Evening Express

I SOUTH WALES TIDE TABLE. -t- ++ J is S 5 2 ft* P W W ft t»- H 63 < p (J S M ) f"I o pa E; a PH Friday rooming 2 14 1 14 | 2 8 X 30 130 Oct. 201 ^ening 3 2 1 57 | 2 51 2 13 2 6 vHeight 24 6 23 3 25 0 26 8 14 3 Satur- rMorning 3 44 2 35 3 29 2 48 2 50 day. Evening 4 161 3 6 4 0 3 !6 3 15 Oct. 21 (.Height 27 4 25 9 27 10 28 4 16 8 Sundav CMorninff I 4 42 3 31 4 25 3 41 3 43 0 t 9Jy < Evening 156 3 56 4 50 14 5 45 (.Height 30 5 28 4 30 11 30 4 19 6 Monday (Morning 5 29 4 20 5 14 T?7 4~33 Oct 23") Evening 5 49 4 42 5 36 4 W 4 53 yHt' 33 6 30 6 34 0 32 6 21 8 Tuesdv 6 7 5 2 5 56 5 10 5 ld Ort 24lEveuiuS 6 27 5 22 6 16 5 30 5 5, M (.Height 34 8 32 3 35 2 33 11 23 Wednes rMorning 6 46 5 42 6 36 5 49 5 54 day Evening 7 4 6 2 6 56 6 9| 6 13 Oct. 25 (.Height 36 8 33 5 37 2 39 0 23 0 Thurs- ("Morning 7 24 6 22 7 "(6 6 29 6 54 day 1 Evening 7 45 6 42 7 36 6 50 6 54 Oct. 26 (.Height 37 10 33 9 38 4 35 6 25 U Roath Basin fEast Dock Sill } Alexandra Dock 5Dock Bill.

BAROMETRICAL INDICATIONS. Appended is a chart of the barometrical readings for the 48 hours ended Thursday midnight, as regis- tered at the Western Mail Office, Cardiff. The instrument is 33ft. above sea level.

I TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL. TEMPERATURE. DatE- Max. Miii". MeanT BAIsmi' Weduesday. 18 64 44 54'0 1*95 Thursday 19 56 42 0-49 O'OO Friday 20 57 43 0 50 O'OO Saturday 21 — —* — Sunday 22 — — — Monday 23 — — — Tuesday 24 — — — — The Temperature represents extreme readings of the thermometer for 24 hours ended 9 a.m., taken in the shade at Cwrt-y-Vil, Penarth. The Rainfall registered at Cwrt-y-Vil, Penarth, for the 24 hours ended 9 a.m.

I WEATHER FORECAST. YESTERDAY'S FORECAST. YKSTKRDAT'S WEATHER. North easterly breezes, South easterly winds, light; fine. fair. The forecast of the weather througliout the West of England and South Wales for to-day (Friday) is as follows:—Stronq southerly winds or gales; very un- settled: much rain.

HUNTING APPOINTMENTS. HARRIERS. CRICKHOWELL.—Saturday, October 21, Llwncrwn Farm, near Tretower Tuesday, October 24, Duffryn, Llanbedr; Saturday, October 28. Table Mountain—11. Weather

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL SERVICES. Friday, October 20.—Gibbons in F anthem, By the waters of Babylon (Boyce). Saturday, October 21.-Ebdon in E; anthem, Ye shall dwell" (Stainer).

TELEPHONE Western Counties, 502 Post-office,9 5. TELEGRAMS Mail, Cardiff."

NOTE S. By "OBSERVER." CARDIFF. FRIDAY MORNING. Doubtless there are cons as well as pros to the acquisition of the tramways by the cor- poration, as recommended yesterday by the public works committee. At all events, how- ever, we might expect the purchase to result in improvements in regularity and speed, which at present are desiderata only. For myself, as I have said before in this column, I would have fixed stopping places and no intermediate halts at a"1. For instance, the car in its progress up St. Mary-street Cantonwards should stop, say, at Wood-street corner, then near the Town- hall, then at the castle, then on the bridge, then at Cathedral-road entrance, and so on. Once townspeople came to understand these stops they would soon accommodate them- selves to them, and neither desire to embark or alight elsewhere. It would be a boon to passengers and to horses alike. That was an interesting meeting at the Local Marine Board offices yesterday, and the speeches made were short and to the point. As long as our seamen are as brave and stout as Captain Samson there is little fear of Britain losing her maritime supre- macy. As long as he was in command, he said simply he would always stand by to the last, and if possible launch a boat to go to the rescue. The world is the better for such rugged, sterling, honest souls as the master of the good ship Sandfield. Another grand jury has done its duty by recommending the introduction of the cat-o'- nine tails as punishment for outrages on children, in addition to a substantial term* of imprisonment. We are all now-a-days op- posed to degrading penalties, but he must be a peculiar individual who does not look on a downright flogging as the fittest punishment 11 z, 11 for outraging an innocent child. May the cat soon descend on the backs of all such villains is my prayer. The one or two disclaimers which are tardily filtering in place the bulk of the can- didates for the Glamorgan magistracy in an even more awkward plight than they were before. It is the duty of every honest man on that list either to prove his utter discon- nection with the syndicate or else to get him- self put out of nomination without delay" To do otherwise is to rest passive under a most undesirable stigma. Long before the Welsh Ladies Choir left for the States I hinted that it was more than likely some members would find permanent ties to bind them to the land of the Yankee. This tolerably safe prediction will be ful- filled, as between matters harmonic and matrimonic several of the fair creatures are spoken of as likely to return in due time across the herring-pond. In some particulars the horrible story of the Etna re-calls a tale in the current num-

DO YOUR WORK NEATLY & WELL >-

GLAMORGAN J.P.'S. Alderman John, of Cowbridge, and Lord Windsor. The following is the correspondence referred to by Alderman Edward John, of Cowbridge, in a letter to the Western Mail of Saturday :— [COPY.] Cowbridge, June, 1892. Right Hon. Lord Windsor. My Lord,—May I respectfully call your atten- tion to the want of a resident county J.P. for Cowbridge ? In consultation with our respected town-clerk, Mr. Stockwood, we have several reasons for the want of a second J.P. to act with mayor or ex-mayor, and the fact of many cases requiring immediate attention in the im- mediate neighbourhood shows the necessity of such appointment. Hoping this will have your lordship's attention, I am, my lord, yours respectfully, EDWARD JOHN. To this letter Lord Windsor replied that the matter should have bis attention. I coPY.] Cowbridge, Sept. 30, 1892. Right Hon. Lord Windsor, My Lord,—Reverting to my previous letter, re appointment of county J.P. for Cowbridge, may I respectfully suggest to your lordship to allow the present justices acting' in the Cow- bridge division to name to your lordship a gen- tleman resident in Cowbridge who they may select to act with them, thinking, my lord, it would be more agreeable to the gentlemen now acting ?—Yours respectfully, (Signed) E. JOHN. 53, Grosveuor-street, 5tli October, 1892. Sir,-I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of September 30, and to say in reply that the matter will be fully considered when any further appointments to the county bench are made.—1 am, sir, yours faithfully, WINDSOR. Edward John. Esq. [COPY.] Cowbridge, Oct. 13, 1893. Rignt Hon. Lord Windsor. My Lord,—May 1 respectfully call your atten- tion to the alleged scandal now appearing in the Western Mail re the appointment of Glamorgan J.P.'s. in which my name appears. I can at once assure your lordship I know nothing' of any syndicate or the payment of any money. 1 wrote your lordship in 1892 sriggestin?,- the appoint- ment of a county J.P. for Cowbridge, and I then pointed out the necessity of such an appoint- ment. I received from your lordship a reply to those letters. When my name appeared, with others, in this list I naturally came to the con- clusion that it was the result of my communicat- ing with your lordship. May I ask you to kindly put this and my other letters in the basset the Western ltlail ?-I am, your lord- ship's obedient'servant, E. JOHN. Hewell Grange, Redditch, October 15, 1893. Sir,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th inst. You are quite correct in stating that you wrote to me in 1892 about the want of a magistrate being appointed in the Cowbridge district. I am unable to send these letters to the editor of the Western Mail, as I have not got them by me, but, as far as I am concerned, you are at liberty to publish this and any other correspondence we may have had upon the subject.—I am, sir, yours faithfully, (Signed), WINDSOR.

A Bishop for Bristol. The 'St. James's Gazette" says —The Bris- tol people will evidently soon have a bishop of their very own. An endowment yielding :1 minimum annual income of £ 2.000 (indepen- dent of the JB500 a year to be cut off from the See of Gloucester) was needed, arfd we learn from the latest report that £1,742 of this hap now been raised. Therefore, a capital sum of about £ 5,000 is all that remains before the Act of 1884, providing for the separation of of Gloucester and Bristol, can be put into force. One-tenth of the amount required has been promised by Captain -Norris (who has previously given a handsome donation), on condition that the tale is complete bv June, 1894-.

Intermediate Education in 'Wales. Mr. W. Rathbone, M.P., opening a bazaar on Wednesday at Bangor in aid of the Cefnfaes British Schools, complimented Carnarvonshire upon having been the first county in Wales to adopt the Welsh Intermediate Education Act and promised his hearty co-operation in making it successful in its working.

INTERNATIONAL COAL. More Information About the Company's Business. Another circular has been issued to the shareholders of the International Coal Com- pany (Limited) by Mr. E. Williams, of Aber- kenfig. After explaining the reason why the circular is sent out, a table is appended show- ing the average prices received for International Six-foot, coal at the colliery, the prices for Ffaldau Oriental coal, and the price charged by the Cardiff Park Coal Company (Limited). The price received by the international Company during the ten mouths ending June last averaged 7s. 10id. per ton. Ffaldau coal averaged 9s. Oid. per ton less 21 per cent., whilst the price charged by the Park Coal Company averaged 9s. 4id. per ton less 2* per cent. discount. The circular proceeds: — These figured prove two things, first, that the directors' contention that the prices ob- tained for International coal were as good as those received for other similar coal is wrong; and, secondly, that the Cardiff Park Coal Com- pany (Limited)—who are practically Messrs. Powley, Thomas and Co.-have received a much higher price for International coal than has been received by the company, and which prices should have been obtained by the agents for the International Coal Company. The full explanation vouchsafed at the annual meeting accounted for the driving through of two faults 28 yards each. The secretarv declines^ to tell us what this cost, but a moment's reflection will tell anyone acquainted with colliery work that it would be very with colliery work that it would be very small indeed compared with the loss of £ 11,560 with which we are asked to content ourselves. In working out the figures on the annual statement, we find that for every ton of large and through coal sold, it cost 7s. 5^1. for wages a.lone, and if we compare the cost of other neighbouring collieries we find it to be, for dead work, surface work, and cutting, about 4s. per ton. Is it a wonder, under the circumstances, we are asking for a committee of inspection ? The bad trade has affected all collieries, but we cannot learn of a single instance where the effect has been anything like so disastrous. Some have even paid 10 per cent. dividend last year, besides clearing off a considerable amount of deben- tures and placing another amount to the reserve fund, and these are much older col- lieries and more expensive to work than the International, besides which our coal is far better than that of most proprietors, and the prices less affected by bad trade, inasmuch as the demand for good house coal is fairly even in all years. As to the purchase of pitwood, &c., it is absurd and unbusinesslike to plead that we are giving the same as others. What we want to know is whether our agents, Messrs. Powley, Thomas and Co. (who are also pit- wood merchants), if they are supplying, are they doing so as cheaply as we could buy from other merchants ? This is not asking much. The drop from prosperity to such serious loss is so astounding that in common fairness the shareholders should be allowed to inquire into the spending of their money, especially when it is remembered that for every 20s. received last year from the sale of coal, we paid out 23s. 6d., besides another amount of £ 4,502 spent in new work, which is not described in any way. The directors express themselves as being personally in favour of the appoint- ment of a committee of inspection, but they raise a very weak plea indeed that the details, of the business would be made public, this need not and would not he the case, as they: well know, and it is simply preposterous for the directors to say that an inspection by shareholders would be injurious to the interests of shareholders. If everything is as it should be, the directors have everything to gain and nothing to lose by the inspection, and we are sure that by granting it they will enlist the sympathy and the support of the shareholders." The list of shareholders in the Cardiff Park Coal Company (Limited), up to September 5th, 1893, is given as follows:—Jackson Powley, 2,000 shares; A. J. Lusty, 2,000; E. Frank- len Thomas, 510; Amy Isabel Thomas, 1,500; S. B. Reid, 60; D. Beynon, 50: C. H. Cruise, 5; R. F. Akers, 1; W. H. Williams, 1: Edmund Porter, 1; C. J. Huxtable, 1; Thomas Sanday, 1; E. Rowlands, 1; T. S. Jones, I.-Total number of shares, 6,132.

MAY BE MARRED. Singular Letter from the Principal of the Royal College of Music. About six months ago we announced the success of Master Willie Morgan, of Dow- lais, in winning the open scholarship for pianoforte playing at the Royal College of Music against about 300 competitors from all parts of the kingdom. The scholarship was tenable for three years, and included main- tenance as well as tuition. So matters stood a few weeks ago, when it was decided to give young Morgan a benefit concert. Sir George Grove, the principal of the Royal College was naturally asked for his patronage. At a meeting of the committee who are carrying out the arrangements, held on Wednesday, considerable surprise was caused when the secretary (Mr. W. Morgan Davies) read a letter from Sir George Grove, in which that gentleman, after speaking in terms of warm eulogy of the progress made by young Mor- gan since his admission to the college, pro- ceeded to say that he hoped the friends in Dowlais would do what they could to make the concert a big success, "because ,owing to the falling-off in the funds of the college, we may not be able to give -dorg-an mainte- nance after this year. Several speakers said that this practically meant the cancelling of the results of the boy's splendid victory, be- cause, being only the son oi a working man who is burdened with a heavy family, it is impossible for him to maintain himself in London. It was resolved to send out cir- culars appealing for help for the boy, who gained the first pianoforte scholarship ever won by a Welsh competitor. —^—————

DUG .UP AT COWBRIDGE. A Thirteenth Century Piscina Discovered. Dnrmg the J" <:ent restoration of Cowbridge Church, carried out by Messrs. Hatherly and Carr, builders, of Bristol, under the direction of Messrs. Bruton and Williams, architects, of Cardiff, a most interesting discovery was made in the south wall of the chancel in the finding- of a splendid and well-preserved thirteenth century piscina, which ha.d been at some time filled up with rubble walling and plastered over.

WANT NEW CLOTHES. Discontent Amongst Taff Vale Railway Employes. Reports have been circulated lately con- cerning the alleged grievances of the em- ployes of the Taff Vale Railway Company. With the object of ascertaining the truth of these statements, a representative of the "Western Mail" interviewed one of the rail- way servants at the Taff Vale Railway Sta- tion. "Is it true?" began the "Mail" man, "tuat the management of the company is causing discontentment among its employes?" "Yes. There is not a man on the 1" station-masters and inspectors included, who is satisfied with the existing state of affairs." "What is your chief cause for complaint? "The clothing supplied, or, rather, not sup- plied, to us by the company. Our new uni- forms were due nearly five months ago, but at present the only articles we have received are our caps. Of course," he sarcastically added "tlwt is something to be thankful for. but. still, clothes of material such as ours won't last for ever, and." with a glance at his nether garments, "it is, as you see, time we had a new rig-out." With reference to the question of houses erected bv the company for its empires, he said: "There are no such houses at Cardiff, but there are soine both at Aberdare Junction and Cowbridge. The rents have been raised from 12s. to £1 a month, and as the maximum earned is only 21s. a week, it is almost im- possible to make both ends meet. Several have received notice to ouit." "Why don't you make your grievances known at head-Quarters 1" "Deputations have been sent, but no good has ever resulted."

Tredergarville Chapel Cardiff. On Thursday evening n meeting of the mer- bers of the Tredegarville Baptist Chapel was Leld in the chapel. Parade, Cardiff. The Rev. Alfred Tilly presided. and there was a large attendance. A deacon stood on gnard at the door and refused admission to the press.—It was decided to give the organist a salary.—A discussion arose as to whether or not the chapel authorities should obtain counsel's advice on the ques- tion whether or not they could alter a clause in the Church deeds, and it was decided to get such advice. The clause was one in which it stated that the pastor should hold the position until he either resigned or died, and that the congregation could not intertere. The congregation want the clause" altered so as to allow them, if they are dissatisfied with a pastor, to call upon him to resign.

Cymric Clippings. WELSH WISDOM, WIT ANP WHIMS. A Fund of Funny Facts Taken From All Corners of the Principality. A Manchester paper says that the war cry of Wales is "Dam Sassenaoh Newport-road supplied every man. except the foreman, of the grand jury at the Cardiff Quarter Sessions yesterday. They had to go to Charles-street for a foreman. Mr. Arthur Williams. M.P.. has convened a private meeting- of local Liberals to be held at Harry's Restaurant, Barry Dock, this evening to organise the party in the district. Ireland came to Wales for its last president of the Royal Hibernian Society, but this is now to be changed. The late Sir Thomas Jones is to be succeeded by Mr. Thomas Farrell, R.H.A., the distinguished Irish sculptor. Young Man (to one of the members of tho Welsh Ladies' Choir who has returned home) I should like to pay my respects to you som evening this week, Miae Young Ladj Certainly. To-morrow evening. Come early, to avoid the rush." Madame Patti's favourite pet is a small Mexican dog named Riclii. He is provided with a complete wardrobe, including night- gown made of costly silk, and seven collars, one for each day in the week. He is learn- ing to smoke cigarettM. It was suggested by a Cardiff councillor yesterday ch at the new town-hall should be a moveable affair, and that it should be wheeled about from place to place. If this suggestion is adopted we hope the glass case for the towa- hall committee will not be forgotten. John, dear, don't you think you'd better order the winter's coal now P No, my dear. Coal is too high. I made a calculation based on our stove the other day, and I find it will be cheaper for me to provide each member of the family with a seal-skin suit this winter." An artist who knows where to get effective subjects for his pictures is Mr. Charles Stuart. He divides his attention between Scotland and North Wales, and, at the present moment some of his pictures showing Scotch and Welsh mountain scenery are on exhibition at Bristol. A Morganwgian writes to say that sang di fang means higgle-de-piggledy. Yes, but how came the phrase into existence F Other curious Welsh phrases are "Yr oedd mor gecose a phwnsh and A wai she gos ag e." Are these the creations of Hiraethog or Dafydd ap Gwilym ? A man who has been delving in the past o-ives a brace of cases settled at the Radnorshire Assizes in 1825. Edward Jarman was sen- tenced to death for stealing a mare, and Thos. Sheen was served in the same way for steal- ing eleven horses. By comparison, Sheen was let off lightly. A college founded by a Welshman at Spring- Held, Massachusetts, has just gone through its Centennial celebration. It is called Williams College, and an interesting feature of the cele- bration is that it was attended by Mr. J. L. Partridge, of Brooklyn, who was a student of the college in 1828. One of the few educational awards at the World's Fair was won by the glodoscope, a combined celestial and terrestrial globe for schools, the invention of Miss A. M. Gregory, sister of Mrs. Fiddian, of The Walk, Cardiff. The glodoscope is in use at the University Col- lege of South Wales. A Welshman who visited St. Albans found the following inscription on a stone in the church: — "Hugh Lewis, Souldier in his Majesty's .rmy, Taken Prisoner at Ravensfield, Northampton- shire. Sev. ——— ye ——— Day June, 1644." A few days ago," writes a Pyle man, "I saw a school copybook used by the. late patriarch of Tonyrefail, the venerable William Evans. It was dated 1809. At that time William was fourteen years old, and the writing and general appearance of the exercises in the book show that even at that age the lad was not cast in the ordinary mould." Preservation of public footpaths and common land is all right enough, but let us not lose sight of the infinitely more important duty of pre- serving ancient names. A London coffee- tavern is kept by a Jones, who proclaims himself a Scotchman If national distinctions are to be mixed up in this way, we shall soon be told that Evan Evans is a Chinee. Pickwick, with his chops and tomato sauce letter, has been outdone in the laconic style by a Dowlais collier. At a meeting of the committee of the Colliers' Sick and Disable- ment Fund the secretary read the following application for assistance: — High-street, Dowlais,-Dear Sir,-Rheumatic fever.—John Jones." Tne committee seemed to understand the letter, and two men were told off to make the necessary inquiries. County Councillor Evan Lewis has beeu spending a holiday in Brittany, and, now that he has returned, he is open to enter into a discussion with any man in creation on the subject of the Celtic Cronileehau and other remains at Keranflec'h and Quimper, but not all the king's horses, nor all the king's men can draw out of him any reference to the sea voyage, or the hotel charges and accommodation at St. Malo. Two prisoners were yesterday helped into the Black Maria" at the Cardiff Police-station- One of them was old and hardened, the other was evidently young in crime. Oh, think of it," he moaned. "Of what ?" asked the elder prisoner. The disgrace of having to ride over to gaol in the Black Maria.' That's so," was the rather sympathetic response. It's pretty hard on a youngster like you, but, then, think of how much faster we'll go than if we had to take a tram-car." In the neighbourhood of Swansea there is a chapel where anniversary services were liehl Sunday or two ago. No less than seven preachers held forth on the same day, and so powerful were the sermons that the following Mondav two big cracks were noticed in the walls. One of the deacons is in an awful way about it, and swears none of the seven trumpet-tongued preachers shall ever set foot within the chapel walls again. Another deacon, who happens to be a thorough-going Welshman, affirms that the preaching had nothing to do with the damaged walls, for," he says, "the sermons were all delivered in English." A polyglot sporting paper, Athletic News by name, received this note :—" Bangor, Yn arfon, Hydref 14, 1893. Syr,-Carwn wybod trwy gyfrwng eich newyddiadur popolgaidd. Yn y nesaf os oes posibl. Ai ydiw Hargreaves, o Blackburn Rovers, yn rhyw perthynas-ai peidioir ddau Hargreaves a fuont zu chwaren gydd y clwb uchod rhai blynyddoedd yn ol teimi&f yn bur ddiolohgar os gwnewch atteh mewn Cymraeg bur. Ydwyf gysu diolehgorwch guresogef-CYXRu FYDD." We have copied th note just as it has been most atrociously printed. Moreover, our contemporary went to some trouble to get a suitable answer, and this is what it said :—" Yda ni ddim yn gwbod mai y dyn yn perthynas." Mr. Evan Lewis, of Dowlais, blends with the honourable duties of a county councillor the less pretentious, but more useful, business of an auctioneer. The other evening he was selling some tons of unredeemed pledges. Ladies and gentlemen," said he, won't you buy this beautiful chest of drawers which belonged to King James 1.?" and What shall I say for this lovely cashmere shawl, which was the pro- perty of Mrs. Pizarro?" are specimens of his rostrum oratory, and for a while he got on capitally. At length, however, he was pulled up in an unexpected manner. Now, ladies, what shall I say for this lovely garment?" asked he, holding up a faded green dress, and added, There is indisputable evidence that this fine dress belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and that she wore it when riding with Garibaldi at the Battle of Agincourt. Ye're a flaming liard, Mr Loose," shouted out a woman in the crowd; it belonged to Norlil Murphy, the dirty streel that ran off to Ameriky widmyold man. Ah, shure, it's mesilf that knoes that frock well, and look here, Mr. Loose, I'll gfive ye half a crown for it now, so I can burn it and git me revinge on the ould divil." "It's yours, ma'am," said Mr. Lewis with alacrity, and the faded old dress was held up no more to the admiring gaze of -tinged Lm<u*

ber of the Idlcr-I forget its title but readers who have read both narratives will know at once to what I allude. Only the fact is infinitely more dreadful than the notion. I see the clothing question is still very much to the front on the T.V.R. It is, indeed, a shame to keep the men hanging on in their present second-rate duds." They look for all the world like so many broken down Robinsoa Crusoes. If this kind of thing goes on much longer we shall have the line known as "THE VERY RAGGED." If they hadn't a skeleton at the corpora- tion feast on Tuesday, they had something worse-a very active thief or thieves round the corner busy making off with the cutlery and the drinkables. This is what no re- spectable skeleton at a feast would ever do besides, it would never pay a skeleton to drink much, for the wherewithal would run out through his bones. It is satisfactory to know that the pilferers above-mentioned are in a fair way of being brought to book. If the old monks who went through their holy, quiet services in the Grey Friars and the Black Friars of long ago could open their eyes on the Cardiff of to-day! Well, it would take a deal to astonish a monk, just as they say 'twould take a vast deal of soap to clean down a hermit. But I'd wager long odds that those old ecclesiastics would open their eyes! I can imagine one of them making his appearance in St. Mary-street, and his quaint garb instantly attracting the attention of the Cardiff boy. Something like this might be the conversation, Allo, old Santa Claus 'tis a bit early for you; ain't it P" "Who's your tailor?" "Where did you get that 'at ?" "Does yer mother know yerout?'' "My, Bill, but p'r'aps 'e's a 'tec in diguise after all!" 1. And in the lull that follows the quaint old man gets in a word. "Prithee, froward youths, tell me the way to the church of the Black Friars ?." Black Friars ? What's them? Minstrels?" "Yah, old monkey brand, but you've come to the wrong shop." And so the game goes on till the poor old monk gets bewildered and finally exasperated, and is dragged to the police-station by active and intelligent X 13 as wandering about without visible means of subsistence. THE NAUGHTY KNIGHT. (From the poems of PETER PRETTY.) There was a town apon the map, And in that town a dreadful chap- A titled potentate was he, Who may be termed Sir W. T. He always frown'd whene'er he spoke, And never made a harmless joke; The object of his scathing wit Unfailingly succumbed to it. His laughter folks who were discreet Would hasten from with nimble feet. His wrath was all one could require To have good reason to expire. To occupy his time this knight, With condescension far from slight, Upon his own peculiar plan Did business for a nobleman. The town was well wig-governed by Good men-great wits unwittinglie— (The mis this verse contains please take As introduced for metre's sake). They had important work to do Re which they sought to interview The nobleman, and angry grew When him they were not shown in to. The Knight it was received them, and One ups and says, Sir, understand, We'd rather see Lord Sceot by far!" The Knight said, "Would you? Ha ha! ha!' They said, Your rudeness, sir, is great, But still our business we will state, We'd like to know if you can spare, A piece of waste ground anywhere ? We think we'll want it later on To place a new Town-hall upon." The Knight replied, Take my word on't, You really don't know what you'll want." A tender point this seemed to strike They made remarks he did not like. He smacked them all across his knee, And sent them home to have their tea.