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IOUR LONDON IETrrIn. 1 „p,…

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I OUR LONDON IETrrIn. 1 „p, i [From Our Special Oornpondent.) Trie Town k, i'-H of that excitement which ahvays accompanics the reassembling of Pu^-iament, Li-d this ti ne the excitement is ¡ the ivio.ve intense ki it is a new Parlia- ment which is asset •> ? and the political feky is dark with all sores of sigus and {x>rt«nte. The interest which the people are taking- in the busim is abundantly evi- denced by the crowds of people who <gather at)-o-at the Houses of Parliament and in the vicinity of Downin^-street. Important meet- ing's of the Cabinet have been taking1 place during the past few days, and Ministers have been going backwards and forward. to "No. 10 veiy busily. At these times there is nobody interesting to "the man in the street" than a Cabinet Minister, and he gaz-s his till upon men who carry on their shoulders the cares of State and the burden of office. "The man in the street" is some-J tinier a little disappointed to find that in appearance they are much like other men. For the benefit of those who were not watching arrivals and departures in Down- ing-street, the popular journals have gone in for columns of description, making up in their abundance of personal detail for their almost complete absence of political infor- mation. As newspapers cater for the tasks of their readers it is to be supposed that I people are intel: ly anxious to be informed exactly whether Min inters walked or drove, whether those who drove were in private cars or taxi cabs, whether their brows were furrowed with care, or if they smiled and carried themselves with a jaunty air. Who knows, after all, whether these things may aot have a bearing on the political situa- tion ? What significance may not attach to (the fact that Mr. Lulu Harcourt was smok- ing a. cigarette, "eneaf;ed in a large amber mouthpiece?" Then there was Mr. Haldane, -smoking a large cigar, and Lord Loreburn was doing the same. It looks as though two members of the Cabinet were in agreement on one point, at any rate. 1 No Minister ■ seems to have gone to Downing-street plift- ing a short black clay. That would have been something worth recording. It will be interesting to see what the London public will think of Mr. Rostand's play "Chantecler" if it is ever brought over here. Already the idea has been talked about, and it is possible that we may yet see the extraordinary collection of human poultry strutting about the stage of a j London theatre. Unfortunately, the play must inevitably suffer in a translation, and it would lose most of ite beauty and bril- I liance. Still, the spectacle of our leading actors and actresses made up as barndoor fowls would be a bit of an attraction. M. Rostand should be a proud man. He has not only written a play which has set two Continents talking, but he has inaugurated a new fashion in millinery. Some hats and toques—whatever they may be—suggested by "Chantecler" have already arrived in London., though as yet not many people have 1 seen them. Whether they will become the I fashion over here remains to be seen. Con- sidering the vagaries fashion plays, and the I extraordinary hats which have been worn, I should not be surprised one day to meet a lady with a hen and a family of chickens on j her head. One of the hats which have been j Seen in Regent-street does suggest a hen on i the nest, and that is only the beginning. The next thing, perhaps, will be a peacock with a tail in full glory. One fears that the dinner which is to be given to descendants of "the greater Eng- lish poets" by the Poetry Recital Society will be a. dull affair. Genius is not heredi- I tary, and it seldom happens that the son of a great man is himself great, He is more I often a very ordinary sort of being, and as I a rule the son of a poet is a very practical I person, entirely unable to appreciate his I father's poetry. There are exceptions, of course. Lord Crewe, for instance, who is to take the chair at the banquet, is the son of a poet, and -is indeed a poet himself, though it is in another kind of career that he has won distinction. The same may be said of Lord Tennyson, and .that reminds me of a story. When the present holder of the title was born, bis poet father asked a friend's advice as to what name should be given to the youngster. "Why not name, him after yourself?" was the suggestion. "What if he should be a fool?" remarked Tennyson. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, if he should be included among "the greater English poets," has quite the most distinguished descendants of them all, for a duke and two inarquises elaim descent from him. Long a source of embarrassment to the JBattersea Town Council, the famous "Brown Dog" fountain is at last to be re- moved. The memorial, which was erected as A protest against vivisection, has long been a cause of offence to medical students, whose hostile .demonstrations a few months .ago will be remembered. To guard the M Brown Dog" against their attentions, it is etated, has cost Battersea 9,700 per annum, special policemen having been told off to protect it. The Town Council has come to the conclusion that the luxury is much too expensive, and by forty-one votes to, four 11M decided that the "Brown Dog" must go. I From what I know of medical students, I fancy they will rather regret the decision, i Truly we live in a hustling age. The countryman wiio comes to town only occa- sionally is even yet somewhat nervous of the tube railways, and cannot conquer that queer feeling which oomes over him whec. he descends into the bowels .of the earth, and takes a swift journey underground, to come to the surface again miles away. But there is to be more hustling yet. The lifts are to travel faster. On the Piccadilly Tube ihev now £ 0 up and down at the rate of ISO I t feet per minute, and it is proposed to accelerate them to 300 feet per n This, it is :inlec1, will mean -n sarin;; of twenty sccoiKiS to the man whe, jusc n.i.'w.og one lift. has to wait for th-i n«x!" T iafc twenty seconds may just get hisa down. b-'Iow in time to cr.teh the train i>? iv:stf. Then, there is 11130 proposal to mstal moving staires c>, so 'that he may have a resz g.)iiig upstairs. Soon • there wi 1 be no necessity for the Londoner io at all, and in the course a a few generations legs will have disappeared f,U:;i1) disuse. The Symphony Concert at Queen's Hail on Saturday was not by an ,;jioans the least in- teresting of the series, though near" r every in the programme was more or less familiar. In response to numerous requests, Cesar Franek's Symphony was repeated. The desire for another hearing was a ivell-, deserved tribute to a magnificent work, and to the superb performance which Mr. Wood gave of it at the previous concert. There was one novelty on Saturday afternoon in a "Romance for strings, by Sibelius. The play- ing of Herr Emil Sauer was vastly appre- ciated by the audience. The brilliant pianist was heard in the "Emperor" Con- certo of Beethoven, and the G minor Con- t certo or Mendelssohn. It was in the latter composition that his remarkable powers as a pianist were most manifest. A. E. M.

BOILER TUBE EXPLOSION.

j; —1•"——-' jCOLLISION IN…

/. ! | THAMES DROWNING MYSTERY.

. DENTISTS AND ANESTHETICS.

. COFFINS WASHED FROM GRAVES..

BRIGHTO INTERVIEW.

. MURDERED SWEETHEART.

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