The Aberdare Times

INDIAN AFFAIRS. Lord Dufferin was present at the annual dinner given by the Scotch residents in Calcutta on the occasion of St. Andrew's Day. His Excellency delivered a speech, in the course of which he de- clared that the fall in the value of silver had greatly hamp-red the Government. In regard to Burmah, the Government had not tried to settle the affairs of the country cheaply, every demand of the local officers having been met. The country, however, was becom- ing settled more rapidly than had been expected. After some further remarks, the Viceroy said that he wished to say a few words of warning advice on the subject of autocratic rule in India, which he declared was foreign to English ideas. The Indian Government was gradually being liberalised; but some persons of Dn position or real education, and who represented a microscopical minority, desired representative govern- ment, although tae country had hardly emerged from its primordial element He was sure that the Ena- lish nation would not favour such notions. in con- clusion, the Viceroy stated that the Indian Goyern- mentvould continue to give a larger -shara in the public service to. the natives, aftd would fattour all -eineere demand fof psfctical reform coexistent -with rtlufVLZBl&W&M^P1'• .ira-»r of English 1 rule. bi

TO THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS. At the last meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in London, the paper read was by Mr. Joseph Thomson, and was descriptive of a journey made to the Atlas Mountains in Southern Morocco in tfiie early part of the present year. Except for the explorations of Sir Joseph Hooker and his companion, Mr. Ball, little was known of the geographical features and geological structure of the Atlas, all at- tempts made hitherto to break down the barrier of Moorish fanaticism, suspicion, and official obstruction having met with very slight success. It was with a wide field for his exploring instincts that Mr. Thom- son, accompanied by Mr. Harold Crichton-Brownet started from England last March on his voyage of discovery. Almost from the outset the travellers ex- perienced the same difficulties and discouragements that had befallen their predecessors in the way of official obstruction and suspicion, their progress being continually barred. Other troubles, from treacherous servants and guides, were severely felt, and it was not until May 7 that the little party of fivo men left Mogador and plunged straight into the in- terior. Demnat was reached after an arduous journeYI and their first explorations of the mountains toeE: place there, without the knowledge of the Kaid. At Demnat Mr. Thomson had the good fortune to find a reliable Jewish interpreter, with whose assistance the party succeeded in reaching the district of the Tetula, in the very heart of the Atlas range. Here the ex- plorers reached the summit of the Tizi-n-Teluet, a height of nearly 9000ft., commanding a magnificent view. They looked in vain, however, for the Anti- Atlas. After further exploration in this district, Mi; Thomson and his companions were placed in confine- ment by the Kaid of Glauwa. Escaping after some days, the little party met even worse dangers in the shape of a body ef armed mountaineers, who came very near to terminating the expedition by shooting Mr. Thomson and his followers. Obliged to retrace their steps, the explorers went towards Amsmiz, and succeeded in getting away to the moun- tains without further opposition. In this neighbour- hood many valuable explorations were made, but again an unfriendly Kaid prevented full Success from .crowning the travellers' efforts. Many exciting adventures befel him in his further explorations, but in the end Mr. Thomson succeeded in reaching his destination and climbing the highest peak of the range, 12,500ft. above the sea. Ultiiiiately Mr. Thomson managed to penetrate as far as the most westerly extension of the Atlas range, and returned to England, having, in the face of enormous difficul- ties. succeeded in still further elucidating the geo- graphical features of a range of mountains second to none in Europe or Africa in length and average eleva- tion. A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Thomson for his valuable paper.

POLITICS OF THE DAY. EARL SrEXCER AT ROCHESTER. Earl Spencjr on Saturday unveiled a memorial tablet of a handsome now Liberal Club at Rochester, and was afterwards present at a dinner. In each case he made a brief speech. Addressing a large meeting in the evening, he said events had proved that the Liberal party were right in their Irish policy. Replying to Lord Salisbury's recent speeches at Edinburgh, he challenged the Prime Minister to prove that the Irish members were unpatriotic, or that they were breakers of every law. For himself, he should not have the slightest fear of establishing a Government of representative Irishmen.

RAILWAY SALARIES. -r-l" Railway men draw some pretty heavy salaries in the United States, says the Railway Press. Chauncey M. Depew, President of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, is said to take £10,000 per annum; Charles Francis Adams, President of the Union Pacific lines, gets £ 6,000 a year; and many other officers receive £5000. It must, however, be remembered that the lines controlled by those gentle- men have far greater mileages than any in this country. General managers of railways in Great Britain, although not getting quite such high salaries as their brethren in the States, yet manage to make a pretty fair thing out of their positions, as many of them have managed to leave fortunes of from £ 100j009 to £ 250,000.

CLAIMING 600,000 ACRES OF MMl Mr. Julian, United States Surveyor-General, has been notified by one Hodges that he and his brothers and sisters Pro the rightful owners of a tract of land 30 miles square, containing (300,000 acres, in Colfax County, New Mexico. The title to this vast territory is claimed (says Iron) under a grant alleged to hav< been made by the crown of Spain in 1685 to the present claimant's natural ancestors who boro the peculiar name of Corpus Christi. The land dammed by this audacious gentleman is located in the vicinity of the towns of Eaton, Springer, and Folsom, and probably includes the two last-named towns. The claims of a large number of settlers are jeopardised.

TEN YEARS' HARD LABOUR. Madame Deprcs is the young wife of a prosperous young baker. Before and since her marriage she was pestered with the unwelcome attentions of a workman named Laporte. This good-looking Don Juan in a white blouse called at the baker's house last June, and insisted on seeing Madame Depr 's. The lady called her husband and Laporte ran away. The next day he returned, and without any explanation fired a revolver at the baker's wife, wounding her in the breast ruid back. AS ah excuse, he pleaded his passion for his victim. This was not considered sufficient excuse by the jury of the Seine Assize Court, who have condemned him to ten years hard labour.

PRINCE OF BULGARIA. There seems some possibility that ftince Ferdinand of Cobnrg may yet, in spite of all, become Prince of Bulgaria. In Athens, so the Standard correspondent tells us, they attach considerable importance to the rumour that the Sultan had charged the Papal Nuncio at Constantinople with a. mission to Prince Ferdinand. It is even averred that the Sultan pro- DOSOS to recognise him as Prince of Bulgaria, and that he will assent to the union of Eastern Roumelia "th that country on the condition that Prince Ferdi- W1 d officially guarantees that Bulgaria will abstain in future from all revolutionary action in Macedonia.

GAMBLING IN PARIS. The Tarisian police are busily hunting down the gamblers in the French capital, but gambling seems to fiourish notwithstanding The other day the gendarmes swooped down on a den in the Rue Lafitte, where, says the correspondent of a contemporary, they discovered that illegal bc'"1DJ ^as carried on as well as eamblinc The property seized included a number of diagram's showing the various workings of tli9 system known as P(/rl a J*' c° e9 which has been abolished on French ra^urses under M. Goblet's circular, and instead of which the Tari-mutuel has been established.

THE HAMBURGH MURDER. A German steward named Danth has been arrested on the charge of murdering & Hamburg merchant, Herr H-ils^-ber" Danth as caught in a beerhouse S Karlsruhe, fn the (i,and Duchy of Baden. He was in the company of a Creole woman. The sum of 3000 marks was founa on him,and among his luggage 3000 marks was founa on hun, and among bis luggage was a bloodstained shirt. Ea confessed his guilt, so

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. PRACTICAL DAIRYING.-Professor J. Long, writing in ■Ui6'Farmer}'-itif#: The success of dairying depends upotfattitmber of operations, and even when these are properly conducted it depends much upon the business capacity of the dairyman. In the first place we have the proper selection of the dairy cows next we have the adoption of a system of good manage- ment and of economical and suitable feeding. These points, however, wewill not deal with on the present occasion. Let us commence with the dairy itself. In the past all sorts of apartments or buildings have been used for the setting of milk, without regard to light, to temperature, or to dryness. DAIRYING cannot properly sucoeed in a. damp or dark situation, nor is it possible to do the work with economy if it is liable to the extremes of temperature, excessive heat or cold. To be perfect a dairy should face the north in order to mitigate the excessive heat of summer. It should be absolutely dry at all times, the ingress of insects should be prevented, and as nearly as possible the temperature should be main- tained at 60deg. Now let us see why this mainten- ance of temperature is so necessary. If we use the shallow setting pans, whether of metal or of earthen- ware, the milk set in a dairy exposed to the outsido air in the heat of summer will rapidly turn sour, and generally before the whole of the cream has risen. This not only necessitates more frequent churning, but it entails a loss of cream which no dairy- man can afford. It is also difficult to churn with suc- cess in a dairy where the temperature is high, even with the aid of cold water. There is great liability to bring the butter scft and lumpy, in which case it cannot be properly cleansed, and will, therefore, not keep, and when it is made it is difficult to maintain it in a firm condition in order to send it to market neat and agreeable in appearance. On the other band, such a dairy would be excessively cold in winter; the milk set at such a low temperature would very often fail to throw up the whole of its cream even though it be allowed to stand for from three to four days; there would be a difficulty in ripening the cream itself, and we have known a week's cream to stand upon many occasions, and then be quite unfit for churning, on account of Its absolute sweetness. CHURNING in such a dairy is also difficult. The use of a quantity of hot water being always necessary both to heat the churn and to warm the cream up to a proper temperature for churning, and even then, during the process, the temperature frequently falls, so that unless it is again raised by the operator, churning may continue for a very long time without a result. As 60 deg. is a useful temperature for ripening cream, as well as for raising it in shallow pans, so it is the best average temperature for churn- ing, and therefore if the cream is 60 deg. and the apartment the same, no difficulty will be experienced at any time, unless some other condition is abnormal, in obtaining the butter good and quick. Whatever the condition may be, however, of the dairy, milk which is set for cream to rise, whether in shallow or deep pans, should be as nearly as possible at the same temperature as when it came from the cows. To set milk cold is most unpractical, and cannot fail to result in loss. The temperature should always be a falling one in the setting dairy; thus milk set at 90 deg. in a room at 60 deg. will gradually fall through 30 def. Under such circumstances, as the cream of the milk is a non-conductor of heat and the water of the milk is a conductor, the latter feeh the chacye of temperature first. CREAM rises because the globules of fat of which it is composed are lighter than the milk, so that when the milk is set at rest the globules gradually find their way to the surface but during the fall in tempera- ture they become still lighter than they were at first, because the specific gravity is widened by the fact of their feeling the altered temperature of the water of the milk, There is no such condition when milk is set in a cold dairy, and even where the dairy is slightly colder than the cold milk the difference is so small as to be almost imperceptible. We therefore see the necessity of good conditions in the dairy. If, however, we use deep setting systems, where the milk is placed in deep vessels of slight diameter, we must have a still greater fall in the temperatuie, and one of at least 50 degrees if wo would achieve perfect success. It has frequently been stated that 45 degrees is sufficient, as that milk set at 95 degrees will throw up all its cream if set in a co'd room or in cold water at 50 deg.; but I have found by experience that this is not the case, but that it should be at most 45 deg and that lower than 45 deg. would be better. THE GLOBULES OF MILK at the bottom of a deep can are unable to find their way to the surface unless the specific gravity is very sensibly changed. If the milk is cold when set in such vessels, the majority of these globules would never rise at all. It will, there- fore, be seen that the success of deep setting depends first upon the setting of the milk directly it comes from the cow, and next upon the temperature of the water emplcyed in the vat in which the cans are placed. IN ALL CASES CREAM raised by the cold process is thin and larger in bulk. This is useful for churning, but troublesome where thick cream is required where the sale of skim milk at good prices is large. It has sometimes been urged that failing the use of very cold water, the milk may bo heated with advantage from 5 to 10 degs. higher than when it comes from the cow, but experiments made in America have shown that this plan does not meet the case. There is little doubt that the shallow pan system is a good one, and as good as can be adopted, if the conditions can be controlled, but certainly not otherwise. The difficulty of controlling both this and the deep system has been found in practice so great that large numbers of dairymen have commenced to use the centrifugal separator although I question very much whether, had they adopted as much energy and gonp to as much expense in fitting up a first-rate dairy room in order that the temperature might be con- trolled, they would, except where a large bulk of milk is employed, have been quite satisfied with the jesults obtained upon one of the old plans. PRACTICALLY men have frequently found that the difference between the adoption of a good system and a 1 ad One has been as much as from 10 per cent. to 20 per cent., and this clearly represents either thi actual profit or more than the actual profit which farmers derive from their dairy. Upon another occasion the system cf churning and some points in connection with it shall be described. QUICK HEDGES (observes a writer in the Gardeners' Magazine) are undoubtedly the most useful for farms, though not so ornamental as those of holly, or afford so much shelter as those of hornbeam. Their advan tages consist in the facility with which they can bo formed, the small amount of labour requisite to keep them in order, and their capabilities for resisting any strain likely to be put upon them. In the formation of these hedges there are three points of so much im- portance that they must have special attention directed to them. The first is to select strong quicks, those that are three years old and in a vigorous state being preferable, the second to thoroughly prepare the ground, and the third to protect them with a strong fence, to prevent cattle doing mischief before the hedges have made much progress. The prepara' tion of the soil and the planting is a very simple matter, and can be described in a very few words. After determining the position of the hedge, mark out a strip of ground a yard wide, and then dig it over to a depth of twelve inches or so. In planting mark the Centre of the strip, and six inches to the right and left of this cut trenches about four inches deep and with perfectly straight edges on the inner sides, Then, having previously cut the quicks back to & length of about seven inches, proceed to lay them six inches apart, so that when the soil is pressed about them the points will be three inches above the level.

REPLACED BY SHOT. The Treasury officials at Washington (U.S.) have discovered crooked business in connection with the transfer of silver d'liars from the mint in New Orleans to Washington for storage. At least 1500 dol* have gone, and further investigation may swell the amount. The discovery was made when a box was found with a seal which was not the Government stamp, and upon being opened it was found to contain a lot of shot. The loss will probably fall upon the Adams Express Company, who are the shippers, unless it can be proved that the box was tampered with before it came into its possession. The boxes are carefully sealed before they leave the mint, and are guarded on the train. They are taken from the depot at Washington to the Treasury building in a large express waggon, caged in on all tides with heavv steel wire and guarded by repre- sentatives of the express company and of the treasury, who are heavily armed. It is impossible to tell how extensive the robbery has been. When the seals of the boxes were examined it was found that instoad of the Government seal put on at the Mint at New Orleans, the wax bore the impression of a silver quarter The original seal had been broken, the money abstracted, and this method of hiding the fraud had been resorted to. The chief of the Secret Service says that he believes the thieving was done after the boxes left the mint. If the official clerks doing up the packages had done the stealing they could have used the Government seal to fasten the boxes again.

ENGLISHMEN IN RUSSIA There seems-so says the Times St. Petersburg correspondent, who had an uncomfortable expe- rience of the kind a few weeks ago-to be a. curious mania lately among the Kussian police for arresting and molesting unoffending Enghshmen. The other day the curate of the English Church at St. Peters- burg- was followed during his customary" cODsti- tutional towards thelUoseow Kailway Station, and invited to the police-station to give an account of himself *s a suspicious! personage. I need not say, adds the correspondent^ that the mituke was scon DIJC*Y&R £ CL <'» 'J •

GOSSIP ON DRESS. THEPE was (says a. writer on evening dress in the Daily News) a prophecy going about some weeks ago that all the decided colours were to be worn again this winter. We were threatened with a revival of a fearful blue, once known as Iioyal," a horrible pink called magenta, and various other tints of analagous violence. Fortunately the prophets have been proved to be false ones. The new blues are of the dreamiest sort, like that of a distant mountain lange seen through a summer haze. THE new pinks are such as the hedge-rose wears m June, faint and soft. The new greens are occasionally vivid enough, but no more so than Nature puts upon the young °leaf just unfolded from its protecting brown husk. In fact the new shades are even more artistic than those to which we have so long been habituated. The reds are splendid. They emulate the popPY, the sky at sunset when storms are about, the nasturtium with its marvellous blending of scarlet with orange and gold, and the flaming sword of the gladiolus. The more gentle and tender the blues and pinks, the more brilliant may be the reds. There is no antagonism between them. But picture a scarlet poppy upon a gown of Royal blue! Only white ones or pale yellow dare approach it. TRY to fancy a poinsettia in the hair of a girl gowned in the grass-green of a decade since. The soft splendour of the red in this lovely flower would be a mute reproach to the hideous green, unknown to tree or flower. The new tores are such as we see in the carnation leaf, the poplar, the lime, the maidenhair, the young leaves of the lilac and the oak, and in the spear-like foliage of the daffodil. There is almost a craze for green in the world of fashion that seldom lasts as a ruling colour beyond the summer, but this season has remained faithful to it throughout. TAILOUS and dressmakeis have made more gowns of green than of any two other colours put together. At evening parties every third dress almost has green introduced in some way, if it be not wholly composed of it. In the paler tones, it makes an exquisite con- trast with good reds and rose-pinks. Nature is imitated in such gowns, and we see one that recalls a lilac tree, another that suggests a laburnum, a third that looks like a gigantic moss rose, and a fourth that resembles a lily. In one dress the whole of the front is Wistaria, colour, with garnitures of the blossoms. The over-dress is green velvet, in precisely the tint of the foliage appertaining to the flower. The shoes are made in the two colours, for it is now con- sidered unorthedox to wear shoes that do not match either the gown, its trimmings, or both. MILT INERS appear to study flowers more than they have ever done before. In a dress worn at a recent dinner party, the petticoat was yellow satin .with a deep hem composed of pansies in every shade in which these gentle fle wers appear. Some were grey, some amethyst colour, some yellow like the silk, others deep purple, others in those indescribable minglings of grey wii'h red lilac that have been the triumph of many a devoted floriculturist. Heaped all together upon the hem, and again as a plastron upon the low bodice, they formed a goodly company, and the diamonds scattered about them looked like drops of dew. The over-dress was rather dark green velvet, of the tint of a pansy leaf, and lined with the amethystine pale tone of some of the rtowers. There were thus three leading colours in the gown, and yet no one could have considered that there was one too many, simp'y because the idea of the flower had been faithfully adhered to, and each one of the tints was true to Nature. GENERALITIES are mostly misleading, and when the writers on dress plainly state that, to be in the fashion, \ou must wear a large hat, and a small bonnet, they (remarks the Queen) convey a most unfair idea of what most people who like to be considered smart" are really wearing. LAKGK hats are worn by young people, and by fresh-looking matrons who have crossed the rubicon of 30 summers, on certain occasions but whereas all who can wear hats of some kind, mostly in the morn- ing, in London and generally in the country, it is only on full dress occasions that they adopt large hats. These hardly accord with that simplicity and neatness of attire in which the best dressed Englishwomen de- light whm they walk abroad, though they show off pretty faces well at an afternoon party and in a. carriage. There are people to whom they are so emi nentlv becoming that they adopt them as their own on all occasions, but they are the exceptions. THERE is, howover, a great deal to be said in favour of the large hats, which are so extremely picturesque. The generality are after the order of those worn by the Gainsborough beauties, more especially by the famous Duchess of Devonshire, as that artist has handed her down to us in her portrait. But the crowns, though apparently high, are really quite shallow, and are only made to look high by the trimming. A most fashionable black velvet model illustrates this. The brim is very large, and covered on both sides with black velvet. It overshadows the face, but the back is caught up in such a way that, seen at the distance, it might be taken for a tricorne hat, or, rather, to have been copied from the gendarmes' hfi-ad^ear in Genevieve de Brabant," tied up as it is with a knotted bow of ribbon. There is a great deal of style in this bow, which is repeated in the front of the low, flat crown, made to look inordinately high by means of three ostrich tips, whi h curl forward. With a fair face beneath, nothing could well be more piquant. This style, with many varieties, is rf peated over and over again. Mousse-green velvet is perhaps the tone most employed, with ostrich plumes of varied length, some curling down in the nape of the neck, and the brim turned up in divers fashions to suit the face. French people affect the flat shape, large also, which accord with the Empire style; and French faces are seen sur- rounded with what at a distance appears to be the aureole of a saint A GOOD useful form of large hat Is covered on the outside with cloth to match the dress, falling appa- rently in careless folds with a bird at the side, the brim inside covered with a fulling of velvet. FK! Ts are decidedly well worn, and a n&w idea is to bind them with cloth instead of with velvet or galoon. A new shape turns up at the back to the depth of some four inches, which tapers at the side, sothit in front the brim is flat and narrow, but comes well for- ward over the forehead, like a Spanish padre's hat. Quite at the back there rises a tmill very pointed crown, like f1 conp, with the wide brim in front, filled in with a large ribbon bow. [oQUE" are much worn; so are the lew Spanish turbans, which fashionable people are adopting again, recalling the "pork pie hats of years ago. As yet these are only ordered by a few well-dressed people, and manv are entirely nude in black velvet. There is a becoming shape, with a broad brim turni-ig up e^ual'y all round, a silk bra;d at the edge of the velvet, the crown within trimmed with birds, some being covered with the new tomato shade of velvet, which is bright, brilliant, and suits the complexion well. The Frincess of Wales has been ordering many simple felt hats with shallow brims, turning up at the side, and tolerably high crowns, just trimmed with a little ribbon They are good, last well, and cost comparatively little, but require to be exactly the right shape, or they appear common. In toques there is an immense variety. Many of the prettiest are trimmed with beaver round the brim, and covered with a crosswise piece of cloth, or some material like the dress. A tan colour tweed had a beaver binding, and a tuft of blue silk in the centre. Another, with an emerald green binding, was covered with Astrakan, which is extremely fashionable this winter. Many toques made with low crowns gain the necessary height by a mass of ribbon bows, placed on the top, which are made to stand up cunningly," as the Americans sav. With many of the fashionable hats the young girls wear a pad be- neath, to keep them standing well up above the face. There is so much in our day in the way clothes are put on, and their good appearance entirely depends upon it. TnE variety in bonnets is greater, if possible, than in hats. English bonnets, guiltless of French inspira- tion, are still very high. Those which hail from the Parisian capital are low. and, even when on, scarcely have the appearance of height, though they certainly look higher on than off. The newest notion in millinery is. that the strings, which are sufficiently wide and important looking, should come from the back, just from the centre. In hats the idea is some- times carried out by a fur boa, which is sewn to the back of the brim, and thence tw sted round the neck. There is a disposition in many bonnets to appear to be two, placed one over the other. For example, the soft brim of some of them would be made in light tilleul-green, with a soft over cap radiating from the centre of the crown, made in emerald velvet -a well-worn tone in millinery. The flat brim, resting on the top of the bead, has found its way into bonnets as well as hats, and torsades of ribbon, of contrasting colour, are placed beneath. SOME of the season's bonnets are entirely formed of large wings of birds, while others are supplied with wings embroidered in chenille and tinsel thread on felt or cloth, the tinsel giving the additional stiffness. Tinsel cords are used for edging brims, and galons worn in chenille play an important part. The Empire style of bonnet has wide gatherings of velvet divided by bands of jet, like tho classic bandeaus worn at that period in the hair.

THE Highest Pitch of the Voice—The place where it sticks. PAT and Mike, left to guard a sailing vessel, had a great desire to fire off the big gun," but feared the captain would discover the breach of discipline by the disappearance of the shot. "Whist, Pat!" said Mike, I'll fix it. You fire the big gun and IU hould a bucket in front of her to catch the bui e and none will be the wiser." Pat assented o foine plan," and in due time fired the cannon, when Mike and the bucket instantaneously disappearea, his great surprise. By-and-bye theeap „ board and asked tor Mike. «I "itMAe? asked Pat he vrint) b'e'U soon b* COMES BACK AS <JUICJC AS *r" r here!Z i,

NATIONAL PROVIDENT INSTITUTION FOR MUTUAL LIFE ASSURANCE. Founded 1835 Funds, £ 4,300,000. Claims Paid, £ 7,000,000. Profits Declared, £ 4,000,00* KNDOWII*HT AsscaAjcrg on very term* ■eotoiDicil Mmammrnt. Liberal Condition*. Larpe Bosmei. 48, GRACECHURCH STREET, B.C.. LONDON. AGHfTB TV ANTED WHERK NOT RIFRSSESTED. SPECIAL TO LADIES LATEST FASHIONS, OlU: of the most useful and attractive of Fashion Books is "Spenc«'» Latest Fashions," which Messrs. JAMES SpENCt & Co., the well-known Silk Mercers, will -forward post free. Our lady readers will be sure to tiini something to their taste In perusing Spence's Latest Faehions^* and the prices, together with engravings of the rarioui modes fashionable in London, Paris, Vienna, bo., must prove of great advantage to ladies desirous of having the newest Styles at Wholesale City Prices. Tid* Loedon Press. H.B.—Send a post card with addresn, and a raibloa Boole will bo sent Fro* by return ol post. All Pat* torus sent Post rrew. JAMES SPENCE & Co.. S ST. PAUL'S CHURGHYQ, LONDON, E.C. t; v p WKBN WurriNG PLSASI MBNTIOM THIS VATKSL. MOBPHY'S WALNUT POMADE. A Triumph »» H»!r Ds.rk»ti«r. Not 11 dy«. Rwtorei with certainty and at once Uie former youthful colour of OREY HAIR. Four C'oMnr*— Golden, Light Btown, D»rk Brown. *nd BUck. F«r pot, 1,6 «ad 2.6. MO,RpIlyPS ORIENTAL DEPILATORY i T JL POWDER remoree fpeedlly, easily «nd effectually, all Hair di»fltur- lni the lip«. hMids, and cheeki. Guaranteed harmlen. Trepared with great «•?. 1/- r>er nacket. N.B.—Tell your Chemist or Hair Dreiser to procure other tCn or .end Poetal Order to th.[ »Uker, ECGEN H MORTHY, Hair and Skin Specialist, *0, South Audley St., llayifcix, Loudon. UNION LIKE-FOR SOUTH AFRICAN COLD FIELDS. rPHB UNION 8.S. Co.'s MAIL PACKETS sail from I Southampton rT*ry alt*n;fc'c KrMiy for So nth Airicwi Portf calling at Lisbon snd Madeira. Ksturn Ticket! Issued. Arpiy'to the Union Steam ShIp Company, Oriental PiMt.Bomh- ampton or 11, Leadenhall Street, London. <* TTOW TO ENSURE HEALTH."—A medical work efrlng Pre-scrlptloM and Instruction* for the Cure of all kW» of Debility; po»Vfree, two «tamps. tddrem I>r. I.onfrtaie Bio>re, Riraahnry, London. S, 1B.ON BUILDINGS end BOOFINQ. New and Secoad-haad i |, |f4 Cburci cn, Chapels, Mission and 4 jmnu ii,ii u a Bohool Rooms, LawD Tennis, It «■ .Cricket Parilinns, Cottages, 1K £ JSPR8'|^ Btatol" "um Bviiidiags, &c. /SvxIlswDk. jmnu ii,ii u a Bohool Rooms, LawD Tennis, It «■ .Cricket Parilinns, Cottages, 1K £ JSPR8'|^ Btat.'les,Farm Bviiidiags, &e. /SvxIlswDk. SiE!i £ j6iHa Iron Buildings hereon Tieir. 1W tCD* BARBRUW'S WORKS, Poutfc Pemsorrtary B'atlon, London, S.&. Ju*t PuWfiUM.. Bartholomew*! Illnstratsd Oeidw to HIS Turkish and other Bathe. Price fid. Burtholomov'a Medical teetore w Action of tho Turkish and other Satbs. DeUrtjred be- to rr- the Lf srneii Societies. Weatmtotter Half, botuloa. Fnce SCL Bent poet free tram his sglatilUliinrats It Brisl/jl, IJath. Bir. mini.-tiam, Manchester, WorccM«r, and Lelf-eatyf Square. Londop. FflPffl TlKAD.ggggSS^Bgg j-* r" 11 k V\r% I Wau^nniin s JSt'W Game for the Chessboard#« IJL |l L U v I 2/6, 5/ or 10/6 Beware of Imitations. Of all Fancy || Lw LilU I. fliers, Wholnjwle Jaques A Son. London ENTIRELY SOLUBLE and NOT FARINACEOUS. M- ^ELLIN'S FOOD FOR INFANTS AND INVALIDS. W Rich In Blood Price 116 £ 2,6 Bone. Per Bottle. forming Element*. FOR THE HFALTHFUL REARING OF HANDLED CHILDREN. AND THE PRESERVATION OF INFANT LIFE. A sample sent pout free on application to N MP! I IN MSRIHNRO' Works, Peckham, 8.EL VJMO.N (JMENTS from £ f>, carriage paid. InRcrii'tiong accurate and beautiful* I'iansapM Pricufrom J. W. JjKfiGK, spnlptur, AHRRORRN. V A BiLLiAUUcS or iSAuAxr.J^LEfS. All those requiring New or Second-hand C\ r\ Tables, Requisites, or Billiard work done, yV should, before going elsewhere, »<»d for New Price List, Uloth and Cushion EubbCT Samples, to HENNIQ" BROS ,29, Hi^li Street, Plonmshnrv. Lnnrjon. W.C. Kstnl.li-Oi" tHAJVUIsTOKT'S INVERNESS GAPE. Best Make only. 2 £ 3, and 3$Guineas Cash. Two measures only required, Chest and Height. Forwarded, Carriage raid, lor remittance with order- SEKD FOR PATTEBSS. HAMILTON & Co., Civil & Court Tailorft 21, Jtedford Street, Strand, Jjondon, HAIR Made up at 2/- per oz. by T. S. BEOWN, COMBINGS Hairdresser, 3, Leece Street, Liverpool. "SPECIAL JvFtY" Cases 5 yrs. 7 yrs. lSyrs. old. WHISKEY J doz. t'l/- 24'- so Carriage pd. (Irish and Scotch), United Kingdom for Cacti with Order. "Xmaa Presents." P.O.O. to w. ,l..TCRY. Beifnat. For CJIltlSTMAS DECURA.J.luAS. ARDENBRITE GOLD PAINT. Brilliant—Untarnishable. Sold everywhere from 6d. T. PAvrTT & SONS, Southampton Cow, London. W.C. SELLERS Excel all DATEMT for Stockings, Under vest;i, Petticoats, PantB, MttTUNC Boys' Suits, Cardigan NIAGHIKES Jackets, &c. SELLERS' Practical Treatise on Knitting. Indispensable to all users of Knitting Machines, post free 10s. SELLERS' Sewing Machines are the Most Durable and Bqjiable in the World for all purposes. SELLERS' New Patent Oscillating Shuttle Sewing- Machine is the Fastest, Quietest, and Most Durable ever Invented. W. SFLT.EBS A; Soys. Airedale Works, Keighley, England. A H PP 6d. of all Grocers. r E, Rich Fruity Flavour with a m ■■ 4* am Chops, Steaks, &e. Q U BI ID P PETER TYRER, 70, Long Lane, w M W W Borough, London, S.E. MELODEONS Ivew Illustrated Price List, frt-6 CONCERTINAS CAMPBELL & Co, 116, Trongnte^Glasgow, DRIVING- BANDS F° MACHINES*™ 3 Best Qualitv, India Rubber and Canvas, 60 feet x inches, endlc?»# 636.; ditto, m feet x 5 inches, 736. Cash -with order. Carriage paid. Every Belt guaranteed to wear well and be of the best (inaliiy, K. A. LISTEK A* CO., Machine Hand Manufacturers, DUIISLE* London Office: 73A. QPFGY VICTORIA STRKTST, EC. JJORALITY. the INFIRMITISS or MANKIND, and SOCZAZ* PURITY» Depicting the various sufferings entailed bvall who tTAvsgress Suture's laws. How to avoid misery and live toabapp^ old age. Rules and remedies given for the cure of the various complaints of manhood. Free for two stamps. Address, Di. GROOM. 44, Great Charles St Birmingham. A perusal of this work will demonstrate to the nervous and Debilitated how tney may become strong and healthy without qua#kery- il* A M 1* H L li X I Every man j | • and Advice | i""1 ,vo'"al; flEAlPl H R HH C I Should w rite without delay to ■ I# |Sy I Mr. t. B. HARNESS, Ij ■ B (President of the British H HI ^Association of Medical Electricians), his Xcw Medical Work, entitled H Curative Powers of Electricits," H which will be sent post free to any address on ■ application. The treatise contains lull Pfr»5'Jla" ■ of the treatment of the various ills that flesh is heir to. It also contains a selection from the thousan-ls of testimonials received in favor ol Harness' ElcctropnthSc Kelt ind other h curative appliances. Please mention this P^Pe^- MR. C. §. HARNESS "RRSRFFE ■ (personally or by letter) on all matters relating to health and the application of Curative Electncitj. Note only address, and write to-day, or cal. if possible. 52, OXFORD ST. LONDON," W. B

ENGLAND AND AMERICA. On Saturday evening the Right Hon. Sir Lycn Playfair, M.P., delivered his annual address to his constituents of South Leeds. There was a very large attendance, and the bon. member was accorded a hearty reception on returning from his lengthened tour in America. Sir Lyon Playfair said that he had lately returned from tha United States, where a most important issue had been before the people during the Presidential election. The real question before the people of America was whether protection was the sourco of high wages among the working classes. Nominal wages, which were higher in America than in this country, meant so many dollars or shillings per week, while real wages were the necessities and comforts which could be bought by them. Sir Lyon gave as an illustration the case of two Bradford men, who had discovered that 32s. per week in Eng- land went further than 50s. per week in the United States., The Republicans in America supported Protec- tion, and contended that wages were raised by the system and maintained at a high level. The Demo- crats ha.d, with some misgivings, now ranged them- selves in favour of a reform of the tariff, and denied that Protection influenced wages in any sensible degree. The law of supply and demand ruled wages in America as it did in England. Strikes were very frequent in America, the trades unions were noisy and irriticnal in great part, and the Knights of Labour movement had been a dismal failure.

SELLING A GOD. Among the more important objects forming part of a collection of Burmese, Indian, and Japanese curios offered for sale by auction in London this week, was an Indian idol of some value and celebrity. This 1S stated to be the representative of a deity to whom Hindoo women pay peculiar worship, and is known as tho original Lingam God," to whose shrine at Delhi thousands of Hindoos of every rank journeyed yearly from all parts of India to pay their devotions for a period covering about 1000 years until about the year 1193 when the Mahommedan conqueror Kutb.ud-din, having wrested Delhi from the Hindoo Kings, destroyed the 21 Hindoo temples. The. "Lingam God consists of an extraordinary chrysoberyl cat's- eye, of great size and brilliancy, set in a large yellow topaz, the whole supported on a. native Indian gold base, incrusted with diamonds and set round with nine gems, oalled the nine charms—namely, diamond, ruby, sapphire, chrysoberyl cat's-eye, coral, pearl. hyacinthine garnet, yellow sapphire, and emerald.

AT THE.SEASIDE.—Dorothy: "But, Herman, I ian't answer you now. I—I—give me time to think before X reply. Herman, with rapturous passion; "Cer- tainly, my own angel. But don't make it too long, because it costs me 10s. a day at this beastly hotel/'

CAUGHT AT LAST; OR, THE FELON S BRAND. r ALL RI3HIS RESEBVED.] CHAPTER XLIV. PLATONIC AFFECTION. A MOXTH had passed since Fabian van Flev feer's great deliverance. Though not chequered with the striking events that had marked its predecessors, it had nevertheless been a busy and important month to the actors in this history. Van Flewker's first care, after determining the ve>:ed question of how the proceeds of the horn of plenty should be most profitably invested, was to re- unite the threads of his business web, broken by Pailandet through his agent Poing. Furnished by Kleckser with the list he had obtained from the ap- prover, the merchant visited in person without loss of time the various agents and business connections by whose defection he had been dismayed. The greet- ing he encountered now was of a very different kind to the reception he had formerly met. So van Flewker returned home in excellent heart and spirits. His projects had all been cheerfully heard, his proposals heartily accepted; the broken threads had been re-united or knotted anew in firmer strands; a large and profitable increase of business Jay in immediate prospect. One circumstance only troubled him; To whom should he entrust the Hamburg agency, abandoned by the renegade Schmidt ? Now, the Hamburg agency was a very important matter. Through the hands of its holder passed the whole of Van Flewker's extensive German business. It required a man of capability, of discretion, and cf tact. Eecalcitrant Schmidt had been in every par- ticular fitted for the post, and his defection was a eerious loss'. During Van Flewker's etay in Ham- burg, on his recent tour, that sturdy tebel had eaten the leek, and put up piteous prayers to be forgiven; but the merchant had remained inexorable and stern. It was a principle," he told Schmidt, never to par- don a deserter and the quondam agent mournfully withdraw. And Van Flewker returned to London with the unfilled Hamburg agency still weighing upon his mind. The poet who sings that "great events from trifling causes spring, may have had the merchant's difficulty in his prophetic eye. For it happened that, upon the morning after Van Augustine Close, Tvhile still reflecting upon how he should fill up the vacancy, Kleckser came into the sanctum to ask a question. Van Flewker started. On a sudden it darted into his mind that the very man he required stood before him. Capability, discretion, tact were needed. Why, those were precisely the qualities that JCieckser, in hunting down Parlandet, had eminently displayed. The merchant knew him to be intelligent and trustworthy cy the best of all possible tests, Kleckser should be the man. The offer was made and accepted in a breath, and the difficulty was soltad. But further great events ensued from this proceed- ing. By the unexpected change in his prospects. Kleckser was at once placed in a position to fulfil the dearest wish of his heart, and to offer himself and his fortunes for the acceptance of Ruth White. His new appointment placed him in a position of comparative independence, and he had nothing more to do than to find his opportunity and learn his fate. Kleckser's wooing was characterised by no unusual incidents. He had been a frequent visitor at Mrs. White's cottage ever since Raymond's return, like the foolish moth that will flutter around the attractive Hindle. But his visits became constant, almost nightly, after bis promotion to the Hamburg agency. In fact, if he intended to try his fortune at all, he bad no time to lose, for the merchant had coupled his offer with the condition that he should be at his new post within a fortnight. Just three days before the appointed time expired, Mrs. White received a note from Richmond, asking her to come down that forenoon to Natalie, who had sou.ething of interest to tell her. The widow accordingly set off at once, taking with her little Chrissy. Kleckser, hovering about the neighbourhood, rubbed his hands with glee as he saw the two depart. At that precise period it happened also that Sarah, Tlato's mortal foe, was absent for a week upon a visit to her friends in Wiltshire. Ruth and the philosopher were, therefore, literally the only inmates of the house. Whether Kleckser had calculated all these concurrent circumstances I am hardly in a position to state. He may, perhaps, in his despair have marie a confidante of Mademoiselle Lagrange; whose little scheme to procure Mrs. W bite's absence had thus far succeeded. Xow, it will be at once evident to the minds of the domesticated, that Sarah's absence necessarily cast upon somebodv the performance of her duties. Beds were to be made, rooms swept, furniture dusted, tneals prepared, and all the other domestic mysteries regularly performed. Ruth and her mother had hitherto shared these between them but the widow's absence this morning left them to Ruth alone. True, *he had the assistance of Plato, who trotted after her from room to room, and inspected the progress ?f her labours with a face of grave and solemn interest but, like most philosophers, his contem- plative disposition inclined rather to theory than practice. So when the cottage was" redd up," everything, duly and tidily arranged by neat and nimble fingers, and the housework concluded, Ruth went into the kitchen, set wide the door opening into the back garchn to admit the sunshine, washed her hands, and fell to making a pudding. Somehow, Ruth felt that morning in excellent sp:rits. She was so happy, you see, at the restora- tion of her brother to his home; at her mother's fecovered cheerfulness; at little Chrissy's delighted recognition of her" Cnky Yay;" at, perhaps, some C)I hef thoughts as well-so merry and pleased and altogether contented, that her joy flowed into music and &he began t'1 sing, Plato lay in a patch of sun- (■hine at h< r ft et, blinking occasionally with one eye upon his mistress, too comfortable and lazy to un- close the other. A neatly-executed shake at last overcame even the philosopher's indifference. He rose, yawned leisurely, stretched himself, and came to tho singer's side. Dear old feliow said Ruth, kindly patting Fiato a head with floury fingerfi. You're glad your master's come back, too, ain't you? To be sure you are. As pleased and happy as the rest of us, only you don't know how to show your feelings. Poor old boy! Only to think, too, that all this joy should be owing to kind Mr. KIeckser—to'kind Mr. Kleckser, Plato, "whose coat tails you nearly ate up, one night. Ah, t'iato. you must never do that again. Naughty, naughty You must love him, and be kind to him, and lick his hand, and show, him how grateful you are for bringing your master back again. Hermann's a pretty name, Plato don't you think so ? A pretty. pretty name' Hermann Kleckser 1 I wonder if they mako puddings in Hamburg. How silly Why, of course they do. Heigho With just a suspicion of a sigh, Ruth White went en with her pudding. At that moment came to the door & rat-tat-tat- tat tat tat-TA T so sudden that startled Ruth let fall !i,,r rolling-pin upon Plato's nose. Plato, not unnatur- alh-, howled. My gracious she exclaimed. Who ever can that be? And I such a figure, too! Oh! if it should be—but that's impossible Dear, dear, what- ever shall I do ? Well, at any rate, I must see who it is." Ruth tripped to the street door, followed closely by Plato. She gently drew back the bolt, keeping herself and apron well in the shade. The door opened, and in stepped Kleckser. A little shriek escaped Ruth. "Uoot morning, Miss Ruth," said the visitor. "I hope I ton'C tisturb you. Habbenlng just to pe bussing, you see. I tought I might berhaps take de liberty to look in." What could Ruth reply but that she was happy to see her guest, and beg him to enter ? Bray ton't let me inderrupt you," exclaimed Kleckser, politely. I see you are pusy. It you viII bermit me, I vill just step into de kitchen and talk vhile you continue your tomestic tuties. Shall I pe in de vay ? If I am, bray sent me off tirectly. Get avay, tog "Oh, no, Mr. Kleckser," replied Ruth, at the same time thinking his manner rather strange. If you (ion t mind seeing me make a pudding, of course I can have no objection. Down, Plato, sir, down j During this short colloquy, the philosopher was r,niffiiig ominously around Kleckser's legs. His usual "Jnrertainty of temper had been rendered eve n mere dubious bv the previous catastrophe of the rolling-pin, and he felt vastly inclined for battle. He desisted, however, at his mistress's order; but still surveved the intruder with an evil eye. It's a long time since I saw anyting of dis sort, Miss Ruth," said Kleckser, when the two, attended by Plato, had entered the kitchen. It quite remints me of de time vhen I vas a. leetel poy, and used to vatch my moder toing de self-same ting. Put I tougbt English laties alvays left dese matters to de I t°" Some'may, perhaps," replied Ruth "but I think the majority of those in our sphere of lIfe prefer tending to them themselves. Mo h rate, always do, and, as we bappe r„man i. j:_a present, the knowledge is very usefu • r ajre very domestic, are they not, Mr. Very much so inteet," was the repty* „ "I should think you must be quite dele, H the prospect of so soon returning to y° country," remarked Ruth. carelessly, as she resume her rolling-pin. «Let me see, when do you leave, Some time next week, isn't it ?" o. OK, Buth—dissembling little Biith!—who baa privately cried that morning in her bedroom over the fact that oaty three days of his stay remained I. go In tree days, Miss R nth," replied Eleckser. pumping fop a doleful sigh, Tree days more, aDd I shall have left England-barbaps for ever That luckless Plata^ He ,.really seemed destined that forenoon to nothing' "but' misfortunes. Ruth gave a-,nttle start at Kleckser's speech. Thp rolling- Ruth bent over the victim, and conaoxea with him tenderly. Kleckser stood at the door, nervously twirling his hat in his fingers, and looking envious. You'll come and see old friends occasionally, Mr. Kleckser, I hop" said Ruth, without looking up, still bending over Plato; "that is, if you should happen to visit England again." This was too much. Kleckser could stand it no longer. He threw away his hat, dropped upon his knees beside Ruth, and poured forth in a vehement flood of faulty grammar and broken English the pent- up feelings of his overflowing heart. His suit suc- ceeded. Despite the quaintness of his speech, the plainness of his appearance, pretty and sensible Ruth White looked deeper than the surface, and beheld the manly, honest spirit that glowed within. She saw in this uncomely stranger from a foreign land, the tender soul that had restored peace and happiness to her home; she cast away the prejudice against the foreigner, so often manifested by her class; she wil- lingly consented to become the pride and blessing of a good man's life. Kleckser was o'erjoyed. He had long loved Ruth; but the proof that he now saw of her housewifely qualities completed the conquest. A wife that was not too proud to make a pudding was a jewel indeed. In the extremity of his delight he even felt reconciled to Plato, and venturing to pat the philosopher's head was astonished to find his advances met in a gracious spirit. I do not pretend to explain the phenomenon: I only record it. Plato-actually--licked--Kleckser's-hand! After that, peace reigned for ever between them. What further transpired between Ruth and Kleck- spr I do not feel at liberty to say. I merely know that when, some hours afterwards, Kleckser finally quitted Mrs. White's cottage, marks, as of floury fingers, were distinctly visible upon each side of his coat-collar. (To be continued.)

SERIOUS RAILWAY COLLISION. An alarming cojlision took place between two pas- senger trains iust outside London-road Station, Man- chester, on Saturday afternoon, by which a large number of persons were more or less injured. For- tunately no lives were lost. The trains which col- lided were a slow passenger train running from Stockport to Manchester, and the other an out-coming local train. Outside the station the in and out lines cross, and it was at this point that the collision occurred. The train from Stockport, which was well- filled, was coming in at the rate of three or four miles an hour, and when crossing the line the engine of the train coming the other way, which also had a fair load of passengers, struck it broadside. The driver of the outgoing train saw the danger and put on his brake, but was then too near to prevent the col- listbh. The engine from Stockport was forced off the me^ils!, and two Of the passenger carriages, the oocupants of which were the greatest sufferers, were almost wrecked. The district superintendent of the company happened to be amongst the passengers from Stockport, and under his directions a large staff of men from the station were set to work to rescue the injured and clear the line. It was found that six persons were so seriously hurt that it was necessary to take them to the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Many others complained of shock to the system and of small cuts and bruises, but after giving their names and addresses to the officials they went home. The most dangerously wounded were T. P. Derbyshire, 27, collector, Levenshulme, injuries to the head; and Richard Jervis, 33, a labourer in the employ of the company at Crewe, leg badly hurt. They were de- tained as in-patients. Others, whose names were as follows, James White, 46, clerk, Stretford; Wm. Lloyd, 13, Chorlton-on-Medlock; John Heydon, 22, cashier, Stockport; and John Walker, a child, one year old, of Openshaw, had their injuries dressed and were taken home. The permanent way was very slightly damaged, and the lines were cleared of all obstruc- tions in about two hours.

THE QUEEN S HIGHLAND HOME. Mr. G. W. Smalley gives the following interesting account of Balmoral in the Xcw York Tribune: The coach from Ballater to Braemar will give you twice or thrice a day a near view of the grey turrets and walls of the Queen's highland home. Probably it strikes you as being curiously near the public high- way for a Royal residence. The grounds come down to the opposite bank of the Dee along which the road is carried; you can throw a stone into the Queen's grounds, if you think that a good way of signifying your Republican dislike to Royalty. Her Majesty will not see you. A belt of thick shrubbery hides the castle from the road and the road from the castle, its upper windows and outlying buildings excepted. Of these latter you note many; none with more curiosity than the house occupied during the later years of his life by John Brown, the Queen's gillie; the confidential servant who fills so much space in that journal of her life in the Highlands which her Majesty has deigned to lay before her faithful subjects and the rest of the world. Curiosity presently gives place to amazement. There is a statue of Brown as well as a house. You may have heard of it, but not till you have seen it with your eyes can you conceive the effect of the sculptured effigy of this hero. A bronze statue, colossal in size standing at an angle of the garden appertaining to his house; upheld by what seem to be huge slabs of stone, four square; and from this fortress-like pedestal gazing steadfastly upon the palace of his Royal mistress. The artist of him was no less a personage than Mr.. Boehm To approach Ealmoral without seeing this bronze colossal Brown is impossible; he is in the place and of it, and if not quite at the entrance gate, so near that he towers above all comers as they arrive as it were, the presiding genius of the Queen's household, now as when in the flesh. The house is still shown as John Bfown's house; whether kept empty in honour of him and his names I know not. Other monuments to his memory rise higher still; highest of all, a great cairn of piled stones on the brow Qf a mountain that looks down on the scsneofhis earthly triumphs; higher, I think, and higher piled than any other, save that which was raised by the same pious hand to the late Prince Con- sort. No one has ever succeeded to Brown. There is still a Queen's gillie, but he inherits only the shade of a great name, and the more humble of the great man's duties. I do not know whether I may venture to repeat in print the colloquial familiarities which are to be heard in the mouths of some of her Majesty's lieges on Dee- side. You will easily recognise her when referred to as Her Most Gracious," or you may, without at first quite understanding who is meant, hear her spoken of as The Widow." This latter title is, so far as I know, confined to Deeside, but I heard it there years ago, and have heard it more recently. The tourist is said to explore this neighbourhood more than most others, partly for its singular and admirable beauty. partly also out of that enthusiasm of loyalty which is a characteristic of the tourist. He has perhaps a faint hope that he may see the Queen. I doubt whether he ever does. The Queen drives daily, but never till five in the afternoon, and then for the most part in her own or her neighbour's forests, and not on the high road. And the etiquette of Deeside is peculiar. Whoever may by chance meet the Queen on these excursions will do well to behave as if he had not met her, nor seen her, nor let her see him. He will get behind a rock or tree, or otherwise as best he may make himself invisible, and act as if he had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear. Si3ch is her Ma- jesty's wish perfectly understood of those who live in her vicinity, and studiously obeyed. If, on the other hand, the passer by is neither tourist nor of such position as may entitle him to be known, but a gillie, or groom, or labourer, the chances are that, upon a signal from the carriage, the postilions will pull up their four smoking ponies, and the Queen will ask a kindly question or two of the man about himself and his family. Her Majesty has a strong liking for the masses. As for the classes, what is difference of rank or station, a little more or a little less, to one who deems herself immeasurably above the highest of her subjects ?

FALSE WEIGHTS iN TRADE. The experience of the Local Government Board in the matter of adulteration is repeated in the case of the Board of Trade with respect to weights and measures. We have the law against adulteration, but over large areas the Act is a dead letter. So it is in regard to the Weights and Measures Act. Fraud c! trickery," the Board say in their Report t: in the use of weighing inetruments appears to be increasing, and it rests with local authorities, by a sytematic inspec- tion, to see that sellers who do not resort to fraud or trickery have that protection which it is the intention of the law to afford them against the unfair competi- tion of those who sell by falso weight. That they have not this protection is shown by the complaints which have been made as to the improper way irt which testing and adjusting work is done by some local inspectors of weights and measures. The at- tention of the local authorities who appoint the inspectors has been drawn thereto by the Board of Trade, but the Board have no power under the present act to interfere. In some small boroughs the town councils appear to be indifferent as to whether weights and scales used by the shopkeepers are tested or not; and in some rural districts, where the inspectors are constabulary officers, little technical interest is taken in the matter. Hence it is difficult always to obtain improvement in such districts." Incidentally reference is made to the fact that there are no official regulations in this country, like there are in France, as to the metals of which pewter measures are to be made. Our inspectors or verifiers of weights and measures are only required to see that pewter measures are correct as to their capacity. No representations have been at present made to the Standards Department as to any necessity for pre- venting the use of drinking measures constructed of a material containing an undue proportion of lead or antimony dangerous to health. The composition of pewter measures varies considerably. As lead is cheaper than tin, manufacturers use as little tin as possible, and, provided that the proportion does jiot exceed one part of lead to four parts of tin, it would appear that the alloy might be safely used for drinks tag vessels without fear of lead poisoning.

THE TOY TRADE. Great Britain gets about £600,000 worth of foreign toys every year. Now, as it is reckoned that there are rather more than 15 millions of children in the United Kingdom 15 years old and under, it follows that the outlay for foreign toys is not much more than ninepence per child. Most of these articles come from Germany, which sends to British dealers toys of the value of £320,000 a year. Holland is second with £ 125,000 worth France follows with £ 90,000 worth; while Belgium is a fairly good fourth with £ 70,000 worth. Considering how clever the Americans are, it is singular that the United States supply only £8000 worth of these joys of the children's heart. Yankee inventors do not care to waste their smart- ness on the trivial toy.

< p0 y0u know Culferdope ? inquired a friend of old Bondclipper. Know him by sight." « What's bia, business ? Don't exactly know, I believe they call him a. civilised engineer." Is he we'l off ?

DWELLINGS OF THE POOR. The public inquiry which the Home Office, at the instigation of the Mansion House Council on the Dwellings of the Poor, directed to be made into the sanitary condition of Rotherhithe has (says the Daily Chronicle) been brought to a conclusion by the Com- missioners appointed for that purpose by the Govern- ment. Despite the strong and united defence of the vestry made by the sanitary officers called to give their evidence, the condition of the parochial area of Rotherhithe, though probably not so bad as some of the neighbouring areas which have already been the subjects of similar inquiries, has been shown to be such as to warrant the process to which it has just been subjected. The first inspection of the parish was made in the month of March, when it was dis- covered that out of 711 houses visited 581 were with- out any water supply, 93 had not any dustbins, and in 51 instances the dustbins in use were so defective as to be absolutely noxious. In the yards of many of these houses the dust was compressed in masses which must have been the accumulations of months. A second visitation in September showed that in the interval the landlords of 91 houses, frightened at the possible results of the inquiry which had been com- menced, had laid on a water supply so that at that date the number of houses without a proper water supply has been reduced to 490. The drainage was shown to be very bad but it must be conceded that as lines (jf streets in the parish stand much below the Thames high-water mark their effectual drainage is a difficult problem. This parish is the residential area of a large working population, the poverty and migratory habits of which would render the work of the Vestry, however well-disposed, extremely arduous. Here, as elsewhere, the health and sanitary officers have continued to present reports which the Vestry have, in the absence of external pressure, allowed to pass unheeded. Most of the dwellings being let in tenements, the Vestry could, if they chose, have brought influence to bear on the land- lords to whom the rents were paid. One witness stated that a large proportion of the incriminated dwellings was owned by members of the Vestry. Most of the defects$Mnplained cf are defects which come within the range of the Torrens' and other Acts, passed in the expectation that they would prove remedial measures. The drift of the evidence adduced was to show that it is not extended powers that are required, but a motive force to compel the local authorities to exercise the powers they already possess.

SEARCHING FOR TREASURE. An interesting search after lost treasure has just begun in the Adriatic, near Trieste. In September, 1812, the French corvette Danao was lost, by an ex- plosion, from causes unknown, the whole of the crew, some two hundred men, being drowned. The captain of the ship had just returned from the theatre when the powder-magazine blew up, and such was the force of the explosion that every window in the quarter of the town near the sea was smashed. There happened to be un board the Danae a case of costly jewels and valuables, destined for an exalted per- sonage at Trieste. No trace of it could afterwards be discovered. The search now being made, with the permission of the authorities of the port, is carried on by experienced divers, though hitherto not a vestige of the Danae or her treasure has been found.

OUR AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. According to a return by the Government Statist for Vjct: ria, the estimated population of the Austra- lasian Colonies at the end of 1887 was 3,551,751. New South Wales heads the list with 1,042,919, and Victoria comes next with 1,036(119. New South Wales is also the principal colony in ievfenus and expenditure, and her debt is forty millions sterling as against thirty-eight millions for New Zealand and thirty-three millions for Victoria. The latter colony imports nineteen millions sterling worth of goods, and New South Wales leads the way in exports, which are estimated at eighteen millions. The mileage of railway open in Xew South Wales is 2081, and in Vietorid, 19¡9, The wheat crop of the colonies was estimated at 47,500,000 bushels. There were hearty 98,000,000 sheep.

TRADE IN RABBIT SKINS. One of the most extraordinary of London trades is in rabbit skinf. Rabbits are one of the plagues of New Zealand and Australia, and the partial compensation nf tli« enlnnists in this export. From New Zealand there have been aa^ut 000,000 skins, valued at £750,000, and m the same per od 29,000,000 have been exPorted Jr°m iotona. «• Coney wool" is now ^°rth 's- a pound. The ex- tensive supply hss, 1S sa'd» hooded the English market., and the trade ha'\°"ha'ld^ sufficient tn fnr a vear or two. The^ cheap linings of winter coats and cloaks, and man^ d>hed "tides of fur, as well as many hats are made of rabbit fur.