Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser and Cheshire Shropshire and North Wales Register

OUR LADIES COLUMN. BY ONE OF THEMSELVES. Mission VILS OF GAME9 OF CTIANcE.-TitF. LAST Kxci.isii LOTTEHY;- CHniSTMASjOUHXALS.—"MA!A S ANNUAL. COMC ANXUALS.-GOOD FicTURHS.-ScttAt BOOKS.VAI.I. D.:Cf)RAT!OX.S.-DoLLS, THEIB HiSTOHY AND VALL-K.-DAIXTY DiSMES.- FRY,NCIl CoOKS.-lNVAUD CuOKERY.-GAME. —A NICE RECIPE FOR SOLE AU GRATIX. A sho!"t Ii vedfu,rol'c ]:tlely seized all one's friends and acquaintances, and everybody was saymg, "What is the word this week?" by which the initiated understood the "missing word" in a sentence to be found in the current number ot Pcarson's or some other weekly journal. At nrst this attempt to guess the absent word seemed to be only fun, and one wiUmgty risked a shiHins or two in the hope of guessing rtghtly and receiving a share of the accumu at.on of unsuccessful deposits. But now the thing has assumed such gigantic proport tons that it has become nothing less than a species of ga'nbtmg, which, if continued, seemed likely to pro-, e very dangerous to public morality, and a very undesirable temptation to the young and the impecunious, who delight in the exotement of a possible guess to make money, rather than in the work by which alone an honest living can be earned. I can recollect when I was a girl hearing from my grandparents of the evils and terrible results of the "lotteries" which existed under Government sanction in the time of their youth. of the fortunes gained and lost solely by chance, when such things were recognised in England a< legitimate and proper enterprises. It appears that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth down to the year 182C, the lottery was adopted by the English Government as a source of revenue. There were large and pretentious omces in London, and agencies all over the provinces, for the sale of lottery tickets, and the sancLion of the Govern- ment put these practices on a firm and recognised basis. The competition for business in lottery tickets was immense. One f)rmnndingano!d woman in the country named Goodtuck,'} absolutely offered her an annuity of dE50 a year on condition that she would join them as a nominal partner for the sake of the attractive enect of her name on their possible customers. These lotteries were instituted not by any means atone for sums of money, but jewets, silver aud gold p)ate, shares in great enterprises, &;c., were dealt with in the same \vay, and in the year 1567, Queen Elizabeth herself endorsed a lottery of vahiabte mcrcba.u- dise, cold, sitver, and money, the largest prize in which wasestimatedat £5,000, of which £;j,OUO was paid in cash, e700 in plate, and the remainder in good tapestry, meet for hangings and other covertures, and certain sorts of good linen c!oth." An account of the excitement in- duced by the drawing of this lottery, is to be found in some old books of the history of the time, and is very amusing. Superstition became largely interwoven with the practice of buying lottery tickets, lucky numbers were sought for, I and so-called lucky chances rea.dity seized, under the suggestion of lucky dreams. By creating iHusivc hopes, and supplant ing steady industry, these fottt'rics worked immense mischief. Shopmen robbe'l their masters, servant girls their mistresses, friends borrowed from each other under false pretences, and husbands stinted their wives and chitdreu of necessaries, all to raise the means for buying a portion or the whole of a lottery ticket. Disappointment when the purchased number proved uniucky, in many cases produced despair and suicide, and the sudden possession of enor- mous sums of money led in many cases to in- sanity. lu 1767 a lady residing in Mo'boru had a lottery ticket presented to her by her husband, and on the Sunday preceding the dra -ving h''r success was prayed for in the Parish Church i)i this form: "The prayers of this congregation are dasired for the success of a pp. so') engaged ill a new undertaking. Whether h"i he.) rts desire was realised or not we arenott'jid. In all the cases of lotteries sanctioned by the (;t)%i,niiiciit it appears that any profit which might aceiue I from the scheme was said to be devoted to the repair of harbours or other usefu) public work, but it is doubtful whether this idea was strictly carried out. In the collections of cuttings, &c., from ancient magazines which I have before mentioned, I find the advertisement of one "Eish/'astoekbrokerof London, in the year 1807, setting forth the chanf ea of success to those who might be induced to purchase lottery tickets at his omces in CornhiH. He, of course, vaunts the success of his iucky numbers in former drawings. At last the evils of the lottery system of raising funrs, even by Government itseif, dawned on the country, and on the 18th October. 1826, the last State tottery was drawn in England, in Cooper's Ha)), Hasi!)s: haU St., and the comparatively few tickets that were sotd on this occasion proved the loss of interest which had taken the ptace of enthusiasm in the public mind. The ''South Sea bubble," a-. it was caUed, is another instance of the same kind of legitimate fraud which existed in Engtand in the early part of the last century. About 1720 this disastrous commercial fo !y began, and ended by ruining thousands amongst the victims was the poet Gay, who lost c\cr\ penny he possessed through his misp!accd and toonsh commence tn the .-ouch bea scheme, :md he sank under the calamity. Then there was the "Tulip mania," which seized the English pubHc soon after it appeared in HoHand, in KK!t, when the innocent little Dutch buib was made the excuse for gambling in a fashionable and marveHous manner. But it was not until the year 1823 that our own Government feit the degradation of obtaining revenue by means of the lottery, and in 1826 the practice was rendered iIIeal in England by an Act of Par)iament. Lotteries still linger on the Continent, and occasionally one gets a prospectus from Hamburg and other places, when not disturbed as of iate by cholera, su,-gesting the advantages of iuvest- nients or money in tlie,- menrs of money in these speculations, or dts- canting on the charms of some park or chateau about to be disposed of in this way. In Hone a "Every Day Book are several specimens of the ;oriti and substance of such advertisements, with whimsical and funny woodcuts to illustrate them. In one a fishwife is decfaring :— Though a dab, I'm not scaly, I like a good 1)!(tice, And I hope that good luck will soon smile in my face, P h 1 On the 14th of June when Prizes in shi,t-its \Vi!t cheer up the coc!Ics of all sorts of soles. The "missing word" competition seems, I suppose, to the powers that be to possess features analogous to those presented hv the once popular lottery, and so by the n.tt of Sir John Hridge, a legal dignitary, these attempts to rcatise various sums of money become iih-ga) a'r a certain date in tins month, and we must giv?- np filename, bowing to the learned judge's decision, promising to do so no more. Cou!d the matter bav< been kept within bounds, and not open to the abuses which may surround it, I 11 see no more harm in trying to guess a word at the cost of one shilling than in playing a game of threepenny wh'st. or poker, or any other game which is not absolutely one of skUI. But I imagine that as a ru!e our English )ife is so free from excite- ment, or novelty, and goes so prosaicaDy under our leaden skies, that the novel eiemetit of excitement and speculation thus offered to the poorest amongst us, is eagerly seized and likely to be abused when at rare intervals the oppor- tunity for such indulgence may occur. When my readers peruse these lines we sha)l be on the eve of Christmas, and lonlv hope they will not be so far exhausted with responding to the calls made upon their eyesight by the vast number of periodicals purporting to be specialty adapted to the season as to care less for my Christmas greeting than usual. Although I have myself found it impossible to read half the taies, good advice and advertisements, which just now crowd my library table, I have gieaned a littte amusement from many, and I feel quite in spirits to say something about them, and to wish those of my friends whoareconnned to their homes at this festive scasun through personal or rotative indisposition one alleviation of their soiitude which mavbe .found in examining the pictures and reading some of the tales which abound in onr society and other journals just now. Excepting when too large to ho!d in one's hand, vast numbers of snch ovnr.tlx- cuitoct to those who arc not equal to more important and cnnsccuUve reading. 7'Ae Qnccn, Black and IVhilr., 'hp. Grntlcwmnan, and hosts more have issued their Cht )stmas numbers and very e\:cel- lent they are. Then, if we rca)!y want a lati,,hl there is our old friend Punch ready to indutge us -and I have just been beguiling a lonc)y ha)f honr by in!;pectin and criticising ?a?'s C/«-M?H?s ?.M?ttf?, the gist of which little volnme I did not at first understand, but when I saw that the" sympathetic friend" of the good lady, whose joys and sorrows are herein amus- ingly slated, was one whom I have long known to be the "sympathetic friend of all m trouble &nd distress, caHmg himself Edgar Lere" I to?ok heart, and read of Maria's adventues wn interest, learmng how she was induced to become an authoress and to chronicle her expe. nences for pub) ic amusement. Indeed, at fir?st Id.dnotstopto ookat the excellent woodcs w.thwhiclit)usJUt)e magazine sort of volume (costmg but a shining) is tiHed. 1 will not venture to say that they are the best part of ?he whoic matter, but they are done by three of ou? best com.c dran?htsmen-Wauis 'Maekav ph? May, and 'lom Merry and botli artists and ecltor are evidenUy at. home with the tliettrical wor d. for we have Arthur Hoberts. W S. Penlcv. Edward [erry, and Florence St. John sketcl.ed to the l.fe, and yet with sucti an appre. Clattonofth.r co.me side as to be irresistibly Se's?age ? '?????-? ?, when they ?e.oa the stage, I sometnnes tl)ink that one great use of the many weU executed sketches and pictures we get at this season of the year in Christmas annuals and numbers of magazines wh? cannot be kept long intact, is to cu?em out S ??'?? 'etcerpress having nrsr g)?needL titough ? ourselves, and preserve tb. excettent pictures to u)l v?ou? scra? fne ??? '?"? ? ? we!co,ne to ? htt)c ones m our hospital, workhouse?s -'< ? even in. our own nurseries 'Hnw the chi'ldren delight in a book aU ?uH ?f piSures ?'w? reading in it. and especially iftheteav?-n? o! not tear -C?? rough usage. So I always ?po Christmas time many yards of S??.?.?r?c?? muslin, costing about '?d. -t vti-d and cut the supply up into ??????.e??? ??? twelve iiielies ?, <lua1'e,. ro as not to be cumber. Some; thCl I eitlier bInd each pacye about 50 in =e? ?? "olourecl ribbon to match or turn every e?ge down w?alt? ?ick?? ? or sttckph?st. to prevent any rave!l ? ? S' ???? afterwards sjw or bind rh'?m ..n ?? .ecurely with a !impcove? oF holla& uM? ?hmere, velveteen, or leather, de? s i tpproved. A few such books, nicely prepared for fining with pictures, attord exceHetit hotiday occupation to the young fo!ksof a fatuity when all the inustratedChristtuas papers audjournats have beeu wet) reviewed by the "grown ups, and are afterwards too often thrown away ,a il-;des if not rescued by the owner o' :(. pair of scissors, some "st'ckphast, and :< !ittle taste in arranging them in Die untear- ab!e books ah-eady prepared. Such good sketches as we have tu .< Anii?(,!ft are specialty adaptable to this purpose. fo:' they are printed on good paper, wftich is very impo'-tant, and they will suppty the comic eiemeut which is often overlooked in s' rap books, where views of scenery, buildings, &c., are too nutnerous. I am sure many a youngster will see the fun in Arthur Bobe) ts' eye, wiil pity poor Mr. Peniey who looks as if he were going to cry. and "doesn't like London," :'nd wi))dc!ight*inthe "Dream of DoHs" at the end of the book. Then after Christmas is over, the memory of that joyous time is kept ative in many a nursery or sick room by a wise disposal of some of the large and reaHy'good pictures which are given away with the literature of that period. What can be prettier fo:' watt decoration than such charming works of art. as Waiting and Tally Ho in the Illusti-ate(I aiid A Lucky Dog," by Burton Barber, with quite one of his own fox terriers and alitHe gir) nursing it, as is r his wont? This and News of our marriage," which came to me with the Christmas nutnber of the Graphic, beside many other delightful pictures from other journals, are quite worth mounting or carefuUy binding round with pretty cotourcd ribbon, and then fastening on to a wall with neat brass drawing pins, for future observation and delight. Thinking and writing of dolls reminds me of a charming lit He paper on "The Philosophy of Dolls," written by Mr. Ernest Hart for the Queen newspaper, and sU" gestedevidentty by the discovery and history of the quaint tittle wooden doUs which were once the playthings of Queen Victoria herself. He gives us the philosophy of a do))s' house and says that a doll is the true fetish," and dolt worship au enduring fetishism. The child he says, ctothes her dc)i with the attributes of humanity, and worships tt jut as the phitosophy of Spinoza woutd Jead al! his fottowers to do, with the highest types of humanity"The dotts of children speak to them of !ove and hatred, of fear and courage, of sorrow and of sickness. 'Are you not afraid to speak tome?' said the youthful Queen of Holland, one day latt-h, to an Ambassador. 'No, why?' was the repiy. Because my (lolls have got the measles sud theconnding Httle Monarch.' At all events she had a better and safer notion of the nature of infection, and zymotic disease, than we find possessed by many a poor mother in our crowded habitations in England. A history of doUs would be a pleasing subject fora Christmas book I fancy. Dolls have been known and treasured from remote ages. The Creeks had) heirdoms' Htttc terracotta things found in ancient tombs and the Egypt,i&us buried their dolt servitors of wood and porce)ain, expecting them to rise in spirit, forms and do service in another world. A little child suggested to me when I told her this "that perhaps Moses had a tit tie do)! to piay with and )o keep him from crying when he iay atnon" the bulrushes all atone. Welt. perhaps he had, and I am sure [here is a great deal to be discovered and written about do)Ls. As Japan is ihe "Paradise of children,"we find amongst them numberless dolfs of most curious kinds. The girls' annual feast in the Laud of the Hisino- Sun is a "Feast, of Do'ls.' B.tt i must gossip no !onger on this enticing theme, i only hope that the show of do!!s about to open under the auspices of Ti-tith may this year have more oril!illallty about them than is usual to find in most modern doIJs. whose function, we are told by a complacent Frenchman, is to spread the fashions of Paris abroad, and by a'turing the mothers, rather than appeaHng to the children, to become, as they arc intended to be, dejoysfor the French dressmakers and miiHners—conuner- em) travellers in disguise—a thoroughly use for the doHs of childhood. itait an hour ago,¡. kind lady friend b.'ought me a tittle book called "Tasty Titbits and Dishes Dainty," compiled by Lady Constance How;).rd, who has written ou cookery matters before. I find that my cookery book shetf is almost full of such usefut vo)umes already, and the sheif is not a smait one. If the multitude of recipes and hints and instructions which are now accessibie to all from the highest to the lowest, couid make cooks we sbou!d never want for a nice well served dinner as tong as any eatable and cookabte material is to be had. But, unfortunately, it is not s.), and I do nor beiieve that any woman ever iearnt to cook out or a book, though having !n:<stered tir.t principtes, and under- standing how to use certain materiats and im- }'!e):tC)tts property and hcinKahle to prepare well and appl'tisin,ly, a vt-ry simple rcpasf, such del!}-!ufn) little recipes as we no\v iindevery- \\ite)H are great factors in n\:lkin a rea!iy "-rood" co,)k out of a very '"phuti" one. This little voiunie of Lady Constance I]oNvai-(I'i is c!)i<'Hy uite.ided for the ose of those %\ho are try- iii- to make the dictof an and at a reasonabie co.st. and I thitik the dainty recipf's and vatuahte hints .she K'ves may b.')))o-;t.hefpf'uf to many \vho are doing titoir ))cst to overcome the weakness of disease, per- haps in their dearest one, by iu(iticiil, them to eara')d"toe))joyso'ncUtmg; The chapter cm CK- and the vast variety of ways m \vhich ti' ie,se never failiiig n:lt1'ltiol1: mõrse:" c;).n be >-crvcd, is tnost suggestive but the eggs must be above suafieiou in the matter of freshuess, however disguised, to be acceptable to the fas- tidious taste of the invalid. As I read the recipes thev seem deHciou- and so di the "no)tri<M," and so do the Sandwiches," even withour bel ng an mva)id, and many of them would bfexceDeatforafteruooutGaor fora tight luncheon. =-_o.- -1. -1' But jusr now when Christmas good wishes f r ?M 10 kind friends are so oftC!' exprc?-se 1 in giftsof a)l sortsof exceHeut thin. t II, l,I.l¡le, isscarcety the time to write .net. One's larder is nlled with more sul¡t:utial fare. Pheasants are becoming so common in the househotd that a new suggestion as to cooking t)tpm woufd be a blessing. for the idea of a boiled pheasant does not commend itselt to me. Turkeys, happify, are good either way, boiled or ro.tstcd, and there arc many ways of dressing the temains of a cold turkey so as to be quite a. nove) dish. Not so with pheasants, and there is but little other gamete be had just now, and so I usually have them roasted, and sometimes aervcd with a delicious sauce made of good grayy, sHghtiy Dtickened, with a number of smallish mushrooms stewed in it. The combination of flavours is cxceDent. Then a pheasant salmi is by m means bad. Hut I want this week to tell my readers about a dish which is seldom aeen in Engtand property served, the recipe for which was given to me by a French woman, the lamented Madame Lebour Fawssett, who was known by many as a "Cordon Bleu." She said tome one day, "You English think that any- thing cooked anyhow with a few hard dr\- bread crumbs over it is cm gratin! Nothing of the kind! I will tell you how we French cooks serve a sole au sr}-ft«M." I shall never forget her vivacity and charm as she talked, and I took notes of what she said that day; it w.ts the last time. I saw lier. time I saw her. "-oies," she' said. "are some. times catted 'Sea. Partridges,' and.p perhaps a littie too firm when they arc nrst taken out of the sea, and in winter are all the better for bein, kept a day or two. If you have a la.rge sih-t-r dish, or an oval one of white Limoges earth-nware so much the better, for it is always we!) to send a sole so cooked on to the tabicia the dish in which it has been cooked. It is best to have a large thick sole. Mix up together in a basin, a quantity of very fine bread crumbs, with chopped up parsley a smail shalot or t\vo or three sprmg onions, mushrooms, and a piece of fat bacon about the size of a walnut all of it must be chopped up very. very fine; out litt)e patches of butter at the bottom of your dish. just where the iish will lie; spread your seasoning and lay your fish over it; cover it up with the same seasoning, pour over all one glass of white trench wme, Santerne, Grave, orChabIis.orasan atternattveHock (Penelope uses Sherry, as mure convenient), add the same quant ity of good white stock, and finish up with a slight l;'yerof very hne raspmgs, sprinkled with some drops of nlClfll bulter- Put in a quiek oveii. It lake" about 15 to 20 minutes to cook; but, of course. yon niuqt be wn(=hful that jum uven Is not too nerce, for if it were, it would burn the whole concern without having cookl.,l it. As it cooks very rapidly there is no time for the dryuig up of the liquor, but in case it prove a little dry, a small quantity of stock can be &dded. Now I do not suppose that my readers will try this very deltcious recipe on Christmas Day, but I hope they may enjoy their dinner whatever !t may be and that it mav be well cooken, and tl)e best of sauces that of a good appct)te, may accompany it. London Thursday. PENELOPE. TO CORRESPONDENTS. M. G., BIRMINGHAM.—I always mention any '? ?T.?;"? ?? S'? ?'c'? I thuik ??"? ?- ? '? c??of readers who t suppose are tnLerested m what I wriLe. But. I cannot -he any opinion about an individual caae of w:li,h 1 know nothme:. If I can h.!p in giving informa- tion i am always gtad to do so. E. F. M.-I do not think the Howers of the Aspidistra ought to be removed I never inter- fere with ii-iiiie, atid like to waLch the do%-elop meat and Rrowth of the curious Hower. I have I determined to wait till February or March before. liaviu.- my plants divided. Thev are all now a. mass of bright green sword-shaped leaves.

? He: Well, my darling, how have you been to- day 2" bhe Uh. nervous, debilitated. sick, :md unhappy He: "Heaver! You've been reading those medicine advertiaemcnts &!raiu, I'll beta. I An inspector was try, ing to Set a clasa of tivc year old ehildreu to tell him that the earth is the :;h:lr:e of a sphere. "Tell me something verv large that is the shape of a sphere," said he. Aba!]," WM the answer. n But 1 want bt)metliing la,rgt>r thau that. A football." "Oh, but there is something far larger than a footbaU, somethins we live on. \Vhat are you staiidin, on noiv 2" sad he, turning to a little girl. i am standing on my legs," replied the child. A weU-authenttcated story M current to the enecb that a young chroltiqtteur on a Parisian newsparer was asked one morning by hia then director to take th: London papers and prepare a review of Eng?h o?mou regard.ug some event of international iuter- ?'? ?P??ce. But. air, I do not understand Engh.h, rephed the w,:ter. A poser, this, for the Sen t?'\ A? ?.? he sat and pondered mo? ?'?°?' ?. ?". 3?t' P'? .'ut the ?b.d???- ? ? ? Ln?d by l.Uebody who doe! tn