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OUH iuKDUiN jjaRKEdPuSDiiNT.

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OUH iuKDUiN jjaRKEdPuSDiiNT. An English summer has been wittily de- scribed as consisting of three fine days and a thunderstorm, but where is the epigrammatist who, in similarly terse phrase, can fitly cha- racterise an English winter ? If such there exist, he would assuredly have been welcomed during the past few days by Londoners, who have been almost blown off their feet by an un- expected blizzard which told them in most emphatic fashion that their idea that spring had come was utterly mistaken. March, indeed, had come in like a lamb, and the extremely mild weather had caused the suburban gardens to blossom as the rose. Neighbour met neigh- bour with the condolence that it was altogether too hot, and the sunshine was deprecated as an almost presumptuous intruder. But then, as in the leading case of Cardinal Wolsey, there came a frost, a killing frost, and storms of snow and keen northerly gales took the place of the March sunshine, and those who had audaciously complained of the weather as being too spring-like cried aloud against a winter which commenced at about Lady Day. Snow comes at Christmas," murmured a littla boy, as he saw the flakes fast falling outride his window. ..t but this isn't Christmas because there's nc pudding—and no presents." What the child murmured, his elders thought; and these lattei will long remember the miserable closing days of March, as being a hino to them not to toe readily accept another time, upon the strength of a few fine days, that, as the songster has it; Spring is coming." One sign of approaching spring in London, however, is not strictly dependent upon the weather, and that is the resumed running of the Thames steamboats. A visible proof of this has been this week afforded close to the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Pier, which was washed away by an unusually high tide one night last year, having been sufficiently restored to be of use, and the steamers plying on the river for hire once more calling there. The Thames steamboat service promises, according to all appearance, to be just the same this summer, as for many a summer before, and that despite all the varied promises of improve- ment. There may be overwhelming reasons why it should not equal that upon the Seine in Paris, the Hudson at New York, or the Clyde at Glasgow, but those reasons are not obvious to the general public. London's silent high- way" runs through the heart of an enormous population, a great proportion of which is tra- velling daily to and fro, but its steamboat com- pany never pays dividends which will bring to the shareholders wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, and the consequence is that the service is no better than, even if it be as good as, was that of thirty years ago. 'Tis pity, but, there is not the slightest doubt, 'tis true. The restoration of Westminster Pier may be taken as a reminder that that is one of the best- known landing-stages on the lower Thames. Cabinet Minsters, when they have not found it convenient to embark at Speaker's Steps for their autumnal whitebait dinner, have chosen Westminster Pier as their point of departure, and the members of the Cobden Club have similarly used it when going to Greenwich to celebrate at the festive board the memory of their political hero. An even more famous visitor was the late Shah of Persia, who, on his second visit to this country, debarked thereafter steaming up the Thames from Gravesend, and who expressed at the time to the Prince of Wales his satisfaction with the splendid liver panorama that had been presented to his view. Nasr-ed-Din's second son and successor, the present Shah, is reported to b9 desirous of following his father's example and coming to England. This could not be arranged this year, and no one can guess what will happen before another summer but it is certain that, if he came, we would astonish him at West- minster Pier just as much as we did his illus- trious sire. The instructions just issued by the Post- master-General to the members of the postal staff throughout the country in connection with the secrecy of telegrams will more affect pro- vincial offices than those in London, for in the metropolis, where few folks know even their neighbours, the average caller at a post-office is so absolutely unacquainted with the other customer who is jostling his elbow that he cares nothing whatever for the contents of his telegram, even if he could see them. Yet matters were at one time so easy-going, even in the largest London telegraph offices, that it was possible for those who wished to know what was going on. It was because of this that the news of the death of George Peabody, the great philanthropist, was first known in the metropolis. The information was being trans- mitted over an instrument sufficiently near the counter for the raps to be distinctly heard by the public. It was simply a private message to the dead man's friends in America, but there happened to be outside the counter one who knew the code; and, having carefully listened to the intelligence, he quietly went and sold it to the nearest newspaper. Every one will take it as a sign of the per- tnanent popularity of our noblest national pas- time that the two greatest cricket-grounds in London—the two most historic, indeed, in the world—are at this moment being improved because of the growing demands upon them. At Kennington Oval, the home of the Surrey County Club, a splendid new pavilion is being- erected, which is worthy of the glorious memo- ries of the site, while the humbler members of the public-the" sixpenny gate upon whose constant patronage so much depends—are also to be better cared for. Lord's, the home of the M.C.C., does not need any improvement in the way of pavilion, for in that respect it is admirably served already; but it is enlarging its boundaries so as to give better accommodation for such of its patrons as cannot be either in carriages or stands. Those who have been to Lord's on a great day, or even on a very fashionable one, will well know how much such an extension is needed, for at present thousands of would-be spectators at any exciting match have to con- tent themselves with looking at the back of the heads of those in front of them and this is a process which is apt, in course of time, to become irritating. Anything more dreary and dispiriting than the spectacle presented at this year's University Boat Race can scarcely be imagined. It was not only that the weather was bad almost beyond description, but that there was scarcely even the semblance of a race, for Cambridge was beaten from the very start, and the dis- tance between the two boats at the finish was so great that no one could estimate it within a few lengths. This was the more to be regretted because, after the two crews had come to the tideway for practice, there seemed reason to hope that a fine race would be seen. Cam- bridge—not a little because of internal dissen- sions which, though healed at last, necessarily had their effect-had not greatly impressed critical observers while upon the Cam; but after they arrived at Putney they made splendid progress, and during the last week they appeared to be trained to the hour, whilo one or two of the Oxford men seemed to be a trifle stale. Great was the disappointment, therefore, when, owing to one of the severest storms the Thames has ever known at boat-race time, the chances of Cambridge were hope- lessly destroyed, and the only thing to do is to hope that, when the race comes round again, it will be rowed under more comfortable* con- ditions for oarsmen and spectators alike. R.

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NEWS NOTES.

HARD WOOD OUT WEST.

THE WORLD'S SHIPPING.

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THE CASH VALUE OF A WORKING…

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

THE P. AND O. LINER CHINA.

FORTY-EIGHT MEN PERISH ON…

SAD DEATH OF MRS. PARNELL

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UNIVERSITY BOAT KACK

FAMOUS NOVELIST DEAD.

=== A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER.

--=== A DOCTORS' BILL.

ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN CRICKET.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS.

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