, Another birthday near! And someone is lamenting In secret, so I hear. The idle gossips whisper That it is much too late To hope for any miracle to save an old maid's fate. What base insinuation! What falsehood, line on line! For lots of litre things happen when a girl is twetity-ulne.

“Young things" may still be pretty. No doubt. Yet critics state They're really quite old-fashioned And somewhat out of date. Our dramas, poems, and novels, As anyone can see, Have relegated “sweet sixteens” to tales of ancestry. If heroines are older. It’s certainly a sigh That Jois of tilings may happen when a girl’s "sweet twenty nine.''

So do not grow too wistful O’er long forgotten teens. With sighs of retrospection For whispered luight-Uavc-beeus. But If you smile as sweetly As then, and are as coy. And never show that you prefer a greybeard to a boy; In short, if you’re your own true self. You'll never have to pine! For “everything" can happen when a . girl la twenty nine.

Many street customs of Mexico are surprising and somewhat confounding to foreigners when they first enter the count ry. For instance, hand clapping is the usual way of attracting attention. If a limn wants to stop a street car or eall a messenger, he simply brings the palms of his hands together several times instead of whistling or shouting at the top of his voice. When the attention of a person is secured, an overhand motion, the the opposite of beckoning. signals that he or she is wanted by Hie person signalling. That portion of a pavement farthest removed from the street is the p.pJt of honour, and is invariably surrendered to women and by people of the lower class to their superiors. If you walk along the street with a Mexican, he is careful to take the ’outside position. Salutations at a distance are accomplished by passing the right hand in front of the face, palm inward, the fingers working during the manoeuvre.

Mr Harry Golding, in the “Windsor,” describes the process of making the electlie glow-lamp as carried out at the Hammersmith works of the General Electric Company. The fine filament in the glow-lamp is composed of cottonwool, which is slowly perfected through many processes. First, it appears in a cellulose mixture of wool and chloride of zinc. This mixture, when cooked enough, is squeezed through nozzles, and reappears on the other side like vermicelli, which is left to harden in jars of spirit. The coils are then wound on revolving drums to dry. The thread is next cut into lengths and twisted into the characteristic loop. They are then baked in graphite for 24 hours. The two ends arc next mounted on platinum wires, and the junction sealed with carbon deposit. It is rendered even by being electrified in hydrocarbon vapour, the earbon settling on the thinner parts, which are therefore the hottest. The filament is fixed in a glass bulb, which is with great care rendered a complete vacuum, and sealed. It is then capped with brass or vitrite. The finer work is done by women.

Few realise how little can sustain the body in water. One finger on a campehair or small box or board will easily keep the head above water, while the feet and the other hand are paddling towards shore. One need not know how to swim to keep from drowning. Faith in the buoyancy of water is all you need, and children and all others should practice to gain it; it will serve better in most emergencies than even expertness as a swimmer. When pleasure-boats capsize everybody wants to get on top of the overturned or half-filled boat; but it is generally not large enough to keep all entirely above water, and nearly all are drowned. If they would trust the water to bear ninety-nine hundredths of their weight, and the wrecked boat the other one-hundredth, they might all be saved. An upset boat will keep the head above water of as many people as can get their hands on the gunwale, though it would carry very few. Some day these simple facts may save your life.

What is the precise value of education to a literary career? There are some who would rank it high, as Mr Lang. Yet Burns was a poet of fame and a man of humble education. Probably the problem will never be solved; but here is an anecdote that may be styled cynical, and certainly does not pretend to be in any way elucidatory. The other day, in a company of eight men of letters, some of whom are well known, writes the London "Daily Mail,” a question as to the number of parts of speech was asked. Silence reigned—and then wild guesses. A famous author hazarded five, another seven. Upon the face of a third was immutable wonder, us if he were striving to recall from the mists of the past what these things might be. Genius may spring from the gutters, but it generally doesn’t. The chances of excellence in letters are greater among the educated classes. But that lias nothing to do with academic education. Most great poets failed at college, if

they were ever there; and Shelley was expelled. Keats knew Greek only in translations; Diekens was not “educated.” The case for education might easily be given a bad time.

In a recent number of “ Technic*** there is a very interesting article by Lord Rayleigh on shadows. Apropos of acoustic shadows, or shadows thrown by sound, the writer says:—“Since the sound emitted is nearly inaudible, some objective method of observing it is required. For this purpose we may utilise the discovery of Barrett and Tyndall. that a gas llame issuing under somewhat high pressure from a pinhole burner flares when sound waves impinge on it, but recovers and burns steadily when the sound ceases. The sensitiveness of the flame depends <hi the pressure of the gas, which should be adjusted so that flaring just does not occur in the absence of sound. If the bird call is directed towards the sensitive flame, the latter flares so long as the call is sounded, and no obstacle intervenes. On interposing the hand about midway between the two, the flame recovers and burns steadily. Thus the sound emitted by the bird call casts a shadow, and to this extent resembles light.”

In the “Young Man” Mr. Hugh Arthur ■Scott, who was for a short time amanuensis to Mr. Herbert Spencer, gives, on the whole, a sympathetic and admiring sketch of the philosopher’s character. He feels it his duty to refer to another characteristic which no true record of the philosopher could overlook. Beyond all question, lie remarks, Mr. Spencer was an extremely irascible man. No one could lie less philosophical in his manner at times than “our great philosopher.” The slightest trifles were enough to put him out on occasion, and, in the heat of the moment, he was apt to say and do things which no doubt he afterwards regretted. He was not, it ir.ust be confessed, an altogether easy man to have relations with. That inflexible integrity which distinguished him was accompanied at the same time by a certain angularity of temperament which more than frequently breed discord. Liberalism, says Emerson, somewhere. Is individual and imperious; conservatism is debonair and social. Spencer was emphatically individual and imperious. He was emphatically not one who suffered fools gladly; and as, like Carlyle, he took the view that most people (including Carlyle himself, it may lie added) fell within this category, his relations with his contemporaries were often strained.

An interesting article on the mystical and sacred number seven has been contributed by Herr E. Sabel to “ Nord und Sud.” The writer tells the history of the use and significance of the number from the earliest known Bible times. The number appears in the Veda probably as early as the sixteenth or seventeenth century 8.C.; it was familiar to the ancient Brahmins, the Babylonians, and the Chinese; in the. legends connected with Buddha it frequently occurs: the Babylonians talked of seven worlds, seven rivers, seven evil spirits, and are said to have changed their week of five days for one of seven; and in China, even before the days of Buddhism, seven was an important number. Naturally the mystical use of the number soon spread among the neighbouring nations—the inhabitants of Mesopotamia and Chaldea, the Assyrians, and the Medes ami Persians. It occurs in Zoroastrianism, and in Persian epic story and Persian history it is a favourite number. The number was also known to the Ancient Egyptians. Jn Ancient Greece and in Ancient Rome seven was in constant use. In Astronomy we have the Seven Stars or Pleiades. We read of the Seven-branched Candlestick and many other “sevens” in the Old Testament. In the Apocalypse seven is the leading number. Mahomet speaks of seven heavens. In the Koran there are seven heavens, seven earths, seven seas. In the Talmud also there are seven heavens. There is the legend of the Seven Sleepers, the Seven Christian youths of Ephesus persecuted under Decius. who hid themselves in a cave and slept there for nearly two hundred years. We know the seven chief virtues and the eeven deadly sins of the Catholic Church, and we have the seventh heaven, or a state of supreme bliss of popular usage.

YT tn Dy this time a fruion to remark TDat America, which prides itself on be- *«»« the most democratic country in the .world, is really the most rigidly exelupise in its social outlook, and the most anxious to be aristocratic in all its appointments and surroundings. The very latest outcome of this yearning for exclusiveness is an idea which has just neeurred to an enterprising Yankee hotelkeeper, who has got out a notice 'to the effect that, for any of his guests who guarantee to stay in his house for not less than one month, he will have everything that they use marked with their own monogram entirely free of charge. This offer applies not merely to the bed-linen and table-linen, but also to the knives and forks and plates and chinaware of every description. In this way his visitors will be able to rely on having the same cutlery, glass, china and napery all the time they remain in his hotel. The basis of the idea seems to be a new discovery by iwhich plates and glass, etc., can lie marked with a monogram or initials in such a way as to last a few weeks without being actually permanent, so that this go-ahead hotel man reckons that, for a •very small cost, he will be able to boom this arrangement as a speciality of his establishment. Presumably, he will in a short time go a step further, and 'undertake to have the waiters who attend to these very exclusive American families arrayed in their familv liveries.

The cleansing and painting of the "Fol tli Bridge is a work which cannot, be left to Nature. The bridge presents a cleansable and paintable surface of twenty-five acres, and no fewer than thirty-five men are kept constantly employed in seoiiring.it and coating it with oxide and red lead. The task is a perennial one, in that it. can never be said to be finally completed. The little baud of workers start operations at its eouthern end in the early spring of every third year, and thirty-six months later, when they reach its northern extremity, u mile and a fif i farther mi, they have to go back and begin over again. In the meantime they have used 250 tons of paint, while the ’oil with which it. is mixed would fill a cistern having the capacity of 35,000 gallons

Mr Murray Eyre writes an interesting article upon the zebra-horse hybrids in the -‘World’s Work Since ' 1805 wbrules, as the new animals are called, have been bred from Clydesdale, Arab, Iceland, and West Highland mares. The handsome appearance of the zebjule, Iris easy swinging gait, his strength, activity, anil superior intelligence, all render him. with proper training, adaptable to any kind of work. The accounts of those bred at Poitou, of those reared in Brazil, in climatic conditions vastly different to what obtain at Penicuik—where n gbt an I day throughout the year they weather the "winter snow and storm, anti the summer vain and heat, on the slopes of the Pentland Hills—prove they are more hardy, more easily reared, as well as more easily managed, than the common mule, and these valuable attributes should give them an assured place among our domestic animals.

"I believe the people are rather disappointed with our show, and expected something more on the old Gaiety lines,’ remarked Miss Mund Hobson, when interviewed the other day by a Melbourne pressman. Miss Hobson, who is out witii the company that is playing “The Manager of Kitty,” etc., will he remembered as the beauty of the original Gaiety Company which came to Australia several years ago. “But that is all changed in London, don’t you know. There are no •note girls in tights—the typical burlesque boy. I mean —and everything is now quiet and refilled. It may be partly due to the artists, for they are quite a different type nowadays, when well educated girls of good family adopt the stage as a profession. Mr E.lwardes tried a revival el "The Gaiety Girl” and “In Town” recently, but London would not have them at ail, anil you remember ■•Gentleman Joe,” do you not? they would not look at it. The younger generation of men view the old Gaiety methods with disapproval, and agree that if that is the class of thing which amused their immediate jldcrs they must have had common V'ljtes, ’i'he farewell performance at the mid Gaiety Theatre, just before we left home, was a really pathetic experience, fflicy gave scenes from many of the

famous old burlesques. Of course, poor Fred Leslie and others were not there to fill their old parts, but very elever imitations of their methods were given. I ehall never forget it, for I never saw such a bored audience. It was really pitiful io me.”

Mr H. W. Lucy contributes to “Cornhill” a sketch of his visit to “the city of magnificent distances.” He describes* the Congressional Library as the most beautiful building of the kind in the world. Recording his impressions of a visit to the White House, he says that the qualities of culture, eloquence and magnetism which have made the American Ambassador in this country famous are, one is agreeably surprised to find, enlarged in the President. Seated with a small group of statesmen and travellers “the rough rider in whom foreign nations have came to recognise a statesman of highest lank disclosed the scholar versed alike in ancient 'and modern literature. In its variety, grasp of subject, out-of-the-way knowledge, and its evidence of marvellous memory, the table talk of the President reminds me more of Mr Gladstone's than of any man J have known.” He finds time for his voluminous and multifarious reading in using up odd ten minutes and quarters of 'an hour, with occasional wakening at early hours to find a volume by his bedside. In the course of conversation, the President is reported as emphatically deprecating the ultimate annexation of Panamu. “The United States," he said, “have enough to care for without appropriating tropical territory.” Of the German Eur peror, he remarked: “If he had been ■born an American citizen, on however low a so.-i'.il scale, he would have come to be boss of his ward.” He told of his visit to San Domingo some thirty years ago, when a guide, pointing to a doorway, remarked: “That is where our last Emperor was shot.” An aged resident in that island was asked: “How many revolutions leave you seen?” and replied “Forty-two.” .Mr Lucy reports the presence among the pictures on the wall of a curious gift from the German Emperor. It is a large sketch which he bad drawn to scale with his own hand of every ship in the American Navy. Ir the course of a “Real Conversation” in the "Pall Mall Magazine,” recorded by .Mr. William Archer, Mr. Henry Norman has something to say about the" future of motoring. De confesses to being as confident of the speedy advent of "the motor era” as he is that the sun will rise tomorrow. He is astounded, moreover, at the lack of imagination which makes people ridicule so obvious a forecast. “A cheap reliable motor will very soon be within the reach of men who have never been able to afford a horse. We are on the verge, let me tell you, of a great •booin’ in motors. What a multitude of people are waiting for is this: a car of ten-horse-power (it cannot climb hills at a decent speed if it is less, and your average speed depends upon your speed uphill), to carry either two people with luggage, or four people without, at a top speed of twenty-five miles an hour on the level, ami a speed of ten miles an hour up a twelve per cent, hill; a ear of very simple mechanism, the very best material and workmanship, absolute standardisation and interchangeability of parts, like an American rifle—so that in case of breakage you can telegraph for part No. 17, for instance, and put it in yourself with a screwdriver and a spanner: a car with little noise ami no vibration; with both kinds of electric ignition, to avoid the most common cause of breakdown; a car, finally, that is really reliable—that can be counted to run day in and day out, and remain equally serviceable, with due replacement of wearing parts, for many years. When that car comes it Vill be wanted immediately by thousands—every country doctor in the three kingdoms, for example, will want it.” W.A.—And this marvel is to cost ? Mr. Norman—lt cannot cost less than £l5O, and it must not cost more than £2OO. W.A.—ls there no car with these qualities, at this price, now? Mr. Norman—Not to my knowledge. W.A. —And when will there lie? Mr. Norman—Come for a drive with me thia day three months!

M a thing as “giving notice” is unknown among servants in Japan, etiquette prescribing an altogether different course, by which all sudden shock

to the mistress' feelings . is spared. When the domestic wishes to make a “change,” she merely requests a few days’ leave of absence for a home visit, and as such holidays are often given no suspicion is aroused thereby in the bosom of the confiding employer. However, at the end of the appointed time Miss Jmtus fails to return, a letter or messenger arriving in her place as the bearer of some ex<-ellent excuse, couched in the humblest of language. These excuses do. not seem to differ much from those which the Western mistress is but too accustomed to receive. H may be that the defaulter has been taken suddenly and seriously ill, or else mayhap she finds herself not strong enough to bear The continued strain of service. Or, again, some near and dear relative is ill, requiring her attention. But whatever the plea advanced, the mistress quite understands the real nature of the ease, and a fresh servant is immediately looked for. Weeks after the old domestic perhaps suddenly reappears, quite unabashed and full of profuse thanks for the inany kindnesses received in the past, etc. Still professing regret at the parting, she collects all arrears of wages due, and her baggage, the polite fiction being maintained to the very end. Even where the domestic has been engaged only “on trial,” and finds the place unsuitable, she will never say so boldly. Iler method will be to go away for the purpose of fetching her luggage, the waiting mistress being later confronted with the politest possible refusal at the hands of a third person. A similar manner of dealing with a distasteful servant is followed by the mistress, who is never so unkind as to declare any applicant “unsuitable” for the place. Instead, she will smile very sweetly on the candidate, who is forthwith despatched home, to gather her belongings, and to say farewell to her family. Just as she is on the point of starting for her new destination, however, a messenger arrives to announce an alteration in the lady's plans, and her regret at an inability to receive Miss Lotus, who hears the decision with lhe calm placidity characteristic of her race.

A great change in the matter of receiving and returning calls has taken place within the last few years in London. Society calling is becoming a thing of the past, as far as regards calling at houses and hoping to see your friends; but leaving cards is as much “de rigueur” as ever, and all the old etiquette holds good in this respect. For instance, when a married woman calls on another married woman, she must leave two cards—one with her own and her husband’s name on it for the lady

of the house, and one with her husband'd name alone for the gentleman of the house. If the married couple called upon have grown-up son*, and the lady, leaving canls is ’acquainted with them, or wishes to become so, one extra gentleman’s card is left for each grownup son; but if, on tjie contrary, there are no grown-up sons, but only daughters, in the house, then only two cards are left —for married women do not leave separate cards on unmarried girls when living with their parents, as the card left for their mother is considered sufficient. Should, however, one of the daughters be. staying in her parents’ house with her husband after she is married, and should the caller lie acquainted with her—then four cards are left at the house —one for each of the parents, one for the married daughter and her husband; if she should be staying at home without her husband, then two of the cards with “Mr and Mrs So-and-So” arc left —one for the lady of the bouse, and one for the married daughter, and one of “Air So-and-So” only, for the gentleman of the house. When calling on a widow only the joint card is left, and no gentleman’s card, unless there are grown-up sons, when, of course, a gentleman's card is left for each son. When calling on an unmarried woman staying in the house of a friend, only the joint card is left, and the name of the lady usually written in pencil on lhe top. When calling after a death, the words “With much' sympathy,” or some such sentence is Written across tlie top. .During an illness, “To inquire,” or “With love to inquire,” is pencilled.; and -where an engagement or any happy event occurs, f‘To congratulate.” is often used. Cards are left, if possible, the day .after a dinner or a ball one has attended or been invited to. A lady leaves her card when a birth is announced, and those of highest rank must always lie the first to leave cards at the opening of an acquaintance. For instance-—it is for art old person of no rank to take the initiative of calling on a young one'of no rank,; it is for a countess to call first on a simple Mrs, for a duchess to call first on a countess, and so on—unless, of course, family ties or oilier reasons of an exceptional character intervene.

It was on one of njy art pilgrimages that I met Chopin first (says Felix Ziem, the famous painter). The common friend who introduced us to each other was the Count Xavier Maistre.

It was in my present studio that hiS wonderful “Funeral March” was composed. 1 was then (about 1840, 1 think it was) established in another, a more Bohemian workshop, if possible, than

thw one! Ail used it for the threetoM ptirpowH ot painting, eating, atn I steeping in, I liatt iliridetl it into three edmpartnienta by means of tapestry hangitigs descending from roof to floor. The twiddle compartment was more property my studio. In it were all my artist paraphernalia, including a human skeleton, which 1 used for draping in various Attitudes. Of the furniture there were two articles that helped to constitute -the scene t Mil about to relate—the one a large divan standing against the tapestry of my sleeping compartment; the other a piano, which 1 had bought cheap from a second-hand dealer, and from which I bad sawn out the panels in order to paint pictures on them. It happened that on the day which has since become historic I had invited a friend or two to dine with me. After the meal some other friends had joined t.s in the studio. I may mention De tValdrome, Ludre. De t’olignac (the musician), Chopiu. and Ricard (who had painted my portrait). We were a gay party, and prolonged our causerie into the small hours of the morning. It must have been about two o’clock, I think, when, being for a moment alone with Itieard iA the middle compartment—the others were in the sleeping room beyond -’tlie divan—l seized the skeleton, on the suggestion of some mad fancy passing through my head, and shrouding it hi ■the piano cover, which Ricard obligingly whipped off for me, I raised the tapestry and made it jig before our friends on the further side.

At first they saw only the eomie side of the situation.. Their previous merriment grew louder and reached its maximum when De Polignac stalked forward, took the skeleton from me, insinuated ihhnself beneath the shroud, and, .sitting down at the piano, made the bony fingers of the puppet play. I t was a weird spectacle. All of us were fascinated by the grim humour of this skeleton majl performing on what, with some truth, -might be called a skeleton instrument, its naked hammers looking like so many ’ teeth moving within a skull. We began ■to affect or to feel a sort of fright, for which rhythmic tops on the divan, secretly administered by one of the company, were partly responsible. There were repeated "Oh! oil’s!”—one, at last, snore energetic- than the rest, proceeding from Chopin. We looked at him. '.Moved by a sudden inspiration, he 'advanced toward De Potignae.' seized the skeleton in his turn, and, displacing the performer, himself sat down on the stool. The first chords that he struck were with the skeleton on his knees, but warming to his theme, he let it clatter to the ground. A deep silenee felt on us all. It was the ‘'Funeral March” he was playing. There is no need for me to enlarge on the applause that greeted Chopin at its conclusion. We knew and he knew that he bad composed a masterpiece. Before going to bed he spent four hours in putting on to papei- his new creation. It is possible he may have added to his improvisation some chords, some few bars even, that rendered it more complete. But he changed none of its essential features. The music we heard on that memorable night was substantially what is contained in the written notes of today.

Charles Vidal Diehl, a well - known English writer on billiards, has been discussing the average score that an average player will make during a game, lie says: “An inquiry has reached me as to what may be considered a fair average for a club player at billiards. My correspondent says that lie has lately been taking a record of his scores game by game, and although he is midway between scratch .and limit start in handicaps among players, he knows that he finds that his average for.each turn at the table works out at only 3.1, his best having been G.G and his worst 1.5. I consider that any player able to maintain an average of five with some regularity may distinctly claim to be above the ordinary level. Very few club players ever have any game they play recorded stroke by stroke, or they would find out how much smaller their averages are than they appear to be. .ThLs; question of averages is of considerable interest, inasmuch as it is a better"guide to form than any statement as to’ the breaks one is accustomed to make. It may be argued that some ■pl»ye+s try.for safety more than others, but when all are playing together in a dub'night after night the law of average balances this. An entry in the big London charity handicap this year was

an unknown man to the members of I lie committee, who, on asking him for his average to guide them, were surprised to learn Uvat it was fifteen or twenty. They could do nothing but place liiui far behind scratch, whereas what he meant was that he was in the habit of making fifteen or twenty breaks, and he naturally disap|>eared in the first round, beateu by over 200 points in 300 up. The other day when playing a game (owing 80 in 300) I succeeded in accomplishing my best performance in averaging exactly 54, and within three turns of each other I made breaks of 123 and 121. I only mention this personal matter to show how deceptive averages are. Taken over a fortnight mine does not exceed eleven or twelve. In the following list I took down of a hundred up played by a friend this afternoon I asked him casually after the game what he thought the average worked out, and concentrating his thoughts on the fifty one break, he replied he supposed it was “about fifteen.” As it so happened it worked out (with one miss given him bv his opponent* : 0. 0, 11. 2, 7. 15, ft. 0,2. 0. 51. 3,2 (unfinished)—average of 8.2 per visit to the table.”

According to the cables a young soldier, who was rather proud of showing tlie curls that clustered round his marble brow, suffered certain pains and penalties for striking an officer who objected to this form of personal adornment in the ranks. The following paragraph from a London paper suggests that this mild conceit is rather a failing with "Tommy”: The Army Council have drawn attention to complaints made as to the unsoldierlike appearance of men on furlough, especially in London. At the recent camp 29 men were arrested in London for being incorrectly dressed, and many more could have been so arrested had tiie police patrols been more numerous. The most common complaints are: (1) That the men wear their caps on the back of their heads so as to display eliminate and unsoldierlike curls upon the forehead. (2) That men often carry a cigarette behind the ear(3) That men walk about with their hands in their trousers pockets in a slovenly manner. (4) That men are seen in the streets without their- belts. ». (5) That men are occasionally seen in service dress, which is not permitted to be worn in London. (G) That, in cold weather, men have been seen wearing mufflers. The Army Council note with satisfaction however-, that, while complaints as to dress arc made, soldiers on furlough are reported to be otherwise well behaved. The metric or decimal system of weights and measures is no new one, and its advantages in simplicity of calculation have so far been recognised by the leading countries of the world that they have, with the important exceptions of Great Britain and the United States, adopted it. Many of the smaller countries of Europe have done likewise, as also the various South American republics, and there is every probability that at no distant date the United States will come into line. If we want to do business with the countries that have adopted the.metric •system we should do as our rivals have done, and adopt it also. There are thousands who do not even understand what the metric system is, remarks a London paper. For them let the explanation be given that it is based on the distance from the Equator to the Pole. The tenth millionth part of this area was chosen as the unit of measure of length, and called a metre. The cube of the tenth part of the metre was adopted as the unit of capacity, and denominated a litre. The weight of a litre of distilled water al its greatest density was called a kilogramme, of which the thousandth part was called a gramme, and adopted as the unit of weight. The multiple of these, proceeding in decimal progression, pre distinguished by the employment of the prefixes deca, hecto, kilo and myria, from the Greek, and the sub-divisions, by deci., eenti. and milli. from the Latin. ■; Beyond the reason given why we should adopt this system there are inupy others. It is easy to understand, it effects a saving of expense, it prevents mistakes, and it would promote our trade; and surely these would be great advantages. Not

only at home. but throughout the British Empire, should this standard of weights and measures replace the present one. Not only has the Decimal Association urged it. but the system has been reported favourably upon by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. That was as far back as eight years ago. The committee advocated its immediate legislation; that, after the lapse of two years, it should bo rendered compulsory by Act of Parliament ; that it should be taught in all public schools, and that instruction in decimals should be introduced at an earlier period of the school curriculum. Needless to say. nothing has ta-en done; the committee might as well never have l>eci< appointed. A few British manufacturers and commercial men have not been above adopting the system in addition to our system of weights and measures. They recognised that if they wished io do business on equal terms with their competitors who had adopted it, they must follow suit. Thousands could not, or would not. lie bothered with it. With typical British conservatism ami indifference they obstinately clung to the national standard of weights and measures, which the metric countries could not understand ; the consequence was England lost much trade, which France and Germany secured. Calculating in tens is simplicity itself, but the same cannot be said of our system, with its various changes in its arithmetical tables. Learn the units of the metric system, and the rest is easy. Having learned the metric system, our customers in the metric countries cannot understand our quotations and specifications based on British weights and measures. We cannot expect, them to waste time to calculate, the metric difference, and naturally they prefer to deal with those people using the same system as themselves. If you arc a small man with a delicate constitution that nreih exercise, an active and growing business that keeps you tied down, and a large and constantly increasing family, you should begin at once by keeping dogs. The care of a sensitive, high-strung dog with a long pedigree and liair’and a delicate stomach will be a source of constant recreation. As you hear the palter of his footsteps on the stairs at two in the morning and his merry bark in the hallway you will have a deep sense of security, and anon as he curls up on your brand-new Davenport couch and sheds his hair on its plush coat you will feel that the joy of life has been doubly increased. The best way to do is to begin on one dog first, and increase the number gradually. Perhaps the bulldog is the best for a Ireginning. A good, serviceable, invalid bulldog can be had for about a thousand dollars. Before buying him secure the services of a shrewd detective to run down his pedigree. There is only one more honest man in the country than a horsedealer, and that is the man who sells you a bulldog. To be the real thing a bulldog should

have the following point*: Both hi** leg* and his face should be bow-legged, and yvhi should l*e aide to draw a cork with hi* tail. Hi* forehead ahuulJ begin ju*t beneath his palate, and if you could ride him horseback, you should be able to see hi* teeth, lie should have enough superfluous skin to lay aside and lie on at any time, thus saving expense of a rug. Next to the bulldog is the noble dachshund, who comes in sections. The dachshund is a cold-blooded human being, and burrows under sofa-cushions with groat delight. Nothing is so pleasant. when you creep into bed late . at night, as to find that it. has boon warmed up for you by yotlr faithful dachshund. If you are not a member of society, and do not have to have a Boston terrier, get a cocker spaniel next, engaging a hairdresser at a weekly salary to come with him. This will save you an hour or so a day. Always remember that dogs need a little care. Arise at four in the morning and give them an hour or so of muchneeded exercise. After a bath or a rubdown. a hearty breakfast should be followed by a long nap. If they get ill at any time, semi for a trained nurse and a dog doctor. By this time you will love them lietler than your own children, and expense wilt be no object.—“Life.*’ A set of verses found on a youth named William Koster, charged at Bow street. Liondon, recently with burglary, seems indicate that he Is as dexterous n wlehlec of the pen as he is alleged to be of the Jemmy. Taking Longfellow as his tnodej, tic has entitled his poem “The Village Burglar,’’’ and then continues: — Under the spreading gooseberry lunik The village burglar ties. The burglar is a crafty man. With whiskers on his eyes; And th- muscles of his brawny arm Keep off the little dies. lie goes ou Sunday to the church To hear the parson shout, lie puts a shilling in the bag And takes a sovereign out. And when ho reaches home again lie smiles without a doubt. And going home one winter’s nighv He sees an open door; Ah overcoat hangs in the hall. And he creeps along the door, A moment later out he comes, And then the deed is o’er. He proudly gazes on his prize. And holds it out a stretch. lie hurries down the lighted street And ah! The crafty wretch. He takes it to the pawnshop To sec what it will fetch. Howe’er, a policeman passing ’long Witli measured beat and slow. Has seen Hie burglar's little game. Ami quickly lets him know; Ami ho takes him to the prison cell When the evening sun is low. • Boozing, borrowing. burglaring Have tohl an awful tale. Ami now at leisure lie repents. With many a mournful wail. Something attempted. something done. Has earned six months in gaol.