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

The situation seeks the man with about as much energy as a rogue seeks the police.

GARDEN GOSSIP. I .From "The Gardiner.") I A Chrysanthemum for the Small Garden— This is Ruby King, a very dwarf, free flowering crimson or ruby variety which blossoms in October in the outdoor garden. When I saw it recently it had passed unscathed through a. frost which had left its mark on many neighbouring varieties, and was a mass of good sized, bright blooms. As far as I could gather it is not abso- lutely new, and should therefore be cheap, but, whatever it price, it is well worth growing. It «- How to Succeed with Saxifraga Burseriana.— I recently saw this beautiful Saxifraga in such splendid condition in a well-known nursery that, knowing how indifferent is the success at- tained in its culture by the ordinary amateur, I inquired the secret of its luxuriance. Drainage, pure and simple, was at the bottom cf the whole business. "Give it unlimited drainage, either in pot or border, and it grows itself"; these were the comforting words I heard, and which I gladly pass on to lovers of this beautiful hardy plant. A Neglected Trailer.—Just why some plants never become really popular is a garden puzzle worthy the attention of a profound philosopher. I shall attempt no explanation here, but merely call attention to the fact as it exists in relation to one of the most beautiful trailing plants our greenhouses can possess. This is Nepeta Gle- choma variegata, a silvery variegated form. of the common Ground Ivy. Either planted out or grown in pots, splendid trails, often one yard long, of elegant leafage are readily obtained. For adorning stages, depending in cut flower ar- rangements, or table decorations, it is a plant unexcelled by few, if any. A Desirable Japanese Anemone.Varietieo, of Japanese Anemones seem to be getting almost as plentiful as Dahlias, so that to the man who has room for only one or two plants the task of selec- tion is becoming a difficult one. In these circum- stances let me introduce a newcomer called Prince Henry as wrg-thy of a. home in every border, however smaii. It is new, vigorous, and bears double flowers of a very pleasing red shade. It is the best of the red double Anemones that I know. A Dozen Town Garden Plants.—The follow- ing is a dozen plants which extensive observa- tions have led me to select as the ones likely to do best in any town garden, irrespective, to a great extent, of aspect: Creeping Jenny, Ber- gamot, Calendula, often called Marigold; Sun- flowers, Convolvulus, German Iris, Cornflower, London Pride, Antirrhinum, Impatiens Roylei, Ivy, and the old Virginian Creeper. Privet, Euonymus, Aucuba, and the common Laurel are four shrubs which invariably acquit themselves well in even the poorest town garden. Shamrocks.—I am frequently asked to tell people if their plant is a true Shamrock or not, but have always to reply in the negative. The fact is that I have only once seen the true Sham- rock grown as a window plant, and that was a plant in our own window. All the so-called Shamrocks seen in windows, and they are ex- ceedingly numerous in country districts, are Oxalises, the one most generally met with being Oxalis rosea-, I have seen Ortgiesii and Aceto- sella in windows, and the pretty bulbous-rooted O. cernua, the so-called Bermuda Buttercup, may sometimes, but too rarely, be met with. This latter is a winter blooming species, and should be grown by every window gardener. # Cinerarias.—These are plants which do famously when well cared for, but which will not brook neglect. There may be two sowings—in May and July-so that their flowering period may be lengthened. From the time they are pricked off, which should be as soon as they can be handled, until their flowering, they should enjoy a cool, moist atmosphere and be well shaded. From pans they should be transferred to 3-inch pots, from thence to 6-inch and the more pro- mising may be afterwards honoured by a shift into an 8-inch. A good open compost is wanted, and any deficiency in the soil may be made up by repeated liquid manure. The great enemy, green fly, may be kept at bay by frequent fumigating at sight of the first one. With careful Altering, a temperature above 40 deg., sufficient shade, and liberality in feeding, some handsome blooms should result. Cineraria stellata should certainly be grown, as it stands so boldly above the foliage, but the older form is not to be despised. it Cracked Pots and Unhealthy Plants.— Unhealthy specimens may-and often do—result from being grown in cracked pots. Take, for instance, an Azalea; the roots of these plants are threadlike and numerous, the compost is, or should be, peaty and light, and rammed down firmly in the pot. If the latter has a small crack in it the water will run out, and as the crack becomes larger more water leaks out, leaving the other side of the ball of earth dry, and the roots perish. All plants of a hard- wooded nature which are found growing in cracked pots should be,, placed, in a vessel of tepid water for about twelve hours and then carefully placed, without breaking the ball of earth, in sound pots of similar size. Other kinds of plants, too, should have attention in this respect. TH3 SONG- OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. Oh, this is the song of the incurveu 'Tis the song of the Pompon too! The Anemone listeth sadly, And the Reflexed knows it's true. "Are we doomed by the craze for bignessT Are we doomed by the craze for size* Is the love of a. flower, the love of an hour? Is hugeness all they prize?" And this is the song of the Single, With sheen like star3 at night. Are they unfit to mingle With those marvellous mops of might? "But stay, could they dispense with me? I am dainty, naive and neat; And I brighten the soul and the button-hole Of the' man '-and the maid-' in the street. And this is the song of the mighty, The Japanese "juggernaut, Whose size and form causedstrih and storm 1-1 And crushed the rest to naught. "I'm supreme," cries the handsome tyrant, by me the board is swept!" And the other sections, sorrowing, bowed their heads and sadly wept, Which Oblivion welcomed coldly as neatii ner wings they crept. Pigmy Oaks.—Small Oak trees that are grown in pots may be made very interesting when observed from year to year. An Oak tree, two inches high and nearly ten, years old, is some- thing of a novelty. We generally plant Oaks for the purpose of growing them into monsters of the field or wood, or at least for the supply of matured timber. The pigmy plants in pots are to provide us with something unique. I have grown a small specimen, such as I describe above, and will give here a few hints on the management of one, or more. Procure a small flower pot 2! inches wide at the top and as deep as possible-it must be a selected pot such as nurserymen use-put one hollow crock over the hole in the bottom, then fill the pot with loam full of fibre. Plant a sound acorn in the pot, -and water the soil. In due course growth will be made, but the little stem will not be quite two inches high. The best plan is to place the pot on a tile or brick in the open air and tnere let it remain all the summer and autumn. The leaves are sure to be very small but perfect in shape. Give water occasionally, but never liquid manure, nor must the plant be repotted. In the winter simply keep the roots from being frozen, but do not excite growth; allow this to start naturally in the spring by putting out the plant on the tile again. The litem does not thicken, or lengthen perceptibly in after years, but the tiny buds form and produce several miniature leaves year after year. Exposure to sunshine and showers in summer is good for the dwarf forest tree. Put a little soil in the pot when. required.

—— | The first baby gets its photograph taken every three months. The other babies are very lucky if they get theirs taken once in three years.

OUR SHORT STORY. THE MISOGYNIST'S MISTAKE. (A STORY OF LAST SUMMZ.il.) Formerly, perhaps, Millington Stubbs would have shown some more or less faint interest in the veiled lady who took the third corner in the cor- ridor-car compartment which he had selected. She was, in his opinion, about as tall as a lady ought to be. That, however, was all he thought about her. He sighed and opened his newspaper. The veiled lady was scarcely in the carriage when she was out of it again; but so quietly that Millington Stubbs didn't notice her flight, if flight it was. We don't want any o'them here. It's a good thing she's gone," remarked the red-faced old fellow in the white hat. He had already irritated Millington by taking the seat opposite to him, thereby interfering with the freedom of his feet. Millington glanced over the paper, and begged his pardon. I hate women, sir, I'm a misogynist, and with good reason," said the red-faced man. This hot weather it's a case of two's just bearable company, but three's not to be endured, especially one a woman." He nodded at the vacated corner, and smiled; at least Millington charitably supposed it was a smile. I- Oh, yes, quite so!" Millington preferred his paper to conversation with such a rubescent object as that. Sitting opposite to him was something like facing a furnace. There were about ninety degrees of heat in the atmosphere without him. And yet Millington didn't read the paper. He was thinking of the past fortnight. What a fortnight! And how blank his future from that moment onwards seemed bouiki to be! It made no difference to the outlook if she had merely amused herself with him, even as at first he had proposed merely to arouse himself, innocently enough, with her. Morning after morning—yes, and in the afternoons too latterly-they had been together on the sands, the piers, or upon their bicycles; and the parting had been terrible for him. He know little about her history except that her name was Mary Smith, that she was at White- pool with an invalid parent who absorbed her evenings, but gave her a free hand with her days, and that she was the brightest and prettiest girl he had ever seen. With what sweet confidence she had associated with him after that first introduction! A gale had swept away her hat, he had chased it until he was ready to drop from exhaustion, recovered it, and restored it to her and she had spent several tender minutes in ministering to his own restoration. It was rather an odd beginning. But the sequel had been a growing bliss. And the end now seemed to him blank perdition, as touching himself. We're off at last," said the red-faced gentle- man. A quarter of an hour late, of course. This confounded line—— Good heavens He whispered the last words. What's the matter ?" Millington inquired. But it was only the return of the lady. She also had a newspaper. The fluttering of her loose, dark blue, silk veil was rather picturesque. Millington rated the red-faced man a brute for his undisguised resentment of her. He looked his opinion, moreover. He might as well have tried to touch the sensi- bilities of a stone wall. HLillo!" exclaimed the red-faced man. I thought I was in a smoking compartment. I'll shift." Neither Millington nor the lady made any objection. The red-faced man asked if he should leave the corridor door open. The lady nodded. And that was all. Then Millington settled into a determined re- view of that past fortnight, and especially the bitter parting of yesterday. They had had a fare- well cup of tea together on the pier, and he had told her things. It was the first time he had wholly lost his heart, he said; and if she would say the word, he wouldn't go away. Did she, could she, love him? If so, he wouldn't leave Whitepool. He could telegraph to Saunders and Hoyle for an extra week. May I do that, dear Miss Smith?" he had im- plored. She had thought that perhaps he had better not be so impulsive. It seemed to him that there was love, real love, in her eyes while she said it, and he had pressed his suit. But she did not encourage him. She admitted that she liked him very much indeed. Of course, he must know that, she said, or she never would have gone about with him in such a sisterly way. "I trust you absolutely, Mr. Stubbs," she had said out—there are circumstances, I-I think it must be Good-bye.' You have helped me to be very happy for eleven days, but-it's horrid to say it—but I suppose it must be Good-bye.' There was a little more still. Millington shut his eyes and clenched the paper as he remembered how he had kissed her hand in the final agony of separation, and then, holding his hat on his head (for there was a breeze), had rushed to his hotel 1ik a desperate man. The heat in the car was terrible, but he was not conscious of it. His mind's hot regrets andlutile longings made him unmindful of his body's discom- fort. He forgot everything, indeed, except the Mary Smith whom he had lost for ever. With closed eyes he saw her in her many endearing aspects The paper fell from his hands, but still he saw her. He slept and continued to see her. The train sped on. For minutes the veiled lady sat as still as Millington himself, screened by her newspaper even aa Millington had been screened by his. Gradually she lowered her paper, however, and soon she was looking at Millington through her veil (which was less opaque to her than to out- siders) with a curious fixity of gaze. The red-faced gentleman had strolled into the corridor with his cigar, in defiance of the com- psmy's regulations. She ought to have heard him, but she didn't look round. He peeped at her and Millington, shrugged his shoulders, and moved away. Then the veiled lady put her right cheek in her hand, and seemed lost in thought, like Millington in his dreams. A little latter she started. Mill- ington had whispered the word Mary! He ex- haled a deep breath afterwards. But even that effort did not wake him. His head dropped for- ward indeed, to show how soundly he slept. And then the veiled lady fidgeted slightly, and glanced at the corridor. Another moment and she stretched towards Millington's end of the carriage, swiftlv possessed herself of the little open handbag bv Millington's side and stood np. On tiptoe she left the compartment with it, drawing it into her long light dust cloak when she was in the corri- lor. From the end of the corridor the red-faced man fI,W her go. He saw something of the bag as well. He took the cigar from his lips and stared as the lady went down the corridor, and disappeared into another compartment which he knew was unoccu- pied. Finally, he aired his emotions. Well, if that isn't a cool piece of rascality, I never saw one And then he turned his righteously (as well as weather) inflamed face to an official who had come through the train, and now politely demanded his ticket. Just come in here, my man!" he said to the ticket collector. I—there's something I want to report." But before he could r' report the official was recalled into the car he had just left. He asked the red-faced man to excuse him for a moment; an 1 the red-faced man seemed to have no choice in the matter. It was fully five minutes ere the collector re- turned, and the red-faced man passed the time pluming himself upon his wise instinctive distrust of women, and young and veiled women in parti- cular. Then he plunged forth his story. It was a story the official could criticise only by prompt action.. Follow me!" said the red-faced man, with un- worthy joy in his soul. They woke Millington Stubbs, exceedingly to his annoyance. He was just then dreaming that Mary had sHiflefl at tmft vrftk a new and quite bewilder- ing light in her eyes, and had slipped her hand into his uninvited. This gentleman says you have had a bag stolen sir," began the official. "I—had one!" Millington assented, with a puzzled look about him. There you are!" gai,l the red-faced man, eagerly. "Shut the door, collector. Got her red-handed. I saw her take it. You're in luck, my young friend. She'd have been away with it at Westwood in a minute or so." "She? But.—there's nothing of value in it. Just my toilet things." said Millington. "Makes no difference. It's a theft just the aame. Now what you've got to do, collector, is to nab her at once. She'll squeal and tell Ives, but don't you- The f-ollee!:or opened the door. I i, You can ¡.) vo all that to me, sir," he said, with « You can vo all that to me, sir," he said, with dignity. Where is she ?" I'll show you," said the red-faced man. "This way!" J The veiled lady had meanwhile been very busy. She seemed by no means so agitated by criminal anxiety as, according to the red-faced man's estimate of her, she ought to have been. Alone in that other carriage, she had begun to write a letter. She produced a dainty little morocco case with envelopes, sheets of paper, and a pencil in it, and wrote rapidly; and she smiled while she wrote this letter: DEAR MR. MILLINGTON,—I meant to speak to you in the train, but this is better. Do come back, if you are quite sure you meant what you said yesterday. I must tell you that I am a little fraud first, though. The reason I never would see you in the evenings is because I was engaged at the concerts. It is so strange that you never guessed I am the Aroya Lindsay whose portrait is on the walls, but I suppose it is not a good portrait. My mother is with me, and she is not at all well, but I ought not to have been quite so disingenuous, ought I? "There now you know, and I must leave you to guess why I write like this. Sincerely yours, MARY SMITH. P.S.-Mary is my real name." She enclosed the letter and addressed the envelope Millington Stubbs, Esq. though she meant to put it in the bag; and she had got no farther than this when the enemy was upon her, with Millington himself, the last of the three, in- visible at first. "Where did you get that bag?" asked the collector, sternly. She was no longer veiled. She started. Oh she exclaimed, and looked past the collector at the g!oating red-faced man. Is he awake ? she whispered. But though a whisper, it was enough for Milling- ton Stubbs. He pushed aside the red-faced man as if he were offensive lum7, and darted towards her. It's you!" he cried. Mary She was agitated now; distressed, yet inclined to smile through her blushes; almost, indeed, ashamed. I did not mean-it was foolish of me to take the bag. I She would have removed the letter from his sight, but he was too quick for her. He seized it; then gazed at her as if he doubted his eyes, and even his hopes and fears. What is the matter ?" he asked. And as soon as he had spoken he realised thost. other two. "You are both labouring under a preposterous error," he said, addressing the official, but with wrath in his eyes for the red-faced man. I'm glad of it, sir," said the official. Tickets, please." The red-faced man slunk away. Millington showed his ticket impatiently, and she showed hers. And then they were alone. How absurd of me to take your bag !"she mur- mured. "But—I think perhaps you may give me back my letter." He hesitated at that. What does it mean ?" he asked, searching her face. You—has anything happened ? I told you yesterday I want you more than anything else in all the world, and it is true. I was dreaming of you just now when those idiots woke me. Mary! tell me what it means." He held out his hand appealingly. She turned to the window. I I think," she said, you may read the letter, after all. Go away and read it, please." But he tore it open and read it there and then. And when the train stopped at Westwood he left it with her to return to Whitepool. His portman- teau and bicycle, he said, might go on and take their chance he didn't care for anything that day except that they loved each other, and had that to talk about.

RUSSIA'S VANISHING NAVY. I Below is a list of the once powerful Russian fleet in Far Eastern waters, and what has become of it. At the beginning of the war Russia had seven battleships, 11 cruisers, and 23 torpedo- boat destroyers. BATTLESHIPS. Petropavlovsk Sunk by a mine off Port Arthur, April 13. Tsai-eviteh: Disarmed after being heavily damaged in the sortie of August 10. Sevastopol: Damaged by mine, August 23; now under bombardment at Port Arthur. Poltava: Sunk at Port Arthur last week. Peresviet: Sunk at Port Arthur last week. Pobieda: Damaged by mine, April 13; damaged in sortie, August 10; now sunk at Port Arthur. Retvisan: Badly damaged in the sortie of I August 10; now sunk at Port Arthur, CRUISERS. Rurik.—Sunk on August 14. Gromoboi.—Ran ashore at Vladivostok; useless. Boyarin.—Sunk by mine off Port Arthur. Bogatyr.—Ran aground at Vladivostok useless. Bayan.—Aground and set on fire at Port Arthur. Fallada.-Submerged at Port Arthur. Diana.—Interned at Saigon after sortie of August 10. Askold.—Interned at Shanghai, after August sortie. Variag.-Sunlc off Chemulpho, February 9. Novik.—Sunk off Saghalien, August. Rossia.—At Vladivostok, only fit for harbour duty. GUNBOAT. Korietz.-Sank off Chemulpho, February 9. Only ten of the 23 destroyers now remain eile«- tire. —flllM,,1 mil'"

GOD SAVE THE KING A correspondent points out that the Scotch, Welsh, and Irish are not the only people who have appropriated our English tunes. That rather truculent piece of nationalism, "Yankee Doodle" is bellowed to a once popular old Eng- lish air. But, of eourse, the most' painful case is that of "God Save the King," which is now the pro- perty of at least three nations—of the Americans, who sing it to "My country, 'tis of thee"; of the Prussians, who took it over, almost words and all, about a. century ago, and call it "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" and of the original owners. Moreover, the Austrian "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" was composed by Haydn in frank imitation of it, though, of course, it is different. Indeed, like the Russian National Anthem, with the refrain "Give peace in our time," it is known in England as a hymn-tune.

GOOD DOG AND HIS BONES. ¡ A curious example of a dog s intelligence is to be seen on the Midland Railway Station at Wellingborough. This dog, a terrier, belong- ing to an official, has taken upon himself the duty of welcoming every train arriving there on which there is a restaurant car. He takes up bis position on the platform opposite the kitchen compartment, and it is rare that he is hot ro- warded with a bone, with which he trots off to some quiet nook. Jack is quite indifferent to all ordinary trains, and will not stir from hia maker's omce.

A boy of fifteen thinks he's too old to run errands; but after he's thirty and married he begins again. The medical men say that kleptomania is a disease. We have observed that its victims are always taking something for it! Stella: "Where does your parrot learn such awful language?" Bella: "He is usually in the same room when my husband shaves feimself."

DOUBLE EXECUTION. I Did Conrad Donovan confess his complicity in the murder of Miss Farmer for which he and his half-brother, Charles Wade, were executed at Pentonville Prison on Tuesday morning ? The statement was made that while upon the scaffold Donovan said to the chaplain, Murder was not meant," thus confessing his share in the crime for which he had to pay his life. Confirmation appeared in the following commu- nication made to the Press Association by the under-sheriff: Wade made no statement, but Donovan said: No murder was intended." This statement was made to the chaplain. I think it right that you should have this state- ment. (Signed) F. KYNASTON METCALFE, Under-Sheriif.

THE REVENUE. I The receipts on account of Revenue from April 1, 1904, when there was a balance of £ 4,263,84.2, to Dec. 10, 1904, were £ 81,812,023, against jZS4,675,959 in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, which began with a balance of £ 6,637,127. The net expenditure was E95,324,910, against £ 97,868 383 to the same date in the previous year. The Treasury balances on Dee. 10, 1904, amounted to Eb,039,445, and at the same date in 1903 to £ 4,864,975.

RIOTOUS M.P.'S. jTumultuous scenes took place on Tuesday in the Hungarian Diet. The new Session wa,s to be opened by Royal Rescript, but members of the Opposition entered the chamber early, and threw books, chairs, and pieces of wood at men of the new Guard who occupied the President's tribune to prevent anyone taking a place there. Event- ually the Guard were driven from the stairs, and the Opposition stormed the tribune, and broke up everything which could be demolished. The Ministerial Bench was thrown into the centre of the floor and broken, and the President's chair was similarly treated. Count Tisza and some members of the Cabinet entered later, and having noticed the work of destruction, they retired, and decided that no Sitting could be held.

FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH A BURGLAR. On Tuesday morning a Burton-on -Trent jeweller, named Auber, had a desperate struggle with a burglar. Hearing a noise in the shop below, he got out of bed and went downstairs. There he found a man in the shop on the point of decamping with a stock of jewellery. As the man showed fight, Auber picked up a clasp-knife and a struggle ensued behind the door. Just as the man was getting the upper hand Auber managed to strike him in the face, the open blade of the knife gashing his cheek. Another blow with the knife struck the alleged burglar in the back, but after continuing the fight for about fifteen minutes the man succeeded in throwing Auber on his back under a table and then bolted. He was traced for a considerable distance by means of the blood-marks in his track, and at last Police-constable Hulme saw him. Another struggle followed, and the policeman managed to secure the fugitive. On examination at the police- station he was found to be Frederick Bayliss, of Walsall, a man who had previously been convicted for jewel-shop robbery.

COLLAPSE OF A FLOOR. MANY PERSONS INJURED. While an auction sale was in progress at Rother- ham on Tuesday night the floor gave way ,and several men and women fell into a cellar. An exciting scene followed. Two women were badly injured, receiving fractured legs, and were taken to hospital. Five others were removed to their homes in cabs, one with a broken jaw. A doctor who was just about to commence a lecture on first aid at a lad's club next door gave assistance.

A LIFEBOAT HERO DEAD. I Henry Freeman, who was coxswain of the 'Whitby lifeboat for twenty years, died in that town on Tuesday. He had often distinguished himself in the lifeboat service, but his most con- spicuous display of gallantry was in February, 1861, during a gale which strewed the Yorkshire coast with wrecks. The storm suddenly sprang up in the night, and seven vessels were washed ashore in the darkness at Whitby alone. The lifeboat, of which Freeman was coxswain, was launched five times, and five times returned after rendering help to distressed ships. The sixth vessel was driven on to the rocks under the precipitous cliffs on which the ruins of the Abbey stand. Despite the exhaustion caused by their previous efforts, the lifeboatmen put out again in answer to the signals of distress but they had not gone more than fifty yards beyond the piers when the craft capsized and twelve out of her crew of thirteen were drowned, Freeman alone being saved. Undeterred by his narrow escape, he remained coxswain of the lifeboat for many years afterwards.

A REMARKABLE LITTLE GIRL. I Quite remarkable are the linguistic attainments of the little girl of 13 who, on several occasions, has appeared at the Stepney coroner's court as interpreter. Her name is Louisa Kliwczynsky, and she is the daughter of Lithuanian parents, her father being a slipper maker at St. George's-in-the-East. She learnt her Lithuanian, of course, from her parents, and her Polish, which she speaks as fluently, from her native Poland. She learnt English at an English school, and speaks it like an English girl. She has interpreted Lithuanian at Mr. Baxter's court, and the coroner on the last occasion congratu- lated the little girl, who has lived in this country for only four years. She is now learning her fourth language—German—at a German school in the East-end of London.

THE LAW AND THE LIONS. I During a recent performance at the Nottingham Empire a lion attacked one of the ponies which was harnessed to a roundabout in which the beast was riding. The pony died from its injury, and the proprietor, Herr Georg Thielbar, was on Tuesday summoned for cruelty by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The defence was that the occurrence was an accident, and the immunity from injury which the animals had experienced for many years was dwelt on. The Bench, however, imposed a fine of 40s. Notice of appeal was given, it being regarded as a test case.

THREE NEW BISHOPS. I The King has been pleased to approve the following appointments: The Right Rev. Charles Gore, Bishop of Wor- cester, to bo Bishop of the new See of Birming- ham. Thought Rev. Huyshe Yeatman Biggs, Bishop Suffragan of Southwark, to be Bishop of Wor- cester. The Ven. J. W. Diggle, Archdeacon of Birming- ham, to be Bishop of Carlisle in succession to the late Dr. Bardsley. It is mainly due to Dr. Gore that the new See has become a reality. He was appointed to Worcester three years ago. Ar Canon of Westminster he showed that, as a preacher and expositor, he could attract the laity. "Lux Mundi," which he edited, created a great sensation. He holds most pronounced Liberal views, and was opposed to the Government on the Soath African war. Dr. Diggle, like his brother, the late Chairman of the London School Board, is greatly interested in educational matters. In 1874 he assisted in the forming of the Liverpool Council of Education.

"Nature," said the poet, "writes a message of loveliness on the face of every fair girl." "Yea," answered Mrs. Cumrox, "and before Gwendolyn got through with the freckles this summer she looked as if nature had been using a fountain pen."

EPITOME OF NEWS. » The Porte expresses the hope that the Austro- Hungarian Embassies will abandon their project of increasing the corps of officers for the Mace- donian gendarmery, as it cannot accept it. One of the complaints made against soldiers in an Army Order just issued is tnat of wearing their caps on the backs of their heads, "so as to display effeminate and unsoldierly curls on their foreheads." The Attorneys-General of the South African Colonies are to hold a conference next month for the purpose of discussing the question of a Court of Appeal for the whole of British South Africa. In the low-lying Lincolnshire marshes it has been decided to establish a new pack of fox- hounds. The increase of foxes has been the cause of no small amount of annoyance to the farmers. Mr. Taft, United States Secretary for War, addressing a meeting at Panama, expressed the hope that the United, States would build a sea- level canal. Wireless telegraph towers are to be erected at intervals along the United States sea coast for o the use of the Revenue-cutter service. The Barking Council is linking up through o Barking the electric tramways of Eayt Ham and those of the Ilford District Council. A Dublin girl, in a fit of hysterics, swallowed, a number of articles which would have over- taxed the digestive powers of an ostrich. The hospital surgeon who operated on her extracted a penknife with an open blade, half a dozen hair-pins, and a dozen screws. Mr. Chamberlain since his return has received invitations to speak in one hundred and fifty different constituencies. Lady Penrhyn and the Hon. Misses Douglas- Pennant have arrived at Wyynstay on a visit to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. A cat which was taken from the house of a stud-groom of the Duke of Beaufort, at Petty France, near Badminton, to Oakham, Rutland, escaped, -and arrived at its old home eight days afterwards, having travelled 200 miles. Notwithstanding the declarations of the Porte that orders had been sent to place no more obs.tacles in the way of the free sale of Bibles, news has been received from Trebizond and Ordu that as soon as the colporteurs resumed the sale they were hindered by the authorities, who seized the Bibles. Melbury House, near Dorchester, where the Prince and Princess of Wales have been staying, is one of the many picturesque residences which Lord Ilchester possesses. The house is in a very beautiful part of the county, and at Abbotsbury Castle, in the same neighbourhood, the Earl keeps his famous swannery, which contains over a thousand birds. In Holland House Lord Ilchester has perhaps the most interesting and celebrated house in all London for a town residence. The Princess Stephanie of Belgium, who is coming among us as a resident, has been described as perhaps the most ardent of all Royal horsewc-men. It is not generally known, perhaps, that the late Queen of the Belgians, who was herself devoted to horses, instituted a private circus at Lacken to which the leading professional riders of Europe were bidden to instruct herself and her daughters in the equestrian art. And the young Princesses, it has been said, could ride a pony barebacked long before they could read or write. Sir William Mulock, who is coming to London as successor to the retiring High Commissioner for Canada, Lord Strathcona, ranks as one of the ablest debaters in the Dominion House of Commons, where he has sat uninterruptedly as a Liberal for twenty-two years. When after their long exclusion from office the Liberals triumphed at the General Election of 1896, Sir Wilfrid Laurier made Mr. Mulock, as he then was, Postmaster-General, and that ofice he will now resign. H.e is a lawyer with a large practice in Toronto. Count Reuntlow, the German naval expert, acknowledges that Great Britain can still claim to be "Mistress of the Seas." The naval power of France, Italy, and Russia has (he declares) decreased, and Great Britain is now so strong that she can easily face two, or even three, opponents simultaneously. Germany can at present only send thirteen battleships to sea and of this number only two can claim to be completely efficient. Great Britain, on the other hand, can immediately send out forty-one battleships indepenuently of the Mediterranean Fleet. A good many Japanese have settled in tropical Queensland, and the Labour leaders of that State, fearful of a further invasion of the "little brown men," are the most strenuous advocates and defenders of the "white Aus- tralia" policy. Some of them, too, are pro-Russian in their sympathies by reason of their antipathy to the obnoxious Japanese as settlers in their midst. Senator Higgs, who is one of the representatives of Queensland in the Upper House of the Commonwealth, has just made an unsuccessful attempt to discipline the "Melbourne Age" for publishing an article "calculated to bring the great Russian nation into contempt." Charlton Hall, at Malmesbury, which is to have so charming a chatelaine when his Indian duties leave Lord Suffolk free to come home again, has not only a famous picture-gallery, but a ghost chamber. Many of the finest of the paintings belonged to James the Second, who, on the eve of his flight, committed them to the care of Colonel Graham, the son-in-law of the Lord Suffolk of that day. Circumstances were against his reclaiming them, and the Prince of Orange subsequently confirmed the family in the possession of these treasures. Now the ghost cham her is known as King James's room, and tradition declares that on each recurring anniversary of his flight-, King James's ghost comes to ask for his pictures. Sir George Stuart White, who is understood to have accepted1 the post of Governor of Chelsea Hospital, already offered to and declined by Lord Roberts, has been Governor and Commander-in-Chief at Gibraltar since 1900, and well conforms to the unwritten law that the post, which has been held by so many famous soldiers, should be offered to none but those who nave earned the highest distinction in every branch of the service. Sir George will be seventy next July, and it is nearly fifty- two years since he first entered the Army. He served in the Mutiny with the Inniskillings, and in the Afghan War with the Gordon High- landers. He shared in the famous march from Kabul to Kandahar, and he won his V.C. at Charasiab in 1879. He has been Military Secretary to the Viceroy of India and Com- mander-in-Chief there; he held Ladysmith against the Boer Army for a hundred and nineteen memorable days; and he has been in a dozen famous campaigns besides. No better choice of legal adviser to the North Sea Commission could have been made than that of Sir Edward Fry, whose wide experience of arbitration tribunals, his three years service as a member of the International Arbitration corps at The Hague, and his absolutely un- assailable judicial impartiality mark him out as a jurist of peculiar fitness for that important office. It was Sir Edward Fry, it will be remembered, who arbitrated in the great hsh- Sr^pute 'at Grimsby, in the South Wales Coal dispute a few years ago, and presided over the recent Water Purchase Arbitration, and over the Royal Commission on the Irish Land Acts. Second son of the late Mr. Joseph Fry, founder of the famous cocoa firm at Bristol, Sir Edward was brought up as a Quaker. He was called to the Bar just half a century took silk in 1869, and became a Chancery] udge and a knight eight years later. In 1^3 he wa| made a Lord Justice of the Appeal Court, and retired from that position some eleven years ago. Though he is seventy-seven, his mental activity, like bis physical vigour, is aa remark- able as it was in his barrister day!. He has written many able books of Science and theology, he earned in the Rolls Court the reputation of being the most leanjed equity lawyer of his day, and he has been very pro- minent of late years as the moving spirit m the crusade against commercial immorality.