County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

A BRIGAND HUNT. I ENGLISH SPORTSMEN'S PLANS FOR ADVENTUB E. I There are now several outlaws at large in dif- ferent parts of Italy, and especially in Sardinia and Sicily, for the apprehension of whom, dead or alive, the Government offers substantial re- wards, varying from £ 40 to £600, the latter be- ing the price placed on the head of the Sicilian brigand Varsalone. It will be remembered that a reward of £ 1,200 was offered for the capture of Musolino, although the gendarmes who caught him only received a present of £ 20, as it was con- sidered that they had done nothing but their duty. It is reported from Rome that a group of young English sportsmen, tired of the com- paratively mild emotions of big-game shooting, propose to take up brigand-stalking as a novel and more exciting form of sport. The financial proceeds of their "bags" will be devoted to par- tially reimbursing the victims of the- outlaws. The police, regarding this new departure as another instance of English originality, have re- minded the sportsmen that they will incur a very great risk, but, while declining all responsibility, they have promised every support and encourage- ment in their power.

UNCONSCIOUS FOR TWO WEEKS. Miss Nellie Corcoran, the girl who had lain unconscious in a state of coma in St. Vincent's Hospital, New York, was an Saturday brought to some realisation of her surroundings. The case has puzzled the doctors, who are inclined to think her condition was superinduced by hysteria. The girl's temperature has been as high as 104deg. Fahr. She has been insensible to the pricks of needles and to electric and other treatments.

BEAR LOOSE ON A LINER. I On its last voyage from Liverpool to New York the liner Cevic carried a number of animals consigned to Messrs. Bostock's menagerie. One of these, a large Polar bear, escaped from its cage on the lower deck, and caused much excite- ment on board. Firearms were discharged to frighten the animal, and effortg were made to- corner it with a rope, but it eluded all pursuers and careered indiscriminately about the ship. After exploring the two cattle decks the bear climbed into a forecastle bunk occupied by a sick sailor, who was considerably scared by the un- expected visitor. Finally the animal found a refuge in another bunk and stretched itself out comfortably at full length, no one daring to ap- proach it. Ultimately, however, it was secured and put back in its cage.

A ROYAL VIOLINTST. I It has recently transpired that a Prince of the Bavarian Royal Family recently occupied a place in the orchestra of the Prince Regent Theatre, at Munich. One of the violinists had been suddenly taken ill, and hearing that the production—which was one of Wagner's operas-was likely to be delayed, the Lokal Anzieger states that Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, who is known as a good per- former with the violin, offered his services, and filled the place while the piece lasted, His incog- nito, however, was carefully preserved, and the secret only leaked out afterwards.

THE INVENTOR OF THE POSTCARD. There has recently died in Vienna Dr. Manuel Hermann, the inventor of the postcard, which from Austria commenced its triumphal march throughout, the civilised world. In 1869 Dr. Hermann, who at that time occupied the chair of Political Economy in the Polytechnic School of Vienna., published a pamphlet, entitled "A New Method of Corresponding by Post," which greatly aroused public interest. In this Dr. Hermann proposed the adoption of cards of uniform size, which were to be capable of con- taining 20 words, including the address he also suggested a 2-kreutzer stamp as posta-ge of the card. At that time the current postage of an inland letter was 5 kreutzer (about 6d.) The enthusiasm of the then Austrian Postmaster- General with regard to the project was so great that in October of the same year he had the post- card introduced into the postal service of the country, removing, however, the restriction on the number of words to be employed.

Queen Alexandra is said to be so passionately fond of clocks that she has some SOU of them- small, large, fancy, and plain-at Sandringham. Curiously enough, these have always been kept half an hour fast to humour the King, though the custom is supposed to be handed down from the famous Earl of Leicester. The finest collec- tion in the world is supposed to be at Bucking- ham Palace, the number of clocks there being considerably over 300, while Marlborough House is believed to boast & -collection of some 400.

HISTORIC BATH. STORY OF AN APPRENTICE'S HEART Carpenter by apprenticeship, 18 years old, a resident of that historic city, Bath, Arthur George Viner is a young man who has come through storms to peace. He is a fresh-looking, vigorous youth, and the events that made him remarkable date from his sixteenth year—a critical year for the heart in more senses than one. At this time he was making satisfactory progress in his apprenticeship, when it was observed that his work fell off. Previous to that he had always worked well. The illness that I am now speak- ing of," he added, came on within the last two years, and when standing at the bench I could hardly work, the palpitation of the heart was so bad, and nothing seemed capable of affording relief until I was induced to try Dr. Williams' Eink pills." His father. Mr. Viner, explained that is son had been growing BO fast that he outran his strength, and the lad's illness became so serious as to occasion great anxiety. He was home for 10 months, and had to give up his trade for that period. You look all right now." Yes," said Mr. A. G. Viner. but I was very different a few months ago. When I was taken ill first the palpitation came on badly, and what with loss of appetite and sleeplessness, 1 suffered very much. For six months I was under a clever doctor, and a second one was called in for consul- tation. I remained in bed, too weak to get about. They told me to stay at home and lie on my back, when I became a patient of the Royal United Hos- pital. I firmly believe that Dr. Williams' pink pills for pale people saved me from my grave. I had heard of the good they had done others, and started taking them after I had been some months at home from work. I began to pick up after I had begun them, carefully following the instruc- tions. My appetite mendej, and then I could sleep more soundly, and I grew stronger and altogether felt better in myself. By the time that I had taken eight or nine boxes I felt sufficiently well to return to my employment." Are you still taking the pills ?" "No," answered Mr. Viner; "for I am as well now as ever I was." Young people who outgrow their strength, like Mr. Viner (who lives at 25, Crandale-road, Bath), will find in Dr. Williams' pink pills for pale people (genuine, bearing the seven words on wrapper), the greatest of all restorative and strengthening medicines. Diseases of the heart, due to weakness and poor blood, diseases of the nerves, and the ailments of women and girls, are alike benefited by them. They have the great advantage of curing indigestion and bile without purging. Further testimony to their value will be found in an article headed The Woman's Friend," on another page of this issue.

SILVERY NEVADA. In some notes on the fabulous wealth mined from the Sierra Nevada mines, "Engineering" says it is estimated that up to the present time the total value of the gold and silver drawn from the lode aggregates nearly £ 100,000,000. One company alone took out in less than 10 years metal to the value of over E30,000,000, and paid out in dividends to the shareholders some E15,000,000. Little wonder that men went mad, that adventurers, money hunters, and unprincipled rogues of all cations, should flock to this Eldorado.

A WONDERFUL OWL. I A Honolulu message to the Paris editor of the "New York Herald" says that when the Steamer Tampico was returning from Seattle a bird alighted on the deck. It proved to be an owl standing about a foot in height. The bird was then 750 miles from land and was exhausted. It soon revived and has since been kept in a cage. The Tampico was not the first boat the bird is said to Aave visited in mid-ocean. The crew of the barquentine S. G. Wilder, which arrived at Hono- lulu recently from San Francisco, recognised the bird as the same one that had alighted aboard their vessel fully two weeks before the Tampieo was visited.

ROYAL PRINTERS. t From the time of the invention of printing by Gutemberg to our own days at least thirty mem- bers of the various reigning houses of Europe have had an apprenticeship in the art of printing. The first was Prince Nicholas Radziwill (1515-1565) who was called by his contemporaries" The Black." It is a well-known fact that Louis XVI. could set up type at the age of ten years, and five other members of the royal family of France followed his example. Maria Josefa of Saxony, the daughter-in-law of Louis XV., was at the age of sixteen an expert compositor. The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria, brother of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette, was the owner of a printing office with several presses. A like interest was shown for printing by the Emperor Frederick III. of Germany in hia younger days; and he shared this taste with his brother-in- law, our own King Edward VII., of whom there are still in existence lithographs which represent him in the act of typesetting.

Parson (visiting prison) "Why &re you here, my misguided friend?" Prisoner: "I'm the victim of the unlucky No. 13." Parson "In- deed! How's that?" Prisoner: "Twelve jurors and one judge." When a policeman marries he soon begins to wonder where he can hide his truncheon, 'so that his wife cannot find it. Nell: I stopped in at a bargain sale to-day." Belle: "Did you see anything that looked real cheap? Nell: Yes; several men waiting for their wives." Teacher: "Say 'they aren't' or they are not.' You must never say they ain't. Tommy: "Why not?" Teacher "Because it ain't proper, that's why." He (at church): "I wonder why those two pretty girls across the aisle look so sad?" She: "Oh, it's because each has a new bonnet, I suppose?" He: "I don't see why that should bo productive of such melancholy." She: "Why, each thinks the other has the prettiest." He: "Then why don't they exchange and be happy?" She was boasting of her latest conquest. "The first thing I knew," she said, "he was at my feet., "Who threw him?" asked her dearest friend. Of course, it is well known that these little pleasantries are not unusual betwegjr feminine friends. Nothing succeeds like the success of a wid after a second husband. The men never grow more eloquent about hard times than when talking to their wives. "Talk about nerve!" "How now?" "Why the hotel I was staying at burned down and the next day I got a bill for a fire in my room." "Why don't you work?" demanded the severe lady. 'Because ma'am," replied Weary Wat- ^rJdmy J "Ye? m^y "*onr sneered. Yes, ma am," he answered "I've Ca^sT186 a J°b °n the tunnel from Dover Z hriw 0ne is brought to see how much the lawyers can make oat of it. There are two kinds of women in this world. j ,,m and sighs silently about her wrongs, tne other storms and raves about her rights. Many a couple during courtship have found plenty of room on one chair, and after marriage discovered that they could not live together in a ten-roomed house.

SMUGGLED RELICS. I Amercan plutocrats are now engaged in a brisk struggle to evade Italian laws against the exporta- tion of ancient art and archaeology. A Christian sarcophagus of supoeb workmanship of the seventh century, has just been confiscated while being smuggled from Spoleto. The Popolo Romano states that the whole of the .beautiful stonework [ had been packed in cases, and had got as far as Genoa, when the seizure took place. There it was ascertained that it had been found in a church at Spoleto, and was being) exported to enrich the archteological treasures of a wealthy American.

A LAKE OF PITCH. I Much of the tar used in the paving of streets comes from the West Indies, the island of Trinidad in particular supplying an abundant share. There are some parts of the island where pitch is every- where to be found the beach is pitch, so are the vocks, and at La Brea, where pineapples grow to perfection, it is said that the chief component of the soil is pitch. The wonder of the isle, however is the pitch lake, over a mile and a half in circum- ference. In parts the pitch is quite liquid, and the surrounding ground is full of pitch to a depth of several hundred feet.

I THE WOMAN'S WORLD. Does the gown make the woman, or does the woman make the gown ? It is certain that a woman stands very little chance of an attrac- tive appearance if her dress is ill-fitting, of tawdry material, or quite out of fashion. Still, a woman must kno-w how to wear a smart gown, or the effect is terrible, for when she doesn't know how to carry an elegant costume it enhances all her lacking graces. There is a good deal that may be said on both sides, but of one thing there is no doubt. Every woman should make it her duty to see that her clothes become her. Nearly all new skirts are made (says a writer in "The London Journal ") with a seam on the cross of the material down the centre of the front, and this, together with a hip yoke, makes the skirt as tight-fitting as possible, which is a necessity when it is to be worn with one of the long loose sacque coats that are so fashionable at present. Here is the description of a skirt for a theatre gown which was being made in a Parisian atelier last week. It was of fine cloth, of the exact shade of cream when it is two days old. It had a hip yoke pointed back and front, much encrusted with" broad cream silk jours, whieh are a kind of silken hemstitching. There was a row of hemstitching uniting the voke to the skirt itself, and another yoke ran perpen- dicularly along the centre seam of the front. At the lower edge of the skirt were five stitched cer- ceaux pleats, separated each from the other by a row of jours. The skirt was lined throughout with white sateen which glistened through the open work with great effect. A ping-pong fan Is one of the latest novelties. It represents a series of racquets, the outer ones showing a surface and edge in exact imitation of the genuine article. One long discarded custom is being brought into favour-that of wearing a flower in the hair. Had women realised to what an extent the pretty custom was admired and even loved by the majority of the opposite sex it never would have fraternised with the spinning wheel, the blue dishes and the lace mitts in the dim and cob- webbed garret of things past. To man, and that man a sweetheart, this little art, for such it is, of putting a flower in the hair is a signal to all the sensitive sentiment within him. If you doubt this, look to the voicings of the poets. There you will find holding sway and running riot as roses on an old wall such phrases as a blossom in her tresses," a flower to bewitch me in her hair," and that rose above her ear was my undoing." Whether the hair is black or brown, red or gold, the charm of primeval femininity remains the same. Every year it is becoming less usual in Paris to have reception days. There is now a new fashion, says the" Ladies' Field," which is infinitely more agreeable as a way of meeting and entertaining one's friends. A rendezvous is given at some spot where tel or lunch is provided on small tables. One can bring a friend, and introductions are made to others of the party, or one can chat with the hostess and return to the friend, if one so wishes, without being obliged to be dutifully agreeable to a circle of strangers. Tea or lunch over, one visits any place of interest in the locality or re- turns to Paris by carriage or train. At Versaillee these rendezvous are very popular, and among cultured people of similar tastes they are a great improvement upon the barren day that women of fashion were compelled to give once a week in order to see their acquaintances. At the leading tea shops and other similar resorts in the autumn and winter it is much the fashion to meet one's friends, the hostess engaging several small tables, where women can divide into groups and are not on the rack of stiff society etiquette. Few people accustomed to travel can fail to have remarked the prominent place which the American girl takes in the family circle. In Europe the pre- vailing ideas used to be that anything was good enough for the girls. Their schooling and their amusements were always secondary considerations, and generally they had to give way to theiz brothers. This notion has been considerably modified in recent years, but in America it scarcel, exists at all. It might almost be said that more money is spent upon the daughters than upon the sons, and that when the latter begin to go to busi- ness the former are finishing their education in Europe. Nothing is spared upon her training to which the American girl owes her assurauce. her knowledge of the world, and her generally briilianl conversational powers. The typical American eiri may not be everything that is charming, but she is certainly a success, the result of the general ac- ceptance of the view, in the United States, that if is necessary to do as much for the daughters 88 for the sons, and very often something more. There is one aspect of the well-dressed woman, or, rather, one essential in her aspect (says the London Journal ), that is constantly overlooked, and that is an air of ease; that she gives you the impresston of being uneanBcions of her clothes however elegant and costly. It should be the aim of every woman to see that she is perfectly dressed before she quits her glass, and then at once to forget even what she is wearing, and give herself wholly to the enjoyment of the moment. To cam the cares of one's clothes in one's bearing can onlv be pardoned in those of very little intelligence. Thin, faintly-marked eyebrows may be greatlv improved by being rubbed every night with almoJ oil. I have known this simple treatment to have the most satisfactory result. After diligent perse- verance with the oily application light eyebrows tbu' — character" of the face. Here is some good advice for the young wife. Never, under any circumstances, speak of your husband's faults and failings. Of course he has them; you would find him a most deadly, dull, and uninteresting person if he had not. You have them yourself, and he has discovered them with a pang as keen as your own. It would hurt you very much to find that he had mentioned the fact to anv- one else; remember this, then, and never speak of his failings to a third person. Some ourious and jealous eyes are fixed on most newly-married people, and the owner of those eyes will be only too ready to repeat and magnify any little tales which come to them, and what sorrows and might they not cause if they got round again to the husband s ears. You must have seen much to admire m the man you married, so, when of his faults has thrust itself most rudelv un«n you, try to banish it from your mind, and thiS land ponder as much as you please upon S numerous virtues. Consider how much good il in him compared with that little bit of bad™ Don t take his faults too seriously and nevTr nh' never admit to anyone that he possesSI thew Should anyone speak to a wife rvf wT ,the?- faults, it is her duty to stoutlv f ^band's under any circumstances, to listen an«i' subject; such a proceediiurl* J^uss the bring her misery and unhappiness. Paris f-h*pOiuii^0S^/ dress the world comes from young ladv ofl? ki 8^ranSely extravagant ideas. A a costnmo f noble family is determined to get up worn m°re g°r6eou8 than any ever before Ionian. She is now having the designs < tie according to her notions. She was acquainted with tne theory that added brilliancy is given to jewels by a healthy skin, having often noticed the fact tnat diamonds and pearls flash most brightly on shining necks and shoulders. She has there- fore, given orders for an entire costume to be made of nothing but precious stones and precious metals. The pearls, diamonds and rubies are to be so set that they will be m immediate contact with the wearer's skin. The lower part of the costume mil be almost solid, the gold and silver being beaten very thin so as to be extremely pliable anf In l^ i anil8' ands' neck, and shoulders aieto be almost covered with loops of pearls, stars will Rhfr!! >*1 riDgS of a11 kind8' The breast with stars and crescents of rubies, wilf £ ;i la{Ilond8- res« of the body covered with pliable bands of woven gold many of the brilliants will be purchased in the w°ith 1I?t° shapes w^ich best ^cord with ohe places in which they are to be set That the costume when finished will cost a, large fortmae goes without