Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

11 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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------ODDS AND ENDS.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

ODDS AND ENDS. The harper sings a song of love In the village street, at eve; Shadows fall from the trees above, And figures fantastic weave,— Lustily twangs the old man the strings, And softly his amorous ditty sings. Three merry maids draw near, the while A pale faced girl stands aside; As the song ends, the three girls smile, And the harper's love song deride,— But the pale girl, pensive, lingers yet, And tis seen her eyes with tears are wet. J. C. A.] If some men had killed Goliath they would re- mind the Lord of it every day in the week. Don't talk much about giving the devil his due u ntil you are sure if he had it he would not have you. France has a larger revenue, expenditure, and public debt than any other country in the world. For every four shillings spent in England on drink only a halfpenny is expended on education. Two parishes in Berkshire have four inhabi- tants each in Buckingham there is a parish witb seven inhabitants; Oxford one with eight, and other counties have parishes with less than 20. In six parishes which have only six electors be- tween them, it would seem a hopeless task to get together a Parish Council. Under the head of mis-description of properties, Mr B. J. Vaughan told some excellent stories in a lecture at the Auctioneers' Institute the other day. Thus a tale is told of a gentleman who bought an estate under the hammer of the great George Robins, a master of florid description, without having seen it, and then, upon coaching down to inspect his purchase, found that the navigable, meandering stream' in front of the house was a half-stagnant canal, and the pic- turesque hanging wood on the opposite hill' a gallows. It would, happily, appear as if the yearly epi- demics of influenza have worked themselves out, But the growing intensity of diphtheria is getting alarming. Up to the outbreak of 1888 this in- sidious disease had never carried off more than 1,000 victims in 12 months, so far as London was concerned. But in 1892 that number was doubled and as the mortality of the last 10 mOBths amounted to 2,500, we are jastified in concluding that 3,000 will not be an exaggerated estimate be- fore the end of the year arrives. In truth, we are in the midst of a plague, net much less fatal than cholera and aiinust as insidious, for the fatal at- tacks auiount t from 20 to 30 per cent., or more than four times the mortality of scarlet fever. If teetotallers could have discovered something nice and yet invigora ing as a substitute for liquor, instead of those dreadful temperance dnnka they in va.in present to our notice, our youth might have been won from the slavery of tho wiue cup that way, but, as it is, their eniran .'in ement has been effected by the mgar. Tn. in ilius commenced in the club has been j <•, u.t. iu the home. The ladies have wisely wit lJ, ,au their opposition to a rival who is only to be ,e.ire t by those who ignore her at- tractions s-ouie there are, it is true, who still de- clare they will Hev.'r admit the fair Nicotina within their gates; but, it is to be observed, these have had n, experience of how men drank athome before they learned to smoke abroad.— James Payn. An aiticle in "Borderland" describes the ghostly tips giveu to a Nonconformist minis- ter in a Viiuland town through a medium known as "Professor" Baldwin. In "Truth" Mr Maskelyne shows how the trick was done. The clerical inquirer iprote his questions down on thin csiips of paper, which were rolled up and placed on the table. Baldwin then picked them up and tjresse them against his forehead,, and after some lurth: r t. the replies, ostensibly dic- tated by t' spirits, were written out. And now for the t<- • Apparently Baldwin puts the piece of paper ba it n the table, but he does nothing of the kind. Whitt he puts back is a dummy pellet, which be lias concealed in his hand for the pur- pose. The pellet containing the question remains in his hand. While the novirfe is writing his second question, as he is directed to do, Baldwin "pens the first slip under cover of the table, reads it, refolds it, and makes some slight mark or crease upon it so that he can recognise it again. The same course is pursued with the other slips. The answers, of course, are based entirely on the in- formation supplied in the questions eked out by anything tuat can be picked up in conversation. Gentlemen, there is no deception." Through the enterprise of a newspaper editor, Signor Sonzono, of the Secolo," the Bible has secured a larger circulation than any other book now selling in Italy, where hitherto the Scriptures bad beer, rpgarded as a Protestant book, and sold in comparatively small numbers. The editor con- ceived the idea of issuing an illustrated family Bible, the first of the kind ever seen in Italy. The illustrations were from plates used by Messrs Cassell in their English Family Bible. The work came out in numbers, at a halfpenny each, making lOf. for the completed book. The first edition consisted of 50,000. Thus as each copy cost 10f., X20,000 have been voluntarily spent by the Italian people in providing themselves with family Bibles. In the arsenal of Venice during the mid- uay rest the Secolo Bible is often read with the daily newspaper with which it is sold. One workman reads whilst the others sit round and listen. THE EMPRESS FREDKBICK.—Here are two stories about the Empress Frederick, whose imperious disposition is well known, When the Empress was a child she was not a little jealous of her brother, the Prince of Wales. She resented the fact that one younger than herself should be treated with greater respect, and, without a doubt, that was the case with the Heir-Apparent. When- ever he went in or out of the Castle it was the custom to saLute him, and the attendants in order to warn the men that the Prince was coming, would give a peculiar stamp with their feet. This was not lost on the observing young Princess, and one day, when she was going out for a walk, just before she came in sight of the guards, she paused and gave the regulation Heir-Apparent stamp. Sure enough the soldiers presented arms just as the small but delighted Princ ss dawned upon their astonished eyes. Another anecdote of the small girl is quite as characteristic. The Royal children were attended in illness by old Dr Brown of Windsor. Probably on account of the unpalat- able doses he gave them the doctor was not popu- lar with the little Princes and Princesses. They accordingly took great delight in calling him Brown," to the utter ignoring of his title and also the great indignation of their Royal mamma. The Queen took them apart on one of the occa- sions and said that the next one who offended in that way should be despatched to bed. Dr Brown came soon again. The little Princess Royal knew he was coming. She also knew that her mother had meant what she said. It had no deterring effect. She walked into the 100m and promptly remarked, H Good morning, Brown good evening, Brown. I am going to bed." And to bed she went before anyone had a chance to send her. THE FUTURY," OF THE ENGLISH RACE. Mr Leeky delivered the first of a series of winter lec tures at the Imperial institute on Monday. He spoke on the development of the colonies, and said that with our vast population it is a matter of life and death to the nation that new fields should be opened to our goods. In the present condition of the world we could not do better than look for these fields within the Empire. England had given great latitude to her colonies fostering within them the spirit of enterprise and self-reliance, and in the main had benefited by their association with this country. No one could foretell the future of Great Britain, for the balance of pi.-wer was always changing; but they I might confidently predict that no revolution in human affairs couid destroy the future ascendancy of the Enghbh language and of the Imperial race

THE WEEK'S NE IVS.

WALES AND WELSH MEN. --------

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IN PARLIAMENT.

A WREXHAM SLANDER ACTION.…

+ AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

...---------.... STRANGE DEATH…

..... THE GOVERNMENT AND AGRICULTURAL…

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