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OUR L(.)ND!)N_2^ESP0XDEXT.…
OUR L(.)ND!)N_2^ESP0XDEXT. The most striking feature of the triennial contest for the London School Bopr(I now decided, was the exceptionally great proportion. of the ratepayers who came to the poll; but there were certain incidents of the fight which were both interesting and amusing, and which indicated bow little is understood by many an elector of the ramifications of the cumulative system of voting. Considerable difficulty, for instance, was experienced in impressing upon the electors the fact that they must put a number and not a cross against the name of the candidate or candidates they wished to support. Many right up to the end thought it sufficed to place such a cross in order to plump, or give all their votes, for a single candidate and while, in some of the electoral divisions, it was agreed between the respective parties beforehand that a solitary cross should be taken as representing the full number that could be given, in others it was counted as only one vote. Beyond this difficulty there was the curious circumstance that many voters thought it sufficient to take the ballot- paper from the returning officer, fold it up, and place it in the ballot box unmarked, while others imagined it to be the right thing to put a number on the back of the paper, quite apart from the candidates' names. There were others who unintentionally sacrificed their votes by writing remarks on their ballot-papers, some cf these being obvi- ously intended to be of a facetious character; while, though the Ballot Act has now been in operation for close upon a quarter of a century, there were several instances in which the voter solemnly appended his name and address. London is scarcely the spot where it might, on the face of it, be expected to find any mark of the small holding movement; but it is interesting to learn that such holdings are making progress, slow but satisfactory, in the administrative county, created by the Local Government Act of 1888, over which the London County Council rules. Frequent applications for these now, it is said, come in, and a site has been selected at Catford, ten and a half acres in extent, which will shortly be laid out in plots. The anticipation is that the rents received from the tenants will cover the whole of the outlay to which the Council will be put in securing the land under the Small Holdings Act of 1892, and in rendering it suitable for the desired purpose; and the progress of the experiment will certainly be watched with interest. It will be the more noted, because, as the District Councils which are about to be constituted get into working order, they will certainly be pressed from various quarters to adopt similar ideas and, although the conditions affecting land within the metropolitan area are different in divers ways from those in a purely agricul- tural district, there are sufficient points of resemblance to ensure the experiment being followed by politicians as well as by practical men. The trials of the juryman are not often dealt with sympathetically by the presiding genius of the law court in which they are related but Mr. Littler, Q.C., the chairman of the Middle- sex Sessions, has just been listening to them with marked effect. A gentleman, on being summoned to be on the grand jury, seriously complained. He said that he was summoned in 1889 at the Central Criminal Court; in November, 1891, at the Queen's Bench Divi- sion; in the next month at the Old Bailey once more; exactly a twelvemonth later at the Middlesex Sessions last June at the Central Criminal Court for the third time and now at the Middlesex Sessions. In one sense, these frequent summonings might be taken as a compliment, and as indicating the high opinion of the juryman's judicial faculties entertained by the officials; but ilie gentleman evidently entertained the idea, allowed with age, that it is possible to havejtoo much of a good thing, and Mr. Littler, upon the facts being related to him, roundly denounced the whole transaction as tyranny, and at once excused him. Judges have, of course, to be very chary in 'granting excuses to those who wish to escape their turn of service in the jury-box, for the service is one that every gitizen in turn ought to be called upon to make; but there will be general sympathy felt with the action taken in the present case. Queen Boadicea, if she ever was laid to rest under the tumulus on Parliament-hill, Hamp- stead, is at rest there still, for the recent ex- cavations with a view to discovering any British or Roman relics there have been almost absolutely fruitless. The official report of the British Museum investigator is now avail- able, and this would indicate that the tumulus is artificial, that it has been largely added to during the past two Cfflituries, but not opened before, and tlfat it is very probably an ancient British burial mound of the early bronze period, and therefore existed hundreds of years before fioadicea. There is not the slightest proof that that heroic sovereign was buried in the neigh- tTournood of London, and either Suffolk or Essex—in which counties dwelt the Iceni, over yehom she ruled-would seem the more likely spot. But popular tradition has linked JBoadicea with this tumulus in rather a striking fashion; and, despite the fact that nothing has now been found to support the theory, the accustomed tale is likely to continue to be told to the end of the chapter. A sentimental feeling of regret will be aroused in many breasts by the announcement that more of the old wooden walls of England have been sold by the Admiralty to the ship- breakers, and that soon they will no longer exist. These include vessels which have lain at Portsmouth, Chatham, and Sheerness, as well as the old Benbow, the line-of-battleship which was present at the bombardment of St. Joan d'Acre. Those which will have the closest associations for the greatest number, however, will be the two famous Indian troopships, Euphrates and Serapis, which during their exis- tence have carried tens of thousands of soldiers between Britain and our Indian Empire. The Serapis has the further distinction of having been the vessel which bore the Prince of Wales to India nearly nineteen years ago; but, like her sister ship, she has for some time been felt to be growing ont of date, and the termination pf her official career is not unexpected. They have, however, been the temporary floating Jiomes of so many during their existence that they cannot be allowed to pass into nothingness without a word of recognition and regret. Much interest is felt in London as well as in various parts of the country in the Conference which is to be hrld at the Board of Trade next Feek on the subject of the construction of light railways. Not only will some of the leading authorities on this matter participate, but the Cpunty Councils Association has chosen Lord Thring, Sir John Hibbert, M.P., Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, and Mr. Henry Hobhouse, M.P., to represent its views on the occasion. There is no doubt as to the growth of the feeling that some of the undeveloped resources, and espe- cially the agricultural resources, of the country could be greatly aided by an extension of tho light railway system; but there is equally little doubt that the whole subject ought first to be threshed out, in order that a comprehensive scheme should not later be hampered by any difficulties of detail. The correspondence which has recently been proceeding in the Times on the subject sufficiently indicates the divergent ppiUions that exist, and the differences are such as, <?nly experts can thoroughly examine and cbtOpose. As far as the light railways experi- ment has proceeded in Ireland, there seems reason to believe that it has been a siircessa but, ot course, the experiment there has been tried under exceptional circumstance's, and upon conditions which may not bo held to be applicable to the major portion of Great Britain. More light, therefore, is needed upon the problem, and this we may now bo con- sidered certain to have. Cyclists who like to study all the latest developments of everything that relates to their favourite pastime are being treated to aa embarrassment of riches in London just now. No sooner is one great exhibition of cycling appliances over than anothor at the opposite side of the town is to begin; and no true enthusiast will hesitate to see both. The newest tyre, the latest lamp—these are .items that appeal to his heart; and there is many a cyclist who has deprived himself of the right to taunt his lady friends with the fickle following of the fashion, for he himself yiel s to it in all matters relating to the wheel. There is a fashion in the build' of cycles just as much as there is in the shape of bonnets, and there are some riders who would be as horrified to be seen on a machine of a previous year's type as his sister or his sweetheart would be to wear last season's hat. The great cycling exhibitions minister somewhat to this weakness, but it is, after all, one of the most amiable to which the cyclist succuxubs. R.
HOW THE QUEEN TRAVELS BY RAILWAY.
HOW THE QUEEN TRAVELS BY RAILWAY. The importance of the Queen's life to the nation renders it necessary (observes the St. James's Gazette) that every precaution should be taken to avert any possibility of a collision when she is travelling on the railway. The question has been most thoroughly gone into by bar trusted private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonbv, with the assistance of the responsible managers of the various lines over which her Majesty travels in the course of her journeys, and an elaborate system has been evolved which practically precludes any possibility of an accident, provided the orders issued to the subordinates on the railway are properly carried out and no gross error is committed. The system is now stereotyped but, for all that, whenever the Queen signifies her intention of using the railway, Sir Henry Ponsonby puts himself in communication with the managers of the lines con- cerned several days beforehand, and the private wire at the palace is kept in active employment up to the very moment when her Majesty has started from the palace. This event is notified by wire to the station, and from the moment of her Majesty's arrival there the responsibility for her safety rests with the manager and his assistants. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST ACCIDENT. That the companies are fully conscious of the responsibility placed on them may be gathered from their scheme of precautions. All traffic is stopped on the line and the points are locked in front of the Royal train for a certain period before its actual arrival at any one spot, and this period is regulated by telegraphic advices from various stations announcing the approach of the train. The result is that the line is entirely free, all traffic being stopped at certain stations ahead and run into sidings until the Rojal train has actually passed. More- over, a pilot engine runs in front of the Royal train to clear the way; so that if by any extraordinary accident any traffic should have escaped on to the line, or any obstacle should have been placed there by malicious design, the pilot engine will act as a scout, either to stop and turn back the vagrant engine or to bring the Royal proces- sion behind to an immediate standstill by timely signals. An additional precaution for the security of the line itself is found in the guard of pointsmen and signalmen who are posted within signalling distance of one another, and whose duty it is to notify from hand to hand on the one side that the line is free within their control, and on the other that the Royal train is approaching. Supposing, therefore, that some runaway train escaped the embargo laid at the junctions, and the pilot-engine was rendered helpless bv running off the line, the safety of the Queen would still be secured by the rule that no signalman is to allow the Royal train to pass his box unless it has been signalled from the box immediately ahead of him that the line is clear. A ROYAL WAY-BOOK. Some 50 copies of a complete way-book, contain- ing full particulars with regard to the times of start- ing, passing, or arriving at stations, the number of carriages, and the list of the passengers, together with a shaded diagram of the gradients, are printed and distributed among the Royal officials of the suite and the railway officials in charge of the train. A special edition of this, of a less comprehensive cha- racter, is printed in purple on satin, adorned with the Royal arms and an embossed border of gold, for the use of the Queen and the Royal family so that, at any time, members of the party by comparing a watch with the way-book can ascertain exactly where they are, what will be the next station, and every detail of importance. There is further a minute plan of the train with measurements, showing the exact number and dimensions of the carriages and the names of their occupants, so that everybody can know exactly where everyone else ought to be. THE QUEEN'S SALOONS. Her Majesty's comfort, as well as her safety, while travelling has been carefully studied. A large double saloon is reserved for her use and that of those mem- bers of her family who go with her. It is needless to say that the springs and adjustments of this vehicle have been constructed on the highest prin- ciples of train architecture, and that the car moves as smoothly as a cee-spring carriage. The interior is furnished after the fashion of the White Drawing- room at Windsor Castle. There are white silk cushions, embroidered with the initials V.R., the Garter, and the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense in gold thread. The carpet is of velvet. The curtains at the windows and the portiere over the door are hung on silver poles, and the very door-handles are plated with gold. The Queen's own comfortable arm-chair is at the rear of the saloon and faces the engine, and there are three other arm-chairs as well. The walls of the carriage are of satin-wood, highly polished and panelled with mirrors. So much for the first half of the saloon. The second is fitted up as a luxurious travelling bedroom. The total cost of the whole was about £7000. In winter the saloon is warmed by gas-stoves, with hot-water pipes running all round it. In the heat of summer it is cooled by an extra roofing of wet cloths, which are soaked at intervals, and also by blocks of ice placed in the interior. Other saloons follow for the use of the male members of the Royal family, Princess Beatrice's nursery, the ladies and gentlemen of the suite, the Indian attendants, and the Royal servants. Some 13 carriages in all are employed, and the total length of the train is nearly 500ft. For her Continental journeys the Queen has a special double saloon, which is kept at Brussels when not in use. As this vehicle (or rather these, for there are two of them connected by a passage) is intended for long day-and-night journeys, particulai attention has been paid to the sleeping accommoda- tion. The night-saloon is the larger carriage and is divided into several compartments. The large bed- room is occupied by the Queen and Princess Beatrice. There is a dressing-room in the front part of the carriage. At the back is a compartment in which is stowed the luggage required by the Queen during the journey and here two maids live in the day and Bleep on sofas at night. When this double car is ordered for the Queen's use, it is towed down from Brussels by a light engine to the station at which it will be required, and is attached to the ordinary saloon train provided by the railway company.
A COBRA. COLLECTOR.
A COBRA. COLLECTOR. Mr. G. R. O'Reilly is a gentleman who for three years collected cobras and other venomous reptiles at Grahamstown, Cape of Good Hope. His account, which we accept in good faith, despite the ominout origin of his name, relates that he lived in a house full of these creatures, and handled them with a stick at close quarters. He denies entirely that cobras are affected by music, and has converted even Anglo-Indians to his view (a true testimony to his persuasive power). He says that they swing from side to side following the motion of the hand or arm, and making a sort of half-hearted darts at it. They are deaf to everything but physical vibrations- namely, those that shake the receptacle they are in. Some of his most interesting, and at the same time most elevated, stories relate the manner in which cobras will sojnetimse go into hysterics when excited, and remain rigid as if in death. In this condition they are, however, especially dangerous, and if touched will fix their fangs in the aggressor and hang on for nearly 10 minutes at a time with bulldog pertinacity, pouring in venom all the time.
NEWS NOTES. !
NEWS NOTES. PORT ARTHUR has fallen, without a doubt; and the only question now is whether the crushing defeat sustained by the Celestials will constitute what may be called the Chinese Sedan. The main fort opposed to the Japanese right division, named in the maps Hwang- chin-Shan, was taken apparently in the afternoon of Wednesday of last week, while the left division was occupied with the fort to the south east of Hachiriso, and the remaining batteries, forts, and defences fell on the follow- ing morning. It is clear from the Japanese loss of two hundred and fifty men that the Chinese did not make the best use of their oppor- tunities for defence, although it is to be re- marked that Marshal Oyama says that they fought bravely throughout. Nor yet was the Japanese fleet employed in the attack, with the exception of a flotilla of torpedo boats, which succeeded in effecting an entrance into the harbour and largely occupying the attention of the Chinese defenders. Port Arthur is a position of great natural strength, which, with the aid of such excellent engineering works as it possesses, might easily have been made impregnable; but its chief ad- vantage to the Japanese-apart from the ob- vious utility of its capture in all peace negotia- tions-is that it supplies harbour, arsenal, and dry-dock within a few hours' sail both of Wei- hai-Wei and the Taku forts. That China should have lost so important a position is evidence complete of their powerlessness at present against the Japs. No wonder that China is deeply desirous of patching up some sort of peace. THERE was, impartial onlookers might be ox- cused for thinking, too much parade of reli- gious feeling and party heat in the contest for seats on the new London School Board. Though not all the Moderates were Conserva- tives and not all the Progressists Radicals, it was in some way a fight between the Liberal and Tory organisations; and notwithstanding that all on Mr. Diggle's side were not out-and-out supporters of the Establishment, and that every follower of Mr. Stanley was not a Nonconformist, it was, even more than a political tussle, a great trial of strength or tug of war between Church and Chapel. In the melee Church lost ground, but perhaps this was in a sense because the Church extremists, led by Mr. Athelstan Riley, were so closely stuck to by the Diggleite combination. So fully was the fighting strength distributed between the two main bodies that no In- dependent candidate-not even a single Roman Catholic representative—was elected, and the struggle was so keen that a huge addition to the aggregate poll was registered. That well- known School Boardman, Mr. John Lobb, lost his seat-though he has certainly good service as Chairman of the Finance Committee to show -and notwithstanding that some sevenhundred votes more were cast for him on this occasion than sufficed to carry him in at the head of the poll at the last election. But then, more than one candidate polled three times as many as in 1891. EVERY happiness to the Czar and the Czarina, whose union has been solemnised under such pathetic circumstances. And every happiness to the multi millions over whom they have been called to rule. May the peace spirit which the dead Czar cultivated have full fruition in the reign of his son, and Russia be prosperous, and the Russians dwell harmoniously together, from Emperor to peasant, for many an age to come. Werejoice to see signs of the establishment of a closer international friendship between the Courts of St. Petersburg and St. James's. There is no reason why the British lion and the Russian i bear should not amicably agree. LONDON has been honouring that hale olil big-hearted London parson, the Rev. William Rogers, of Bishopsgate. Hang-theology Rogers-as he is occasionally called-has pro- bably as large a circle of friends as any living ecclesiastic. He has not, of course, the punning wit of Sydney Smith, with whom Lord Rose- bery compared him in presenting him hand- some tokens of esteem from many admirers on Saturday, but he has a good deal of that celebrated man's cheery irreverence towards the great ones of the earth, and his power of hitting off an adversary in a phrase. Once in replying to the toast of the Church, which had been proposed by the late Lord Coleridge, he said he so much admired his lordship's speech that he would repeat it from the pulpit next Sunday," which made everybody roar, for the Lord Chief Jus- tice had been unusually pompous and platitu- dinous. He occasionally visited Jowett at Malvern and at Balliol, and the master used to say, You always know when Rogers arrives, because as soon as he reaches the gate he begins to talk to your gardener, and when he reaches the door he makes friends with your servant in the hall." IT'S an ill wind (quotes a contemporary) that blows nobody good," and the proverb may be extended to the rain. Thanks to the floods Eton College has been closed, and town has consequently been invaded by young gentle- men wearing square-cut jackets and round collars. These visitors have extensively patronised the theatres, and have been held in great veneration everywhere, save probably in the neighbourhood of Dean's Yard, where they have excited the angry envy of the Westminster scholars. It seems that the regulation garb of the young Etonian is a plain topper, a waistcoat with the final button unbuttoned, and iron grey trousers turned up at the ends. It is said that one of these lads, wishing to escape the observation of a master who bored him in the vacation, quickly disguised himself by buttoning the unbuttoned button and tucking his linen collar under the top of his waistcoat. THOSE who are disatisfied with the ugliness of most modern buildings will find food for reflection in the following The spirit of com- mercialism," says the Building News, is rampant in architecture. Every trade is more or less under its influence. As long as the architect charges five per cent. for build- ings-good, bad, and indifferent-it will be hard to make the ordinary man think that there is anything artistic about his work, or that it stands in the same category as that of painting. The eminent painter's work com- mands a high price in the market, which is estimated by his artistic genius; the skilled J physician and lawyer both command fees in excess of those paid to average practitioners but the architect's fees are uniform, like those of the auctioneer and thefrouse agent. Can we be astonished that the art he professes is measured accordingly
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The wife (during a spat): "xheviuainintnepiay is always a man." The husband: Yes, and it is always a woman who makes him one." "WUAT have you got to say for youself?" Jest dis, sub I wants a liar to defend me." You mean a lawyer ?" "Yes, suh I knowed I most had it!" No," she sobbed, 1 do not wish to marry him." Then why not break the engagement ?" asked her mother. If-f-fi do, he'll want back his diamond 11 THE unrolling of an Egyptian mummy, supposed to be that of a princess, disclosed a curious cheat. The priests who did the embalming probably spoiled or mislaid the body entrusted to them, and for it sub- mitted that of an ordinary negro man. MR. JOHN MORLEY (a news agency tells us) has been threatened, and the Special Criminal Depart- in ant of Scotland-yard haa placed two officers day and night at his house to orotect him.
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS.
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS. LONDON. The intense interest exhibited in London in the school Board election is plainly shown by the hugely augmented polling; and the contest between the champions of the old majority, led by Mr. Diggle and Mr. Riley and the adherents of the Progressive policy, has roused attention all over the country. The following is the composition of the new Board, arranged according to party lines. The names marked with an asterisk were members of the old Board. MODERATES.Blackmore, Rev. W. (Greenwich); *Bristow, Rev. R. R. (Greenwich) Cecil, 15. (Marylebone); *Clough, G. B. (Finsbury) *Cox- head, Rev. J. J. (Marylebone) *Davies, F. (Chelsea) *Diggle, J. R. (Marylebone) *Drew, Rev. A. (Lambeth, East) *Duke of New- castle (City) *Dumphreys, J. (Southwark) *Edwards, Rev. Allen (Lambeth, West); Fiennes, G. (Hackney); Ilood, T. H. (Southwark); Ilubbard, Lieut.-Colonel (Hackney); *Huggett, T. (Chelsea); Ingram, Canon (Finsbury); *Jackson, C. (Tower Hamlets); *Key, H. W. (City); *Kidson, W. II. (Lambeth, West) *Laing,D. (Westminster) *Lynn, H. (Lambeth, West); *Moberly, Major-General (Marylebone); *Plummer, Rev. R. T. (Tower Hamlets); *Riley, Athelstan (Chelsea); *Sharp, J. W. (Finsbury); Skinner, Captain (Westminster) *Sim, Major-General (Westminster); *White, P. H. (City); *Winnett, William (Westminster). PROGRESSIVES.—Angus, Dr. (Marylebone); Bar- tram, R. (Finsbury) *Barnes, E. (Marylebone) *Bourke, W. R. (Finsbury) *Bowie, Rev. W. C. (Southwark), *Bruce, G. L. (Tower Hamlets) *Carlile, Rev. J. C. (Southwark) *Daven- port Hill, Miss (City) *Eve, Miss (Fins- bury) Gautrey, Thomas (Lambeth, East) *Gover, H. (Greenwich) *Hamilton, Rev. S. (Lambeth, West); *Headlam, Rev. S. (Hackney) *Homan, Mrs. (Tower Hamlets); *Horobin, Rev. J. Chas. (Hackney) Jephson, Rev. A. W. (Lambeth, East); Macnamara, T. J. (Lambeth, West); Mait- land, Mrs. (Chelsea) Morpeth, Viscount (Chelsea); Oxford, Rev. A. (Westminster); 8chn"dhoret, Rev. E. (Tower Hamlets); *Sinclair, J. (Lambeth, West); *Stanley, Lyulph (Marylebone) *Wallis, J. (Hack- ney) *Whiteley, J. C. (Lambeth, East) Wilson, Rev. J. (Greenwich). Thus we have in all; Moderates. 29 I Progressives. 26 Moderate majority. 3 The Independent, the Social, and the Labour can- didates as such were in every instance unsuccessful No Roman Catholic succeeded. The late Board consisted of 34 Moderates, 19 Progressives, one Independent, and one Roman Catholic. The Board now has no cross benchers." The Progressives claim to have gained one in Westminster, Marylebone, West Lambeth, and Hackney, and two in East Lam- beth. The Moderates have gained one vote in Southwark, where they displaced a Roman Catholic. Forty of the old Board were re-elected. Beyond the advance made by the Progressives all along the line, the chief feature in the election was the decisive defeat of Mr. John Lobb, the Moderates' Chan- cellor of the Exchequer," in Hackney. The total number of votes given for the successful candidates at the School Board elections in London was as follows: Progressive. 807,742 Moderate 671,489 Progressive majority 136,253 The following shows the strength of the Moderate and Progressive votes respectively in the various divisions. divisions. Progressives. Moderates. Westminster. 25,012 48,274 Hackney 88,063 59,761 Tower Hamlets. 57,648 50,745 City 18,932 27,305 Southwark. 26,043 19,561 Greenwich. 75,654 39,856 East Lambeth 59,353 28,996 Finsbury 97,231 80,972 Marylebone 133,196 133,305 West Lambeth 135,633 113,320 Chelsea 90,877 69,639 The following shows the increased poll on this occasion: Total Yotes v. Last Election. Present Election City of London 36,250 44,270 Westminster 61,126 73,286 Southwark 31,799 53,581 Tower Hamlets. 81,502 143,092 Greenwich. 61,151 121,308 Hackney 73,010 154,543 East Lambeth 50,497 93,646 Finsbury 95,657 200,289 Marylebone 150,271 269,049 West Lambeth 153,820 269,208 Chelsea 96,261 160,518
SOME PROVINCIAL BOARDS.
SOME PROVINCIAL BOARDS. The result of the Leeds School Board election was declared on Friday afternoon. For the 15 seats there were 21 candidates—namely, eight Liberals, seven Churchmen, one Roman Catholic, and five Indepen- dents. Seven Churchmen, six Liberals, one Roman Catholic, and the teachers' candidate were returned. Canon Croskell, Roman Catholic, headed the poll. Nearly 44,000 voters went to the poll, the largest number ever recorded. The election of a School Board for Sheffield resulted in the return of seven Churchmen, one Roman Catholic, and seven unsectarians. In the re- tiring Board the supporters of the voluntary schools were in power. The result of the Coventry School Board election is that the new body will consist of six Radicals, including a working man, four Church- men, including an Independent, and one Roman Catholic. The Rev. Eric Farrar, son of Archdeacon Farrar, who was one of the Church and Conserva- tive nominees, headed the poll.
LIFE IN CANADA.
LIFE IN CANADA. LADY ABERDEEN ON WIHTSR GAMES. The Christmas number of The Young Man and the YoungWoman contains Lady Aberdeen's experiences of her first winter in Canada. A considerable portion of her article is devoted to the national sports, which constitute so important a feature in Canadian life: "As for the games and the competitions of all sorts which were going on I could not attempt to describe them. Hockey, the premier winter game of Canada, was, of course, well to the fore, exciting the wonted enthusiasm of its devotees, though the rough- ness which accompanies it when the full excitement of the game is aroused tends to detract from its charms and from one's admiration of the skill with which it is played; curling, another Scottish game ac )pted so thoroughly by Canadians that they almost consider it their own; lacrosse, played for the first time on ice; toboganning, coasting, and skating in its perfection. Ah, what skating If you visit one of the great skating rinks iy Canada, you will find out what skating means. Waltzing is mere child's play, and dancing the Lancers a pastime but just watch the more serious skaters cutting figures of an impossible nature with the utmost grace and ease, darting in and out like swallows; and.presently, at a signal from the band, which is always present on high days, the whole Company assemble for what is called a march," and twist in and out, and backwards and forwards, and across one another, with a precision and a dnish which appear the perfection of the art. From time to time, as on the occasion of this Carnival, or for some such special night as we had at Ottawa, a skating masquerade takes place, and the skaters will appear dressed in character; and sometimes the children get an afternoon devoted to them, and appear as Red Ridinghoods, princes and princesses, clowns and sailors, and Red Indians, and so on. These children seem to be brought up on skates, and their little figures in vivid colours flash- ing past, skating hand in hand, backwards and for- wards, make one feel amongst the fairy-folk in very deed."
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AN Italian organ-grinder recently escaped a fine by his wit. He had been playing before the house of an irascible old gentleman, who furiously and amidst wild gesticulations ordered him to move on. The Italian stolidly stood his ground, and played on, and at last was arrested for causing a disturbance. At the court the magistrate asked him why he did not leave when he was requested. "Me no understan' mooch Inglese," was the reply. Well, but you must have understood by his notions that he wanted you to go," said the magistrate. I t'ink he come to dance," was the rejoinder.
" WAS IT A MIRACLE I"
WAS IT A MIRACLE I" A TEST CASE. •here are "miracles" and miraculous cures in the air just now, and question arises as to the permanence of these cures. Where effected, or alleged by quacks and empirics, they are chiefly imaginative cures, and the patient quickly reverts to the old state. Where they are cures by true scientific treatment they are permanent. The patient is always cured for good, it seems, by the particular means which have led to so many and such surprising newspaper reports, namely, Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People. Some six months ago, Mrs. Briggs, of 9, Tinsley- park-road, Sheffield, after suffering from an in- curable disorder which had made her a mental and physical wreck, and left no hope of her living, was enabled to test Dr. Williams' then new discovery, with the result that she was promptly restored to complete health. Written to, within the last week (six weeks from the date of the cure), Mrs. Briggs replied, in the firm handwriting of a person evi- dently healthy and intelligent, that she is still per- fectly well, and owes her cure to the use of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, and to them alone. This is the mark of a scientific cure; you do not get results like this from empirical or imitative cures it is essential that the true remedy of Dr. Williams be secured, and to do this the full name "Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale People" must be seen on the pink wrapper. Pills sold loose or by the dozen or hundred are not of Dr. Williams' formula, which cannot be imitated or reproduced by retailers. It may be interesting to recapitulate briefly the dq^ails of Mrs. Briggs' cure, which are of so remark- able an interest that they were specially investigated by the Sheffield Weekly Independent, a reporter from that important newspaper calling at Mrs. Briggs' house in August last. Six months before, she said, she could not have be- lieved that she would have been then alive. It was im- possible for any one seeing her now for the first time to imagine the physical and mental wreck she had been for years. Her troubles began with indigestion IS years ago, and this had grown worse every year since. Serious complications also set in, until at length she became totally incapacitated from per- forming her ordinary household work. Among other symptoms were loss of appetite, loss of flesh, and inability to sleep, with almost continuous headache and various other pains. The worst feature of her condition, however, was the extreme nervousness brought on by lying awake night after night, which produced a fearfully morbid state of mind, under the influence of which she often felt tempted to make away with herself. Subsequently her heart became affected, and she was troubled with shortness of breath. Her'husband and her friends all supposed her to be past recovery. No means of cure within her power was neglected. She consulted three doctors, and was treated in the Sheffield Infirmary, but it was all to no purpose. She consented to try Dr. Williams' Pink Pills only with the idea of pleasing her hus- band, for she had by that time lost all faith in doctors or medicine. But the first box gave her ease, and from that time the improvement went on unin- terruptedly, her shortness of breath and headache gradually disappeared, and with their departure her appetite returned, until at the present moment, she declared she felt etfer thnn she I-ad ever done in her life. What seemed to please Mrs. Briggs most was that she had completely got rid of her extreme ner- vousness. Dr. Williams'Pink Pills are a sure remedy for such diseases as rheumatism, neuralgia, paralysis, loco- motor ataxy, St. Vitus' dance, nervous headache, scrofula, chronic erysipelas, &c. They restore pale and sallow complexions to the glow of health, and are a specific for troubles peculiar to the female whilst in men they effect a radical cure in all cases arising from worry, overwork, or excess of any nature. Manufactured by the Dr. Williams Medi- cine Company, Holborn-viaduct, London, at 2s. 9d. a a box, or six boxes 13s. 9d.; sent post free if not obtainable at chemists.
HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE.
HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE. The clever young man with a little capital who at 24, when his training is just done, sets to win himself a great fortune as his ideal object, should avoid (says the Spectator) the service of the State and all the pro- fessions alike. The able youngster who makes for- tune an ideal should found a shop and die, like Mr. Marshall, the draper, worth £ 700,000—it would have been far more than that if Mr. Marshall could have kept his health-or enter a mercantile firm with Eastern connections, and resolve to go eastward him- self, or go to some new land like South Africa or Aus- tralia, and devote himself to the finance of mining, like Mr. Cecil Rhodes and one or two other dia- mond speculators, or start a daily newspaper; or if he is a Jew or a Scotchman, make him- self :invaluable in insurance, in banking, or in finance. Then, if he is unusually successful, and never squanders on the big scale-diamonds and car- riages for the wife do not matter—and knows the secret of getting eight per cent. in good investments, he may make a really great fortune, which he may rely on it no profession will ever in future yield to him, let him rise however completely to the top. The days of professional coups are passed, while there is nothing, except art, in which failure is so bitter and complete as a professional career. A clerk or a shopman can at all events live but the briefless barrister, the engineer without jobs, the doctor without patients, and the solicitor without clients, cannot. Is that change good or bad for the community ? Probably it is neither. It is well that the ablest men should enter into the pro- fessional grooves but they will enter them even if the rewards are comparatively less than they once were. The prospect of saving £100,000, which is open still to the few who succeed greatly in the pro- fessions, will attract as many competitors as the prospect of a million, and will, we do not doubt, extract from them the very best efforts of which Nature has made them capable. Those dream who think that capacity will ever stay unpaid but the attraction of pay does not, after a certain amount, keep step with the bulk. "All I get out of my fortune," said one leviathan millionaire, is eight hours' work a day in keeping off the rogues and that sombre experience is, we suspect, not uncommon among millionaires.
THE FASTEST AMERICAN MAILS.
THE FASTEST AMERICAN MAILS. A Dundee contemporary which has been at the pains to analyse the official statement of the American Postma.-tcr-Gcneral as to the time taken in trans- mitting the mails from New York to London, has found that the much-talked-of liners Paris and New York are this year only ninth and tenth in the race, instead of first and second, as they were in tho previous year. The Lucania and Campania carry ofL. the honours, as might be expected. But next to the Cimaruers cowe the three fastest steamers of tho Hamburg-American line—the Fiirst Bismarck, Nor- mannia, and Columbia —which all have made their fastest runs with the mails from New York to London, via, Southampton, in less than 170 hours. Then next to the Hamburg-American steamers, the sixth place belongs to the Majestic, of the White Star line, with a speed which delivered her mails in 169*9 hours on her fastest voyage. The seventh place :s taken by the Teutonic, with a best run of 170^ hours. The eighth place-a real surprise—goes to the comparatively old Etruria, with a fastest run of 171*3 hours, the ninth place falls to the New York, with 171*4 hours, while the Paris comes tenth with 172 5 hours..
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THE Hon. Odo W. T. V. Russell, whose appoint- ment as a third secretary in the Diplomatic Service, is gazetted, is the son of a distinguished diplomatist thc late Lord Ampthill (better known as Lord Odo Russell), who received a peerage in 1881 for his special services. Mr. Odo Russell, who was born in 1870, is heir-presumptive to his brother, the present Lord Ampthill.
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SIX GHOSTS IN SIX MILES.
SIX GHOSTS IN SIX MILES. Mr. S. Arnott, of Carsethom, who read before tlia Dumfries and Galloway Antiquaries, the other even- ing, a paper on Ivirkbean Folk-lore," pave the startling information that they had got six ghosts down there in a district of about six miles by three. Of some of these unpleasant re-visitors of the moon the lecturer gave particulars. One was at three cross roads near Arbigland, and had a tragic story con- nected with it. A young lady of the family of Craik, formerly proprietors of the estate, was said to have become attached to a young man named Dunn. a groom or horsebreaker in her father's employment, and one day the object of her affections was shot dead. In the eyes of the law the sad occurrence was considered a case of suicide, but popular belief attributed it to the murdorous act of one of Miss Craik's brothers. It was said that the lady was of the latter opinion, and that she went to re.-ide in England, never returning to the place so full to her of tragedy. The remains of Dunn were inferred on the Borron-hilI, and years afterwards were disinterred by a man in the neighbourhood, the skeleton being, it was said, sent to Miss Craik at her request. The apparition of the murdered man was said to frequent the lonely spot where he met his death, and one of his informants spoke also of the appearance here of one of the white ladies so familiar in ghost stories, and whose affection for Kirkbean seemed somewhat re m ark- able. About half way between the villages of Kirk- bean and Preston Mill, where there is a small plan- tation on one side of the road and a larger wood on the other, and where the road forms a hollow, another white lady was seen, who was said not only to walk on the tops of the trees, but sometimes to accompany pas- sengers on the highway.
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NOBLE YACHTSMEN.
NOBLE YACHTSMEN. The Earl of Dunraven has successfully passed the examination for a yachtsman's certificate, which is the same as that for a master's," with the exception that in the former case no preliminary service at sea is required. For a master's certificate it is essen- tial that the candidate should have served four years on board ship in subordinate capacities-a condition with which it would, of course, be impossible for a yachtsman or any amateur sailor of high degree to comply. The privileges accorded by a yachtsman's certificate are that its holder is entitled to be sailing- master of his own yacht, but it does not confer upon him the right to command any other vessel. The ex- amination to which Lord Dunraven has just been subjected is a very stiff one, and lasted for three days. It will be remembered that the late Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P., and Mr. George Bentinck, M.P., were very proud of the distinction conferred upon them by the certificate which Lord Dunraven now holds, and which is also in the possession of Lord Brassey.
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MRS. QUBRIE I understand you had a narrow escape coming across ?" Mr. Hard-Port: Yes, in- deed the coal ran out and the captain had to split the ship's log to keep the fires going." AUTHOR I have a little idea here." Editor (after reading): "Yes, the idea is all right; now nlease carry it out."
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