Barry Herald

DINING WITH "OOM PAUL." Towards the end of March, 1'8'2, President, Kruger came over from Pretoria to Johannesburg, and on the 25th of that month he was (says a writer in the Daily Mail) entertained at a banquet by the teaming men of the town. It was stipulated beforehand that, as his Honour was not in the habit of dining out at so late an hour as seven o'clock, the dinner must be at six, which, it was added, was a concession to the curious customs of the Uitlanders. Punctually to the moment Paul Kruger arrived. He does not possess a dress-coat, but wore his usual rusty black frock-coat crossed by the broad green ribbon of his office. His breast bore his orders and decorations, but the stars looked shabby, and would have been all the better for a little polishing up. By the way, it is curious that Kruger insists on being addressed as His High Excellency the States President of the South African Republic." No smaller title will suffice. Now, in America, which is in a good many ways a considerably more important place than the Transvaal, the President bears absolutely no title, but with true Republican simplicity and directness is addressed as President only. Moreover, although the Governors of several of the States of America have prefixes such as His Excellency," the President of the United States is content with the plain address of an ordinary citizen. There is something very fine about this. However, to return to President Kruger. He duly sat down to the banquet, and a predikant, or clergy- man, said a portentously long grace. The President did not take soup, and drank no wine. He called for a big cup of coffee, and ate two plates of fish. Then the toast-master called for silence, and explained that his Honour had had enough, and wanted to go home. Captain Von Brandis, a genial old German, the landdrost, or civil magistrate, of Johannesburg, promptly got up and proposed The President's Health." Kruger replied in a gruff, throaty, husky voice, and after talking almost unintelligibly—of course in Dutch-for a few minutes, he reached under his chair for his battered old top-hat, put it on, and, nodding to the assembled guests, went away. The rest of the dinner and speeches bad to be got through without him, and after his departure an audible sigh of relief went round the hall, for he does not eat prettily, and his presence did not conduce to harmony or good-fellowship. This was the menu of the banquet: MENU. HORS D'CEUVRES. Olives. Caviars on Toast. SOUPS. Consomm6 a. la Republique. Creme a la Reine. FISH. Mayonnaise of Salmon and Lobster Salad. VIANDS. Chicken a, la Bechamel, Aspic of Foie Gras en Belle Vue. Ox Tongue a l'Ecarlate. Galantine of Turkey a la Perigord. Stuffed Boar's Head. Braised York Ham. Roast Duckling and Watercress. Braised FowL Larded Fillet of Beef. Lamb and Mint Sauce. Saddle of Mutton and Jelly. VEGETABLES. Green Peas. Asparagus with Butter Sauce. French Beans. Salads, &c., &c. ENTREMETS. Maraschino and Kirsch Jellies. Lemon Bavarois. Neapolitan Ice Puddings. Pyramide a la Nationale. Assorted Pastry. DESSERT. Asaorted. Coffee. i WINKS. Amontillado, Foreign Hock. Chateaux Margaux and La Rose. Champagne: Goulet, Fommery, Heidsick's Dry Monopole. Liqueurs. t Port Wine. h

EFFECT OF REDUCED POSTAGE RATES. The reduction of the postage between India and England from 2td. to Id. the half-ounce has been followed by a very remarkable increase in correspon- dence, says a Simla correspondent. Very recently the train conveying- the home mail to Calcutta from Bombay had to put on no fewer than six mail vans, and competent opinion is found to declare that the contents of the mail bags are nearly double what they were a few years ago. Some little time will no doubt elapse before the Indian Post Office will be able to accurately gauge the position but it begins to look very much as if this reform, which is undoubtedly doing much towards uniting India with the Mother Country, would very soon begin to pay for itself, if it does net actually come to be worked at a profit.

A MILLIONAIRE'S WILL. Probate of the will, dated in 1887, and three codicils, dated in 1888, 1890, and 1893, of the late Mr. W. O. Foster, of Apley-park, Bridgnorth, has been granted by the Principal Registry to the two sons, Mr. W. H. Foster and Captain James Foster, the executors, the personal estate being temporarily sworn as amounting to £ 1,000,000. The testator gives Mrs. Foster, his widow, his leasehold house in Belgrave-square, with the contents (except pictures), and also such plate, linen, carriages, horses, &c., she shall select for her residence. He also gives her the use of the pictures in Belgrave-square for her life, an immediate legacy of £ 20,000, and a life annuity of £ 5000. To his second son, Captain James Foster, he gives the Elmley Lovette estate, in Worcester- shire, and a legacy of £ 250,000, and legacies of Lio,ooo, £20,000, and 920,000 are, in addition to mums settled on them in his lifetime, given to the trustees of the marriage settlements of his three daughters, Mrs. V-andeleur, Mrs Atkinson, and Mrs. Tyrwhitt, and a sum of £ 50,000 is settled on his unmarried daughter, Miss Foster. There are also legacies of EIO,000 to his brother, Mr. James Foster, and of £ 1000 to General Lyttelton Annesley, one of the trustees. The residue of testator's pro- perty is given to his son, Mr. W. H. Foster.

A acnooMOT, being asked by hfs teacher how ne should flog him, replied, If you please, sir, I should like to have it on the Italian system of penmanship, the upward strokes heavy and the downward ones light." MRS. GRIMES How in the world do you get rid of your stale bread ? I have to throw lots of mine away." Mrs. Smarte: There is no need for you to do that. Why not do as I do? I just hide it away from the children." Mrs. Grimes Hide it away from the children ? What then ?" Mrs. Smarte Then the children find it, and eat up every morsel Of it." WEARY WALKER: "Lady, would yer please give me a few crusts like dose I got last week ?" Mrs. Newed Yes, poor fellow. Here are three for you." Weary Walker: Can't yer make it four, mum ? Me and me partner wants to play quoits." r ca OFTENTIMES it's when a nice girl calls him Dear," that a bashful man looks the cheapest.

ALICE AND HER HUSBAND. "No, Mr. Wickham, I did not anticipate seeing you. And candidly, at this date, I am surprised that you should have sought me out." The speaker's steely blue eyes surveyed her visitor, and noted the shabbiness of his garments and the patch on his right boot. I haven't forgotten that your bank- ruptcy was the result of your neglect of business, nor that you left me to battle witjh the consequences, and hampered with a child. Apart from which, after ten years' silence, you might have had the decency to have stayed away altogether." Had it not been for my longing to see Alice, I should have done so," he muttered. Your longing will be ungratified. She believes you to be dead. And you might have been in your grave for any good you've been to her." It is not for you to upbraid me, Agnes. Let the past go. Heaven ki.ows I did my best. And it wasn't my fault that ill-luck pursued me across the seas. At first I failed in everything I turned my hand to. And when in the end-" Explanation is needless," Mrs. Wickham inter- posed. Failure is written large all over you. And I can't afford to help you." See Alice I must—and will. The joy it will be to fold her in my arms and hear her sweet voice again!" The same fond fool as ever, Dick," sneered his wife. "Bethink yourself. The little child you basely deserted is a woman now. Alice would shrink from you with loathing." If you have poisoned her against me- But you wouldn't dare. Once more I demand to see her." Persist in your determination, and you will be the destroyer of her happiness. She is engaged, and her fiancte is fastidious to a degree. An out-cast father-in-law, and foisted on him at the eleventh hour I can imagine his horror." "Trying, perhaps," he grimly conceded. Trying! Reveal yourself to Geoffrey Hamilton, Mid Alice's life will be blighted." Mr. Wickham started. Geoffrey'.Hamilton," he repeated. She is wrapt up in him," his wife continued, un- heedful of the interruption. He's the best fellow in the world, and rich besides. Oh, it would be ter- rible if he were to learn of your existence. Be rea- sonable, Dick." I'm a disreputable-looking object," he admitted, queer smile lighting up his hollow eyes as he gazed in the mirror facing him. Were you in a position to resume your former place in society it woulu have been different, of course," she said deprecatingly. Very much so. Poverty is the finest test of friendship I know. With a due regard for Alice's future, obliteration is evidently the sole atonement open to me," and he rose. Dick was weak and yielding as of yore. Mrs. Wickham's upper lip curved scornfully. You have photographs of her, I suppose, Agnes ?" he hinted, lingering. With some impatience, she unlocked a cabinet and presented him with one recently taken. The same beautiful face, but little changed, which had haunted his dreams the same tender, sensitive mouth and steadfast eyes. Studying his daughter's pictured semblance, Mr. Wickham's mood softened. Presently he glanced round the room. A refined taste was conspicuous in the simple elegance of the furniture and the prevailing harmony. And it was to her mother that Alice was indebted for surroundings. On a sudden be clasped his wife's hands. Must we part, Agnes ?" he asked in a smothered voice. Have the days when we were all in all to one another no hold on you ?" None whatever," she rejoined emphatically. My struggle for bread has robbed me of sentiment. You must excuse me prolonging the interview. Re- miniscence is too painful. Good-bye. I am sorry for you, I am indeed, Dick. But- You will be sorrier for yourself later." With a laugh that grated on her he strode to the door. ° < At his last bachelor party prior to his marriage, Geoffrey Hamilton was entertaining a select few of his friends when a Mr. Gooding was announced. My brother's Australian chum. He's the man who rescued him from the clutches of the rogue who would have ruined him, and enabled Fred to give me a start," he explained. "So that indirectly he is the founder of my fortunes. He was not due until to-morrow," he added, but his arrival is opportune. I'll bring him in." I have been telling Mr. Gooding that as the family benefactor he is not unknown to my friend," he said, on introducing his unexpected guest. And I trust to you, gentlemen, to second my endeavours in giving him a welcome befitting gratitude and his return to his native land." Mr. Gooding was an elderly man with grizzled hair, and his worn and sunken features and bent, gaunt frame betrayed indifferent health. The warmth of his reception rather overcame him.. Out of conside- ration for his manifest weakness, the other guests departed early. Gooding and his host, however, sat talking until the small hours. It was late when Geoffrey came down to breakfast. And to his consternation he was informed that his visitor was ill and had requested that medical aid might be summoned. Reascending the stairs, he tapped gently at Mr. Gooding's door. The blood- shot eyes that stared at him were blank, the hand he took burning hot, and the sick man tossed rest- lessly. The doctor bad not been sent for too soon, he decided. Dr. Wilton, who pronounced Mr. Gooding to be suffering from brain fever, had come and gone, leav- his patient in charge of his young host, who, assi- duous in his ministrations, throughout the day turned a deaf ear to his ravings. But in the dead silence of the. night the disjointed sentences which fell from the unconscious lips stirred Geoffrey strangely. What does it all mean, what can it mean ?" he asked himself at length, sinking back into the luxuri- ous chair he had drawn to the bedside, as, every sense quickened, he tried to piece the broken utter- ances together. There he is again." Alone with the stars in the bush the dreams poor Dick dreamt. And the door shut in his face. Good- for-nothing Dick! The sooner the sod covers him- not yet. Agnes isn't a woman, she's a fiend. Great Heaven! the stars have all gone! The sky is black!" Gooding shrieked. Dick Wickham, you're done for. Robbed of his litile girl—his darling—his all. Ha, ha! he's wide awake now. Perhaps Hamilton but Alice wouldn't own her father. That's a lie! Fetch her, you Jezebel, fetch her, I say 1" Fairly ex- hausted, he dozed for awhile. Geoffrey's cogitation were of the gloomiest. Suppos- ing, as he believed, that the Dick Wickham to whom he had referred was Mrs. Wickham's husband, and that he was still living, Mr. Gooding's ramblings were contradictory of her representations that shortly after abandoning ner she had received an intimation of his death. And, in that case, Alice must have combined with her mother to deceive him. With what object? What lay behind? If I could only question the poor old boy 1" he groaned. But 'there was little likelihood of Mr. Gooding affording him enlightenment at present. And for his future peace of mind he resolved to institute inde- pendent inquiries. Within the week Geoffrey had traced out a former acquaintance of the Wickhams, from whom he learned that Mr. Wickham was not the worthless scamp he had begun to fear, and that his wife had been held mainly responsible for his failure and sub- sequent disappearance. He went to Australia, and may be dead for aught I know. But Mrs. Wickham is an unscrupu- lous woman," his informant further said. "The money she wheedled out of poor Dick-ostensibly for household expenbes-raoney that was wanted in the business. But, unknown to him-it's a fact— she invested the 'greater portion judiciously-and stuck to it when the crash came-an example of how creditors are defrauded—posing, too, as the sup- porter of herself and child, as if the fees of half-a- dozen music pupils would maintain them t" His opinion of Mrs. Wickham confirmed, Geoffrey agreed with Mr. Budden. Nevertheless, but for the doubts of Alice that tortured him he would have re- turned home with a light heart. But Mr. Gooding's attack was subsiding: in a few days he hoped that he would be sufficiently recovered to unwind the tangled skein that -defied him and restore his faith in her. Meanwhile, Alice ascribed her lover's fitful temper to anxiety for his guest. And one evening—Geoffrey lived in the next street-she pleaded hard to be allowed to relieve his close attendance on him. My post is a sinecure now,' he ausured her un- graciously. But the old boy has been dull all day if you like I'll take you round." They were not long in reaching the house. I'll tell Mr. Gooding you are here," Geoffrey said in the hall. He may not care for visitors." And on his intimating that Miss Wickham awaited his pleasure below, his patient started up in bed as if electrified. Agnes has relented, eh ? But I'm forgetting that I am 'Mr. Gooding' to you, Geoffrey. Your brother has kept my secret loyally." "I can guess it. The ass I've been! You're Mr. Dick Wickham—Alice s father." Yes, I discarded my rightful name in Australia. Only Fred knew it. Never mind that now. Bring me my girl," he implored hoarsely. I'w just hun- gering for a sight of her. She has been led to believe me dead," he cautioned him. Geoffrey took the stairs nearly at a bouad. "A joyful revelation is in store for yon, Alice. JSr. Gooding is no other than your father!" he panted, kissing the astonished girl rapturously. I more misunderstandings, darling." Hand in hand they entered the invalid's room. "Oh, you bad, wicked father," she sobbed, hugging him, to hide yourself all these years, and not even to come to us when you landed!" There you are wrong, Alice. But your mother made a mistake this time, despite her cleverness. If she had divined that Charles Gooding, millionaire- I earned the title at the gold-fields-and outcast Dick Wickham were identical I should have met with different treatment, I suspect." To conceal your visit from me!" she cried indig- nantly, quick to grasp the truth. The cruelty of it!" Her head drooped. Forgive her, daddy dear," she murmured, laying her cheek against his, in her old childish fashion. She has always been good to me." Tut! I bear her no malice. But she must be taught that selfishness is seldom the best policy, even from a wordly point of view-my experience at all events. She can't complain if I spring a little sur- prise on her. No, I won't be hard on her, child, not very hard. But until after the wedding I'm Mr. Gooding,' and I forbid you to expose my identity- least of all to your mother." The happy day had arrived, the bridal party were at the altar, the reading of the service had com- menced but Mr. Gooding, who was to give the bride away, had not yet put in an appearance. Who giveth this woman to be marr ied to this man ?" The officiating clergyman paused. The bride- groom glanced towards a red-curtained pew, and when Mr. Wickham, his fine figure no longer bent, set off to advantage by a smart tailor, briskly emerged, his wife was near to fainting. But Dick himself was seeminly unmoved, and on the conclusion of the ceremony offered her his congratulations as if she were a stranger to him, after which he drove back to the hotel where he was now sojourning, chuckling hugely. Geoffrey Hamilton, however, was not reluctant to explain Mr. Wickham's presence, nor to impart the particulars of his struggles, and of the wealth which had rewarded them, watching his mother-in-law's agonised countenance the while with keen enjoy- ment. Through his daughter's intervention after a time Mr. Wickham was reconciled to his wife. But he likes to spend the greater part of the year with Alice and her husband.

METHUEN'S HORSE. Major J. W. Harrel, late 2nd Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, was the officer who actually re- cruited men for Methuen's Horse in 1884. A Dailykifail representative has been favoured by the gallant major with a few further particulars re- garding the raising of this splendid regiment of ir- regular horse. Seventeen days," said Major Harrel, was the exact time it took me to recruit and despatch close on 600 volun- teers to South Africa. Three hundred men left Southampton within 10 days of my recruiting office being opened in Leicester-square, and 1 followed with the balance seven days later. Among the men I en- listed for Methuen's Horse were on less than 42 Militia. officers. But all sorts and conditions were represented, including some Texan cowboys." Major Harrel gave the Daily Mail an old printed circular of the terms of service. It is reproduced below, as the particulars are of special interest just now: SOUTn AFRICAN IRREGfLAR FORCE. Troop-Sergeant-Major, pay per diem 7s. Sergeants, „ „ 6s. Corporals, „ „ „ 5s. Troopers, „ „ „ 4s. With Is. per diem deferred pay to each of the above grades. Free rations will be provided. Free passage to and fro. Uniforms, arms, and accoutrements will be fur- nished. Terms of Service.—Minimum six months maxi- mum, 12 months. Details regarding pension, etc., to be obtained at the office. It is to be further understood that candidates, whether accepted or rejected, cannot claim expenses for travelling or loss of time. (Signed) J. W. HARREL. 50, Leicester-square. Major Harrel is certain that no more difficulty- but probably much less-would be experienced at the present time in obtaining suitable volunteer recruits for service in South Africa. The best stamp of man in his opinion is one who is good at outdoor sports, and who has some knowledge of riding and horses. The best age is from twenty-five to thirty-five.

SEA FISHERIES. The following handbill has been issued from the Fisheries and Harbour Department of the Board of Trade, together with translations of the Icelandic fisheries law of April, 1898, and the Faroese fisheries law of January, 1899: Territorial waters of Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The Board of Trade hereby call the attention of the owners and skippers of British trawlers to the existing laws respecting trawl- ing, and the presence of fishing vessels with trawls on board, in the territorial waters of Ice.and and the Faroe Islands. Translations of the laws are annexed. With reference to the expression stowed away on board used, in relation to fishing gear, in both laws, the Board of Trade have ascertained that the Danish authorities are of opinion that, in order to fulfil the legal requirements of the phrase, it is neces- sary—(1) that the otter boards of trawling gear should be stowed in their ordinary places on deck inside the bulwarks, or else that they should be put below deck and (2) that the nets should be unshackled from the boards and should be put away or made fast in-board, either on deck or below deck, and emptied of firb-- T. H. W. PELHAM, assistant secretary.

THE DISCOVERY AT DALSTON STATION. At North London Police-court, on Saturday, Louise Masset, 32, described as a governess, was charged on remand before Mr. Fordham with feloniously killing and slaying her illegitimate male child, Manfred Louis Masset, aged three and a-half years, at Dalston-junction Station. Mr. W. Lewis, who appeared to prosecute for the Treasury, said he had no witnesses that day, and he asked for a formal remand until next Saturday. The investiga- tions had not yet been completed, and it was thought to be unwise to go further until this had been done. Mr. Fordham remarked that the charge was a very serious one to hang over any person's head, and it waq his view that it should be disposed of as soon as possible. He then remanded the prisoner for a week. The police are now in possession of the names and addresses of the two ladies who first called the atten- tion of the railway porter to the fact that something was wrong.

GRADUATES OF CAMBRIDGE. At a representative meeting, held on Saturday, in the Senate House of Cambridge University, and pre- sided over by the Vice-Chancellor, it was de- cided to form an Association for facilitating the employment of graduates of the University in the various professions and occupations for which their University training specially fitted them. It was mentioned, in the course of the proceedings, that a similar Association had, for three years, been in existence in connection with Harvard University with most satisfactory results.

THB Tour du Monde states that a postal service by carrier pigeon is to be established in New Zealand between Otea or Grande-Barrier Island and the capital. The service will be twice a month, and the letters, written on thin paper with pencil, will be en- closed in quills. IN connection with the famous Colquhoun case, it is pointed out that at the examination proof was given that the firm only had an income of £ 800 a year, and were paying on an income of E3000 a year. Therefore it is urged that, in fairness to the credi- tors, the wrongly charged income-tax money re- ceived by the Inland Revenue should be returned. THERE is no doubt that the free wheel bicycle is in great favour now amongst town as well as country riders. The idea which at first prevailed, that it was dangerous in traffic, is not held by those who have tried it frequently under these conditions. The Army and Navy Stores and many other firms do a big and increasing business now in free wheels. NEW municipal buildings at Norwich are proposed by the corporation at a cost of £ 100,000. THE announcement made by Lord Rosebery at Bath that he is about to issue as a companion volume to his Life of Pitt a similar review of the career of Chatham, was (the London correspondent of the Scotsman is informed) a surprise to many of his most intimate friends. There were some of them who, thinking that they must have heard of the work if it were really on hand, read the passage in the speech to mean that he was about to start on this new literary task. The work has, however, been carried much further than that. The manuscript is already in the hands of the typewriter, by whom it is being copied for the printer. THE new technical school, Dunfermline, recently opened, is a substantial and elegant structure of three floors designed by Mr. D. Barclay, of Glasgow. In- ternally the school is admirably arranged, ample provision being made for instruction in various branches of technical education. The building has been erected at a cost of between LI,0,000 and C12,000.

THE WOMAN'S WORLD. SINCE Mrs. Kendal, the Madge Robertson of former days, first became know in elegant comedy on the English stage, she has always been remarked for the quiet refinement of her costumes both at home and in her professional life. This is what Mrs. Kendal said to a New York Herald reporter on the subject ) of good taste in dress Beau Brummel is said to have made the remark, The first qualification of a lady or gentleman is to dress so that they can appear in the street without being observed and among j the really high'bred aristocracy of England to-day (I allude to that part of the English aristocracy whose name is kuown only in Burke or Debrett) the same quiet style in dress ie observed. One of the most beautiful women of to- j dav is never seen but in black, white, or grey. A great wit said, after kissing her hand 'Again, dear Viscountess, in your beautiful robe of white! White is emblematical of purity and great wisdom.' In white we are dressed immediately we come into the world in white we are dressed at our wedding, and, above all, at our death, for in white we are sent to meet our God. Simplicity is the greatest art 4 of all, the finest of all attributes. A variety of colour shows a changeable disposition. In a garden all flowers are thrown together, but their individual colours are distinct. A lily is white, a violet mauve or grey. They are thrown together, but they are distinct, and distinction in dress is high breeding." IT is said (remarks a writer in the Sun) that character may be read from an old pair of shoes. If the sole and heel are equally worn the wearer is wise and energetic if a man, faithful and orderly if a woman. When the inner edges are worn, it signifies feebleness and irresolution in a man, sweetness and modesty in a woman. When the greater wear appears at the outer edges, it is an indication that a man is obstinate, persevering, and bold, and that a woman is full of resolution and authority. A LADY writer in the Illustrated, London News tells us that a new fashion is the renewed use of whole birds as decoration. Large bodies of birds, parrots, and seagulls and Asiatic pheasants, with claws and heads restored to the most exact semblance of life that can be obtained by the aid of art, are placed to the front of toques of velvet, and constitute the whole trimming. I do not like the fashion—not for the objection to taking life, for the outcry against women | on this score seems to me a mere pretence while the j slaughter of domestic birds for food, of preserved game birds for sport, and of the sweetest songsters of our fields, larks (who are also invaluable to the farmers) for mere gluttony, is passed over in silence — but. because I cannot think dead creatures in good taste as decora- tion. There is a grim little story of Guy de Maupassant's, written, no doubt, when he was already feeling the oncoming of his insanity, and morbid accordingly, yet with an element of very ordinary feeling enumerating with horror the sights all romid a man in his daily path that hatefully re- minded him of the inevitable approaching end of all life. Morbid, of course; yet what pretty woman in all the bravery of her dainty attire would wish, if she thought of it. to be the means of suggesting death- and what can be so suggestive thus as a creature all vitality and mobility in life stuffed into stiff mockery of itself, with glass eyes and immovably open beak. and even sometimes a simulated black still tongue? W in £ r« feathers hava a beauty of colour and texture that are invaluable for decoration, but whole bodies of birds do seem needless barbarity. The new hats (says thu Sim) are a great aid to sfeor: women struggling to join the ranks of the tall sisterhood. Without exception, tower-like crowns meet the plain, broad or fluted rim. There are four leading models—cirectoire, Rembrandt, shepherdess, and renaissance, with velvet, flowers, graceful ostrich plumes and quiUs for decorating, but not disfigurement,. Folds of mousseline de soie, chiffon, j or light. airy fabrics form brim trimmings, when tucked or stitched velvet is not preferred. The power of the fur-trimmed hat has not been lessened by two winters' wear, as many of the latest models testify. So much depends upon the hat that it behoves women to select it with extreme care. The woman with the retrousse nose should on no account wear a hat turned off the face nor one balancing over the left ear. Her choice must belong to the family resting squarely and easily on the crown of the head. pointing slightly down- ward. The woman with the aquiline nose can wear flaring hats to perfection. Narrow velvet ribbon strings are used instead of the broader mousseline de soie which first appeared as fascinating adjuncts to the modish poke bonnet. HOT or cold water is an improvement on the health, for it washes out the system. I have often said (a lady writer in the remarks) that women do not drink half enough water—a physician told me that he always recommended to feminine patients a glass of water before breakfast, one in the middle of both forenoon and afternoon, and another at night, purely as medicine, and then he felt reasonably sure of having his instructions followed. Four glasses with the fluid ordinarily taken at meals would make a respectable quantity. Hot water is better than cold, particularly in the morning, as it tones up the nerves of the stomach, and cures many a case of stomach trouble. Try it for awhile and see how much better you feel. A HOT iron is half the battle in achieving the suc- cess of well-fitting clothes, say the dressmakers, and certainly it is seven-eights of the secret of a well- groomed woman. Dress skirts wrinkle from damp- ness and wear and their freshness is impaired—it is destroyed unless the services of a hot iron are called into use. All such work can be done at home when you have the time and patience, but business women have to rely upon outside assistance. Really, a dress that looks hopeless can be put into the hands of a professional cleaner, and be returned to you a changed garment, fresh and clean and ready for service, and the amount of satisfaction that goes with it cannot be overestimated. THERE never was a time (observes the Evening News) in which a bride setting up housekeeping had a greater choic of beautiful table linen. Our grand- mothers would have thought it the worst style in the world if they hnd loaded their linen presses with anything but puro white napery. But we have changed all that, and the loveliest thing at present in tablecloths is a neutral-tinted linen with an artistic border of ripe red apples and leaves. No one knows till they have tried it how delighted such a cloth looks on a black oak luncheon table, set with glass and silver. To be judiciously economical requires a master mind. Less great minds never make a success of it, but become mean or miserly. But when one has to count tie pennies, this kind of economy is in- valuable. If you are careful you will not only save, but get more out of what you have already got. When you get a letter, tear the half-sheet off; it will gave letter paper for making shops lists, &c., on. When you drop a pin or a hairpin pick it up, instead of letting it be swept up in the dustpan. When you se? a bole, mend it when you tear any- thing, stick ;t together. Always keep your clothes well brushed and neat; never let a loose hook or a tiny ravel go unlooked after. Keep your shoes tidy wjth kid restorer, and wear an apron when you have dirty work to do. THIS little crinkled velvet bow (says the Morning Leader) is no longer the correct hair ornament. They are attached to a shell hairpin, and can be bought in a variety of colours. Some are of black gauze, scattered with rhinestones, and others are skilfully band painted. And then for evening wear they came in light colours, and are hand-embroidered or sprinkled with mock jewels. Sometimes just one very large butterfly is worn in the hair, so large that it has the effeet of a big Alsatian bow, and then again a swarm of tiny butterflies will be scattered through the coiffure. Massive combs are for the present out of fashion, in fact, nothing at all heavy will be worn in the hair this season. When the hair is dressed very high a pretty delicate ornament con- sists of a lighL band of gold to encircle the knot with filmy. fiuffv Icons of chiffon fastened to it in front.

MR RHODES AND WOMEN. When Mr. Rhodes's name came prominently to the front in the public mind, there was an impres- sion generally current that he was a woman-hater. According to a story told in the Gem by Sir John Leng, M.P., this is a mistake. A lady &t whose house he was a guest summoned courage to question him on the subject some few months ago. "Will you tell me why you dislike women, Ur. Rhodes?" she inquired. "Has any member of my sex ever played you a nasty trick ? Indeed, no," was the empire-builder s smiling response. I cannot think where the idea came from that I dislike women. It ) is all a mistake. On the contrary, I like and admire j them very much. And I assure you that I realise the value of their help." But as a lady put the j question to Mr. Rhodes he could hardly have said less. I

FREDDIE," said his mother, severely, "didn t I j tell you that'you shouldn't ride your bicycle to-day, j because you were naughty?" "OEpis »"*nt my bicycle, j [ said Freddie it's Tommy Jones'. We ve exchanged for to-day."

ART AND LITERATURE. A HUGARIAN linguist, Dr. Anton Yelics, who ifl already known as the aathor of several translatiotl8 from the Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, and othec Eastern languages, has just published (says the Vienna correspondent of the Standard) a volume in Hungarian, and is preparing a translation cf it into German, in which he undertakes to prove the astonishing theory that the Altaic, Indo-Germanic, Semitic, and Hamitic groups of languages, and, in fact, the vocabulary of all the existing nations throughout the entire globe rest on a basis of between two or three hundred ancient Chinese roots, some of which can only now be found in the Japanese, as they are lost in China. The author invites philolo- gists of all nations to scrutinise his discovery. THERE are some extremely interesting critical esti- mates of living writers in the last instalment of The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson." in the Scribner's Magazine. Of his friend Henley. Steven- son writes that he is glad to htoar Hemey's pro- spects are fair; his new volume is the work of reul poet. There is perhaps no more genuine poet living, bar the Big Guns." Of the author of the "Recessional," he says "Kipling is by far the most promising young man who had appeared since— ahem-l appeared. He amazes me by his percocity and various endowment. But he alarms me by his copiousness and haste. Certainly Kipling haa the gifts the fairy godmothers were all tipsy at his christening; what will he do with them?" To J. M, Barrie, whose genius he sincerely admired. Stevenson wrote Jess is beyond my frontier line; I could not touch his skirt; I had no such glamour of twilight on my pen. I am a capable artist, but it begins to look to me as if you were a man of genius. Taka care of yourself for my sake." AN urgent appeal is being sent out on behalf ot Miss Dora Russell, who is in need of financial help. Miss Russell has been known for more than 30 years as a prolific and popular writer of fiction for rb& newspapers. After a period of severe illness she has quite broken down in health, and it is feared that it will be impossible for her to resume work. A number of influential people, amongst whom are Archdeacon Sinclair, Miss Marie Corelli, and John Strange Winter, have given their support to the petition. THE death is announced of the Rev. Charle8 Mackeson, universally known as the compiler ot "Mackeson's Guide" to the London churches, and the editor for many years of the authorised Hand- book" to the Church Congress. Mr. Mackeson, in his younger days, was a clerk in the Admiralty, and took holy orders only when be had reached middle life. He was ordained in 1885, and appointed to the charge of the Mission Church of the Good Shep- herd in an outlying district of St. Pancras, not fae from Hampstead-heath. In circumstances of mucb difficulty he gathered a congregation, and succeeded in building a permanent church, which is now known as All Hallows with St. Silas. Mr. Mackeson has long been in a declining state of health. By the generosity of Baron de Ferrieres, the late member for the borough, Cheltenham has (says the Globe) acquired an important addition to its local attractions. A new art gallery has been built by the Baron, and, with a collection of some 40 pictures, chiefly by Dutch and Belgian artists, has been pre- sented by him to the town. The gallery adjoins the Public Library and School of Art. and completes very suitably a block of buildings devoted to educa- tional purposes. Tne possescioa of such an institution gives Cheltenham a very considerably advantage over other towns of the same type— what William Morris used to call lounger towns —and puts it among the places which deserYe credit tor their recognition of artistic activity. It is certainly a matter for regret that most of the pleasure resorts in this country should only take the smallest possible interest in art matters, and should be utterly indifferent to the claims of aestheticism as a factor in education. Many of the Larger towns which lay themselves out to attract people of refinement and taste do not possess even the most rudimentary facilities for the display of works of art, and regard any encouragement of art effort as waste of money and energy. But eventually this stupid policy cannot fail to stamp the places which adhere to it as out of date and ignorant of the necessity for progress and they will be left behind in the race by more enlightened competitors. It is hardly too much to sry that in every important centre of population r. gillery should be considered to be as indispensable as i. school of art. Ma. LmcKY, whose la e t V ok is quoted a good deal by the opponents or the present war, has himself married a Dutch lady, and a very cultured and clever one too. Mrs. Lecky's fat her was Baron de Dedemr a lieutenant-general in the Dutch service. THE sale of the art collection of the late Dr. Schu- bart, which took place las- week at Munich, has been productive of rather curious results. The great majority of the pictures were viewed askance by English experts, aDd few purchase e were made by buyers in this country. But the German bidding seems to have been recklessly lavish. An indifferent head of a man by Rembrandt fetched £1550 a questionable Watteau £1150, and canvases ascribed to Gerard Dow and A. Van der Neer £1750 and £2050 respectively. A school picture set down to Rubens, a portion apparently of a larger work, brought as much as £5300. Most astonishing, however (the Globe con- siders) was the purchase of a landscape, said to he by Hobbema, for the Dresden Gallery. This picture was, at best, a very unconvincing example of the master, and was considered by many judges to be of more than doubtful authenticity, yet it was acquired for a national collection for the sum of £4300. too much for a work capable of being questioned, and yet not enough for a picture sufficiently representa- tive to be worthy of a place in a gallery of master- pieces. The transaction altogether has caused not a little comment, and has made considerable stir in artistic circles. THE new edition of Gilbert "White's Selborne has an interesting introduction by the late Mf. Grant Allen. Very nicely Mr. Allen wrote: I con- fess I can never read a page or two of White with- out recalling to my mind those exguisite lines of Austin Dobson's, which sum up for us the ideal eighteenth century gentleman He liked the well-wheel's creaking tongue— He liked the thrush that stopped and sung— He liked the drone of flies among His netted peaches; He liked to watch the sunlight fall Athwart his ivied orchard wall; Or pause to catch the cuckoo's call Beyond the beeches. Mr. Dobson is an exquisite painter of the eighteent oentury English gentleman. THE Irish Literary Society intends (sayi the Ecltø) to open the new year with a series of what might be called lectures on the century. They will be delivered in February, March, April, and May M follows: A Hundred Years of Irish Journalism. A Hundred Years of Irish History. A Hundred Years of Irish Song and Story. A Hundred Years of Irish Wit and Humour. And the respective lecturers will be Mr. Justin McCarthy, Mr. Barry O'Brien, Mr. T. W. Rolleston, and Mr. R. Ashe-King. BY the sudden death of Sir Arthur Blomfield British architecture loses one of its ablest and most admirable exponents. During his long and busy professional life he played a part of very real importance; and by the soundness of his artistic instinct and by the refinement of his taste he exer- cised a very valuable influence upon the men of hi8 time. He had a true appreciation of the charm of Gothic architecture, and, with some notable excep- tions, his best works were those in which he showed his intimate knowledge of this style. His death is a great shock to everyone who knew him, for, although he had reached the age of 70 years, he showed no sign of failing vitality, and was to all appearance in the enjoyment of health more robust han many men far younger can boast. PROFESSOR THBODOR MOMMSEN, who is now 82 years of age, has just (says the Berlin correspondent of the Standard) brought out a monumental work on Roman Criminal Law. It is a large octavo volume of 1078 pages. In his preface, which is dated Char- lottenburg, August 29,1898, the author observes that authorities on law, historians, and philologists, agree that the want of a book on Roman Criminal Law is ft in the scientific world. He writes: "It is my wish, and, to a certain degree, my hope, that this book J will fill the oft-felt gap." He takes criminal law and criminal proceedings together, for criminal law without criminal proceedings is the haft of a knife without the blade, and criminal proceedings without criminal jaw is like a blade without a haft." The task which Professor Mommsen had set himself was to follow up to a certain extent the development of Roman Law through a thousand years. In his book details are, as far as possible, passed over, and casuistical explanations are not reproduced. The author has endeavoured to settle matter* to a certain extent as far as ancient authori- ties are concerned, but he has found it impossible to do the same with the later literature of the subject. JBie work is divided into chapters on the nature and limits of criminal law, criminal authorities, criminal procedure, individual crimes, and punishments. It II dedicated to the Juridical Faculty of the Berl; University by an Old Colleague."

I THUTK it is perfectly horrid the way the duffs make a display of their wealth," pouted Mrfe Billington. What have they done now ?" askeJ Mr. Billington. They have discarded their silver Mttiot) aDd now use solid tin Dlate at everr msaL"

[ALL BIGHTS RESERVED.] JALEBERD'S BUMPS. A PHRENOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT. BY JAMES GREENWOOD. AUTHOR OF u Dick Temple," "Reuben Davidger," Wild Sports of the World," Curiosities of Savage Life" Fair Phyllis of Lavender Wharf Under a Cloud," A Little Ragamuffin," "Kerrison's Crime, Three Rogues," Ifumpltreg Dyot," Silas the Conjuror," etc. '1 d&l'TEtt VII. IN WHICH 18 RELATED THE PATHETIC STORY OF HOW BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH MARGARET KETCH. LONG before I made a sudden jump from Coldbatb Fields to Bloomsbury: Square I had a sweetheart. Ours was not what might be termed a romantic at- tachment. Such as it was, however, it was attended by one or two remarkable incidents, tending to show that in low life as well as high, if it is fated that a {roung couple shall come together, the strongest reso- ution on both sides will not succeed in bringing about the match. As I need scarcely remark, Margaret Ketch was not a young woman of unblemished character, or nothing:is less likely than that I should have made her acquaintance. She was one of a family that could boast of being as well known to the police as any in England. The first conviction recorded against an ancestor of Margaret's dated back to the time when forgery was a capital offence. It was for that crime that her grandfather was executed at the Old Bailey. ^Margaret was buxom and good-looking, and we were long on friendly terms, and had more than J once spoken of marriage, and it was my fault, per- baps, that we were not united. But though I liked the girl well enough I liked my freedom better, and I was always ready with an excuse for putting it off for the present. I had been acquainted with her for a matter of two years, and our courtship had remained, as far as I knew, uninterrupted — except, of course, at those times when she or I was in prison-when one day I met her in the street, and she was crying. My first thought naturally was that something unpleasant had occurred to her father, or one of her brothers. But it was a matter that, to me, at all events, was even more serious. I have come on purpose to meet you, John," she said, after we had shaken hands, and her manner showed that she had been screwing up her courage to Bay what was in her mind and have done with it. o. We must say good-bye Why, you have hardly said How are you ?' as yet," said I; what is your hurry ? And what are you crying about?" "Why, don't I tell yotv the reason I have met you?" says she, using her pocket-handkerchief; "isn't that enough to make a girl cry? After the long, long time we have known each other!" But where are you going, and how long will it be before you are back again ?" I am never coming back again, Jack Never Are you going to Australia then?" "I am never coming back to you, I mean. I am not going away at all; but it will be the same to you, John Jaleberd, as though I was going to the other end of the world. I am going to be married I was so taken aback that I couldn't say anything, so I laughed. Don't make fun of me," says she reproachfully I've had enough of that with them at home, since they have known of it. Bnt it is true." Why, ef course, it is true. Who should know it better than me, Meg ?" She opened her eyes at that. Who told you ?" There was no need for anyone to tell me. Ain't I going to be married as well ?" You are I am glad to hear it. But you needn't have been sly over it. But there never was such deceitful creatures as you men are. Who are you going to marry, John ?" Why, you." And I caught both her hands in mine. You know that well enough." But she shook her head at that. That's all over, Jack. You wouldn't when I would, and so-and so it is sombbody else!" Don't tell me that, Meg. If you mean marrying, I'm your man. Unless you know anybody that loves you better." She began to cry harder then. She knew I loved her. But the fact was, she said she was sick of her present way of living, and had been long yearning for a chance of giving it up. And at last the chance bad turned up. She had met with a very respectable man, who was by trade a pianoforte-tuner, and though she had concealed nothing, ho had offered to make her his wife, on her promise that she would give up her associates, and be honest and true to him. And that is what I mean to do," said Margaret, speaking very determinedly. I have thought over it day and night, and I'll do it. So good-bye, once for all, John Jaleberd." "I didn't take the hand she held out to me, and I was too much upset to make her an answer at once. I walked with her to the corner of the street, and then, says I: Tell me this much, anyway, Meg. Have you any objections to me, except that I can't claim to be as straight as your precious piano-timer ?"' What's the good of talking like that ?" she says. I am not blaming you, my dear, for being what you are. We have both been brought up to it from children. It isn't because I despise you. that I am going to break away from it. Don't think so." But," says I, suppose I was to break away from it too ?" She opened her eyes at that. What! give it all up, and turn honest--for me ? Well, never mind. Of course, I am hot surprised that you should have your joke about it. But you haven't bade me good-bye." No; nor I did not mean doing so. I never was more in earnest in my life, than when I told her that I was ever so much more in love with her, than with the life I was leading, and that if she Was willing to throw over the tuner, I would there and then take a solemn oath to turn over a new leaf with her, and we would not say anything abuut it, but get married, and go somewhere into the country, and work some- how for a living. And in the end I talked her over and got her to consent. But you wouldn't think of marrying, Jack," she says, to go into furnished rooms ?" "Certainty not," I replied, feeling somehow bold and confident. Leave that all to me. Give me a couple of months to do it in, and you may rely on it that I will make everything right." Well, there was, of course, only one Way by which I could make the required prepations. I had not even thought about an honest trade as yet, let alone tried my hands at it. But, though I went to work at the old business, I gave what might be called an honest mind to it. I gave up smoking and drinking, and late hours, and went about my thieving as sober and steady, as though I was a teetotal journeyman car- penter, following his employment. I did very well. In less than a month I had bought twenty pounds' worth of furniture, which was stowed away privately in a room, of which Margaret had the key; and a fortnight afterwards I put the banns up. But it was not to be. It was bitterly disappointing, after I had been trying so hard, and with such a good purpose in view too I had finished buying the furniture, and given Margaret four pounds to get her a new dress and a bonnet, and all I wanted now was a bit of ready money in hand to get married with, and enable us to pay our way until I could meet with a job of honest work. It was on the Friday, and we were to be married on Sunday, when I was taken in the act, and sentenced next day to four months' hard labour. Nor was that the worst of it. Margaret was in court at the time, and she kissed her hand. and gave me a look that said as plain as speech, Keep up your spirits, Jack. You have got the comfort of knowing that it will be all right when you come out." So, after I had recovered from the first shock, I did not feel so bad. I actually tried to make myself believe that perhaps it was all for the best, since it would give me the opportunity of profiting by what the chaplain might have to say to me, :and I should be put in a proper frame of mind for the honest life I intended to live in future. And those were the lines on which I worked out that four months, and the morning I was discharged I almost ran every blessed step of the way to where our furniture was, and where I made sure Margaret would be to meet me. Is Margaret here Margat et! Oh, yes," (I couldn't make out what made her giggle), she's here. She's upstairs in her room." Bless her heart I I said to myself as I hurried np the stairs. I knew that I could trust her when she kissed her hand, and gave me that look in the court I" And I tapped at the dooT. Come in!" And in I went, and what I saw nearly took my breath away. It was -Margaret, but much altered in oonsequence of a swelled face, and being not more than half-recovered from a bad black eye. No longer smart and trim, she wore a shabby old gown, and her hair was all loose and untidy. She was sitting by the fire, with her feet on the fender, and she gave but one look round, and, seeing that it was me, turned her head away, and fell a-cry- ing. I looked for the furniture, but the reom was empty, except for the commonest of the two tablea I had purchased, and the chest of drawers, and a couple of chairs borrowed out of the bedroom. Why, Margaret- I" Don't say a word to me!" she interrnpted me hysterically. Don't waste a sentence on me, Jack, I'm not worth it. Kill me straight off. If I was a man, and a girl served me as I have you, I wouldn't let her live a moment after I'd found her out. I knew you would be here this morning, and it was because I am tired of my wretched life that I stayed in on pur- pose that. you might have the only satisfaction that is left to you Don't talk like a fool, Margaret. Who has been knocking you about? And where are all the goods ?" But I need not repeat all the details of the painful interview. It was all the tuner's doing, though, of course, she was quite as much to blame as he was. More, if it comes to that. She had actually gone and married the blackguard three weeks after she so lovingly bade me good-bye in the court. The nice little home I had got together coming in handy for the purpose. But she paid the penalty of her wickedness and treachery. The mean rascal gave her to understand, less than a month after they were married, that he had no idea of working to support her, but that to balance that he was quite willing to release her from the promise he had compelled her to make as regards giving up her old associates and turning honest. He told her, with an impudent laugh, that he had no doubt if she supplied him with the means to keep him above temptation, that he could be honest enough for them both, and that however bad she might be- come she would always have the satisfaction of know- ing that her husband was a respectable man. But, of course, such a state of affairs could not last, and after leading a cat-and-dog life for nearly two months, he one day took advantage of her being from home to sell off all the best of the furniture. When she returned she found on the table a letter stating that he couldn't stay with her any longer, as it had just come to his ears that his first wife had found out about his bigamous second marriage and where he was living, and that to avoid unpleasant consequences he was off to America. More than that, so that she might convince herself that he was not telling lies, he gave her the address where his first wife with her three children was to be found. But all that has nothing to do with my present story, and only that justice to myself demanded it, I should have refrained from saying anything about it. That I have always been a bad one, I freely acknow- ledge. If anyone chooses to express his opinion that my behaviour towards Doctor Flight was that of a rascal double-dyed, I plead guilty. But when it is asserted that I do not possess one redeeming quality, and that I never did an act that a right-minded man would not be ashamed of, I have the consolation of knowing, though I would disdain to brag of it, that, at least on one occasion, I tried aa hard as any man could, to abandon the ways of wickedness, and that cruel fate and woman's perfidy prevented it. I should mention that the events narrated in the above pathetic little story took place nearly a year before I met with the good doctor. Margaret had returned to her parents and friends and was one of the family again. I had met with her severai times and we were friendly. There was no reason why we should not be so. After all, her experience had been pretty much like my own. Vindictive fate had played battledore and shuttlecock with her as with me. Its malice had at first directed her attention to thativagabond, the pianoforte-tuner. It seemed as though she was to be allowed to escaped that danger by marrying me instead. But not says Fate to Margaret Ketch, veer- ing round again at the last moment, I. You can't shirk your destiny, therefore John Jaleberd shall be caught in the act of cutting away a lady's pocket in the Burlington Arcade, and you shall marry the tuner after all." We used to joke each other about it, and I could always make her laugh by imitating her blubbering in the street when she came to tell me of her desperate determination to become a reformed character and to bid me good-bye. "Though, upon my soul, Jack," she says, seriously"—we were drinking together at a public- house at the time—" I really and truly meant it." Well, so dii I, Meg, and I hain't ashamed to own it. But I'm blest if I have had the same feeling come over me since. Those sort of penitent fits are like measles, I suppose. You only have 'em once. I wonder, Mes;. says I, how it would have worked, if we had got spliced that time, and carried out our virtuous intentions ?" I've often wondered the same thing," says she after a silence and with a sigh. And do you know what I do, Jack, when such thoughts are struggling to come uppermost? I make haste and swallow as many fourpen'orths as I've got money to pay for, to drown them." Of course I had not seen her since I did my last six months, nor indeed for at least a month before that. But as soon as I set my mind on scheming for the future, I could not but think of her. For one thing, and as I have already stated, I felt lonely and wanted somebody of my own sort to talk with, and for another, I was not so conceited but that I knew that when anything of a ticklish nature had to be planned, two heads were better than one, and that Meg had a clever little noddle on her shoulders I was well aware. So, a few days after I had related to the doctor that little fiction concerning the old woman and her sick grandson-with what result the reader will re- member—I diessed myself early in the afternoon with extra care, and went off to try and find Margaret. r. As I have already said, I had neither seen nor heard from her for more than six months, but by good luck I discovered her at the first likely place I looked into. She was not alone. It was at a drinking bar, and she was in close conversation with a fellow, Joe Buck, by name, or as he was more commonly called, Gentleman Joe, whom I knew, but never had any liking for. He was an out-an-out bad one, as every body knew, but good-looking, and with a sort of manners and polish that nothing but good breeding can give a man. Buck had been well brought up. His father 'was a merchant in the city, and Joe had been sent to the best of schools with everything high class about him, but he was wrong at the core, and it was all thrown away on him. And what with gambling and horse- racing, and forging his father's name to an extent that sent the old man to his grave a broken-hearted bankrupt, Joe Buck went right to the dogs, and stuck at nothing, and only for his cleverness and his wonderful luck, he would have been sent to penal servitude half-a-dozen times over. It was no wonder that I did not like him. The fact is, he had always been partial to Margaret, and even while we were supposed to be engaged, he was the cause of many a quarrel between us. But she had given me to understand that she had had nothing to say to him since her unfortunate marriage. It was no affair of mine if she had, for beyond common friendliness, I had made no advances to Margaret since that time; but seeing them together gave me a twinge. Perhaps it was because Meg was looking so well and pretty. After her ill-treatment by the rascally tuner, she had quite lost her good looks, but somehow she had got them all back again, and being well- dressed, of course, set them off. And here she was taking sherry with Mr. Joe Buck, and smiling and whispering in a way that should have warned me off the business I had come about, if I had not been a I entered a compartment that was immediately opposite to them, and though they both looked in my direction they did not recognise me. Which was not surprising, what with my curly head of hair that no one would have known from real, and my genteel suit, and my kid gloves, not forgetting that for the first time in my life I had let my moustache grow. They both looked at me and turned away, and went on with their conversation, but when, purposely speaking rather loud, I ordered some brandy and water, Margaret knew my voice, and with a start looked at me again. I made her a sign, she was quick at interpreting, and when, a few moments after, 1 left the tavern and sauntered up the road, she Boon joined me. Why! what does it all mean, Jack ? What has changed you into a gentleman ?" That's what I have come tell you, Meg-if the other gentleman won't be jealous." Margaret laughed. I don't suppose it will make any difference to him or me, either," said she, what- ever you may have to say." You may alter your opinion whon you hear. At the same time, if you have taken on with Joe Buck Joe Buck would never reckon before Jack Jale- berd," she interrupted, giving my arm a squeeze. You know that well enough." So I hailed the first passing omnibus, which hap- pened to be going to Hampstead. You are not going to elope with me!" whispered Margaret, with her prettiest smile. Not exactly. Do you remember what we were speaking of the very last time I saw you ?" As well as though it was only yesterday." Well, I have got something more to say now on the same subject." And to cut the matter short, when we reached Hampstead, we had a walk across the heath and had our talk out. (To be continued.)

SUCCESSFUL MUNICIPAL PRINTING. Boston's (U.S.A.) municipal printing plant has proved a practical success. During the last fiscal year the total business done amounted to 152,136dol. The operating expenses for the year aggregated 137,967dol., of which 7824dol. was on account of pay-roll. Allowing for depreciation in the value of the material of the plant at 10 per cent. per annum, says the Journal of Printing, the city saved thes um of 10,380dol, in its public printing.

MEMS. ABOUT NATAL. Natal was first discovered by Vasco de Gama, on Christmas Day 1497. He therefore christened it "Terra Natalis." In 1850 the revenue of Natal was £ 32,112. In 1890 it was £ 1,507,788. Public libraries are now to be found in almost every town in Natal. The acreage of tea planted in Natal is estimated to be sufficient to supply the whole of the tea-drink- ing population of South Africa. Close upon a million pounds is invested in the sugar industry of the colony.

A TOWN AND ITS MORALS. A town which strives to be absolutely moral is Stroudsburg, in Pennsylvania. The inhabitants there are wrestling with many moral questions. First, the clergy of the town inveighed against a proposed brewery; then they Opposed the wearing of high hats by women in church; next one of the pastors re- cognised real lager beer in a drink which he bought for a more modest refreshment on the fair ground, I and now there is righteous indignation because pro- minent church members of the Methodist and Presbyterian faith contended with each other in a baseball game.