Abergavenny Chronicle

CAMEL'S HAIR BRUSHES. I You walk into a shop and ask for a camel- hair brush, and yet no such thing is ever made. There are ver y many kinds of hair used in the making of "camels-hair" brushes, such as bear, fox, rabbit, squirrel, etc., etc., and, indeed, one authority states that over one hundred and fifty sorts <.)' brushes are known as "camels-hair brushes, but there is only one definition accepted by the Board of Tril e-i. e. I "camel's-hair" brushes made from squirrel tails, these being the best and most expen- sive. Real camel's hair is useless for making brushes, and resembles soft tow of a yellow- brownish colour; the mane of a camel is the only part which could be used, and possibly I a dozen brushes could be made from one mane. As a matter of fact, there are only two specimens of brushes made from the actual hair of a camel in existence. The reason for the \erm "camel's-hair5' is the fact that a man named Camel" was the first one to make these finer kinds of biushes, and they became generally known as "real camel's-hair brushes." 4. A HOPELESS CASE. I Critic (before awful specimen): "I say, I isn't your sister a suffragette?" Friend: "Yes." j Critic: "Well, go and tell her to bring an I axe.

ECHOES AS REQUIRED. I If you were told that echoes can be made, you would probably feel inclined to laugh, yet such is the case. In times long past men built their great temples and cathe- drals with no thought of acoustics. Hence, when the preacher preached, echoes rolled freely amid the groinings of the roof, down the rows of sculptured columns, and round and round the nave. With wires strung here and with tapestries spread there, many of the echoes of the old-world build- ings have been obliterated. There are echo experts—builders acquainted with the science of acoustics, whose speciality is I echoes' destruction. Sometimes their tasks are hard. To-day an architect takes thought of the echo. His build-ing is construct ed so as to exclude this intruder. And, know- ing how to exclude it, he knows hew to wel- come it also. Architects are frequently called upon in landscape work to put up summer-houses and arrange rocks around them so as to create an echo there. And this they can satisfactorily do. I

QUAINT BLESSINGS. I When the fishing season commences at Yarmouth there takes place 'n the parish church the annual service known as the "'blessing of the nets." On the day of the service the walls of the church are covered with fishing-nets, and at the conclusion of evensong, prayers are recited over them, Divine protection being invoked for the fishermen and a blessing on the harvest they reap from the deep. The sea is blessed every summer at Ostend. A. procession leaves the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, and makes its way down the Rue de la Chape lie to the Digue de Mer, where a temporary altar is erected. The Bishop of Oaterd advances up the steps of the altar, carrying before him the Host. The Host is placed within the tabernacle upon the altar, and the bishop kneels with his back to the sea in prayer. The ceremony is completed by the Bishop raising the Host in the act of benediction, and facing the sea. The cere- mony dates back to 1435. Animals and birds are blessed annually in the Mexican churches.

THE WORLDS OLDEST UNIVERSITY. I The oldest and strangest university ex- isting in the world is the Mohammedan University of El-Azhar ("The Luminous") founded in 972 A.D. El-Azhar is the Oxford of the Moslem world, and is at present attended by up- wards of 10,000 students of all ages and from every Eastern country. There is no charge for board and lodging. The teaching consists chiefly of Mohammedan dogma, which is committed to memory from sacred books. The students squat in groups on the floor of the immense building, with their boots- which have to be taken off on entering—and their daily rations beside them, and accom- pany the droning repetition of their lessons with a rhythmic swaying of the body. Writing is done on tin slates. Girls are allowed to attend the lectures, but only as listeners; they may not speak.

HATCHING UP-TO-DATE. I Rearing chicks by electricity seems rather strange, yet this is what is done at a farm at Muskogee, Oklahoma, where the egg is electrified and the growth of the young birds forced by the aid of electric light. A tungsten lamp of about sixty watts is hung in the runway, and is switched on and off alternat-oly for eight hours each. When the light is on the chicks fills its craw, and rests after the light is turned off. The capacity of the incubator is for eighteen to twenty trays, one under the other; thus up- wards of 5,000 eggs fill a single chamber. The trays are so arranged that a blast of warm air circulates through the rows of eggs- Some of the farms installed with the apparatus can hatch 10,000 chicks every day in the year, and in a single season as many a6 20,000,000 lively chicks have been hatched and shipped abroad. YOUTH AND AGE. I "I don't think you're getting on at all well at school, Bobby. Why, it says in this paper that Lord Beaconsfield was head of his class before he -was your age." "And it says in this book, grandpa, that he was Prime Minister before he was your age."

The recruiting stations in the London area will in future be open on Sunday. A Willesden shopkeeper is disposing- of a stock of small silk German flags by offering them as "pipe cleaners, four a penny." Mr.. William Cain, of Liverpool, has offered, for the use of the British Army, a Bleriot aeroplane, to be called "The Liver- pool"

MOTHER AND HOME. I Perhaps no conversation of the eldera arouses so much interest as that which is carried on in stage whispers with the idea that children cannot hear. It is surprising how sharp of hearing all save really deaf children are, and how clever they, even the deaf ones, are in interpreting the nods and winks and knowing looks which are sup- posed to mean so much to the grown-ups and nothing at all to the small folk. Really it is far safer to say what is in- tended quite aloud, for it is less likely to arouse curiosity that when it is whispered or hinted at. To MOTHERS OF BOYS. I Boys demand especial care at the mother's hands. They should be trained to show consideration to others, and general good breeding. A lad who is awkward, grumpy, and ill at ease in the presence of visitors is a painful sight, especially when —as frequently happens-his sisters point a contrast by ease and refinement of manner and a knowledge of etiquette. Let your boys wait on you. Do not be their humble slave. Nor should they be allowed to tyran- nise over their sisters. That is the way to make them selfish, arrogant, and generally insufferable. WHEN MOVING. I When moving into a new house, it is a I gocd plan not to furnish it completely all at once, or before you have lived in it for a while. First, place in position such of your old furniture as you wish to keep, then ) from time to time a new chair or another table can be added to fill some vacant corner. It is far preferable to buy furni- ture to suit the room than to select a house to fit the furniture, when it can be done. On the other hand, many a woman has spoiled the interior of her house in hurry- ing to a shop to purchase something chosen I for the number of square feet which it con- tains rather than for its own suitability or beauty. CULTIVATE EXPRESSION. I The ability to control the features is an art that women should cultivate, for the unroetraincd play of expression is rarely favourable to good looks. Perhaps this is because in most cases faces are more apt to express misery than mirth, and so the tell. tale lines appear. Brows are knit, lips curled or set in anger or disdain, and fore- heads wrinkled. But perfect control of the features should not mean an expressionless face-a too placid face is apt to degenerate into insipidity. Smiles should be cultivated. The only curves they cause are lines of beauty. COVERED BCTTONS. I Covered buttons on linen dresses look decidedly cockled on their return from the laundry. A good plan is to sew a s,iid fas- tener beneath each button and a ct res- ponding eyelet to the dress, so that they may be removed for laundry purposes and slipped on again easily. In tacking the seams of a good skirt, place the gore with the s'oped edges over the one with the selvedge. This will minimise the danger of the crcsswav edge stretching. It is not usual to line skirts, but home workers will find a plain-fitting lined skirt keep its shape and wear much longer than an unlined one. I BEAUTY WHILE You WAIT. I It is a common fallacy with very many I women to imagine, that a beautiful com- plexion is a possession within the reach of only the favoured few upon whom Dame Nature bestowed it at birth, and that those who are the unhappy possessors of muddy, sallow skins must be content with them for the rest of their lives. This is a great mis- take. There is absolutely no reason why, with proper care and attention, every woman should not possess a clear complex- ion. A bad digestion, lack of sufficient fresh air, and too little exercise, are respon- sible for many of the different complexions one sees about, and a few simple rules, con- scientiously attended to, will soon work wonders. Always sleep with the window open—wide open if possible—take as much sleep as possible, and always use soft water for washing the face. Rain-water cannot be obtained in London, but a powder can always be placed in the water to soften it. Soap is another item which should be care- fully considered. Many women cannot use soap to their faces without causing rough- ness, or giving it p, "shiny" appearance. In this case oatmeal may be substituted for soap. A large handful should be tied up in a muslin bag and left soaking in the hand- basin all night. In the morning use the water for washing the face, rub a little of the oatmeal in the hands, and lather the face with it. When the skin is particularly shiny, the best remedy is to bathe it night and morning, and occasionally during the day. with Lait Virginal. This can easily be made at home, is quite inexpensive, and most beneficial. Take four ounces of rose- water, and to every ounce of rosewater allow twenty drops of simple tincture of benzoin. Place the rosewater in a wide- mouthed bottle and drop the benzoin in, a drop at a time, shaking the bottle occa- sionally. The result will be a creamy liquid, which will be found most soothing and refreshing to the skin. FOR SUNLESS ROOMS. I Many houses, especially those with a north aspect, contain gloomy, sunless rooms. Even when the windows are left curtainless, so as to allow all the light possible to enter, such rooms still have a dreary look. Rooms of this kind should never be papered with blue or other cold colours. Rich, warm tones of brown, red, or yellow should be chosen. Yellow is especially suitable for a sunless room. Brass heightens the effect. Brass ornaments, brass fenders, fire-irons, chandeliers, and picture-rods send out gleams of light that atone for the absent sunbeams. Mirrors, too, are brightening, and so are pictures with well-polished glasses and gilt frames. DON'T WASTE TIME. I Some women mend garments after the I period when they could be discarded, and waste pounds of time and strength to save a few pence. It is no excuse to say that the time of a woman who is not earning a living out in the world is of no consequence It is valuable to herself in a great many ways, and making a home or contributing the happiness of a person is quite as much to one's credit as is doing work for strangers in offices and shops. Time is ( always valuable, and its waste in useless duties or economies should be avoided. I HEALTH WILL FOLLOW. I Not many women find a joy in how:¡ework'l although a whole gymnasium of muscle-de- veloping appliances could hardly furnish a better means of promoting bodily health and vigour. You may object that many domestic drudges have shapeless figures and muddy complexions and look worn and limp. That is because they overdo it, and do not work under healthy conditions. The woman who goes about her domestic taska with a view to gaining health will let in plenty of fresh air, avoid cramped atti- tudes, and stop when she is fatigued. In that way she will develope her figure, round her outlines, and acquire grace and supple. ness of movement. I

For stealing flour and bacon during a I "high-price" attack on a provision shop at Tipton, Staffordshire, a man was fined log. and a boy placed on probation. To kill badly wounded horses and Tescue others on the battlefield a corps of men wearing a special uniform with a purple cross is to be sent out by the Animal De- fence Society. By the death at Tunbridge Wells of John Boxall, formerly of the 4th Hussars, the number of survivors of the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava has been re- duced to twelve, including two officers. East Ham Distress Committee has decided to open the register. Public works arc to be provided, and the committee are trying to find work for women and fleo for ware- housemen and clerks.

Powdered borax dissolved in water ia a splendid cleanser of all kinds of paint. To rid a house of blackbeetles, sprinkle corners and cupboards freely with powdered borax. A quick way to clean currants when mak- ing cakes is to put the fruit into a colander with a sprinkling of flour, and rub it round a few times with your hand. It is surpris- ing how quickly the stalks are separated and come through the small holes. If an iron is allowed to get red-hot, it will never retain the heat as well again. The flat-iron is badly abused if allowed to stand on the range and in a dusty place. Irons should be put away to cool as soon as done with, and then kept in a cool place away from dust till wanted again. All wooden buckets and washtubs, when not in use, should have about two inches of water left in them. This is specially neces- sary when they are made of joined wood, as it prevents them from becoming too dry, and the wood from shrinking so that they leak. To render dustbins perfectly sanitary burn a couple of newspapers or two or three handfuls of straw in them each time they are emptied. Let the flame rush out, and it will remove every trace of grease or damp from the iron, and render the dustbin as healthy as a new one, and quite free from any unpleasant smell. When threading short cm-tains use elastic instead of tape. This should be cut to half the length of the window, and have a loop at either end to place over the nails or hooks. It keeps the cuitains tight, and pre- vents them i'rom sagging in the middle. To remove mud stains from light clothes, brush as much of the mud as possible away when dry, and afterwards rub the spots with a raw potato. CLEANING SILVER. I Get a few scraps of aluminium from a re- pairing motor garage and place a piece ill' an enamelled (not iron) saucepan, with two quarts of boiling water and two tablespoon- fuls of washing soda. Put in the silver, taking care that some of it touches the aluminium, and leave for three or four minutes. Rinse in clean warm water and dry with a clean cloth. The silver will look like new. The aluminium should be taken out of the water, dried, and saved for future use. PKESKKVES. From those that are damp and unlikely to keep well remove the papers and put the jars into a cool oven and allow them to re- main until the preserves get thoroughly heated. This saves the waste and time of a second boiling. When cold cover as before. Writing paper steeped in good olive oil is better than steeping it in brandy to cover the tops of preserves. Then lay a piece of bladder over every pot. Brandy sometimes helps to ferment the preserves. Many cooks put the jars coverles.s into a cupboard, and lay over all one sheet of paper. Jam so treated have been known to keep good for a year. To CLEAN A GAS-STOVB. Remem ber a stove should never be blacked unless it is spotlessly clean. The best method of keeping it clean is to rub it over with a piece of newspaper directly anv cooking is finished. This removes all dirt and grease, and the paper can be thrown away or burnt. If this is done re- gularly, there is no difficulty in getting it to shine. Emery paper should be used for the bright parts, and if the stove is fitted with an enamelled tray, this should, of course, be taken out periodically and scrubbed with soap, soda, and water. PICKLING HINTS. Walnuts, nasturtiums, gherkins, cauli- flowers, broccoli, radish pods and beans should be dropped into boiling brine for a few minutes, in the proportion of a handful to one gallon of water. Take them out and allow them to get quite dry and cold before putting into pickle. Walnuts should be per- forated with a large darning needle in several places; they will thus more readilv imbibe the flavour of the vinegar or pickle. The following spices are used for ordinary pickles (such as cabbage, onions, beans and cauliflower), black whole pepper, long pepper, Jamaica peppercorns, ginger. Two ounces of the above spices mixed with a few chillies or cayenne pods, a quarter of a pound of coarse sugar, and a pinch of salt is enough to flavour one gallon of vinegar. SOME USEFUL RECIPES. APPLE SOUFFLE.—Peel as many apples as required. Put them into water just to cover, sweeten to taste. Allow them to simmer until the apples are nicely cooked, then pass through a wire sieve into a glass dish. When cold, pour over this custard. Beat well three eggs, and strain them into a pint of new milk, leaving out two whites. Put it into a jug and set it into a saucepan of water. Let the custard cook until thick. When cool, pour over the apple snow. Now beat the whites to a snow and lightly dredge in some castor sugar. Form the snow to the shape of a spoon, put upon sugared paper and set in a cool oven until of a li^ht golden colour. With these decorate the custard. POTTED HERRINGS.—Take as many fresh herrings as required, have them well- cleaned, then wash, dry, and remove the heads and tails. Rub each with mixed spice, and place in layers in a deep piedish, sprinkle each layer with cloves, a few bav leaves, and a dusting of salt and pepper till the dish is nearly full. Then press down tightly and fill up with strong brown vinegar, cover, and leave in a cool oven for twenty-four hours. Then strain and they will be ready for serving either cold or reheated. HOME-MADE POTTED MEAT.—Required one pound of shoulder steak, one tablespoonful of water, salt, pepper, mace, and two ounces of butter. Cut the steak up into fair-sized pieces, and put them into a jam jar; add the water, cover the jar with greased paper, and put it imto a saucepan of hot water. Let it cook for four hours. While the meat is hot, t put it through a mincing machine twice, then pound it in a mortar, adding sufficient seasoning to suit taste and the gravy that came out of the meat. Put the mixture into pots; when cool, cover them with butter that has been melted, so as to run over the tops of the pots. CUCUMBER JELLY.—Peel two cucumbers and cut them into slices, add a slice of onion, a stick of celery chopped, half a tea- spoonful of greeit nasturtium seeds, a piece of green pepper pod, and half a teaspoonful of chopped fresh herbs. Place all in a stew- pan with enough water to cover them, and simmer slowly till the cucumber is quite soft, then press through a fine sieve, add a little salt and pepper, and a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Soften two ounces of gela- tine in cold water, then dissolve in boiling water, add to the cucumber liquid, and turn into moulds or pots to harden. To be eaten with cold meat.

Tho Bishop of Winchester has offered the e,xt?ll;?i. ve park of Farnham CMUe to th? War Office for cattle grazing, in order tS there may be an adequate supply of milk for the troops in the adjoining district of Aldershot. National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies are making preparations for taking an active part in relieving distress in the country. A large number of its members have already given their services to the Red Cross Society. To the cruiser Yarmouth the Mayor of Yarmouth has telegraphed in the name of the inhabitants, "Wish yon God speed, honour, and glory.

FROM VILLAGE SCHOOL TO VATICAN The Pope died on Wednesday night of pneumonia supervening upon a severe attack of bronchial catarrh. Since the outbreak of the war his Holiness had been overwhelmed with grief, and had continually repeated "Poor children!"—allud- ing to the soldiers killed in battle. When Pope Leo XIII. died, in 1903, sixty- two Cardinals assembled at the Vatican to elect by ballot a new Pope. The Cardinals had travelled from all parts of Europe. Some were accompanied by large quantities of lug- gage, as though they meant to stay. Others carried handbags. Cardinal Sarto, Patriarch of Venice, took a return ticket from Venice to Rome, but, to his own and the world's sur-II prise (says th? "Star"), the Cardinals' ballot made him Pope, and the law of Rome made his a prisoner in tihe Vatican. He never looked upon his be loved Venice again. Piuci X. had, it was said, a peculiar affection, for the return half of that ticket. He carried it in his white cassock, and was often seen to gaze upon it with affection and regret. Wealthy collectors strove to get hold of it, but always fa-iled. When, however, the King of Greece, in the course of a visit to the Vatican, expressed a desire to have it, the Pope gave it him. The rise of Sarto was a life romance. He was of humble family, but he neither boasted of nor concealed his origin. He climbed the ecclesiastical ladder from plebeian curate to Pope. He was the first Pope of humble origin for 150 years. He was born at Rieee, in the Venetian pro- vince of Treviso, on June 2, 1835. He went to the village school, and later to the semi- nary at Padua, and was ordained in 185S. He was plain Joseph Sarto. His brother kept an inn at Mantua. One of his sisters married a tobacconist, and the other was sacristan at her brother's church. THE BELLS OF VENICE. In 1911 the Pope had a serious illness. One j nf his great desires during that illness was to hear once more the bells of St. Mark's, Venice, ringing out in the inaug aral ceremony of the restored Campanile. It was impossible that he should go to his beloved Venice, and so the Italian Government arranged that a tele- phone line should be reserved for him for twenty minutes, so that the Pope might hear the bells through the telephone. However, Professor Marchiafava, the Pope's doctor, feared that in the weakened condition of his Holiness the emotion on hearing again those once familiar sounds might seriously influence j his health and cause heart failure. It was announced to the Pope tha.t owing to in- surmountable technical difficulties it was im- possible to arrange for the telephonic trans- mission of the sound of the be1 Is. When the PorlC was told he was bitterly disappointed, but soon became reconciled, saying that he realised from the beginning that the possibility of his hearirvg in Rome the ringing of St. Mark's bells in Venice was too good to be true.

I THE ORIGIN OF CANADA'S NAME. If you were asked how Canada came to be called Canada, could you give the answer? The origin of the name is very strange. The Spaniards visited there pre- vious to the French, and made search for gold and silver; and, finding none, they often said amongst themselves "aca nada," meaning, "there is nothing here." The Indians, who watched closely, learned this sentence and its meaning. Then came the French, and the Indians, who did not want them, supposed they had come on the same mission as the Spanish, kept pouring into their ears the Spanish sentence "aca nada." The French, who knew ae little of the Spanish language as they, supposed that the incessantly o recurring sound was the name of the country, and ultimately chris- tened it Canada, which it has borne ever since I AN EYE TO BUSINESS. "Well, I'll give you threepence, not be- cause I think you deserve it, but simply be- cause it pleases me to do so." "Whv not make it a tanner, sir, and tho- roughly enjoy yerself?"

I VARIOUS CONFETTIS. A wedding would be incomplete nowadayi without confetti, which is really only a modern improvement upon the old custom ol throwing rice over the bride and bride- groom. The use of rice came orginally from India, where to have rice means prosperity, and the custom, therefore, of throwing it over the happy pair was a way of expressing the wish that they might never want. In some parts of India the bride stands in the centre of a circle of women relatives, while her mother-in-law puts a measure full of corn on her prospective daughter's head. The husband then takes handfuls of corn from this measure, and throws it over him- self. In Poland, however, they go further than this, and a crowd of people collects round the bride's house, and bombards the dooi with beans, barley, and oats. The Italians shower nuts upon the unfor- tunate bride and groom, while the Germans throw small buns and cakes after them.

I THE CAUSE OF BALDNESS. Medical men have agreed that baldness is largely a matter of headgear. It is a rarity for a woman to go bald, notwithstanding that her hats are often heavier and bigger than a man's. But her hat is fixed to her hair, not to her scalp, the veins are not con- stricted, and ventilation is permissible. Men's hats, with their hard, tight-fitting brims, make it impossible for the blood to circulate properly, and consequently there is a congestion of blood in the scalp. At any time it is more difficult for the blood to circulate properly in the top of the head than in other parts of the body, for the simple reason that it has to be pumped up higher there than anywhere else, and, if its course is restricted, the oonsequenceis cannot be wondered at. A tight hat also keeps the head hot-another fatal condi- tion. If you would avoid baldness wear light, well-ventilated, soft-brimmed hats.

Two Sandgate women, Mrs. Burke and Miss Mumford, well known locally, have been enrolled as special constables. All railway authorities and steamship companies have been ordered by the Government not to transport pigeons. A Birmingham City Council committee decided to support a memorial asking Par- 1 liament to postpone the annual municipal elections for a year. Three Germans described as a judge, a chemist, and a merchant, were ordered at Folkestone to be detained for three months for trying to embark without permission. M. Maurice Maeterlinck, the Belgian poet, who has made his home in France, has applied to join the French Volunteers; meanwhile he is helping to get in the har- Test. Worry over the war was stated at a West- minster inquest to have caused the death of Mra? Emma Burgman, sixty-eight, formerly a G6?mnan governess Qf Char1wood-street. Pimlico.

CLUB WINDOW. Ito A, O)unt Berchtold, the Austrian Foreign Minister. has in his veins the uncommonly complicated mixture of Hungarian, Bohe- mian, German, Italian, Southern Slav, Polish, Ruthenian, and old Austrian peasant blood. He is connected with the Emperor Francis Joseph in the ninth degree, with the Czar and the Emperor William in the eighth, and with King Ferdinand of Bul- garia in the fifth. Dr. Henry Coward, the well-known lec- turer on music, tells a story of his early •days concerning a quartette which he organized among warehouse workers in a Northern city. He approached a showman who was visiting the district, and suggested to him that a party of singers would be an k in b e y sin g e" attraction to hit show. "Kin they asked the showman. "Yes, very well." "Have they dress suits? Them's necessary." "Yes." "How much will it cost for such an engagement?" "Fi.-e shillings eacn per night, I think, will do it." "I know," said the entertainer; "but how much will it co<t? How many are there in this 'ere quartette? A curious story is told showing the methods of the notorious Mexican leader, Villa. Villa captured a village, and having summoned the local priest to come to him, demanded the use of some property belong- ing to the Church. "Bring m3 the keys at once," he added. "I dare not!" replied the priest. "It is impossible for me to hand you those keys without the authorisation of the bishop." Villa, who, in his advance through the country was making many changes, promptly replied: "Very well; I hereby depose the present bishop, and, now, I make you bishop. Now, get me those keys." The keys were brought to him at once. 9 Mr. Wm. Le Queux, the novelist, makes the interesting suggestion that the 2,000 holders of licences for experiments in wire- less telegraphy should be enrolled as a volunteer corps for service. Each holder of a licence is fully qualified to receive and transmit. Mr. Le Quoux is himself an expert wireless operator. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. who is in supreme command of the Home Fleet, had his first smell of powder in the Egyptian War of 1S82, when a lieutenant in the Agincourt. and in 1886 he gained his first medal in the Navy. He was given it by the Board of Trade for gallantry in attempting to save life. As a lieutenant in the Monarch he commanded a gig which went to the assistance of a ship stranded near Gibraltar. The seas were so heavy, how- ever, that the gig was capsized, and her crew washed ashore. He lost the medal subsequently in that awful collision between the Camperdown and the Victoria, and the Board of Trade kindly offered to replace the medal if he would pay for it! < The Archduke Frederick, the commander- in-chief of the Austrian army, is brother of Queen Christine of Spain, King Alfonso's mother. He is" fifty-eight years of age, has epent his life in the army, and is enor- mously rich. # » Sir Herbert Tree's stories are famous, and to these he has added one relating to his schooldays. In telling the story he con- fessed that as a boy he was very far from being the ideal youth who eagerly imbibes knowledge. "I remember," he said, "the condition of outer darkness in which I lived, when I sat in the rchoolroom watching the shadows grow longer and longer, and hear- ing the voice of the teacher grow fainter and fainter, until I was rudely awakened from my pleasant dreams by the hard realities of life. On one occasion my teacher told me: Herbert, you will end your days on the gallows.' One evening, not verv long ago, when I was acting Fagin in ''Oliver Twist," that teacher came round to see me between the acts, and as I was being led oif in the last scene with a rope round my neck. he exclaimed triumphantly, There' What did I tell you?'" « » Mr. John D. Rockefeller, the multi-mil- lionaire of oil fame, began life in a very humble way. Aa a small boy be was hired out to work in the fields, and at sixteen went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he obtained a berth as office boy. His first bit of busi- ness transacted on his own account was a speculation in wooden poles, which brought him a profit of ten pounds. It was oil which enabled him not only to turn the corner, bit to areata his colossal fortune. « « A good story is told of Lord Kitchener. During the South African War he sent a message to General. Smith-Dorrien by an orderly. The orderly delivered the message in a rather familiar manner that jarred on the General. "Tell Lord Kitchener," he re- plied, "talit I shall be ready to move at the time hf mentions, and be good enough to say pltase next time you speak to me!" Slightly astonished, the orderly retired and made his way back to Lord Kitchener's headquarters. "W ell," a¡;k.d his lordship, "what did General Smith-Dorrien sav" "He said," replied the trooper nervously, "that he'd be ready to move at the time you mentioned, and—and——" Seeing the man's hesitation, Lord Kitchener rapped out: "Well, what else did he say?" With a despairing gulp the trooper replied: "lIe said you were to say please' next time you tpoke to him," < A good tale is told a bout Albert I., the gallant King of the brave Belgians. Some time ago he was visiting a fashionable French watering-place, and one morning he went down to the bathing-ground to have a dip. When coming out of the water he. by mistake, collided with a portly gentle- man, who in very plain language told his Majesty that he must be more careful in future. "Do you know, sir," said the irato- bather, "that I am a member of the Paris City Council?" "Oh, if that is the case," said King Albert, "I must really beg a. thousand pardons, for I am only the Kinsj. of the Belgians When an Austrian Emperor has to ber buried, the body is of course accompanied by a grand military escort. On arriving at? the place of burial the gates are found locked, and the chief of the escort demands admission. The clerical chief demands the name of the dead, whose titles are then given in fuTI. "God knows no such person is the clerical reply: upon which the bap- tismal names of the deceased are given, and then the gates are thrown open, and the ceremony proceeds. King George ie not only a relation of all the monarchs whose countries are at pre- sent at war with each other, but of manv other Kind's as well. He is the first cousin, to the Kaiser, the Czar of Russia, the King of Norway, and the King of Spain. Kingr Ferdinand of Bulgaria is a third cousin aa- also are the King of Belgium and ex-King Manuel of Portugal. Our King, for thiff reason, has been dubbed "the cousin of Europe. General Joffre, in command of the French army, once told a good-humoured sklrv of a party of four British tourists who entered a Paris restaurant one evening and announced that they wanted dinner. "And we don't want any of your frogs or snails, or horses," one of them told the waiter severely. "We'll start with soup—some sort of plain soup." "Certainly, sir," replied the waiter, and next minute the four Britons heard him Bhout down the speaking-tube to the kitchen: "Cat soup!" Without a word the tourists seized their hats and bolted. It was not until some time later that they dis- overed that in French "Four soups"—- "quatres SOUper; "-is pronounced almost exactly like "cat s-)iii)

Lady French, with Loid and Lady Michel- ham, has arrived at Biarritz from Paris in a special tra.in provided by the military authori- ties. Arrangements b-aie been made by tihe United States Government with the Red Star line to carry the mails from Liverpool twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Mr. L. Hardy, M.P., has been sworn in as a special constable at Saltwood (Kent) and Sir John Dimsdale, Sir Norman Pringle, and Mr. Robert Hichens, the novelist, at WhitstaWe.