The Abergavenny Mail

The Double S S S -the benefit 01 using Watson's Matchless Cleanser is that you save time, trouble, money, and all risk of injury to clothes or hands. Made from only the purest materials, Watson's Matchless Cleanser is the greatest all-round home-helper of modern times. The benefit of saving the wrappers is that you get extra value in the splendid prizes offered. For the present Competition, closing March 31, 1914, there are 1,020,000 Prizes, value £183,000. Every prize is guaranteed full value, and there is a prize for every one who sends wrappers according to the rules. Watsons Matchless Cleanser has the largest sale of full-pound tablets in the world. SO EASY TO WIN A PRIZE I GUARANTEE Not less than 36 wrappers accepted. With any quantity up to 300 Buy a tablet of Watson's 'Matchless Cleanser' wrappers just ONE 'Nubolic' wrapper and Matchless Cleamer; give it a ONE 'Sparkla' wrapper will be sufficient. But don't forget that  or So't Water. If you h ve ?ihr?tf & QSnpoarrKlrlia a Wrap- Every Matchless wrapper counts? ?y cause ?? complaint. re- l?UDOttCacapar?a?rap Every Nubotic wrapper counts 2. port details to u? and w. pers COUnt Double alue. Evety Sparkia wrapper counts 2. will refund "ur money. Detailed Illustrated Prize List with rules and instructions sent Free on request. Watson's Matchless Cleanser is sold in three sizes: i lb. (16 ozs.) 3§d.; | lb. (12 ozs.) 3d. i lb. (8 ozs.) 2*# N.S. DEPT.), JOSEPH WATSON 4t SONS, LTD., WHITEHALL SOAP WORKS. LEEDS. "3 "f:c, '< ;>l<

BISHOPS FROOME. On Sunday week the annual prize distribution took place to the children attending the Wesleyan Sunday School. The first prize was motived by Ada Bullock, for regular attendance, only having missed twice and then she was prevented by floods from attending. Monday they had their ueu*l Christmas party in the sohoolroom, when they partook of a good tea, afterwards they engaged in various games, singing carols, etc. Before breaking up, they h" a visit from Father Christmas," who very stitjeh amused and gladdened their young hearts irtth the good supply from his large bag and immense snowball. The children were well looked after by the teachers and friends, who with the children thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and went home with glad hearts and smiling faces.

PERILS OF NEGLECTED COLDS. lung Weakness Warded off by PEPS. One lesson should be strictly observed in every home. Never neglect a cold, and don't treat it ia a happy-go-lucky fashion. You run into real danger if you do. Chronic winter cough, bronchitis, asthma, and inflammation on the lungs are invariably trace- able to neglected colds, and when the lungs are strained and weakened by constant coughing they naore readily succumb to pleurisy, pneumonia anderen consumption. This diagram s hows how fft* Peps medicine is breathed through the wind. pip* ?tree? tB?o the lungs. 04? d ?A?<e and the idkes of ordinary /02<?« into <A< stomach. Directly one feels a slight hoarseness in the throat, has a tickling cough, or a sensation of soreness and tightness about the chest the best thing to do is to take a few breatheable Peps tablets. The incomparable value of Peps in curing coughs and colds and routing dangerous com- plications is traceable to ? unique feature in Ithe remedy. Peps treat by direct contact the real eat of disease in the throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs. Peps are the first successful volatile or breatheable throat and chest medi- cine in tablet form. Liquid medicine cannot enter the breathing tabes and longs it is swallowed down the gullet into the stomach, and as onr diagram shows, the passages to the langs and the stomach are quite separate and distinct. When the little Peps tablet (taken from its silver wrapper) is placed on the tongue, powerful healing fumes are given off by the dissolving tablet and are carried with the breath into all parts of the throat and chest. Chest eonifort accompanies every deeply-drawn famatb of the Peps-laden air. Soreness in the throat if quickly allayel. That desire to free the throat by "hawking" leaves one, and the dry hacking cough soon ceases to be troublesome. Psrseveie with the Peps direct treatment and tightness of the chest is released, while the phlegm that chokes the bronchial tubes is loosened and easily expectorated. The breathing gets easier and soreness rapidly disappears. Peps are the one medicine to arrest a cold and simultaneously give to every part of the throat, longs, and chest, the strength and help necessary to successfully resist the evil effects of damp, cold, or foggy weather. Peps are sold by Chemists and Stores at I/ii and 2/SI. Be sure you get Peps.

REDMARLEY. I Locomonvs'IA 44 SPBEDINU.At Upton-on- Severn Petty Sessions on Thursday week, Tom Davis, an engine-driver, of Harts Farm, Red- marley, was summoned for driving a locomotive at a greater speed than four miles an hour, and pleaded guilty. P.C. Steadman saw defendant mear Pendock Cross driving very fast, and he had to cycle rapidly in order to overtake him. He estimated the speed at over 10 miles per hoar. Defendant disputed the speed, saying that his was a two-speed engine, and could not travel the pace. He had previous convictions for similar offences, and was fined JS2 and costs, 7s 6d. I

HEREFORDSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS. I The Lioenalng Levy for the County. Judge Ingham presided on Monday at the Herefordshire Quarter Sessions, when the Licensing Committee recommended that a levy of one-half the maximum amount be made. To this Mr Theodore Neil (Leominster) moved, as an amendment, that the maximum amount be levied. The amendment was defeated. The report of the committee stated that the total paid for compensation in extinguishing twenty-eight license3 since the Act came in force was £ 13,055. The Chairman said the committee had a little over £1,000 in hand. Half the maximum levy would be sufficient this year, as it would bring in about Y,1,500, and that with the money in hand would enable them to deal with five houses this year. Mr Neild said that upon the authority of the Church of England Temperance Society in Hereford a statement had been published giving the proportion of licensed houses to the population throughout the county, and this list showed there were proportions of public-houses to population which must strike everyone as being wrong; and for the Court to say that only half the levy was required, when so many obvious anomalies existed, would be a failure in the matter of honesty on the part of Quarter Sessions. Dividing the county into petty sessional divisions there were something like 68,000 persona with 372 licensed houses to serve them. Counting five to a family that repre- sented one public-house to every 37 families, and allowing for a reasonable number who did not take alcohol it might be said that something like 30 families had to, or did, support a public-house. If a house earned S.2 a week profit the expenditure of those 30 families must be at least double that amount. Could it be said, then, that in Herefordshire there were no redundant licenses ? As a matter of fact 18,000 of the 68,000 persons lived in parishes where there were no licenses at all. Was it in the interests of morality that between 20- and 24 families had to support a public-house ? Was it in the interests of the prosperity of the people of Herefordshire ? In Leominster borough there was one licensed house to every 127 inhabitants, or one to every 25 families gross. That was the most striking instance of the redundancy of public-bouses. In Bredwardine, on the other hand, the number was one public-house to every 303 persons. Reformers who had attempted legislation in the last fifteen years had recom- mended the proportion for rural districts at one license to every 600 persons and others at one to 500. Leominster had 45 houses, and no one would say that 20 houses were not sufficient to serve the town, but at the present rate of reduction it would take some- thing like forty-five years to bring the number down to a moderate proportion. Mr Albert Simpson said the levy in Here- fordshire was among the lowest, if not the lowest, in England, and if continued it would take generations to deal with the redundant licenses. Sir J nmes Rankin said the magistrates had to consider not so much the number of public-houses as the amount of drunkenness which existing houses might give rise to. NOT GUILTY. I There was only one prisoner for trial- George Cross, who was charged with stealing with violence a parcel of clothing and 5s from Frank Holman. The prisoner was found not guilty and discharged,

I LEDBURY READING ROOM AND LIBRARY. I Quarterly Meeting. On Friday evening last the usual quarterly meeting of the members of the Ledbury Reading Room and Library was held at the Reading Room, when Mr Henry Garrood was voted to the chair, and there were also present Messrs R H Wilks, A Stevens, F W Wade, J J Gardiner, G Henner, G W Suter, H Bebbington, J E Ballard, H T Warren, L Jones, W H Way, B G Bradley, and F Rogers (assistant secretary). In opening the proceedings the Chairman wished the members present a happy and prosperous New Year. He said he would extend that wish to the Reading Room. It was his wish during 1914 that the Reading Room would prove even -nore prosperous than it had done in the p,, -it, and he siu- cerely trusted that during the coming year they would get more members. There was I no doubt that the room was doing a good work, and he sincerely hoped it would continue. I VOTE OF SYMPATHY AND CON- DOLENCE. The Chairman then went on to refer to the sad event which was the cause aud reason why their worthy hon. secretary, who rarely missed a meeting, was absent that night — the sad bereavement Mr T S S Gardner had sustained by the death of his wife' In referring to this matter he would like to say that they as a meeting, having such a cordial appreciation of their worthy secretary, could not allow the occasion to go by without recording on the minutes and extending to Mr Gardner some expression of their esteem for him and their sorrow for him in His trouble. Mr Wade, in seconding, said they would feel sure on this occasion, that an expression of sympathy from this Reading Room should be sent to Mr Gardner. He (Mr Gardner) had been connected with that room so long, and his absence from any of their meetings was an exceedingly rare event indeed, but they could not expect him to be there that night. The resolution was That this meeting of the Ledbury Reading Room and Library desires to place on record their appreciation of the valuable services Mr T S S Gardner, their hon. secretary, has rendered to the Room during his tenure of office, and to express their sincere sympathy with him in bis bereavement." He would suggest that that resolution be carried by the members rising in their places. This request was complied with, the resolution being carried in silence, the mem bers standing. Subsequently the papers for the current quarter were sold.

HOW I LOST A STONE OF FAT AND REGAINED MY GOOD FIGURE BY A SIMPLE RUBBING PROCESS. Three weeks ago I read in the paper cf a lady who found that a simple mixture of herbs could be rubbed on fleshy places, and that this would gradually dissolve excessive fat. I was sorely in need of just such advice, so I obtained from a chemist I dram of quassia chips and 3 OZ9. of cirola bark extract. After taking them home I put the quassia chips in a basin and poured over them a teacupful of boiling water. When it had stood for about half-a-minute I strained it through a cloth and added the cirola bark extract. Then [ poured the mixture into a bottle and applied it freely every night and morning with my hands for about five minutes, using a circular movement The fat just seemed to melt away each time that I rubbed it on and I never dreamed it would be so easy to get slender. Friends are amazed at the improvement in my appearance, for I have reduced over a stone of fat from my hips and abdomen and I look 15 years younger. Now I feel just like stopping every fat woman I see and telling her how I did it. G.M.B.

Visiting Cards printed at the Reporter' Offics. II

PROFITABLE POULTRY CULTURE. f BY RALPH R ALLEN, Lecturer to the Herts County Council; Editor of Monthly Hints on Poultry, &c. (All rights reserved.) SELECTION OF STOCK BIRDS I (Continued). I INBREEDING. I Deterioration of race can in most cases be traced to inbreeding. Inbreeding, generally speaking, is an act of deliberation, ignorance, or apathy on the owner's part, and though I am in sympathy with all departments of the industry I do feel that those interested in exhibition birds have much to answer for under the heading of deliberation, the ignorance and apathy being more due to the utility breeder. Enjoying special facilities regarding post-mortems, seldom a week passes but I have opportunities of studying the disastrous results of inbreeding, tuber- cular disease and a scrofulous and emaciated condition being almost always apparent. BREEDING FROM IMMATURE STOCK. Second only to inbreeding for disastrous results is breeding from immature stock, and it is certainly a reflection on our intelligence that such apparently superfluous notes of warning have to be sounded. In every other branch of farming, special attention is directed to the reproduction of species, no trouble, labour or expense is spared to attain the best results, whilst with poultry in- judicious selection in mating, as I have before remarked, due either to deliberation, apathy or ignorance, is still very prevalent. t PERFECT HEALTH. The first standpoint then in selecting your breeding stock is to secure perfectly healthy birds; the dictum like produces like is perfectly true, and it is impossible to breed healthy chicks from unhealthy stock. The points to be observed at this stage are many, and my candid advice is, if you experience the least doubt as to the general fitness of any bird you are examining, instantly reject it. A straight keel and examination of the throat are details you must not omit during selection. LIKE PRODUCES LIKE. This must be constantly in your mind until your pens are mated. Are you breed- ing for exhibition? then you know the points you wish to reproduce and select accordingly. Is egg-production your object? Then those with a record behind them must be chosen, remembering that egg-production iR not so much a matter of breed as of strain. On the other band, if it is your intention to breed for market, the table properties must he carefully considered, size, quality of flesh and rapidity of growth being con- tributing factors. In selecting stock to embark in the day- old chick industry and settings of eggs, great care must also be exercised, and only such breeds acquired as are in popular demand. I SELECTING THE MALE BIRD. A prevalent idea is that the male bird should cost a small sum more than a hen or pullet: he advised, select the bird that precisely meets your requirements, and acquire him as reasonably as cirouinstances permit; accept no other at any price. The male bird is half the pen, and if an error of judgment ig made the effects will be far reaching. To utility breeders I would mention that it is of equal importance if egg-production is desired that the male bird should be descended from a laying strain as well as the hens. Exempting only the Fancier, for others it is distinctly advantageous to have the male bird unrelated to the females. Let him be well-grown, true to his type, of vigorous aspect, and otherwise meet your needs, then you have satisfactorily arranged half your nftn. [ SELECTING THE FEMALES. I The preceding five paragraphs virtually detail the points to be observed and the snares to be avoided. Keep your definite object well to the foreground, and make judicious selection accordingly, acceptiug only those that are suitable. I THE AGE OF THE BIRDS. I It is generally conceded to be correct to mate pullets to a two-year-old cock and hens to a cockerel, and in my opinion it is a desirable procedure, as it obviates the pro- bability of immature breeding, the evil effects of which I have already strongly denounced. A male bird over three years of age will rarely prove fertile, and it is seldom economy to breed from a hen after her second season. [Any enquiries concerning poultry- keeping addressed to our expert, Ralph R Allen, Sawbridgeworth, Herts., will be answered through these columns free, but those requiring a postal answer direct or sending birds for post-mortem examination must remit a half-crown postal order.] -_u_

THERE IS NOTHING i YOUR DOG WILL fl ENJOY MORE than g an occasional feed of | SPRATT'S QWALS N (Tlae Pocket Biscuit) ^RQp They are the nicest WKP' and most nourishing ■ little biscuits ever pro- duced for dogs; and I I HflflifiTO are very *Conomictl- Wjllj 1about 240 weigh 116. I \}f'wjp BUYA2'2a packet to-day ■ i n f ill but be sure you get the B OVA L-shaped biscuits Send 3d. for our book rof; and "ampl. of foods for your do: Spratt'. Patent Ltd., 24125 Fe church St., London. K.C. ™ MUST H»ve MORE EGGS IF YOU DAILY USE COLMAMS POULTRY v) MUSTARD. 3lb. Sample, 2/8, post paid; 91b. keg, G/7. 181b. 17n carriage paid. Special quotations for large quantities. 1at published-" MORE ABOUT EGG-PRODUCTION." This practical t,N.atiee, which deals exhaustively with this all-important subject to poultry-keepers, ateo contains a useful e(jK-re«ister for twelva months. It will be sent, pott free. to all appli- nati, by RALPH R. ALLEN, t Sawbridgeworth, Herts. ——— 1 1 1 PRINTING of all kinds executed in best style 1. at the Reporter Printing Works, Led- 1 bary.

EMPHATIC TALK. I THE KIND THAT CARRIES CONVICTION I TO EVERY READER. Conviction must follow such emphatic proof as this. Here is a Ledbury case. Read it and see if doubt can exist in the face of this evidence. OD September 26th, 1911, Mrs E Da vies, of 55, Albert Road, Newtown, Ledbury, said :—" I have suffered a good deal from severe aching pains iu the small of my back and between my shoulders. When I sat sewing for a time my back was very bad, and again when I stood for a while sharp pains would dart between my shoulders. If I stooped I had difficulty in pulling myself straight again. "I suffered dreadfully from headaches and spells of dizziness. I felt tired and languid and was easily depressed. I have found splendid benefit from Doan's backache kidney pills when I have been attacked in this way. A short course ot thq medicine soon removes the pains from my back and shoulders, disperses that depressed and tired feeling and .makes me well. I can speak very highly of Doan's backache kidney pills. (Signed) E Davies. On August 16th, 1913-NEARLY TWO YEARS LATER-Mrs Davies said :—" I am keeping very well I am pleased to say, and I recommend Doan's pills that did me so much good. Price 2/9 a box, 6 boxes 13/9; of all dealers, or from Foster-McClellan Co., 8, Wells-street, Oxford-street, London, W. Don't ask for backache or kidney pills, sk DISTINCTLY for DOAN'S backache kidney pills, the same as Mrs. Davies had.

I CANADIAN NEWS JOTTINGS. I. L^ROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) MONTREAL, DEC. 27TH. So far there has been no really cold weather end Montrealers who love the city best when the snow is piltd so high on either side of the sidewalks that you cannot see across the street ilre t'cginniug to complain. The only happy peop are the building contractors, and those who have been spared the expense of a winter in California. The effect of the mild weather :iti building operations is very apparent from figures in the possession of the building inspector, He estimates that this year the total vahit: of building permits issued for Greater Montreal will be nearly £ 8,000,000. In the present month the building permits issued totalled £ 238,256, compared with E137,137 dti-ing the whole of December last year. Many of the ancient liuddled-together dwellings in narrow streets of the French section of the city have been razed to the ground aud more up-to-date dwellings erected on the sitei. I GOLDEN GRAIN. I Talking of a warm autumn, the weather has had a most beneficial effect on the pockets of the farmers of the West. Figures compiled at the Calgary Grain Exchange indicate that 75 per cent, of the Alberta grain crop has already been marketed. The exceptional earliness of the season, together with the fine weather which prevailed all fall, cnahled the railways to get. most of the crop to the head of the lakes before the close of navigation. Of the 25 per cent, of the crop remaining in farmers' hands nearly one half will be required for seed, leaving onlv from 12 to 15 of the whole to be marketed. As a result of this state of affairs money promises to be somewhat easier after the first of the year. Implement houses and other lines of business which deal largely with the agri- cultural community are reporting that their col- lections are very good, and many of the big job- bing firms in Calgary have had to put on extra staffs to handle their big cash receipts. I NOT SO VERY BAD. I By the way, the most exaggerated reports were circulated through the Press of the damage done by fire during the recent water famine. The only serious fire was that in Ontario-street, which is not near the business centre of the city as stated in the papers, and not a street of any importance. True, the owners of the block destroyed lost consider- ably, but the general feeling of property owners ia the vicinity is that the conflagration was a disguised blessing. A newer, better building will be erected in the place of the shambling affair that was burned. THE OIL OF ATHABASCA. t A number of the local real estate men are intensely interested in the Athabasca River country, 140 miles north of Edmonton, since the reports of Dr. A. T. Shillington, of Ottawa and Mr. Oscar T. Ross, of the same place, have been published. They have just returned from the North-West, and claim that there is an oil field on the shores of the Athabasca River which may rival that of California on a smaller scale. The prospectors ;in question have shown their belief in the country by securing from the Govern- ment some 34,000 acres of land. The proposition is a somewhat unique one in that it represents oil prospecting by a somewhat new method, a strictly scientific one. Oil pro- specting in Canada in the past has been conducted along the lines of find the oil and then develop your field." The manner in which the two Ottawa men have approached it is one in which they first attempt to find the field and now propose to look for the oil. ADVENTURE FOR THE ADVENTUROUS. I Reminiscent of the days of the pioneers is the story that comes from the bush near fiurbidge, Quebec. Here lives Louis Angers, a wood chopper. Angers was out in the woods about a quarter of a mile from his hut when he heard the long-drawn howl of a wolf in the distance which was quickly answered by others. Being armed with nothing more than a sheath knife and a stick, Angers took to his heels and a Marathon ensued, the like of which has not been seen even at the Olympic games. With three large wolves in pursuit Angers sprinted for dear life, just managing to fling the door of his cabin shut as the foremost of his hungry pursuers landed with a thud against it. When he had recovered his breath, the wood- chopper fired a couple of shots at the animals iitill skulking about, without killing one. It is still possible for the lover of excitement to enjoy incidents snch as this; but he has to go pretty far afield for them now—right into the back back- woods." Still, it is refreshing for us, who have to take ourexcitements second-hand from the moving pictures, to realise that such things happen at places which are, at any rate, on the same continent. T THE PUSHING NEWSBOY. I An interesting little story reaches me from A Western correspondent, which illustrates very well the type of immigrant, British or foreign, of whom Canada is most in need. By dint of hard work and rigid saving, Benjamin Dworkin, a little Russian lad, of 14 summers, who daily sells papers on the streets of Calgary, has accumulated enough money to bring his father, mother and five little brothers and sisters from Russia to the land" ot promise the Canadian West. The boy em- barked for Canada about fourteeen months ago and, arriving at Calgary, at first worked at odd jobs around the city. He soon discovered that more money was to be made in business for himself so he started as a "newsie 011 the streets. Furthermore,selling papers gave him a chance to go to school, and he took advantage of the night classes for foreign-born citizens which arc con- ducted by the technical education board of the city. Young Dworkin's dreams were realised the oilier day when his family, seven in number, arrived fi-oni Russia and all secured work, which will take a big burden off his shoulders. QUEBEC. There are to be big developments in t during the coming year. Two (.lays before Chi ist. Inan the agreements were signed for the building of the huge new railway terminal works into which all the railways entering Quebec will nll. The station is designed to be the finest in Cunada and will be used by both the Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk' as lessees. A tunnel beneath part of the city will connect the station proper with the actual terminus at the riverside. This is to occupy the site of the old Champlain Market, and, while lovers of the picturesque will lament the loss of the ancient huddle of build- ings which gave such quaintness to the river front, the terminus will be admirably situated from a commercial point of view. Car shops at St. Malo covering 200 acres, and a large freight yard at Ste. Foye—where one of the minor battles which preceded the Plains of Abraham waa fought are included in the scheme. The (--at- ferry which will connect the Quebec terminus with the railway IHJCK at Levis, on the other side of the St. W Lawrence, is now being built in England,;and will be delivered, it is cxpecb d, in 4u» KDvijvf w*

Z. -L MMiADE A  CONSULTING  an introductory journal fall of GENUINE advertisements appealing to all classes of ladies and gentlemen desirous of marriage. No Exorbitant Fees. 6d. Post Free in Sealed Envelope. Editor, 18, Hogarth Itoad, Earl's Court

I ACROSS THE TABLE. No doubt the Post Office will be roundl^r abusiMl by the losers of the large qiianiiiy of Christmas parcels, including hundreds of turkeys, geese, pheasants, ducks, plum pud- dings. and other perishable things, which were undelivered in Christmas week; but, as an official of the Returned Letter Department explained to the n-ewspaper reporters, the senders are to biame for despatching parcels with tie-on tags so insecurely tied on that they come off in the post. The proper plan, of course, is to use gummed labels or to write the address on the cover of the parcel itself though that, too, is useless if, as happened, moist things are wrapped in thin pieces of pap,er. which are soon so saturated that th& address is undecipherable. People are amazingly careless in such matters. Xow that we are apparently in the toiils of another Anglican controversy, which has JUan" the name of Kikuyu famous, it may be recalled that on New Year's Eve 330 years ago died Tbonras Erastus. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Erastus. says the Manchester Guardian, is that he would be the most surprised of men if he could revisit. the earth and find that his name has been given to a theory which he never discussed at all. Erastianism nowadays means, roughly, the doctrine of the -supremacy of the State over the Church in ecclesiastical and doc- trinal matters. But Erastus himself never considered the relations between Church and State at all. The pith of his seventy-five theses and1 his six Books of Confirmation was that the sins of professing Christians should be punished by civill authority, which is ft long way short of modern Erastianism. They are telling the story about town of how a Jewish gentleman took to supper at. the Ritz Hotel a wife who was so pretty that a man at a neighbouring table stared at her all through dinner. At last the Jew became to indignant that he walked over and said, Haven't you got anything else to do but stare a.'t my wife?" No," was the astonish- ing reply. A true story of a Christmas present. A benevolent doctor lately bought several thermos flasks to give as useful Christmas, prselllts to some of his patients. One of these-an old lady—received the gift with in- 8truction-s how to fill it with hot tea, which the doctor thought would be a comfort to her in the dark early mornings of winter. Next day. when he came, he inquired after the efficiency of his present. You can take the silly thing away, doctor!" said. the old lady, ungratefully. The tea inside it may be all right—I haven't tried it-but the bottle's no good at all. I had it to my feet, and they were just like ice all night!" Having the coloured supplement of a well- known religious weekly on hand on New Year's Eve, writes a correspondent, I thought I would brighten up the kitchen with it. when the maid rushed up to me and be- sought me to desist. It'll bring us had luck all the new year," she said. What possible ill-luck a rather farciful picture of a BOther and child could bring us I failed to mm, a" I said so. The girl took the picture ia ker hand and examined the margin carefully, tven turning it. over, then handed it back to me with evident re lief. Oh, that's all right, a-ie ev?,. O,?-iit re l ief. e-ir." she said. You can 'ang that up anolt welcome. I thought it was an Oldminick.' 't After-inquiry failed to elicit any reason for auspectinig misfortune because a new year calendar was erected before it was due, but the fear was undoubtedly present strongly m the girl's mind, and is to be classed, on* supposes, with the superstition that forbids a bride-to-be to triflt with her married name before the ceremony has actually been performed. The youth had an eye which waa decidedly black. Got it at our Boxing-Day match," he explained to a friend. The chap who gave you that got ordered off, didn't he?" said his companion. "Ordered off! Why, it was the referee gave it me because I told him he'd no more idea of offside than a blind pig." Into a 'bus on the Bavswater-road entered haughtily a rather over-dressed woman, tread- ing heavily on the toes of a demure little lady in the corner, who, however, slightly raised her eyebrows and drew her small feet further in. Noticing this, the dressy woman remarked il: in injured voice. WelJ, I couldn't help it." The little lady, smiling sweetly, glanced meaningly at the speaker's well-developed feet and said, Of course, I see you couldn't." Mr. P. P. Howe, in the Outloolc, tells an excellent story of the late J. M. Synge during his stay on the Aran Isles. One Sunaky morn- ing b8 met the local priest. Ah, Mr. Synge," said the priest, "did you go to Mass this morning?'' "I did not," said Synge. Ia it reading your Bible you've boon r" "I have not," said Synge. Well, begob," said the priest, if ever you go to heaven, Mr. Synge, it's a great laugh you'll have at us." The articles left behind in the ieats of pic- ture-theatres by absent-minded members of the audience are both numerous and varied. A few days ago a Liverpool theatre probably achieved a record in this respect, when at the conclusion of a performance the attendants discovered that in one of the seats some care- less person had mislaid a baby The mother had been so carried away by the pictures that she left reflecting so deeply on what she had seen, and quite forgot her offspring. She did not realise her loss until the second house was nearly full. The management afterwards put a notice on the screen to the effect that they would be obliged if ladies, after witness- ing the performance, would not forget to take their babies with them, as the attendants had quite as much as they could do to look after their own. The trick cyclist was talking. Been twenty years in the business and I'm still learning," he boasted. "And may I ask," said the inquisitive pessimist, what you've got for your pains?" Certainly," replied the velocipedal expert; "arnica." The other evening, days a Daily Sketch Writer, a Jewish friend, with whom I waa playing bridge, told me a story of a co- religionist who was exceedingly lucky at cards but very unfortunate on the Turf. Hia wife wondered and complained. Why is it you always win at poker," she asked, "and always lose when you back horoes? "Well, my dear," came the genial reply, "I don't shuffle the horses. Officer, isn't there a whispering gallery here somewhere?" asked a young womajt visitor from the country of one of the Houses of Parliament policemen. The policeman wam quite equal to the occasion. "No, miss," he replied, "that's up at St. Paul's. We've/ only a talking shop here." At the Alhambra the other night I heard two gorgeously garbed "nuts" discussing the question of dress clothes, says a gossip in London Opinion. The first nut," with a yawn, remarked: "That dress suit he was wearing cost him twenty-five guineas," a price which seemed rather to startle Nut No. 2, who indignantly suggested that his friend must be making a mistake. I tell you I'm not making a mistake," was the reply; "and if you don't believe me I can prove my words—I can show you the summons. The tailor grew confidential as he made those mysterious chalk marks on the cloth. "Looking forward to a good New Year?" queried the customer. The New Year used to mean a lot to us, sir. It was the custom of most gentlemen to settle all thei.r accounts and get square with the world at the end of the year. And now they take no more notice of it than if it were an ordinary month-end. I don't like to see these old-fashioned customs given up; do you, sir?" But on this point the customer maintained an armed neutrality.

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[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] BIBLE STUDIES CONDUCTED BY PASTOR RUSSELL. SEVENTY MINISTERS ORDAINED. The Lesson.-Luke x. 1-16. The Text. —"It is not ye that speak, but The T.ext.It is not y that speak. but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."—Matthew x. 20. Ministerial ordination has for centuries been a bone of contention. Indirectly it has led to bloody persecutions. Thank God! those days are gone, so far as the majority of Christian people are concerned. Yet, be- cause the masses do not clearly understand the subject of ordination, there is always danger of a recurrence of persecution along this line. Presbyterians, Baptists, Metho- dists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, all have shared in these persecutions based upon misconceptions of ministerial ordination; in times past they persecuted each other along these lines. The claim was that none could be a preacher or teacher unless he had a special ordination that for the uiiordained to preach or teach was a rebellion against Divine arrangement and that all who fol- lowed such teaching or gave it support were heretics, and, as such, deserving of no sym- pathy, but rather persecution. Ordination does not relate to a ceremony, or form, as many suppose. It signifies an authorisation, a commission, to preach. The Baptists commission those who agree with their creed to preach it. The Presbyterians so commission their disciples, as do the Lutherans, Methodists, etc. Roman Catholics and Episcopalians claim an ordination from God—that all bishops are successors to the Apostles and armed with Apostolic autho- rity hence that any not commissioned or ordained, by their bishops have no right to preach, but are heretics. From their stand- point. all other Protestants are heretics, preaching without authority. But the spirit of tolerance is growing, and within the last two years Episcopalians have lifted the embargo on other Protes- tants to the extent that an Episcopal minister may preach in the pulpit of another denomination, or a minister not ordained by the Episcopalians may preach in their pulpits. But this is a very modern concession. THE TRUE ORDINATION. The right thought of ordination is pre- sented in our present Study. Jesus had already appointed twelve to be his special Apostles; and now he ordained, or ap- ,pointed, seventy more, not to be Apostles, but to be general ministers, or missionaries. There was no ceremony connected with their appointment, or ordination, so far as the re- cord shows. Jesus simply sent them out, telling them what to say. Our Golden Text explains the matter, sayiag, "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speakcth in you." Strictly speaking, the Apostles had not vet received the Holy Spirit directly. The Fathers' Spirit had been imparted to the Son, who shared that Spirit with those he sent out to preach in his name. The Father did not directly recognise, authorise, or ordain any to preach the Gospel message until Pentecost. St. Peter there explains that the Holy Spirit shed forth upon the waiting disciples was from the Father and by the Son.—Acts ii. 32, 33. Elsewhere it is explanied that the Holy Spirit was not given previot18 because Jesus had not been glorified. It was neces- sary for Jesus to suffer. to ascend on High, and to present his merit on behalf of his disciples, before the Heavenly Father recog- nised them as sons of the new order and gave them the begetting of the Holy Spirit, the unction from the Holy One, the authorisation, or ordination, to be His representatives in the world and. if faith- ful, by and by to be associates with Jesus in the Heavenly Kingdom, which for a thousand years is to bless the earth and roll away the curse. WHAT ORDINATION MEANS. 1 Only those whom God has ordained 1* the sense of giving them the Holy Spirit of sonsliip are in any wise commissioned, or authorised, to preach in the Lord's name. All the ceremonies on earth and all the hands of all the bishops cannot give authority to anybody to speak in the name of God. Our Lord Jesus did not begin his ministry until he had re- ceived such an ordination. At the time of his consecration and baptism the Holy S, ¡rit came upon him, anointing him, con- secrating him. authorising him, to preach the good tidings to the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to comfort those that nourn.-lsa. lxi. 1,2. The same Holy Spirit is authority for any- body who has received it to tell all that he understands respecting the plan of God to all who have an ear to hear—especially to the meek, the broken-hearted, those who are feeling after God. While the Apostle Paul intimates that the female members of the Church are not to preach publicly, this does not interfere with the fact that all of them who have received the Holy Spirit have the anointing to preach and to teach according to the limitations and opportunities of the sex: and sometimes the private teaching is as effective aN the more public. The forty years which closed the Jewish Age, ending A.D. 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem, was the Harve.it period for typi- cal Israel. It witnessed the gathering into the Gospel garner of all the true wheat and the entire setting aside of the remainder, the chaff, in a- great time of trouble, sym- bolically called tire. The Lord, in Matt. xiii., intimates that in the end of this Gospel Age there will be a similar Harvest. Many believe that it began in 1874 and will end in 1915. CO-LABOURERS WITH GOD. I All of the Lord's faithful ones at the close of the Jewish Age were to recognisc the great privilege of being engaged in the Harvest work, and the same must be true The Lord's followers are compared to gentle, inoffensive lambs and sheep, while tne selfish, unregenerate world he pictures as wolves. In the Jewish Harvest he would not have them beg their way from house to Y.Aiho, but inquire for the most worthy in every village, and, if received, remain there until they had given their witness in that village. They were to depend wholly upon the Lord, and to make no attempt to pro- vide for their needs. This was to be to them a lesson for their future benefit. Later, Jesus sent forth his disciples, telling them to provide for their wants to the best of their ability—implying that the first experience had been a special one, to give them confi- dence and reliance in Divine power. The Master's Spirit was given to them in such measure that they were enabled to do as he did-to heal the sick, cast out devils, etc. We are not to understand that there is such an authorisation of the Lord's people to-day. Conditions have changed. The healing of spiritual sickness, blindness and deafness, "greater works than these," is the privilege of the Lord's people to-day. The one message of the disciples was that the Kingdom of God had come nigh. Who- ever could be. would be influenced by that message. God's Kingdom had been the hope of Israel for many centuries, but when it was presented, only a comparatively small number were ready to receive it. There- after the Kingdom offer was taken away from them, and has since been given throughout the whole world, gathering the elpet class from every nation to be Messiah's Bride and Joint-heir, through whom shortly the Kingdom will be established in the earth.