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

I GARDEN GOSSIP. CONSERVATORY.—Abutilons, when permitted freedom of growth in a light house, are flowering freely now, and will continue to do so up till Christmas. Retarded Lilies of various kinds, Spinas of the herbaceous kinds, and Lily of the Valley are easily obtained if one can stand the expense, which soon mounts up if one goes largely into it, and somehow, if we touch this at all, one feels compelled to go on with it. But there is one advantage in the cold storage system—the YS bulbs-and the roots so treated do not require so much heat to br.ing out the flowers. In a small conservatory the other day I saw (writes Mr. E. Hobday in "Gardening Illustrated") the Water Hawthorn (Aponogeton distachyon) nicely in flower. Avery charming thing it is in the dull days of winter to have about the house, and it will grow and flower in the rooms. Water Lilies and other aquatics may be grown in the con- servatory for a change. In the same house there was a pretty dwarf yellow-flowered Celsia named Arcturus, very bright. A dozen in a group would attract a good deal of attention. These little odd things -dotted about near the path become very interesting when one gets tired of the Crhysanthemums. But it is rather remarkable no one gets tired of cut Chrysanthemums. They are lasting, and have bright flowers and long stems, supplying just the flowers wanted for tall vases, are easy to arrange, and not much other foliage wanted to set them off. By the time these are over the Narcissi will be in. The new white Marguerite Carnation is a desirable thing for winter cutting, as it flowers more freely, and the flowers are larger than in the old kind. There was a time when white Camellias were in request for cutting, but that day has gone by; but I do think some of the beautiful single and semi-double Camellias that were grown forty or :fifty years ago would be appreciated now. UNHEATED GREENHOUSE.—Laurestinus, when well grown, is fresh and useful all through the winter. A few good plants of hardy subjects, including, of course, Chrysanthemums, are bright. A few good specimens of Aster grandi- florus are still effective. Coming on are bushy plants of Jasminum nudiflorum, and the cream- coloured Broom (Genista prsecox) is lovely in the spring, and its graceful growth is interesting. But perhaps the most useful for Christmas are several good plants in large pots of the maximus variety of the Christmas Rose. Among fine- foliaged plants will be many things from Japan and Australia. MAKING VINE BORDERS.—This is the season (observes Mr. Hobday) when Vine roots may be successfully lifted and placed in good soil. There may be places where the soil is naturally suited for Grapes, but the gardener in a private place cannot choose his position, and cannot afford to take much on trust, and, as a rule, the wise man makes a suitable root run for his Vines and Peaches. Good drainage is most important, and the drains should be deep enough to act upon the water level below, not merely to carry off surface water. The deep drains can be filled up with rubble on the pipes to the level of the bottom of the border, so that the drainage may be prompt and effective. If the subsoil is bad, make a good part of the border about the natural level, and unless ie gardener has had experience with borders altogether inside it is best to make a good portion of the border outside. Plant inside, and have the front wall on arches, so that, the roots can go outside also. Under such conditions the healthiest roots will generally be found outside. Unless the inside borders are thoroughly under- stood and cared for, especially in the matter of top-dressing and watering, the roots will not stop inside if they can get out, and if confined inside the grapes will be small and poor in quality. This is not necessarily so in the case of well- managed inside borders but with inside borders everything depends upon the man, and there are more openings for blunders. The best soil for borders is the top four inches from an old sheep pasture, to include the turf, and the soil should be heavy rather than light and sandy. To this may be added a fair proportion of bone-meal, with some wood-ashes and old plaster. Give the soil time to settle, keep off very heavy rains and snow, and plant, if new Vines are planted, in March, when the buds are swelling. If Ithe old Vines are retained the border will be formed by treading, and the roots laid therein at once, covering the border afterwards with a foot or so of leaves, thatched down with long litter. If the Vines are in bad condition reduce the rods, and only take a few bunches first year. LILIES OF THE VALLEY.—Who is there that at one time or another has not been charmed by the sweet fragrance of the Lilies of the Valley? Few gardens, indeed, where the situation is at all open, but what will grow them. I know (a Midland correspondent of "Gardening Illus- trated" writes) some country gardens where beds of them have been planted for years. I know, too, spots in the dales of Derbyshire where, in the June days, but for their perfume, one "Had not known there was a thing so sweet hid in the gloomy shade." As garden flowers one cannot spare them, as blossoms for the greenhouse in early spring one can ill afford to do without them. BLUSH-WHITE RosEs.-This particular colour is always useful. When mingled with other colours blush roses serve to enhance the beauty of every other shade. We have lately received (says "Rosa") two beautiful novelties in La Tosca and Admiral Dewey. The former has wondrous petals, like great shells, and although it has a resemblance to Viscountess Folkestone, it is, nevertheless, perfectly distinct. Its free- dom of flowering and full bunches of blossom will render it a useful garden rose, and it must make a grand standard. Admiral Dewey is really a blush-white Caroline Testout. No bet- ter recommendation is required than this. It blossoms as freely and grows as luxuriantly, so that here also we have an excellent novelty. My third kind is now well known, and perhaps by reason of its delicious fragrance would be ad- mired the most. I refer to the white La France or, more correctly, Augustine Guinoisseau. A bed of this Rose, both in summer and autumn, is quite an attractive feature-in fact, this Rose is one cf the most perpetual we have, and makes a splendid standard. ABOUT RHUBARB.—Where a garden boasts a rhubarb bed, the custom is (says a writer in the "Standard") to lift the clumps, cut off a corner for immediate replanting, and proceed, as we have described, with the forc- ing. Whether the clumps be home-grown or purchased, they will be all the better for forcing if lifted after a severe frost. The frost will have enforced that absolute rest which Nature desires for all her subjects, be they of vegetable or animal life. The object in taking from each stool a portion for replanting is to main- tain the supply from year to year. The ground in which roots are planted for future forcing should be deeply trenched and generously manured. In the case of seakale, chicory, and dandelion, the roots are in the form of stout, dry pieces of flesh. The procedure is the same in each case. The roots should be packed in boxes or light soil and kept moist. Seakale roots should be placed about six inches asunder. Chicory and dandelion roots need only be placed sufficiently far apart to allow of a thin layer of soil being between each root. In the case of seakale a temperature of 42deg. will excite to growth naturally. A temperature of 5»0deg. should never, therefore, be exceeded at the first stage of forced growth. A greater heat may bring I:) disaster. Professional growers of forced seakale have a maxim that "the milder the heat the finer will be the produce." Later, when a fair growth has been made, the tem- perature may be raised. As seakale grows vigorously at 55deg. in the open, a maximum of 60deg. ie about the highest to use in forcing.

■= "■ OUR SHORT STORY. THE WINNING OF PHYLLIS. Mr. Fillingham measured all things by money and as young Medway, who had had the temerity to fall in love with the financier's daughter, pos- sessed but a limited portion of this universally coveted commodity, though gifted with a fair amount of brains and good looks, Mr. Filling- ham's action in sternly forbidding "any more nonsense," as he unfeelingly put it, between Phyllis and the young man was perhaps justified. The blow had fallen with brutal suddenness, for Mr. Fillingham was not the kind of indi- vidual who was likely to adopt half measures out of mere consideration for the feelings of others. All further intercourse was promptly forbidden. It is not in the natura of things, however, for two fond hearts thus ruthlessly rent asunder to submit unquestioningly to such an unreasoning decree of Fate. Within the week of the fiat going forth the two had met. Not that there was anything clandestine in it. That was not Medway's style. Walking boldly up to the for- bidden Fillingham mansion one likely afternoon he had asked for the financier's daughter and had been received. For the moment parental obedience had yielded to Cupid's more resistless claims. And could Mr. Fillingham himself, five minutes later, have seen the lovely tear-stained face which looked appealingly into young Med- way's he might, perhaps, have realised the utter hopelessness of attempting to change the course of true love. "What can we do?" wept Phyllis with tear- dimmed eyes whose beauty was still unimpaired by their grief. "Must we part for ever? Can- not you think of something, George? Surely there must be some way of-" The tears choked further utterance, and George frowned deeper in the intensity of his emotion. "There is only one way I can think of," he replied, slowly, "and that is-" He paused and looked steadily at Phyllis, who returned his gaze with questioning eyes and red, parted lips. "What?" she breathed eagerly. "To elope," declared George calmly. The beautiful eyes grew wider still in their startled gaze; then, dropping them, Phyllis hid her face in her handkerchief. £ 200 is all I possess in the world," proceeded Medway, encouraged by these manifestations; "but I have got my wits, and with your love in the bargain, dearest, to help me through, I shall succeed." He paused, but Phyllis's face was still invisible, and he proceeded in his argument. "There is a tking I have on hand which might lead to a few extra hundreds," he declared with businesslike persuasion. "I have known of thou- sands made out of a poorer chance. An option to purchase some property, dearest; though, of course, you don't understand these things." Once more he paused, but presently pro ceeded- "Why should we part," he urged, "at the bidding of another who cannot appreciate our love? Why, even though it be at your father's word, should we sacrifice that which can alone make life dear to us? Speak, darling! What is your choice? To come with one who will love and cherish you till his latest breath, or"—his voice shook—"to say farewell for ever?" At this last touching appeal the little handker- chief was moved swiftly from the face; a pair of bright, trustful eyes met his for a second; then clasping her arms about his neck Phyllis hid her face on his shoulder. "I will come," she whispered. The little romance had been arranged with businesslike despatch. A few of Mr. Fillingham's friends from the City were to dine with him the following day. Most of them were known to Medway, keen business men who dabbled in house property, land, and the flotation of com- panies with a zest and sharpness known only to those who had once come in contact with them, but keenest and closest amongst them was Mr. Fillingham himself. It was during the lengthy discussion after dinner over their wine and cigars of these birds of a feather that Phyllis was to forsake the paternal nest and take that flight which should make or mar her future happiness. Medway himself, entering by a side door of the conserva- tory, was to meet her and lead the way to the waiting carriage. The details had been carefully planned, and adhering closely to these arrangements Medway found himself in the conservatory at eight o'clock on the evening of the dinner. Five minutes later, approaching with a quick, soft tread in the semi-darkness, came Phyllis, true to her tryst. Springing forward, Medway clasped her hands in his. "Darling!" he whispered joyfully. Then, amidst his elation and the trembling fears of Phyllis, they drew sharply up. Ahead from a side doorway leading to the main passage of the conservatory down which they must pass to escape, came Mr. Fillingham's voice. "This way, Foxbrook," they heard him say. "We shall be undisturbed here." Still holding Phyllis's hands, Medway drew her swiftly and silently beneath the cover of some thick palms and shrubs which bordered the pas- sage, and he had barely done so when Mr. Fill- ingham and Foxbrook, a co-director, and the vice-chairman of Mr. Fillingham's great land syndicate, took their seat on a low iron bench not three yards away. "What is the news, Foxbrook?" asked Mr. Fillingham eagerly. "Rather important to you," declared Foxbrook in his cool, deliberate way; "indeed to all of us in the syndicate. I have just learnt from Bencher that the new loop line will to a certainty go through Darnley and tap the full length of the Irwell Hall Estate. He advises me, too, that we have no time to waste if the deal is to be worked, and we must buy the Irwell people up without an hour's delay." "Decidedly," declared Mr. Fillingham. "Did you call on Mullitt and Fudge, the agents?" "I did." replied Foxbrook slowly. "And in- formed them we were disposed to treat for the estate if it were cheap. But we are too late." "Too late!" cried Fillingham. "That bland fool old Mullitt, who evidently knows nothing yet," rejoined Foxbrook, "in- formed me they would have been glad to treat with the syndicate, but they had granted an option of purchase to a person who hoped to find a buyer within the present month, provided his efforts were guaranteed by the option of the acceptance or refusal of the estate for P-20,000 up to the 30th." An angry exclamation came from Mr. Filling- ham, and in the darkness Medway gripped Phyllis's hand tighter. "Good heavens!" cried the financier. "Why the estate has gone a begging for months, and must be trebled in value if Bencher is right. Who is the man? Can he have got wind of the thing? "That remains to be seen," declared Fox- brook. "You know him pretty well. It is young Medwav. who was connected with us in thai; small affair-" "Medway!" gasped Mr. Fillingham. "Your Medway," declared Foxbrook half satiri- cally, who was after your daughter. I could never understand why you threw such a promising young fellow over." And you say he has the option to purchase for twenty'thousand within the month?" asked Mr. Fillingham. "Why, the estate is worth sixty thousand pounds of any man's money if Bencher's information proves reliable." "More," rejoined Foxbrook calmly. "And Bencher is beyond doubt." "We must see Medway," asserted Mr. Filling- ham. Foxbrook laughed quietly. "After kicking him out?" he inquired facetiously. "This thing is, of course, a purely business matter," replied Mr. Fillingham. "And from what I know of Medway he will'treat it as such. He is poor enough. It is more than probable that he knows nothing.of the real state of affairs, and is just dabbling to make a small commission. We must see him at once before he gets wind of its real value. Though, of course, he is without money to buy himself." "Pish!" said Foxbrook, contemptuously, "he will have a dozen offers within the week unless we secure him before the rush—Stein-way, Gold- thorpe, Phillipson, and a score of others will be anxious to snap it up when the news is known. Bencher gives us only three or four days before the cat is out of the bag. But J have my .doubts of young Medway. It seems odd he should have got control of the estate just at this juncture. We must get in touch with him at once. Not a minute should be lost in the morning, though we must move cautiously." "Undoubtedly," said Mr. Fillingham. Moving away, they retired from the conser- vatory, leaving the two unintentional eaves- droppers once more free to follow their way. But the situation had swiftly changed. Turning to Phyllis, Medway kissed her rap- turously. "I win!" he chuckled. "We both win—you and I, Phyllis. Quick, return at once I have your father beneath my tlfamk jds-t as he had me." "You foresaw it all, dear—about the new line?" asked Phyllis, with trembling delight. "Not I!" laughed Medway. "I always had an idea that the estate would some day be enhanced in value, and was endeavouring to per- suade old Beckenham to invest in it. He may say good-bye to his chance now. But I must be off. Good-night! I await your father and Fox- brook in the morning on"—he snatched a kiss- "a purely business matter, darling." In his little office, four storeys up, which boasted no more than one room, and that barely large enough to swing a cat, Medway sat the following moning with an appearance of busy preoccupation, judging by the books and papers skilfully littered before him, which might have deceived more observant eyes even than those of Mr. Fillingham and Foxbrook. Even the luxury of an office boy was forbidden him, and for an hour Medway had sat alone, expectantly biting his pen as he awaited the couple of financiers. Ten o'clock had barely struck, however, an early hour for men like Fillingham and Foxbrook to be afield, when he heard their voices on the creaking staircase. Bending over his desk, he applied himself with an ardour to the sheet before him that perhaps we may have all assumed at some time over an imaginary task. His look of absent-minded industry as he glanced up at the entry of the two was worthy of a skilled actor but rising after a look of inquiry, tinged by just the faintest touch of politely assumed surprise at the sight of Filling- ham, tie offered the only two chairs the office possessed. "We shall not detain you long, Mr. Medway," rejoined the financier, declining them somewhat distantly. "Just a trifling business matter on which Mr. Foxbrook and myself, as representa- tives of the Suburban Land Investment and Building Syndicate, find ouselves brought in touch with you. We learn, in short, from Messrs. Mullitt and Fudge that you have been granted an option of purchase of the Irwell Hall Estate for £ 20,000. Is that so?" "You have been rightly informed," replied Medway. "The estate, as you are probably aware," pro- ceeded Mr. Fillingham, "has been on the market for a considerable time without a purchaser; but latterly our syndicate have considered the matter as to whether by careful development it might not be made to pay as a building site." "Precisely, said Medway. "We presume," proceeded Mr. Fillingham, "that you do not contemplate buying the estate yourself, Mr. Medway, and that you have secured the option from a speculative point of view. In short, we are disposed to purchase for twenty thousand, allowing you a fair percentage of com- mission. "I fear not," smiled Medway, blandly. "Your surmise that I do not contemplate buying myself is entirely unfounded. I shall probably do so. Perhaps you are not aware, gentlemen, that the new line to Darnley will skirt the whole length of the estate, considerably increasing its value. I should have no difficulty in raising a twenty- thousand mortgage on the security of the estate alone, and I daresay Steinway or Goldthorpe would be glad to snap it up for thirty or forty thousand pounds." "N-nonsense!" stammered Mr. Fillingham, weakly, with a blank glance at Foxbrook. "Forty thousand? Preposterous, Mr. Medway! "I have it on good authority," replied Medway ol'y, "that the estate if carefully developed will be worth £ 60,000." Foxbrook laughed at Mr. Fillingham's face even amidst his dismay. "You have stolen a march on us, Medway," he declared. "Though how you got the news so early heaven only knows I suppose there is no chance of buying you out? Of course, the estate wants a building capital to be properly worked^ Have you a price?" "There is a price certainly, Mr. Foxbrook, smiled Medway. "And that?" demanded both men quickly. "Can I rely on you to keep a secret, Mr. Foxbrook?" asked Medway. "Decidedly," replied Foxbrook. Still, it is a purely business matter," observed Medway. "Ten thousand pounds down for my option, a seat on the board of your syndicate with enough shares to entitle me to that position, and the estate is yours on one other condition." I "Name it," cried Mr. Fillingham. "That you give your consent to the marriage of Phvllis and myself." "Bravo!" laughed Foxbrook heartily. "A fair offer. You consent, Fillingham, of course." Mr. Fillingham did assent, as gracefully as lay j in his power. Later in the day, too, he made known the withdrawal of his objection to the radiantly happy Phyllis. "I find, indeed, my dear," he explained, "that Mr. Medway, in an important financial matter in which we have been jointly concerned, has shown such undoubted business ability and promise that, in short, I have no further objection to your immediate marriage.

IIECIPROCATED. lYr. T. J. Macnamara, who was (says "T.A.T.") some time president of the National Union of Teachers, tells a story of a boy at a South Lon- don Board School prize-giving who "scored" off him. Dr. Macnamara made a short speech, in the course of which he expressed his hope that the lads would behave themselves during the coming year, and not get into mischief, where- upon one bright youth, who may have thought | that the doctor was wishing them the compli- ments of the season, called out: "The same to you, sir," and raised a laugh which was heartily joined in by Dr. Macnamara. i

I EXPENSIVE SMOKING. A parcel of the dearest cigars in the world, 1,500 in number, has been despatched from the famous Vuelto Abajo tobacco fields in Cuba foi the consumption of the New York multi-million- aire smoker. The price of one of these cigars is j equal to 18s. of English money. None but the most faultless leaves are used in their produs- tion the malting of them is restricted to the most experienced workers, who can only make eight cigars a day. Every cigar is wrapped in fine Japanese paper and enclosed in a small air- 1tight box of perfumed wood.

WHAT MR. PEN LEY MISSED. T.A.T." relates the following aB an authentic experience in the life of Mr. W. S. Penley He was recuperating in a quiet Yorkshire village when one day a deputation waited upon him at the inn. He expected it would be a matter of a subscription, so had them in. "Thou'rt a play- actor, be'nt tha?" began the spokesman. Mr. Penley pleaded guilty. "Well, we're gerrin' up a bit of a concert an 'op to-neet, an' as thou'rt a play-actor fra London like, we thowt it'd be plea- sant. if tha'd gie us a. clog-dance an' a comic or two." Mr. Penley was about to protest. "Nay, nay, there's nowt to pay," interrupted the spokes- man eagerly; "nowt to pay. Tha' con hev beer and bocca till thourt ill, lad, if thast a mind. Tha'll coom?" The comedian had tears -in his heart as he declined. r=——

The German naval ensign Hussener, who was sentenced to two years and -seven days' imprison- ment for causing the death of a soldier at Essen, but whose sentence was- quashed by the Imperial Court, has been dismissed the Service. Owing to the severe floods lately experienced ,at Saltley, Birmingham, the Public Works Com- mittee are bringing forward a scheme to improve the River Rea, at a cost of £ 30,000, to carry oil the surplus water. The Prince and Princess of Wales have con- sented to visit Portsmouth in January next and lay the memorial-stone of a. new church being built for the Royal Marine Artillery,

NATURE NOTES. INSECT LIGHT. The lantern fly of Surinam, South America, has two sets of eyes to catch the light from all possible directions. The luminosity which glows from the head is so brilliant that it is easy to read by it. A FLOW OF FLOWERS. The recent high winds in the Gulf of Mexico have had one curious effect. They have blown such quantities of water hyacinths up the rivers flowing into the Gulf as to completely dam and blockade the streams. Many steamers have been literally tied up in flowers. WHAT THE STARS ARE MADE OF. In an article by A. Fowler, F.R.A.S., in the December number of "Knowledge," we read that, notwithstanding the divergence of opinion on some points, there is a general acquiescence in the viaw that the matter composing the stars is essentially the same as that with which we are acquainted on the earth. Investigations are still in progress in many lands, and the writer thinks it is not too much to expect that sooner or later the story of celestial evolution will be completely elucidated. HUMMING BIRD'S EGGS. It is a queer rule of Nature that the smallest birds generally lay the greatest number of eggs; and the rule is proved by an exception in the case of the humming bird. It lays only two eggs, which are white, round, and of the size of peas. The tiny bird is so fearless at the time of nesting that it has been known to at- tack and blind a person when searching for its eggs. THE STAG'S NEMESIS. A curious hunting accident is reported from Amboise. A gentleman named Lauvergeat was hunting a stag, and as it had several times turned on the dogs with its horns, injuring some of them, he decided to try to kill it with his hunting knife. As he attempted to strike, how- ever, the animal knocked him to the ground with a blow from its antlers, in attempting to rise his horse trod upon him, and to complete his misfortunes, he accidentally severed one of the tendons of his forearm with his own hunting knife, while endeavouring to clear him- self. NATURE'S COMPENSATIONS. Nature is full of compensations—she has showered her blessings in apology for the lack of rain in past years. This last summer the English fruit crop failed, and the southern counties produced no strawberries or rasp- berries. But the compensation comes. In Somerset strawberries have been plucked and eaten in late November. And at Hastings rasp- berries, fresh gathered and succulent carried the perfume and flavour of summer into the closing days of the penultimate month of this wonderful year. A DANGEROUS FLY. Professor Ray Lankester, director of the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, has just received a collection of specimens of the species of the tsetse fly. Dr. Castellani and others have established beyond doubt the active association there is between it and the spead of that terrible malady the sleeping sickness. This particular species, though its existence in Uganda ha-s only been known within the last year or so, is said to be very common now in the fly belt round Lake Victoria. It is essentially a Wesb African species, and is distinct from the species so destructive to animals. THE CAMELEOPARD'S LOVE FIGHT. It was a theory of Frank Buckland's that the giraffe was the only voiceless quadruped in the world. But, if the eye-witness of a battle between giraffes is to be believed, the soldier-naturalist was wrong. The fight lay between a young bull and an old one, while two herds of the opposite sex stood by to await the issue. The combatants "emitted fearfully discordant roars," and fought with mouths and hoofs. The younger presently got his senior by the foot, while the veteran laid hold of the ear, but was pitched on to his haunches, and dragged, shrieking, along the ground. The victor, after a final worry, mobbed the two herds of females together, and ealmly appropriated the lot. AN ENEMY OF THE APPLE-GROWER. It is estimated that in some districts quite 50 per cent. of the apples grown by English fruit- growers are injured by the caterpillars of the codlin moth burrowing into the fruits. The moths arrive at the time when the apple-blos- soms open. Then when the newly-formed fruit appears, the female lays her eggs on the skin of the apple, and usually near or in the eye of it. In seven or ten days the eggs hatch, and out walks an enemy of the apple-grower. If it is left undisturbed, it bores its way into the fruit, causing the apple, when fully developed, to fall prematurely from the tree. FUR-BEARING BEASTS. The fur-bearing animals are more persistently hunted than any other, since many people de- pend for a living on their capture. When it is shown that in one year there are brought to the market the fur of 180,000 pine-martens, 400,000 stone-martens, 600,000 pole-cats, 400,000 ermines, 160,000 minx, 55,000 otters, and from America alone 150,000 beavers and 100,000 chin- chillas, it will be seen that their extermination is a question of a short time. The sea-otter is now to be found only in the Northern Pacific, on the northern coast of California, and thence along the coast of America and Asia. To-day fewer than 2,000 sea-otter furs are sent to tl.e market annually. POISONOUS PLANTS. The berries of the yew have killed many per- sons, and it is pretty well known, nowadays, that it is not safe to eat many peach pits or cherry kernels at once. Among the garden plants commonly in vogue which possess a poisonous nature, botanists mention the jon- quil, white hyacinth, and snowdrop, the nar- cissus being also .particularly deadly—so much so, indeed, that to chew a small piece of one of the bulbs may result fatally, while the juice of the leaves is an emetic. There is enough opium in red poppies to do mischief, and the autumn crocus, if the blossoms are chewed, causes ill- ness. The lobelias are all dangerous, their juice, if swallowed, producing giddiness, with pains in the head. Lady's slipper poisons in the same way as does poison ivy. The -bulbs seem to be the most harmful. Lilies-of-the- valley are also as poisonous. The leaves and flowers of the oleander are deadly, and the bark of the catalpa tree is very mischievous. The water dropwort, when not in flower, re- sembles celery, and is virulent. WHITE-LEGGED HORSES. There is a quaint superstition connected with white-legged horses, which runs thus:- "If you meet a horse with one white leg, send him far away; If you meet a horse with two white legs, don't keep him another day; If you meet a horse with three white legs, present him to your friend; If you meet a horse with four white legs, keep him till his life doth end."

About 1,000 summonses for leaving work with- out notice are to be issued in connection with the Ackton Hall Colliery dispute. The King has approved the appointment of the Rev. Arthur Bowcock to be minister of the newly- created district of St. Oswin's, South Shields. Baron Girolamo del Balzo has been appointed Italian Under Secretary of State for Agriculture, and Signor Morelli Gualtierotti Under Secretary of State for Posts and Telegraphs. As a result of the Alaskan Boundary decision, Canada will construct an all-Canadian railway to Dawson City.

-4. EPITOME OF NEWS. --4»0-- Tho sea-coast line of the globe is computed tor be about 136,000 miles. The finest cotton is grown on the low sandy- islands lying off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. A single pencil company in America, manufac- tures 1,200 different patterns and styles in pencils. Russia is said to own 3,000,000 horses-neurlt one-half of the whole number in existence. There are 749 workhouses in England' and Wales and; 480 in Scotland. The largest is afc. Liverpool. It accommodates over 5,000 inmates. Owing to the ravages of the sea, the Lord Nel- son public-house on the cliffs at Lowestoft has- been abandoned. For fishing in prohibited waters off the Cork coast the master of a steam trawler has been fined £ S0 and 1;16 8s. 2d. costs. Yakutsk, Russia, is the coldest place in the world. The mercury sometimes falls to 73deg., below zero. The crew of M. Lebaudy's yacht Frasquita have left the ship owing to that vessel having changed its flag. The death is announced of the German Vice- Admira-1 von Waldersee, brother of Field-Marshal Count von Waldersee. A State clothing factory in New South Wales is said to be a failure owing to the high prices asked for its work. Every Berlin fire station has been equipped with an oxygen apparatus to revive persons over- come by smoke and heat. Five hundred Burnley weavers have struck against the innovation of Americanising pro- cesses. The Oxford and Cambridge cross-country race will be run at Roehampton on Saturday, Decem- heir 12. Bromley Guardians have decided to double the amount of relief given to out-door recipients during Christmas week. A well-known doctor states that baked banana is the ideal food for nervous and anaemic brain- workers. An enormous statue representing the late Pontiff, Leo XIII., will soon be erected on Sem- previsa. hill, Rome. It will be the work of the sculptor, Mr. Ernest Biondi. In the towns of Chili, most shops are open till midnight, and during tIll hot afternoons, when, everybody takes a siesta, they are locked up. Wieden, a suburb of Vienna, has the Largest dwelling-house to be found anywhere. It con- tains 1,400 rooms, divided into 400 suites, and affords shelter for 2,112 persons. While a bridal wreath in this country is usu- ally composed of orange-blossom, Germany uses myrtle, Italy white roses, Spain red roses, Greece vine-leaves, and Bohemia rosemary. Russia, it is said, is to levy an additional tax on foreigners' passports, payable on leaving the country, and the proceeds are to be made over to the Red Cross Society. It is reported that the mast of Shamrock III. presented by Captain Barr, will be erected for use as a flagstaff in the public square of Cape May, New Jersey. The Admiralty have placed orders for about 500,000 tons of coal, divided among nearly twenty Welsh collieries. A new entrance to Bushey Park for pedestrians and vehicles is to be constructed near Hampton Court-green, where thousands of Bank Holidays makers assemble. It has been calculated that the whole coal supply of our planet would hardly suffice to produce heat equal to that which the sun dis- sipates in one-tenth of a second. The International Paper Company has shut down twenty-eight mills in New York and New England in the last week. This is attributed to trade conditions. Fifteen hundred men are idle., The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, of Troon, is reported to be building a steam yacht for Mr. F. W. Vanderbilt, which will surpass in cost anything hitherto owned by American millionaires. The G.W.R. has arranged terms for the pur- chase of the Abingdon railway, the smallest independent concern of the kind in England, being a single line of a mile and a half long. There is much indignation in Vienna over the steadily-increasing price of oil since the forma- tion of the Austro-Hungarian Petroleum Cartel- a few days ago. Retail prices have recently advanced fifty per cent. A fresh issue of stock has been made by the South-Eastern Railway in the shape of £ 1,000,000 in four per cent. convertible preference, with a. perpetual right of conversion. The steamship Discovery, which left Victoria,. British Columbia, in October for Juneau, has been lost with all hands (says an Exchange message). She carried about sixty passengers, miners from Yukon. Commander Peary, who has arranged to con- tinue in the coming year his explorations in the Arctic regions, has returned to New York by the American Line steamer Philadelphia. Nicholas Savine, a Russian civil engineer, who was recently arrested in London, where he was passing as Count de Toulouse Lautree, was sentenced to fifteen months' hard labour for frauds on Bremen firms. A punitive expedition has been sent against the Rajah of the island of Bali (Dutch East Indies) who refuses to abolish the ancient custom of burning widows with the dead husband's body. After ten days' hearing of claims to the great Jones fortune of £ 57,000, the commissioners have sent the affidavits to the Supreme Court of Victoria. The fight is really between two persons. Mrs. Doocey, a remarkable old lady, who remembered well the sensation caused by the surrender of Napoleon after Waterloo, and who recalled many stirring incidents of the Fenian risings, has just died near Thurles, aged 103. The Queen, with a letter accepting a bed- spread, "so beautifully made by some female in- mates of the Yarmouth Workhouse Infirmary," enclosed P,5, and expressed a wish that when the materials had been paid for, the balance should be used in giving a treat to the four old women. A Crimean veteran and his wife (she had been blind for eight years) sought the shelter of the workhouse at Maidenhead. Z, The chairman of the guardians handed the, old warrior some money, and said he wished he could keep all the surviv- ing Crimean heroes. The novel spectacle of a steamer being stoked with bank-notes was once witnessed at a Mediter- ranean port. Forty-five sacks of the apparently valuable paper were tossed into the furnace of the vessel's boiler. The notes were cancelled documents of the Bank of Algiers. A remarkable case of selling a family is re- ported from Worksop. A single man became en- amoured of his neighbour's wife, and the hus- band transferred the lady and their three chil- dren to the lover for the cash payment of 10s. The woman was agreeable, and the "exchange" was duly made. The claims paid in seven years for subsidences at Northwich, occasioned by the brine-pumping operations, have amounted to £ 15,000. The enormous quantity of 3,255,000,000 gallons of brine has been pumped, and a tax of 3d. per 1,000 gallons goes towards defraying churns for subsi- dences. General Wa and General Wos are prominent in the public eye. General Wa is said to be ready to hunt the Russians out of Manchuria with 18,000 Chinese troops. General y Gil, the President of Santo Domingo, has been hunted from that earthly paradise by the insurgents, and taken refuge on board a German warship. A dentist of Bergerac, M. Meynard, rushed down the Riffaud Hill at furious speed on his bicycle. Arrived at the bottom he was unable to check the impetus, and machine and rider went up a flight of eight steps leading to a house, dashed through the open door, and charged into a pa ty of ladies in an inner hall. No one was- fc^iecu