Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

GOSSIP ON DRESS. THE lamented death of H.R.H. Prince Leopold. Duke of Albany was, of course, follow ed by the noti- fication by the Lord Chamberlain of Court mourning, and by the Earl Marshal (the Duke of Norfolk) of general mourning. The order prescribes Court mourning for six and general mourning for three Weeks commencing from Sunday, March 30. Court mourning will therefore cease on the 11th of May, and general mourning on the 20th of April.The Queen, in a short article, says: There seems to be a considerable amount of confusion in the public mind as to the classes of persons to whom these several orders are addressed. Those who are required to wear Court mourning are all the members of the Royal Households and their wives, the members of the Em- bassies and Legations, and the families of those hold- ing public appointments, such as the Ministers of State and Members of the Government. For all these the order is that for the first three weeks the ladies must wear black dresses, black or white gloves, black or white shoes, feathers and fans pearls, diamonds, or plain gold and silverr ornaments. After the 20th of April they are to wear black dresses, with coloured ribbons, feathers, flowers, and ornaments, or grey or white dresses, with black ribbons, feathers, flowers, and ornaments." Of course, those in actual atten- dance on any members of the Royal family must, during their period of waiting, wear deep mourning. For the general public, the period of mourning or- dained is so short that it would be the worst possible taste to evade it, as some ladies seem disposed to do, by wearing coloured feathers in black bonnets. Any black materials may be worn, for it is not necessary under these circumstances to resort to purely mourn- ing materials. In fact, for the three weeks, the dress worn should be precisely the same as that worn by the members of the Couit circle during the first half of their mourning. It is well to point out that any deviation from this rule would be in the worst possible taste, for really some ladies appear to have such an aversion to appearing in proper mourning as almost amounts to insanity, more especially as they constantly wear black when not obliged to do so. It can be no great hardship to anyone to substitute black or white feathers or flowers for coloured ones for the space of three weeks; and it makes all the difference between looking comme il fcrnt or not, without putting it on the higher ground of proper respect. Those who know best how things should be done will wear plain black for the three weeks, with perhaps some slight relief of white flowers in the bonnet or on the bodice of an evening dress; and we imagine that among the upper classes many, if not all, will elect to wear mourning, if not quite so long as the Court, at any rate some- what longer than the general public. THE same journal observes that the public have shown their true and entire sympathy with the Royal family in their bereavement by the manner in which they have responded to the order for general mourn- ing. They have not been content to wear any black garment they might have by them, but, as a rule, are buying plain woollen dresses without jet or lace, made in serge, cashmere, or nun's cloth, sometimes trimmed with ottoman silk. Neither brocade nor plain velvet are considered sufficiently distinctive. Some simple gowns are made with broad box-plaited flounces, on which are bands of ottoman silk; a draped tunic and bodice of cashmere, with silk waistcoat. The better class of dresses are made in ottoman, muscovite, or bengoline, sometimes trimmed with satin Duchesse or Merveilleux. Flounces fringed at the edges by un- ravelling the silk is a new and effective finish. Black cloth jackets or capes of the material are worn with these. The accordion plaits are adapted both to the silks and woollen stuffs. Where crape is worn it is trimmed with jet passementerie and appliques of jet on silk embroidery intermixed with bright and dull jet. Jet collars and full crepe fronts and waistcoats, bordered with crape, are also made and much worn and black feather trimming is a fashionable garniture on dresses, waistcoats, and jackets. For dinner wear silks are trimmed with jet; Merveilleux and poult de soie are worn, but not brocaded silk. The bonnets worn are either all jet, or jetted straw or plain chip straw, with black flowers or ribbons. THE sad event already alluded to has, of course, put a stop for the present to all fashionable movements of an official or public character. Many private parties and receptions have also been postponed. After the period fixed for general mourning has elapsed, the usual routine of society will be resumed. In the meantime the ingenuity of modistes will develop some novelties in costumes appropriate to a season of general mourning. TiiE new spring hats for children are mostly of fancy straw. The crown, of sugar-loaf form, and the wide brim lined with velvet, matching in colour the mixture of the straw, which is usually parti-coloured, though sometimes of three varieties Tuscan, with red and black, vellow with red and green, white with red and blue, and other combinations. A hat of drab and red straw was lined with red velvet; the brim was turned up over the right temple, and fastened to the crown by a cluster of red satin ribbon, brocaded with dark velvet spots. A band of ribbon surrounded the crown, and was tied in a bow behind. A small boat-shaped hat for a girl of twelve years had a gathered brim of vivid poppy-red satin, and a puffed crown of the same veiled with bege net, embroidered with crimson spots. On the left side was a spray of ears of corn, tied with bows of blue and maize velvet, upon which was a butterfly of scarlet, yellow, and black. The crowns of all fashionable bonnets are composed of embroidered canvas, the designs worked in coloured silks or metallic threads of gold, bronze, or silver, or of net besprinkled with beads. Hats are still of the large high-crovrned shape, thoroughly French in style, and elaborately trimmed.

HINTS FOR THE HOUSEHOLD. Easter Bull.-T,o cups of warm milk, one cup of yeast, flour enough to make a thin batter, Let stand over night. In the morning add one cup of sugar, a la cup of melted butter, two eggs, salt, nutmeg, and our enough to kneed. Let rise five hours. Add a if lla°nr^fn i seeded raisins; mould into smalls fV>r 8<l ,em closely together in a baking pan. then bake. Wash light with white sugarWltl1 Whit° °f an egS floSftddtn^alf °f ^n ^iffetrh over,' and^ set ,t by the fire foi half-an-hour to rise. Work in the er mXnC-eSf f and the same q^ntity butter make into tea cakes with as little flour as possible, and bake them in a quick oven. •f. 'Mica/cc.- --Eei\i and strain two eggs; mix much new milk and flour as will make one thic pancake fry as pale as you can pound it in a niortar quite smooth then add the yokes of four, and the whites of two eggs, one large spoonful of orange flower water, one ounce of blanched almonds, beaten to a paste, two ounces of white sugar, a quarter of a gniall nutmeg; pound it all till it becomes smooth tatter. Have ready a large stew-pan half full of fine lard, quite hot and drop the batter into it, the size of large nuts, until the surface is filled as they brown, turn them; they will be very large. When done, remove them on clean paper on a dish before the fire, and do the remainder. Bread plidding.-Oi-ie cup of bread crumbs, dried and rolled fine, one teacup of sugar, one quart of milk, one teaspoonful of ginger, a little salt, three eggs (saving out the whites of two). When baked spread jelly over the top; then a frosting made of the whites of the eggs and one tablespoonful of sugar. Return to the oven until slightly browned. Sago Pudding.—Boil three tablespoonfu.s of sago in one quart of milk, and a little salt. When cooked set away to cool. Beat four eggs light with three tablespoonfuls of sugar and stir it into the sago and milk; add a small piece of butter and flavour with lemon; bake forty minutes. ota- Potato Fritters.-Grate a dozen inediiini-sized pota- toes, after peeling and washing thoroughly. Add the ,.0^ three eggs, a heaping tablespoonful of flour, and if they seem loo dry, a little milk will do to thin em, with a large teaspoonful of salt, and lastly the w I s of the three eggs beaten stiff, and thoroughly beaten iu with the potatoes. Heat your griddle and fvL Ui •m equal proportions on it, and fry the cakes in it until they are brown.

THE MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL. A deputation from the Amalgamated Seamen's Protection Society has had an interview with Mr. Chamberlain at the Board of Trade. Captain Bedford Pim having introduced the depu- tation. several members expressed their views on the Merchant Shipping Bill. They approved most heartily of the spirit and object of the measure. They came there to ask him to stand by his prin- ciples, and in doing this he would have the strong support of the men of the mercantile marine. As to certain details of the bill, however, they desired to see some amendments. The undermanning of vessels was a very serious cause of loss of life, and they were afraid that unless the bill was materially altered the idea of saving life would be entirely frustrated. They did not agree with the abolition of compulsory pilotage, and thought that if this part of the bill were to be pro- ceeded with there should be some provision for com- pensation. With reference to the opposition which had been raised against the insurance clauses, they thought that was a sure sign that Mr. Chamberlain had hit the right nail on the head. They were quite content that the matter should be discussed by a Grand Committee. t Mr. Chamberlain, in reply, said that one of the difficulties he had had to meet was that the sailors of the mercantile marine—partly owing to the nature of their vocation, and partly, it was to be feared, owing to the fact that, as a class, they were not so well educated and so capable of expressing their feelings—were prac- tically almost unrepresented, and he was very glad to learn, through the deputation, what were the opinions of this class, both as regarded the main principles of this bill, and also any details which might seem to them to require amendment. He was glad to under- stand that, as far as the two main principles were concerned the principle that the ship- owner should not be able to make a profit by the loss of his ship, and the principle that he should be liable for the consequences of his neglect of the seamen and officers in his employ-they met with the entire approval of the deputation. He had been asked to state his intentions with regard to this bill, and it had been stated that some rumours had got abroad that lie would consent to a compromise which might be injurious to the seamen. As far as he was concerned in the bill (for the ultimate deci- sion lay with the House), he would not be a party to a farce. So far as the main objects and principles of the bill were concerned he would be as firm as a I rock, and he would not give way on one pomt wnicn affected the loss of life at sea. As to the details of the bill, he would be perfectly ready and willing to consider any suggestions, from whatever quarter they might come. He did not believe that any bill could be brought in which was really in the interest of the seamen which would not be, at the same time, in the interest of the employers. It was not to ie interests of the employers that seamen should pursue their calling at unnecessary risk, and danger, and inconvenience. He would point out that, as to liability of the employers for injuries to officers and men, they might seek compensation in all such cases. It was, however, necessary to fix some limit of the time in which an action could be brought. Clause 25 said that that time should be six months; but if either of the parties should be out of the country the six months was not to commence to run until they were both in the country. If an owner were to run away, the period of six months would not begin until he came back and he did not think that an owner would care to encounter the inconvenience, and perhaps loss, entailed by his absence merely in order to postpone an action for injuries. Then there was the question of the representation of seamen on the Marine Courts, which were to be established to hold inquiries into casualties and report upon the conduct of the officers concerned. The officers were personally con- cerned, and it was right that they should be repre- sented. The position of the seaman was different, .for although he had an interest in the security of a ship, he was not involved in any proceedings in con- nection with the inquiry. His interests might, therefore, safely be left to the representation of the Board of Trade, who especially stood in the position of the representative of the seamen and he believed that the efforts of the officer of the Board of Trade were appreciated by the seamen. The position of the officers and: j imen was so different that he could not promise o give the seamen direct repre- sentation. With regard to compulsory pilotage, it was not proposed to interfere with the present practice of licensing. They did not intend to throw open this business to anybody who might be willing to earn money by offering his services as pilot; and he was not certain that any loss of employment would result from the change proposed. He was, however, quite willing to consider with the pilots clauses which might be inserted in the bill giving them compensation for any loss which they might show they had actually sustained. He had no doubt that the pilots would take the opportunity he had afforded them of having take the opportunity he had afforded them of having a further interview with him on the subject, and he had no doubt that terms satisfactory to them would be arranged. The only other point to which his atten- tion had been drawn was that of undermanning. lie believed that that was a practice which was in rapidly increasing in magnitude, and it was one of the most fruitful causes of loss of life at sea—he doubted whether it was not as serious a case as overloading. He was very desirous of dealing with this question at the present time, because it was undermanning which affected very mueh those causes of loss of life which used to be thought entirely beyond the control of the owner-- such as cases of collision and stranding, which were supposed to come from faults of navigation on the part of the captain of the ship, and for which the owner was not held responsible. But it did occasion- ally occur (how often he did not know), and it might occur much more frequently owing to an insufficient and incapable crew, and therefore it became of the utmost importance that a remedy should be found for a state of things which, he feared, was rather on the increase. The bill proposed a remedy by making undermanning equivalent to unsea- worthiness. That would involve the owner in all the penalties of unseaworthiness, which were very serious, entailing, for instance, amongst other things, extreme difficulty in connection with the recovery of insurance. It involved also liability to the shippers— to the freight, to passengers, and to the seamen on board. Under these circumstances it appeared to him that the owner would practically be under heavy penalties to adopt for himself such a scale of manning as was not likely to be condemned by any Court before which he might come. With that kind of indirect pressure he believed that we should have the best security for the sufficiency and capacity of the crews employed.

AN ELECTRIC RAILWAY AT BRIGHTON. At Brighton, the other day, the first journeys were made on an electric railway about a mile long, which, with the sanction of the town council, has just been constructed at the edge of the beach, starting opposite the entrance to the Brighton Aquarium, and running eastwards. There is a single ornamental car, which will hold about a dozen persons, and the speed is limited to six or eight miles an hour, though a much higher rate can be attained. The scheme has met with a small but vigorous opposition, on the ground that it cuts off access to the beach and will not improve the residential character of the east end of the town. On the other hand, some of the most influential residents at that port have declared that it will be one of the greatest boons ever conferred on the district, as by means of a lift it will make access to the sea from the cliffs easy, and give pleasant communication with the centre of the town. Approach to the beach is not stopped, as the line can be stepped across at any point. The car runs almost noiselessly, and is worked by a stationary engine, which sends a current along the metals.

A Rhode island jury wee five dirys debating on a hog case involving 7 dols., and then came in, found the hog not guilty, and recommended both plaintiff and defendant to the mercy of the court. AN ERROR PAST REMEDY.—A domestic in a re- spectable family, one morning before breakfast, took the following prescription to a druggist in the neigh- bourhood Please give the bearer a double dose of castor-oil with taste disguised." Handing it to the assistant, she sat down to await the preparation, but was agreeably surprised to be soon asked if she would like a, glass of soda. Having drank it, she resumed lier seat, and waited for about fifteen minutes She then ventured to remark that she was »»fmid'the folks would be waiting their breakfast" •e -u (TO soon. "Well," said the assistant, "Wh?' for that r; scription," she said. "Why, I gave it to you m that glass of soda-water some time ago. Oh, lor was the reply; "is was not for me; 'twas for a man down at the house.

THE FOLLIES AND FOIBLES OF WOMEN. At the annual meeting of the National Women Suffrage Association of Massachusetts, recently held, Miss Nancy Willard Covell, speaking on The Reason Whv," said that she had been called upon to fill the unwelcome part of telling some of the follies and foibles of women. After making some sharp and facetious comments on the self-assumed greatness of man and his oppression of woman, Miss Covell spoke of the marked difference in compensation paid women for rendering the same service as men, and contended that the fact that woman was paid less was due to her lack of the power of the ballot, which was claimed to be worth fifty cents a day to any labouring man. Speaking of the different vocations of life, she contended that because woman had never opposed man in entering her sphere, iii becoiii- ing cooks, milliners, and dressmakers, she had outdone him in fairness. In speaking of the condi- tion of women of to-day, she said all that girls are taught is to be pretty and hide their faults and read love stories and crochet and make sponge cake, until some one asks them to marry. So the poor creature through fear they will miss their chances and tail to marry, begin very early to pinch themselves in some places and pad themselves in others. Sometimes they wear clothing enough to founder a ship, and again it is pronounced" lovely" to appear without any to speak of. With the injunction ringing in their ears, "whatever you do, be pretty," girls paint their lips and crock their eyebrows, and take opium to make their eyes soft and arsenic to make their complexions clear. It was an unfortunate day when Paul or some- body else said that the joy of woman was her hair. What nameless and untold tortures has this appendage of the human body not been sub- jected to? It has been filled with" rats" and "mice," heroically pulled out by the roots to make the forehead high, glued to the forehead, with extract of quince seed, and again brought over the eyes in tangled snares. It has been curled with overhot irons, and then allowed to float free far down the back ;i has been puffed and frizzed and powdered and curled and greased and banged, done up high or low, made longer or shorter, or dyed black or blonde, in strict accordance with the caprice of the fickle goddess of fashion. Does the Grecian bend require them to look likea dejected monkey, straightway they become limp in body, and chatter that they do not do it because it is fashion—it is perfectly natural for them. To-day they drag innumerable yards of dry goods through the streets, and to-morrow they appear in tie-backs so close that it is at the risk of their lives that they attempt to board a railroad train. Now the head is surmounted by a bonnet the size of a postage stamp, and then by one larger than an umbrella. Sometimes women are supposed to have hips, and then everybody, no matter how slender, grows broader than 'a donkey with paniers. Then hips are abolished and no trace of them can be discovered. If snakes and bugs become fash- ionable as ornaments, the snakes and bugs become "perfectly lovely," and the very girl who shrieked at the sight of a spider, simpers, they are just too lovely for anything." When iridescent beads become fashionable, one has only to wait a little, and every woman becomes a walking rainbow. Now cardinal is the rage, and then old gold; now mitts, and then twelve-buttoned gloves; now pleatings and then ruffles now hems, and then facings now waists are long and the ribs are laced down until they adhere to the liver, and then waists get shorter, and an oppor- tunity is given to breathe. In short, woman's enslavement by fashion has resolved life for her into an eternal game of wigwag," and until she escapes this bondage there is no mental life for her. All this, the speaker contended, is the outgrowth of the oppression of man in not giving woman an oppor- tunity to develop herself mentally, and in not giving her a social position equal to his own.

Six into four you can't," as the shoemaker mildly suggested to a lady customer.

THE YOUTH FROM THE COUNTRY. Rev. Dr. J. B. Thomas, of Brooklyn, lectured in Buffalo recently on the perils of a young man coming to the city from the country. In the course of his remarks the distinguished clergyman said, the young man brings with him unknown powers—a magazine of passion, within the range of powers the depth and sweep of which he does not know. He comes with a disposition to know, and possibly a contempt for the young companion he leaves behind, and who prefers to remain among the green fields. He expects to see wonders-and he will. He thinks there will be no harm in seeing. The old family trail handed down by Eve is there, and lie desires to look though it may not be his purpose to touch or handle. He goes on in the cruel way that he should avoid. Naturally he seeks companionship. He may have a spice of variety and will want the good opinion of those about him, remembering, it may be, the old proverb that when in Rome vou must do as the Romans do. Very soon he will shed his country garb, cultivate a moustache, probably, sport a cane perhaps, and fall into the liking of a cigarette. In short, he wants all the country aroma—the smell of the fresh fields-" and everything else that is fresh taken away. He wishes to assimilate himself fully with the habits and appearances of those about him, and graduate as a city-bred young man. All this is natural. We have no right to be uncouth, offensive and subject of rebuke from others. Through assimilation lie ceases to retain conspicuously. This is the beginning of evil, and then comes a reaction. He begins to suspect very soon that he has been kept in too closely, narrowed in his knowledge and con- strained in his impulses. The world loves a spice of wickedness"—and so does he. He cultivates a dash—an independence is not disposed to be bound up by old ways and says that he is not inclined to be puritanical. He wants to gain the favour of com- rades. He has powers of which he can make tre- mendous use-or they will of him if not carefully controlled. He is ingenious, pliable and usable for the purpose that he is now about to be used. His first impression is that there is a strange, isolated life in a mercantile community. About the first thing he learns when he enters a large establishment is to mind his own business, transact his busi- ness and go about his business. He finds that every man has his eye on something ahead, and is pushing on to get it. They never saw the young man before, don't want to see him, and never expect to see him again. He learns that if he intends to do anything in the city he mJst do it for himself. He is next im- pressed with the relentless mathematical heartlessness of trade. Everything goes by machinery. Young men that come from the country to be employed come as hands, not souls or heads. They are put into the furnace and melted. If there is any ore, they get credit for it, and the dross is forged away. There is a vigorous, relentless, fidelity, and men are engaged in a battle that is scientific and is becoming more scientific. They do business on margins. There is no conscience, no sentiment. They tell him business is business." This may make him stoical-it may harden him. The young man may become harassed, weary and disheartened, and feel that this is an unkind and cruel world where men are engaged in a struggle for ,,g life, and that's just what it is- a, struggle for life. There is a regular scramble—every man for himself get everybody else down in the water, but keep your own nose above it. The dangers of the city are that it is so big and has so many covers—so many convenient lurking-places. Happy that young man whose mother may still shelter him with her love; happy that young man whose mother drops tears in the dry places of his heart, and keeps his affections tender and green; happy that young man who has choice recollections of home as a refuge- who flies to it-bathes in the fountain of his youth, and comes back refreshed.

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS The ladies of Pittsburg, if we may believe one of their own papers, cannot keep their faces clean, in consequence of the coal soot which is constantly fall- ing in the American Birmingham. When a lady's face receives a descending flake, her nearest friend blows it off. To wipe it off would only make bad worse; and singular to say, the greatest kindness shown by the ladies to each other is when they come to blows A lady, who edits a newspaper in one of the Western (American) States, says "that the popula- lation of her journal is due to the fact that people are always expecting she will say something she ought not to." A Philadelphia miss at Long Branch bothers the young men to whom she is introduced by starting off in this way, before they have a chance to say a word: Yes, it is awfully hot. We came here last week. We will stay two weeks more. We are at this hotel. I like Long Branch. Now let's talk about something else." A young lady in Chicago, when asked by the officiating minister, will you love, honour, and obey this man as vour husband, and be to him a true wife ? said, plainly, Yes, if he does what he pro- mised me financially." Mr. Krawl threw a lighted match down by a keg of powder, as he entered his store in Davenport, Iowa but the manner in which lie came out was not at all suggestive of his name. An Arkansas man thoughtlessly set some spring guns in his poultry-yard, and the next morning in the rising sun he rubbed his spectacles and stared in speechless amazement at eighteen candidates for governor, sitting on the front fence, picking birdshot out of their thirty-six legs. Outside of a Philadelphia hall, where meetings have been held for revising English spelling, there were posted lately, "The Fillerdelfier Convenshun were posted lately, "The Fillerdelfier Convenshun for revising the spelling of the Eenglish landwidge has adjerned." A New York publisher offered 1000 dols. for a story that would make his hair stand on end. Many tried for the money, but nobody got it, because the publisher was totally bald. They call it a romantic marriage in Michigan when a couple of the neighbours get the bride's father into a back room and sit cn him to prevent his interrupt- ing and breaking up the wedding. A drawing-master in Milwaukie who had been N% or- rying a pupil with contemptuous remarks about his deficiency of skill in the use of the pencil, ended by saying, "If you were to draw me, for example, tell me what part you would draw first." The pupil, with a significant meaning in his eye, looked up in his master's face, and quietly said, Your neck, sir." A Mississippi doctor has found a substitute for quinine. He binds a lump of ice on a patient's spine, and the shakes let go and start for Arkansas. Some men never lose their presence of mind. In New York a man threw his mother-in-law out of a window in the fifth story of a burning building, and carried a feather bed downstairs in his arms. A Missouri bride's father gave her a cook stove as a wedding present her mother, a carpet; her father- in-law. a china tea set; other friends, brooms, sacks of flour, kitchen utensils, dining-room table her brother, a canoe her uncle, a bird cage; her cousin, a tame crow, and the bridegroom gave her a smack. These useful and domestic articles were all valued above mere gewgaws," says the local paper. Will you please insert this obituary notice ?" asked an old gentleman of an Iowa editor, I made bold to ask it because the deceased had a great many friends about here who'd be glad to hear of his death." It kind of broke up a temperance man from down East when he went into the rooms of a Total Absti- nence Club at Louisville to find the club believed in total abstinence from water. A short time since certain Eastern parties sent a gentleman out to Dakota, Minnesota, and other sections of the North-west to inspect the country, investigate its resources, and prepare a report, so that they could determine whether it was best to emigrate thither. When he returned, a meeting was held, and his report found very satisfactory. Just before adjourning, a gentleman asked the agent about the I water out there. "Well, I declare," was the reply, "I knew there was something I had forgotten! I never tasted water while I was awav!" A member of Congress from the Far West, who was invited to a dinner at Washington, is now telling his constituents all about it. There wasn't any- thing on the table when I got there," he says, but some forks and spoons and bricky-brac. Presently they brought in some soup As I didn't see nothin' else, I thought I'd eat all the soup I could, though soup is a mighty poor dinner to invite a feller to. So I was helped four times and then came on the finest dinner I ever see, and there I set," groans he, choke- full of soup A Virginia widow refused to marry a bald-headed man, though he was a millionaire. She explained: "We'd have a family fight some time, and he has no hair to catch hold or."

..L c GENERAL GORDONS OPINION OF KING JOHN OF ABYSSINIA. In an article under the above heading the Pall Mall Gazette, recalls General Gordon's views respecting the King of Abyssinia. We make the following extracts: Writing in December, 1879, after his mission to the King, General Gordon says: I write in haste, but I will sum up my impression of Abyssinia. The King is rapidly growing mad. He cuts off the noses of those who take snuff and the lips of those who smoke, The King is hated more than Theodore was. Cruel to a degree, he does not, however, take life. He cuts off the feet and hands of people who offend him. He puts out their eyes by pouring hot tallow into their ears. Several came to tell me this. I re- monstrated with the King against his edict forcing 9 1 11 men to become Christian from Mussulman. He said they wished it. No man can travel without the King's order if he is a foreigner. You can buy nothing without the King's order —in fact. no more complete despotism could exist. It cannot last for the King will go on from one madness to another. Orders were given that nobody was to approach me: nor was I to speak to any. The officer who conducted me to the King met his uncle and cousin in chains, and durst not ask why they were chained. The King is a man of some forty-five years, a sour, ill-favoured looking being. He never looks you in the face, but when you look away he glares at you like a tiger. He never smiles; Ins look, always changing, is one of thorough suspicion. Hated and hating all, I can imagine no more unhappy man. Avaricious above all his people who do not lack this quality, his idea of a free port is that fleets of steamers will arrive from the Powers of Europe with presents for him. to which he will reply by sending a letter with a lion seal, say- ing: You are my brother, my mother, &c. How are you?' Johannes is delighted with her Majesty.be- cause she called him her SOil. He carries with him all his great prisoners-the poor Goobasie (he had been the heir to Theodore's throne, rose in rebellion against the new King, but was taken prisoner and punished by the loss of his eyesight), with his eyes out, and the rest." One of General Gordon's envoys writes to him concerning King John: The King is a melancholy- looking man, and, I should say, has hardly ever smiled in his life. His life is simplicity itself. His palace consists of two large, round, conical-roofed thatched houses, one for a reception-room, the other his dwel- ling-room—no attempt at the simplest window or door. His horses were in it as well as himself; but this is partly due to tradition. A holy priest is his constant attendaiit." On his return from an interview wit.h King John, General Gordon passed all the battlefields of the poor Egyptians He says The cruelties the King and his people committed were atrocious. Forty Soudan soldiers were mutilated together, and sent to Bogos with a message that if his Highness wanted eunuchs he could have these. Two thousand Egyptians were taken prisoners. They had no food for three days, and then were ordered to iiiarch- they objected: They were all naked. The Abyssinians fell on them, and ordering some hundreds to lie on the rocks, shot at them as targets." As the ruler, so the subjects. General Gordon did not often come in contact with the Abyssinians, but his observations, such as they are, are far from favourable. Writing in March. 1877, after his return from England, he sai s From what I have seen of these Abyssinians. I do not like them at all; they are a set of deceitful brigands, according to all accounts, and they look a furtive, polecat race." Some days later he writes "Abyssinia is a cockpit -every one is a brigand or soldier (terms which are synonymous), deeply fanatical against all rites except their own. The ignorant priests rule the country. Johannes can do us little harm he cannot, owing to want of food, keep an army together and his people, taken away from the tillage of their lands, are in a sad plight." Contrasting the subjects of the King of Kings with his Bedouin Arabs, Gordon finds that the Arabs do not loll about or spit about, or smell like these Abyssinians, though I expect neither wash at any time." The peasantry, it seems, stand a little higher in Gordon's estimation. 0

OUR IMPERIAL DEFENCES. At the Royal United Service Institution, in the pre- sence of a distinguished audience, Colonel Sir C. H. Nugent, K.C.B., R.E., gave the second part of his lec- ture on Imperial Defence." General Sir Lintorn Simmons, the newly-nominated Governor of Malta, who was received with warm cheers, again presided. Colonel Sir C. H. Nugent commenced his paper by quoting Professor Seeley's words, We think of Great Britain too much, and of Greater Britain too little," and then reminded his hearers that in his pre- ceding paper he had indicated the measures which ap- peared necessary to assure the safety of Great Britain, while leaving her sea-going fleet full freedom of action for the protection of our commerce and our territories and possessions across the sea. He pointed out that superioritv in speed and manoeuvring power, combined with weight of metal, confer absolute advantage over stronger and more stoutly-armoured, but slower vessels, and a single cruiser, therefore, in enterprising hands, might work terrible havoc among merchant shipping, even when convoyed by powerful ironclads. He, therefore, hoped that the naval authorities, while arranging for the use of such vessels, had settled the calibre of the guns to be used as their armament. In illustration of the extent to which the existence of the country was bound up with our commerce, he men- tioned that in 1882 the importation of wheat reached the figure of 1861b. per head of the population, the importation of flour and other grain was in quantity about as much more, and the importation of meat and meat provision was at the rate of 501b. per head of the population. In all, the rate of the food supply from abroad was £3 Is. 7d. per head per annum, or more than double the rate per head than it was twenty years ago. Only four-fifths of this came from our own possessions, and while, he remarked, he was the last man to advocate a departure from the principles of free trade, he yet ventured to think that much more than at present of the food imported into the countrv might come from our own possessions abroad. He then proceeded to dwell upon the necessity of having coaling stations for the navy, and lie held that some of these stations should be naval in- trenched camps, some in mid-ocean, some in our pos- sessiors, to serve as strategical bases and points of operation for our fleets on foreign stations, while these stations should be in direct telegraphic communication with England. He then referred at length to the British position in the nine naval stations of the world to which our fleets were sent, discussing the relative importance of each point, and questioning whether our present superiority to the French in naval strength was sufficient. In considering the best measures for the defence of the Australian colonies, he urged the importance, after referring to the local colonial forces, of unity of action, system, and organisation between the Australian colonies themselves, and urged that they should act in concert with the Home Govern- ment. He contended that the Empire, no matter what seas might intervene, should be regarded as one and indivisible. He discussed the subject of military service in India, and said lie was in favour of a local English force being raised for Indian service instead of the military service resting upon its present basis.

A STEAMER BURNT. The New York correspondent of the Standard writes The Rebecca Everingham, a river steamer which was laden with cotton, and had forty-one persons on board, passengers, and crew, has been totally des- troyed by fire near the town of Florence, in the State of Georgia. The disaster is attributed to a fragment of the carbon of the electric light falling upon the cotton. Eleven deaths are known to have taken place, and it is feared that that number will be raised to twenty. The entire living freight of the vessel would have been sacrificed but for the splendid heroism of the pilot. who ordered his son to swim to the shore with a rope, and at the same time continued to steer the vessel towards the shore with the flames literally surging around him. By these means about half the number on board were saved.

EMPHATIC.—This is the way in which a Western girl disposes of a young man. She says, You have asked me pointedly if I could marry yon, and I have answered you pointedly that I can. I can marry a man who makes love to a different girl every month. I can marry a man whose main occupation seems to be to join in a gauntlet in front of churches an and comment audibly upon the people w o ar pelled to pass through it. I can marry a. m only support is an aged father. I can n y who boasts that any girl can be won with the help of a good tailor and an expert tongue. I can marry such a man, but I WOK T

GREAT '3 BIVEB.3IGNS. Under the above heading, the Keening Staneutrd has an article, from which we make the following extract It is recorded that Biantes, King of Lydia. had a passion for filing needles. Harcatius, King of Parthia, snatched himself from the cares of the the State whenever he could to pursue the occupa- tion of a mole-catcher. Acropus, a King of Mace- donia. made lanterns. Charles V. amused himself as a watehmaker. It was Louis 111. s favourite occupation to practise the fantastic art of a Court barber. George the Fourth was a great amateur of the violoncello, but much more trifling occupations frequently amused him. One of the most laughable and silly episodes in the history of any Monarch is the account handed down to us of the bet made between George the Fourth (then Prince Regent), and Mr. Berkeley, as to whether a flock of geese or a flock of turkeys would travel a certain distance of road -ten miles, if we remember- more quickly in a given time. The Prince led the turkeys, who set out at a brisk pace, but towards evening lost form, and tried to roost in the trees. Their Royal leader spent tne entire summer's day trying to entice them on with a red rag ai the end of a stick. But the geese won. Practical joking was often resorted to by Charles II. to while away the tedium of a libertine idler's life but the stern anti- Royalist Cromwell, curiously enough, indulged himself in the same reprehensible pastime. As might be expected, the Protector's humour expressed itself in a kind of playfulness rather elephantine. A certain Mr. Richard Symon, whose manuscript pocket-book is preserved in the British Museum, appears to have noted some of Cromwell's pranks of this kind. As for instance: At the marriage of his daughter with Rich, in November, 1057, the Lord Protector threw about sack possets amongst all the ladies, to soil their clothes, which they took as a favour, and also wet sweetmeats, and daubed all the stools where they were to sit with wet sweetmeats, and pulled off Rich his peruke, and would have thrown it into the fire, but did not, yet sat upon it." This habit of horseplay seems to have been inveterate in Oliver Cromwell. When quite a youth, he played 1( such tricks at a Christmas party given by his uncle and namesake of Huntingdon, that the whole neigh- bourhood was scandalised. The diversions of Robe- spierre—the would-be Cromwell of France —were in entire antithesis to his public life. Thus it is on record that during the very noon of the Revolution, when he was cutting off twenty heads or so a day, Robespierre was accustomed to discuss literary matters—analyse Cicero, quote Rabelais, or discourse on Tasso—with a peer whom lie met each evening in the Tuileries Gardens.

EPITOME OF NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. A little boy, four years of age, named John "William Reedham, residing at 16, Pollock-road, New Kent-road, London, was looking out of a window on the fourth floor, when he overbalanced himself and fell out, being killed on the spot. During the week ending March 1. 1834. in 29 cities of the United States, having an aggregate population of 6,550,400, there died 2519 persons, which is equivalent to an annual death-rate of 20 per 1000. Thirty-two British and foreign actual shipwrecks were reported during last week against 41 for the corre- sponding week of last year, the total for the present year being 510 against 645 for 1883. Twenty-nine lives were lost against 88 last year. Two vessels were aban- doned on fire, and those lost with all hands comprised only two small British boats. Saturday was the 21st anniversary of the birth of Princess Victoria Alberta Elizabeth Matilda Mary, eldest daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse and the late Princess Alice, and granddaughter of her Majesty. The Princess Victoria of Hesse was born at Windsor Castle on April 5, 1863, and was baptised there on April 26 of the same year. Last week's receipts of cotton at all U, nited States ports were 37,000 bales since 1st September. 4,552,000 bales. Week's exports to Great Britain, 36,000 bales to the Continent, 34,000 bales. Total since 1st Sep- tember, 3,322.000 bales; stock at all ports. 694,000 bales. Stock at interior ports, 67,000 bales. The cotton manufacturers of the entire South recently met at Augusta, Georgia, and determined upon a policy of reduced production, intended to meet the depressed condition of trade. They also formed a permanent organisation of their body. In Committee on the Franchise Bill Mr. Coleridge Kennard will move the introduction into Clause 3 of words providing for the extension of the franchise to "members of the county constabulary or police forces," in common with other civil servants of the State. All the old envelopes, newspapers, wrappings and scraps of paper which accumulate in the Treasury Department at Washington are carefully saved in what is called the waste-paper room. All this refuse is sorted out by men and women, and sold to one firm in New York. The receipts amount to quite a handsome little sum. A publisher in New York city, who issues every year a great many books having coloured plates of natural objects, such as flowers and brightly feathered birds, says that a large part of the patronage these works now enjoy is derived from women of wealth and fashion. They never read the books, he says, but want to copy the plates in designs for embroidery in coloured wools, or in the decoration of placques and panels. In Holland a fire has occurred in a large cotton yarn and cloth manufactory at Hilversum, employ ing between 500 and 600 men. The manufactory and some adjacent buildings connected with it were entirely destroyed. Many of the weavers only saved their lives by jumping from the windows. One person perished, and several were hurt. The manager, an Englishman, prevented an explosion of the boiler by rushing into the burning building at the risk of his life and turning off the steam. Cathal Mills, situated on the banks of the Don, about eight miles from Aberdeen, have been burned to the ground. The mills belonged to Sir William Forbes, of Craigievar, and were tenanted by Mr. Robert Esson. The buildings were three stories in height. The whole of the machinery and a considerable quantity of manu- factured goods were burned. A few days ago there was a massacre of eagles at Valtellina. There passed over that district a flock of roval eagles coming from the north. Fourteen were soon shot by the native sportsmen. They were superb birds, the smallest measuring more than 71ft. from wing-tip to wing-tip. 2 The Swiss Government, it is said. intends to subject the manufacture of dynamite to the restrictions at present obtaining with respect to poisonous drugs. In the Italian Post-office Savings Bank there were on the 1st of February last 837,457 books, containing sums of deposits amounting to 116,850,105 lire. The editor of a Madrid comic journal has been sen- tenced to eight years' imprisonment for the publica- tion, several months ago, of a caricature considered to be offensive to the king. A New York telegram says that the visible supply of wheat on April 4 was 28,600,000 bushels, as against 29,600,000 bushels the previous week. Visible supply of Indian corn 17,800,000 bushels, as against 17,600,000 bushels the previous week. The export clearances of wheat for Europe during last week amounted to 590,000 bushels. The export clearances of Indian corn for Europe during the week amounted to 830,000 bushels. A train while running on the Lackawanna Railroad near Scranton, Pennsylvania, overtook seven Hun- garians who were walking on the line seeking for work. Four of them were killed and two others were badly injured. They had stepped from the one line in order to avoid an approaching train, when a second tram on the other line struck them. The amount of coal raised in the United Kingdom last year was 163,777,337 tons an increase of 7! millions, or 4T per cent, over the output of 1882.. A serious railway accident has occurred mi y between Geelong and Melbourne. A passervger ran into a goods train. Two persons were • several injured. „t a house At Madrid the authorities have grenades in the outskirts of the town 21 the and 8 or 10. deposted arms, it is beheved that tney m there some time ago. rpreived at Lerwick from Intelligence bRS of a terrible shipping THialsay tte gal, last .eek.TS disaster whic from Copenhagen, struck on the Danish barq and soon became a total wreck, of the nineteen souls on board perished. The fl a seaman, and two passengers were saved. The ^se'l was bound for Davis's Straits. The Queen has commissioned Mr. Williamson, sculptor, of Esher, to execute a replica of the bust of the late Duke of Albany as a present for the duchess. The original was completed for the Queen about a year ago, and is at Buckingham Palace. According to the Kreuz Zeitung," the marriage of cc the Princess Victoria of Hesse with Prince Louis of Battenberg, which was to have taken place on the 15th of April, but was postponed on account of the death of the Duke of Albany, will be celebrated at Darmstadt at the end of May; and the wedding of her sister, Princess Elizabeth, with the Grand Duke Sergms, will be solemnised at St. Petersburg in June.

THE POULTRY YARD. Turkeys, although fairly profitable when reared systematically, cannot be recommended as suitable for places where the space assigned the poultry is at all contracted. Owing to their large size and peculiar habits they must have a roosting place to themselves, and during the day they should have plenty of room to ramble about, so that they are not brought too closely in contact with the other birds. Those who have the command of the necessary facilities, and are desirous to raise a brood, should commence at once, as there will be none too much time for the birds to attain their full size, and be brought into good con- dition by Christmas; but for several reasons it is not desirable to make a beginning much before this time. As in the case of other kinds of poultry, the eggs for sitting must be as fresh as possible, and the number no larger than the hen can keep thoroughly warm. Twelve eggs may be considered a good average for a sit- ting, but one or two more or less will not be a matter of any consequence. The turkeyhens are capital sitters— too much so, for sometimes they will sit so close that they will not leave the nest for food so often as they should do, and in consequence become so impoverished as to be quite unable to afford the eggs the requisite degree of warmth. Food should, as a matter of course, be placed within a short distance of the nest and a watch kept upon the hen, and if it is found that she does not leave the nest so often as she ought to do, she should be driven off once a day, but with as little fuss as possible. On or about the twenty-sixth day from the commencement of the period of incuba- tion the eggs should be examined and the addled ones removed. At the same time, the hen must be well fed, and from that time until the poults are hatched and dried she must not be disturbed, for when they are much exposed previous to their being well dried they frequently perish. They are as a rule hatched on the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth day, and are thoroughly dry in about twenty hours afterwards, and until that time they require nothing but the warmth of the mother. The first supply of food to the young poults should consist of small crumbs of bread and curds, or eggs boiled hard or chopped up fine and mixed with the bread, and after the second day or so this should be supplemented by oatmeal or barley-meal, mixed with hot milk or water, or a mixture of the two. As they increase in strength boiled rice with lettuce cut up rather fine, soaked bread, minced liver, meat shred rather fine, must be added, for in a comparatively short space of time after they are fairly upon their legs they require food of a somewhat substantial character, and they must also be fed at rather short intervals, so that the platters may not be empty for any length of tin. e. During the first four or five days the brood must be carefully housed, and if the weather is warm and dry it will be a good plan to place the coop on a grass plat during the day, and remove to a warm house in the evening.-Gardcncrs'Magazine.

THE CULTIVATION OF THE SILK- WORM. Many schoolboys in this country, and not a few of their sisters, rear silkworms, and sometimes obtain a little silk; but they labour under climatic dis- advantages, and cannot, perhaps, hope to reach such success as has rewarded the efforts of Miss Nellie Lincoln Rossiter, of Haddington, a suburb of Phila- delphia. For some years efforts have been made in various parts of the United States to make serici- culture commercially profitable; and the most suc- cessful worker-certainly the leading authority in all that relates to its practice—is Miss Rossiter, a young lady not yet seventeen. Her pamphlet on silk cul- ture is the acknowledged text-book, and she supplies eggs, cocoons, and reeled silk, not only to all parts of her native country, but to many parts of the world. In the season every available space in the large house in which she resides with her pursuits is occupied by the frames and trays in which the worms and moths are reared, and the parlour is devoted to her col- lection," with the exception of that at Washington, belonging to the Government, the finest in the States, for it contains presents to Miss Rossiter from all the silk-rearing districts in the world. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the most Northern States in which the silkworm may be said to thrive, the great bulk of the American silk being produced by women in the Southern States, notably in Utah. Miss Rossiter's success shows what can be done when, a hobby having been found, it is worked with diligence, perseverance, and skill; it is something more than a hobby with her, for she finds a ready sale for all the eggs, cocoons, and silk she does not give away, and, though so young, has made for herself a national reputation by her teaching and her example. Her name is known even in Asia Minor, where in some of the poorer villages American missionaries, with her assistance, have taught the villagers the art of rearing silkworms. -&,ho.