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

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. THE LIGHT LOAD-LINE. Lord Muskerry sought by motion in the House of Lords on the 2nd inst. to urge the Government to effectively enforce the recommendations of the Light Load-Line Committee. Lord Wolverton justified the action of the Board of Trade in the matter, and Lord Lansdownc having joined in the discussion, the motion was withdrawn. AFRICAN MATTERS.—THE LATE LORD SALISBURY. Mr. Austen Chamberlain announced, on the 2nd inst. in the House of Commons, the Government's assent in principle to the recommendation of the Select Committee on steamship subsidies in re- gard to a British service to East Africa, and added that an inter-departmental committee would be appointed meanwhile to work out the details. Mr. ArnoldrForster informed Mr. W. Redmond that the principal losses in food supplies destroyed in South Africa from the end of the war to March last amounted to over £ 400,000. Mr. Lyttelton pointed out that unskilled labour only was to be performed by the indentured Chinese in the mines, and the Prime Minister intimated that the Government would propose a vote for the erection of a statue of the late Lord Salisbury. For the rest of the sitting the Chamber was chiefly occu- pied in a dull debate on the motion for the second reading of the Scottish Education Bill, which waa eventually agreed to without a division. STREET BETTING. I In the House of Lords on Jthe 3rd inst. Lord Davey moved the, second reading of the Street Betting Bill. Lord Belper, speaking for the Government, thought the time had come when some step should be taken to meet the evil of street betting. The bill was read a second time. BUDGET DEBATE-A SCENE. I In the House of Commons, on the resolution for increasing the Customs duties on cigars, cigarettes and stripped tobacco, Mr. Robson asked whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer had consulted the Tariff Commission. It was noticeable that the only representative of the tobacco trade on that body was Mr. Gallagher, who used the stalk and stood to win on the tax. Mr. McKenna pressed this point, and without in- sinuating anything, asked if the Chancellor had been made a dupe, at the same time drawing attention to the large increase of tobacco imports during March. After a sharp debate, in which Mr. J. Chamberlain joined, the Chancellor em- phatically declared that he had had no direct com- munication whatever from Mr. Gallagher. The resolution was carried by 250 to 176, majority 74. The resolution for the continuance of the addi- tional duties imposed in 1900 on tobacco, beer, and spirits led to debates which were continued in the evening sitting, when it was carried. The formal Vote to amend the law as to the National Debt, Customs and Revenue was agreed to. The Finance Bill was afterwards introduced, and the House adjourned at five minutes past twelve-

MAN OVERBOARD. News reached Bristol on Monday of an exciting incident which occurred on the pleasure steamer Waverley while returning from Bristol to Cardiff on Saturday night. When midway between Portis- head and Clevedon a passenger aft of the saloon suddenly stood upon the seat, and before he could be prevented disappeared over the side of the steamer into the water. As it was getting dark all sight of the man was immediately lost. The steamer stopped as soon as possible, and the life- boat was lowered, but a prolonged search proved fruitless. The man appeared to have been alone, as no one on board missed either friend or acquaintance.

MESSAGE ON A BRICK. A Johannesburg contractor has just discovered the following message written on the back of a glazed tile received with a consignment of several thousand from England: "Dear Sir,—Whoever receives this tile, would they have the kindness to send me a token off the grave of Private Lloyd Wright, Elandsfontein Cemetery.—(Signed), F. PRIMFORD, Jessamine Cottage, Ruabon." Mr. Pitts, the contractor, accordingly had photo- graphs of the grave taken and sent them to his strange correspondent.

(Time, eight p.m. He calls. They meet.): "Jack I" "Jessie!" "My ounce of radium!" "My liquid sunshine!" (They clinch.) An old bachelor compares women to phono- graphs, because they repeat everything that ia told t'em. Park Keeper: "Sorry to disturb yez, but it's too late to be sittin' here." Young Man (apologeti- cally): "We didn't know it was so late. Fact is, we are to be married next year." Park Keeper "Begorry, d'yez think Oi'm fool enough to be supposin' you wor married lasht year?" Mr. Newedd: "How is that, my love? Nothing in the house to eat? I gave you money this morning." Mrs. Newedd: "Yes, I know; but I ran against the most exquisitely charming dinner-gong—awfully fashionable, you know— and I couldn't resist the temptation to buy it." "But what shall we do for dinner?" "We can listen to the gong."

I THE WOMAN WHO WAITED. I DR. WILLIAMS' PINK PILLS IN A CASE OP SCIATICA. The pain disappeared: I waited some time to see if it returned. When I found that it did not, I wrote to the Dr. Williams' medicine company to tell them of the remarkable way in which Dr. Williams'pink pills for pale people had cured me of Sciatica." This is the account of her cure given by Mrs. E. F. Cressard, 38, Vale-road, Ramsgate, in the East Kent Times. Her previous dread- fulsufferings 9he described as follows: I first began to feel the pains of Sciatica down my side and leg, from my waist to my foot. It was a sharp, pricking sensation, like pins and needles, and sometimes a numbing pain. After a time it got so bad that the least movement brought it on, and I had to sit with my foot up, which was the only way in which I could obtain relief. I had the greatest difficulty in getting upstairs, and when I have gone into the room to clear the table I have had to sit down and stop work. The leg pained me cruelly. I tried poul- ticing, but that did not stop the pain. I had read of the cures effected by Dr. Williams' pink pills, and I thought I would try them. They effected a re- markable cure in my case. I grew gradually better and stronger. Soon after I had started the third bx the pain quite disappeared. It has not returned since. I now enjoy good health, and can do my work without feeling any ill effect." Mrs. a,. x'. Cressard. I Sciatica is described in a medical book as an acute, darting pain almost like hot needles down .the back of the thigh, extending to the knee, and perhaps to the ankle. The course taken by the pain is often tender to the touch. Dr. Williams' pink pills are well known as a remedy in diseases of the nervous system. By their tonic action on the spinal cord, for instance, they have cured many apparently hopeless cases of paralysis. They strengthen men's weak backs, banish the dull, aching misery on the small of the Back to which many women are periodically subject. The effect of Dr. Williams'pink pills in nervous complaints, neuralgia, fits, St. Vitus' dance, &c., is quite as remarkable, though not so universally known, as their power of making new blood, which is the direct means. by which they have cured so many cases of anremia, consumption and general weakness. They are sold at all medi- cine shops, and Dr. Williams' medicine company, Holborn-viaduct, London, will send a box post free for two shillings and ninepence (six boxes thirteen and nine).

PHYSICAL TRAINING. I ELEMENTARY METHODS CONDEMNED. I The report of the Inter-Departmental Com- mittee on Physical Training, to which reference has already been made, has now been published in the form of a Blue Book. It condemns the "model course" now in use in elementary schools as not being constructed on well-defined: general principles educed from a consideration of the function of physical exercise as a ne,cessary element in a well-ordered! course of general education for children," and submits an elaborate syllabus of movements, which, it recommends for general adoption. In framing their scheme the committee kept in view the desirability of excluding all exercises which were in the least likely to prove injurious b children of even weak physique, or had! a merely ornamental value. They urge an exten- siún of the employment of specially qualified instructors, especialLy in districts where the ordinary teachers are unable or unwilling to qualify themselves for putting the new syllabus into practice. Another important recommendation is that masters and mistresses should receive such instruction as will enable them to recognise in the pupils under their control the symptoms, whenever such may be present, of debility or imperfect nourishment, in ordier that they may adapt the task to the strength which is availab-le to perform it. "Every case of insufficient feed- ing or constitutional weakness," they say, "ought to be) reported without delay to the local authority, in order that the local authority may at once, take steps to investigate the circum- stances, and apply a remedy, if a remedy is pos- sible.

PATTI'S X10,000 VOICE INSURANCE. I Mme. Patti's voice was insured for 910,000 urmg her recent tour in America. She was much afraid of colds, carrying with her a DIFFERENT DRESS FOR EACH CONCERT, the materials carefully chosen according to the climate of the town where the concert was held. It is not given to all to have a Voice worth insur- ing for £ 10,000: nor can we all afford to take the precautions against cold with which the famous singer is credited. There is one thing we can all do, however, and that is to INSURE AGAINST COLDS I by keeping the body in such a condition as not to be liable to them. Poor, thin blood is a positive invitation to colds and the microbe of influenza. Good rich blood, the new blood which Dr. Wil- liams' pink pills for pale people makes, is a safe- guard against colds and coughs. They are also the best possible tonic and restorative when the system is run-down through colds or influenza. Mrs. Curtis, who lives at 3, Locomotive-terrace, Netherfield, Nottingham, told a special corre- spondent of the Leicester Daily Post that, she always keeps a box of Dr. Williams' pink pills in the house, since they cured her of a sharp attack of influenza two years ago. This is very wise: for there is no medicine ever discovered that is such a safeguard against sudden ailments. These pills have cured anemia (bloodlessness)-for which they are the only true remedy, because they actually make new blood-consumption, fits, gout, nervous complaints, St. Vitus' dance, paralysis, sciatica, rheumatism, and the many ailments troublesome to ladies alone. They can be had at all medicine shops, or will be sent post free for two and ninepence a box (six for thirteen and nine) by Dr. Williams' medicine company, Holborn-viaduct, London. Mrs. Curtis's account of her own experience with them is worth reprinting. She said: "Two years ago I went to see a relative in feussex. When I got there it was raining heavily, and the roads were deep in mud. The change of weather was responsible for me catching a severe cold, which led to a severe attack of influenza, and afterward to sciatica. I saw a doctor when I got ftack home, and he gave me medicine, but in spite of his skill I was in bed every other day. I suffered from very severe pains in the back, shoulders and limbs. After some weeks of xufferine I read a description of a man who was cured of sciatica by Dr. Williams" pink pills for pale people. I sent for a box of the pills at once. Soon after I had commenced the second box I began to feel better, and the improve- ment continued until I had very little pain. I took several boxes, and soon the pains disappeared altogether. I keep a box of Dr. Williams pink pills in the house, however, and whenever I feel a bit run-down or have pain in the head, I take a pill, which soon puts me right. I am sure the pills cured me, because I did not try anything else while I was taking them." This is an authentic case, and Mrs Curtis's insurance against a return of her illness was just as wise and forethoughtful aa Madame Patti's 910,000 Voice Insurance.

It is stated that the Emperor Francis Joseph's I projected visit to London will probably be aban- doned on medical advice. "Vanity Fair" says there were nearly five hun- dred applications for booths in submarines thft day after the recent disaster.

POPULAR SCIENCE. 4"' WHAT THE PYRAMIDS ARE MADE OF. The pyramids and the sphinx are built of eterae made by minute rock-builders. These are tho lowest forms of animal life, mere specs of jelly, some of which have the power of covering them- selves with shell, yet they are able to walk with- out feet, to capture their prey without hands, and all by means of the gelatinous substance of which they are composed. They throw out threads of living flesh, which seize and digest their food-as though we could digest a beef-steak by taking it in our hands! The rock is composed of their cases or shells, and is thus full of organis.ed remains. The stone of which Paris is built is composed of these fossil shells. They form marble, and thus enter into the most beautiful forms of sculpture. TOUGHER THAN STEEL. It is net generally known that, size for size, a thread of spider silk is decidedly tougher than a bar of steel. An ordinary thread will bear a weight of three grains. This is just about fifty per cent. stronger than a steel thread of the same thickness. POLLUTION BY SMOKE. A scientific test, lately made in Berlin, shows to what extent the smoke from a chimney poisons the atmosphere. The soot from the chimney of a large sugar refinery was collected for six days, and it was found to weigh sixty- eight hundred P-ounds. z, SOME ADVANTAGES OF THE FAST-FULL MOVE- MENT. When inventors have alighted upon a new thing, or have re-alighted upon an old thing, if it is" a good thing they often find that it has an advantage beyond that which they first expected. Apparently Macdonald Smith's first discovery was that full contraction emptied the clogged blood-vessels much [J\ one might squeeze a dirty sponge with the two hands. That was by itself an advantage. Then there was the nerve-tonic tha,t was another merit almost equally obvious. A third advantage, he says, came to him as a bonus, unexpectedly; he claims no credit for discovering it-it discovered itself. Let the reader try to describe a square with one hand and a figure 8 or a circle with the other hand or let him describe an upright 8 with one hand and an 8 lying on its side with the other hand. If he finds this easy, let him also describe a triangle with his right foot. Let him practise these things sedulously day after day; he will still find them hard. Now Macdonaldl Smith and many of his pupils have arrived at success with- out much special practice. He did not train himself in these tricks at all; but once a fort- night, while he was going through the general system, he tried these tricks for a minute. That cannot fairly be called sedulous training for the trick yet in a very short time he found he could do the movements quite easily. Independent control, the power to perform a new movement of quite a complicated kind promptly and" accu- rately—this was his bonus. And it is delightful to find a person who admits that an idea was not created by an effort within his own brain, but came to him by an accident.—From "Cassell's Physical Educator." ACUTE SNEEZING RELIEVED. An eminent physician reports that he'relieved a severe and prolonged attack of sneezing by injecting well back into the nostril some spirits of camphor. This treatment, which he says was suggested to him by an old ladv patient, gave him complete relief. There was quite a good deal of smarting at first, but he stopped sneezing and his head soon felt clear. PAINTING WITH MILK. Mr. Guy E. Mitchell tells of a strange trse for milk. He and others have used it for painting barns and outbuildings. Into a gallon of milk are stirred three pounds of Portland cement and enough pigment to give the proper colour. This mixture spread! on the wood, makes a coating that after six hours becomes as good and lasting as oil paint. It makes the best possible paint for treeSJ where large limbs have been pruned or sawed off, says Mr. Mitchell. SAHARAN NITRATES. The nitrate deposits of Chile a-re the largest known to exist, and! are one of the greatest souc&s of that country's prosperity. Thedr exhaustion would' mean disaster to Chile and great loss to the, world. But it has lately been suggested' that Africa might compete with Chile, if not take the. place of that country, in this industry. Experts are said to be convinced that nitrate deposits- even more exensive than those of South America exist all over the western part of the. Sahara. ALL ANIMALS EMIT N-RAYS. The entire nervous system of a frog has been traced by the N-rays, which are emitted by all animals, whether warm or cold-blooded. As the frog had a very low temperature as compared with that of the laboratory, this experiment furnished another proof that heat had nothing to do with the phenomenon. Phosphorescent microbes and glow-worms, strange to say, behave in much the same manner as the phosphorescent screen. When they were placed in the vicinity, of the human heart their luminosity as observed in the darkness increased remarkably. Vegetable life has its peculiar rays. Sound and' iausic pro- duce N-rays in abundance. A SIMPLE EYE-TEST. A contracted or small pupil which does not expand with varying conditions of light is also another indication of an overtaxed or weakened' condition, as it is often held so by nerve force, alone and maybe overcoming defects in sight, of which its owner is entirely uncon- scious. As evidence a simple experiment will prove, make a hole in a calling card about the size of a darning needle, audi holding it close to the eye, distant objects may be seen distinctly by one who may otherwise have very deficient sight. This experiment will show how "far- sighted people" are frequently deceived in believ- ing that they have perfect sight when it is only secured by a constrant strain on the eyes. TUMOURS AS BRAIN FOOD. There is strong hope for those who have in- ternal' tumours, if Doctor Dewey, the apostle of the fasting cure and no-breakfast plan, is cor- rect in his theory that tumours may be entirely absorbed into the system by a protracted fast. Doctor Dewey strongly asserts his belief that malignant tumours may thus be absorbed and become transformed into healthy brain tissue, the brain being the only portion of the body that loses absolutely nothing in weight during a long fast. He tells of a wealthy patient, who had knocked around among physicians for ten years, without finding relief, and finally went to a sani- tarium, where he "fasted" for thirty days on a gallon of rich milk daily! Fancy fasting on eight pounds of rich milk per diem. After that, he came to Doctor Dewey, and was made to fast "straight" for thirty-five days, at the end of whicll period he declared himself absolutely re- juvenated. A fast may not be easy to many people, but surely those who know themselves to be afflicted with that dread malady, an internal tumour, involving the surgeon's knife, and in many cases untimely death, will not hesitate to refrain from eating for a few weeks, if by so doing they have even a, reasonable assurance of being restored to perfect health. c A PALACE OF LIGHT. The illumination of the outside of the build- ings and grounds at the World's Fair to be held at St. Louis this year will probably be the big- gest piece of work of its kind that has yet been carried out. The contract provides for three hundred thousand incandescent lamps. These lamps are for lighting the exhibit places, grounds, and architectural features of the exposition proper, and do not include those for state, rational, and private concession buildings. To give an idea of the distribution of the lamps, it is stated that twelve thousand alone are to be placed on the Palace of Education, which build- ing furnishes an excellent setting for night effects. The illumination of the grounds is to be carried out on very ambitious lines. Each monumental standard will carry twenty-four in- candescent lamps, so distributed that twelve will hang un each arm of the supporting post. The lighting of the inside of the buildings will be accomplished entirely with arc larmps. ■

HOME HINTS. Apples will often relieve casee of nervous dyspepsia. The fold of the blanket in making a bed Lelcngs at the, foot. Pails and tubs of wood! may be kept from shrinking by painting them with glycerine. Pans for baking are more- easily greased with a small paiat brush than the usual uatidy bit of paper. To make cut glass glisten- and sparkle it should be sprinkledi with .sawdust, and then rubbed with chamois. Salt sprinkled over the carpet before sweeping, will effectually lay the dust and also brighten thS. colours. A too rapid boiling ruins the flavour of any sauce. It must boil once, but should never do more than simmer afterwards. To relieve asthma, soak blotting or tissue paper in strong .saltpetre water. Then dry it and let 0 it burn at night in the bedroom. Articles of old furniture are sometimes made to appear like new by washing them with lime water and then applying a coat of oil. When meat or oysters are to be dipped in egg for frying purposes it-is well to dilute each egg with one tablespoonful of warm water. Birds with white. flesh, like partridge, should be as weil cooked as a barnyard fowl. The average plump partridge should be cooked from thirty-five to forty minutes. It is very important to keep copper utensils used in the kitchen scrupulously clean, for moisture and grease will corrode the copper and produce verdigris,, which is a strong poison. A good Cologne water is made after the follow- ing recipe: Sixty drops each of oil of lavender, oil of bergamot, oil of lemon, and; orange-flower water, mixed with one pint of alcohol, dork and shake well. To make spiced cookies take two cupfuls of sugar, one cupful of lard, one egg, two-thirds, of a cupful of sweet milk, three and one-half cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, and one nutmeg. To prevent a joint, becoming too brown during the process of baking it should be covered with a piece of grease-proof paper, which, however, should be removed) about, twenty minutes, before the meat is taken out of the oven. Orange and Rhubard Marmalade.—To every pound of rhubard allow three or four Seville oranges and one, pound and a half of loaf sugar. Peel the oranges thinly and cut them into strips M for marmalade take off the white pith, which will not be needed. Remove the pips from the fruit and: cut it in slices. Place oranges, rhubarb, and sugar in the preserving-pan, and cook gently till sufficiently cooked, and the scum has ceased to rise. Pour the preserve in small pots, and next day cover it down with gummed paper. Rhubarb- jelly is a. troublesome' thing to make, but it is worth the trouble as the preserve is so good. Take the rhubarb stalks, as young and pink as you can get them, wash and wipe but do not peel. Cut into lengths, place in a preserving pan with half a pint of water to each pound of fruit. Stir with a silver or wooden spoon over a clear fire until the juice comes freelv, then let it all drain through a hair sieve, but do not press it. Pass all through a piece of folded muslin, weigh the juice, and boil it quickly for three- quarters of an hour. Then add three-quarters to one pound of the best loaf sugar, according to the sweetness of the rhubarb, to each pint of juice. Stir over the fire till -the sugar is all dissolved, then boil the juice for ten minutes longer, or until it jellies. Clear the scum off very carefully, both before and after adding sugar, and be sure the hair sieve, the muslin, and the pan are clean. I Spring Rhubarb Preserve.—Wipe the fruit and cut it into pieces a little more than one inch long; unless it is old there is no reason to peel it. To every pound of cut rhubarb add one pound of preserving sugar and a few pieces of root ginger to each preserving-pan full of rhu- barb and sugar. Bring all slowly to the boil, and when once it really boils let it cook for twenty minutes if very young, but from thirty-five to forty-five minutes if it is old. Just before the pan is taken off the fire, remove the ginger, and stir in a very little essence of lemon or bitter almonds. This preserve is ready to eat at once on bread and in boiled puddings. A Cheap Mincemeat.—Peel and core one pound apples, stone half-pound raisins, clean half-pound currants, chop quarter-pound mixed peel, stone and skin half-pound grapes add quarter-pound brown sugar, quarter-teaspoonful ground cinna- mon, a pinch of salt, and grated lemon ririd and juice to taste. Chop all ingredients together, mix well, put into a. jar, and cover closely. Cost one shilling. Minced and Baked Mutton.—Cut some slices from some cold mutton, mince them, and add a teaspoonfuls of savoury herbs, a little pounded mace, two shredded shallots, or an onion chopped finely, a little meat gravy to moisten it, thick- ened with a little flour, and season with salt and pepper. Fill a piedish with alternate layers of' mashed potatoes and the minced mutton, putting the potatoes in first, and finishing the top in the same way, and! baka for half an hour. Fried Puffs.—When you are making pastry try this recipe, and I think you will find it a plea- sant change from the ordinary apple puffs. Roll out the pastry thinly and cut in squares. On each lay some finely sliced apple with a little sugar and grated: cinnamon dusted over. Fold the paste crosswise, wetting half the edges to make them adhere, then fry in deep fat like doughnuts. Take them up, drain carefully, and: roll in sifted sugar.—"London Journal." Cheap and Good Salad.—Take one penny- worth of mustard and cress, two pennyworth ot watercress, two pennyworth of cooked beetroot,, and a fourpenny head of celery cut the beet into small dice; take a glass dish, pile the beet into pyramids, do the same with the celery and water- cress, and arrange all round the dish. Heap the mustard and cress into a pile in the centre; boil two eggs hard, take out the yolks, and mix with a little mashed potato, a table spoonful of vine- gar, half a tablespoonful of any savoury sauce, and ketchup, pepper, and salt, the same of oil and sugar. Pour this over. Instantaneous Ginger Beer.-Fill a beer bottle with pure cold water, then have a cork ready to fit it, also a string or wire to tie down with, and a mallet to drive the cork, so that no time may be lost. Now put into the bottle sugar to your taste (syrup is better), and a teaspoonful of good powdered ginger, shake all well, then add the sixth part of an ounce of supercarbonate of soda. Cork rapidly and tie down. Shake the bottle well, cut the string-the cork will fly—then drink ginger beer. Chicken Pie.-Take two medium-sized fowls, cut into neat joints, and take out the bones. Skin lib. sausages. Put the bones, necks, etc., into a stewpan with enough cold water to cover them, also one small onion, some herbs, and sea- soning. Let all simmer gently for about two hours. Put a layer of chicken and sausages in a pie-dish, then some thin slices of cold ham and hard-boiled egg. Sprinkle over some chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Re- peat this till the dish is full. Then pour in a pint of cold water. Put on the lid of pastry some good rough puff or short crust. Glaze it over with beaten egg. 13ake for two hours in a quick part of the oven at first, and then in a cooler. When done, carefully lift out the centre ornament and pour in the stock'made from the chicken bones. The stock must have first been, strained, with ¡, of leaf gelatine melted ? ik

ART AND LITERATURE. One of the chief troubles which art student# in this country have to contend against (remarks in this country have to contend against (remarks the "Globe"), is the difficulty of inducing artists of standing to give them tuition. A few Oif the better known painters will sometimes pay visits to art classes and criticise the students' wo'ik there, but this must be counted as occa- sions! supervision rather than systematic teach- ing. It is worth noting, therefore, that Mr. A. W. Rich, a member of the New English Art Club, and one of our most distinguished water- colouristsj proposes tc devote a considerable portion of his time during the coming summer to educational work, and to take a class to Arundel, Ryde, and other places where good material for the landscape painter is available. The advant- age to a student of working in the company of an artist of such exceptional capacity can scarcely be over-estimated. Some priceless art treasures were lost in the recent fire at Blunsdon Abbey, near Swindon, and the loss of these, apart from the damage to the historic mansion, makes the fire much more serious than was at first imagined. The house as to be restored in its original style. Only the walls of the central tower, the servants' hall, and the stables were saved from entire destruction, and the total damage, which is partly covered by insurance, amounts to over £ 30,000. Amongst the articles destroyed were some fine pictures of the Dutch school and Turner's "Grand Canal, Venice" a quantity of old lace, some of which had belonged to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette; a pair of candelabra and centre piece, once the property of the first Napoleon, and much old- china. The library, which contained many an- cient Welsh historical works and some old manu- scripts, together with other works, the collec- tion of years, was entirely destroyed. Blunsden Abbey dated from about the time of the Norman Conquest. Mention is made of a house on the spot in Domesday Book. After the Reformation, however, it fell into ruins, and was unoccupied until the early sixties, when it was rebuilt by a Mr. Phillips." Subsequently it came into the J, possession of Mr. De Windt, who built the central tower, and met his death by being thrown from his horse on the night he celebrated the completion of the tower by entertaining the work- men. Additions were made to the structure by a later occupant, Mr. Lyell. The present owner, Miss Thomas, had done much to improve the place, and had collected under its roof many art treasures, so that the abbey was one of the most comfortable, as well as one of the most in- teresting, mansions in that part of the country. General Sir Robert Biddulph, whose interest- ing work on Lord Cardwell's Army reforms has just been issued, is- one of our few remaining Crimean veterans. He was also in the Mutiny, and in the China war. But it was as private sec- retary to Lord (then plain Mr.) Cardwell that Sir Robert received that education in the under- currents of the War Office that has enabled him to write such an interesting volume. The years during which he devoted himself to Mr. Card- well in his efforts to reform the Army were cer- tainly the most momentous years in the develop- ment of the British Army hitherto. In view of the belief that there is an opening for Mahometanism in Japan, Mr. W. H. Quil- liam, of Liverpool, the Sheikh-ul-Islam of the British Isles, has been asked to write a primer of first principles in the Mahometan faith, which. the Japanese at Shanghai will translate for cir- culation in Japan. "In Shanghai," said th& British high priest of the Mussulmans to a Press representative the other day, "there are some thousands of Mussulmans, a large number of whom are Chinese. There is, besides, a large Japanese colony principally consisting of mer- chants, about thirty of whom have embraced the faith of Islam. "The Mussulman community in Shanghai," he added, "feel convinced that the Islamic faith will make great progress in Japan, especially as the Japanese are a very intelligent race. They are dissatisfied with both Buddhism and Shintoism. At the present time there are few things more eagerly sought by collectors than old Stuart needle pictures, and for the next two or three weeks they will enjoy a ra-re opportunity of acquiring such treasures. Long before the craze became fashionable, Viscountess Wolseley began to buy them with great judgment and discrimina- tion, and has done so for so long that she finds herself possessed of so many duplicates, or speciments having identical features with others, that she has determinect to sell a number of them, and has sent them for the purpose to the Royal School of Art Needlework. The collection is especially rich in what are known as "stump" work, of which Miss Wade, the accomplished superintendent of the school, has mastered the technique. Faces, hands, garments, and other details depicted were executed in lace stitches of the utmost delicacy. When these tiny pieces were wrought in the various colours necessary to the design, they were adroitly worked on to a ground., some padding being employed beneath them to gives a sufficient relief. Their range of subjects is curiously limited, and scarcely ever goes beyond the portrayal of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria, Abraham, and Sarah, or the Judgment of Solomon. But surrounding the central group, and in the term of needlework "powderedi" over the ground, are certain devices never omitted, which doubtless have a symbolic meaning. These invariably include a suggestion of a castle, and trees bearing fruit in the right top corners,. and at the bottom a lion and a leopard. Between these will be a- rose, a butter- fly, a caterpillar, and a snail, and occasionally one or two more similarly irrelevant items. The collection includes a sampler of 1649-that is, only one year Hater than the three earliest examples known—and it bears, signed with the, initials "-A.. H. the following quaint lines Part of my skill here you may see Beseeching you wish well to me, I do desire to know more still Gø<ii¡ grant I lerne his holy Will. Some old bags, pocket-books, caskets (these a very good group), and genuine old dolls are also included in this fascinating group. From another source comes a dress that belonged to Nell Gwyn, of pale canary yellow silk beautifully embroidered in shades of mauve, and some of the glass pictures now in request, asi well as a superb set of vestments from the private chapel of Princess Ercolani di Bologna of Savoy. Mrs. Williamson Rawnsley is among those for- tunate individuals who live in the New Forest and are able to paint prettily in water-colours. Having made sketches of different parts of the lovely country round her home in every month of the year, islie, proceeds to describe them and point out the chief beauties which they represent. Her book, "The New Forest" must surely tempt some who are unacquainted with those exquisite scenes to take the first opportunity of enjoying them at first hand. In Mr. A. W. Pinero's early days, says Mps. Alec Tweedie, he wrote "Two Hundred a Year" in an afternoon; "Dandy Dick" occupied him three weeks, but as time went on be became mora critical of his work. He spgnt fifteen months in completing "The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsnnith," mine months over "The Second Mrs. Tanquecay," and six months over "The Gay Lord Quex," belpedl in the latter draaaa, as he said, by the invigorating exercise of his bicvcle. He is one «t e,,m'os" painstaking men "alive, acd' over- Letty he spent two years. Pans claims the honour of having started the first Salon of illustrated postal cards. These cards—which may be called the lithographic children of aætistsrundl explorers—in the exhibi- tion of Cours-la-Reine are not only interesting but educational^ for they are accompanied by their "family tree," as it were, by the wonderful and ingenious machinery that has brought them into being. Their whole history may be therefore traced from th& time of their initiation by Germany to the present moment when artistic Paris—a little backward at first—runs a neck and neck race with her rival. The whole world is represented, and unique lent from Madagascar, the original collec tion of M. Havard, and up-to-date presentments of Japan at war, help to carry out the geographical idea that was originally suggested in the, columns. Many of the postcards have more tban artistic value— their are adorned with the autograph of names to conjure with in the art world.

Stationers are about the only persons who c«H keep diaries through the entire yea?-