County Observer and Monmouthshire Central Advertiser Abergavenny and Raglan Herald Usk and Pontypool Messenger and Chepstow Argus

I GARDENING GOSSIP. I (From "Gardening Illustrated CONSERVATORY. Those who want to have a bright house without much trouble (remarks Mr. E. Hobday) cannot afford to neglect the Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums. The old variety Mme. Crousse, planted out and trained up a pillar or against a wall, will make 10ft. or more of growth in one season. Planted against a wire arch in the conservatory, and after the arch is covered allowed to grow as it pleases, the effect is charming, and it flowers continuously till the short days come. When Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums are grown as pot plants they should be pinched freely when young to obtain a good base, and then opened out with a few light stakes. The new variety Achievement makes an ideal market plant, the habit being dense and compact, and the large trusses of flowers are very freely produced. The colour is a bright rose or pink. It is sure to be- come popular. Cytisus filipes is a charming old plant of graceful habit, especially when grown as a dwarf standard. It is not often met with now, unfortunately. Rose Crimson Rambler is a good pot plant. When grown freely and well ripened the long shoots will flower their entire length. It succeeds well as a standard in a cool-house. It should be pruned hard back after flowering and kept under glass till the new growth is made, and then ripened out- side. A demand is springing up again for the old- fashioned scented-leaved Geraniums. Years ago quite a number of varieties was catalogued which it wouldbe difficult to find now. They are certain to be- come popular again, especially for cutting to mix with cut flowers. One of the things I intend to do is to get together a collection of these charming plants again. There is no sweeter plant for a cottage window than the variegated variety Lady Plymouth. Years ago we had such an abundance of this that we formed lines of it in the ribbon borders. Now I expect it is only found in old-fashioned gardens. One of the prettiest basket plants in the conserva- tory or cottage is Campanula isophylla Mayi. The old white variety should also be grown. These are things which require no skill to grow, and they last a long time in bloom. Cuttings of the young shoots strike in spring, and by placing three young plants in a 6-inch pot a good-sized specimen can be made in a few months. See that all permanent plants in the borders have enough water. STOVE. Allamandas are lovely things in the stove, and, when genuine, the flowers are useful for cutting. Planted out in old turf and fibrous peat, with sand and charcoal to keep it open, and the shoots trained up near the glass, a gorgeous effect is produced. The Allamanda is indispensable to the exhibitor, but to ensure plenty of trusses of flowers the young shoots must be run up strings or some other method adopted to bring the young shoots into the full light and warmth of the sunshine to ripen growth. As soon as the flower-buds are visible the shoots are taken down and trained round the wires to show them off to the best advantage, and from this onwards liquid-manure should be given twice a week. Continue to strike cuttings of Poinsettias. The cuttings, when rooted, should be lifted from the warm bed and gradually brought to the light to keep them sturdy, and be shifted into larger pots. The sturdier the plants the finer the heads of bracts. Begonias and other soft-wooded winter-flowering things should be pinched from time to time to induce a bushy habit. Very little fire-heat will be required now. The fires may go out altogether in those short bursts of bright sun- shine. Be careful about the water for syringing. Unless it is quite pure, keep up the humidity of the atmosphere by damping floors, &c., only. TOP-DRESSING TOMATOES AND CUCUMBERS. With both crops top-dressing is one of the es- sentials to success, and the work must be thought out and done in a broad and liberal sense. It is not so much the quantity given as its frequency. Heavy top-dressings are not required for Cucum- bers, but as soon as the roots work through add a little more compost. This not only encourages the roots, but it sweetens the atmosphere, and the foliage benefits in a marked degree. Frequent top- dressings are not so necessary with Tomatoes, but they are usually heavier. It is a great advantage to give encouragement to the surface roots. We use any good stuff that is available. Old potting- soil mixed with a little Moss-litter-manure and a sprinkling of artificial manure have had a marked effect upon both Cucumbers and Tomatoes, and there is less risk of introducing wireworm or eelworms into the soil. ORCHARD-HOUSE. If the trees in pots are much crowded it may be possible to take out some of the Plums and other hardy late kinds of fruits to permit of the Peaches and Nectarines being opened out a little. The young wood of Peaches will now have received its final thinning, and if it is possible to improve the shape of the tree by cutting back an old branch, it may be done now if the branch is fruitless. Top- dressing is an important matter in pot-fruit culture. Usually something is done before this, but this should be added to now. In giving artificial stimu- lants it is better, I think, to give them in the water. There is not so much danger of overdoing it, and this has been done when the matter is left in the hands of an assistant. FRUIT GARDEN. When young strawberry-plants are required for forcing in pots the runners should be taken as early as possible. Very often late runners of the previous season which have been planted in a nursery bed are potted up for forcing; but I like runners of the current season. There are a vigour and alertness, if I may use such a word, about young plants that are absent from the older ones but the young plants must be taken early and have had the best possible treatment from the first. The principal work now will be fighting insects, and this work may be much reduced and made easier by being in time with the remedy; and for destroying aphides, whether green or black, there is nothing so easily applied and so economical as Tobacco-powder. This and clean water, if used in time, will keep the trees clean and healthy. If Gooseberry-caterpillars are present they must either be kept down by hand-picking or Hellebore- powder, which may either be dusted among the foliage or be mixed with water and put through the syringe. The only way to attack the Codlin- moth at this season is by syringing the trees with something strong enough to kill the larvae. When in the shape of eggs they are within reach of the mixture. VEGETABLE GARDEN. Cucumbers under glass are growing very fast now, and the stopping must be timely and regular. An experienced hand will soon run through a house of Cucumbers and thin and stop the young shoots. If the shoots are stopped one leaf beyond the fruit there will always be a rapid succession of Cucum- bers. A light top-dressing often, rather than a heavy dressing at longer intervals, should be the rule. We are growing several new or reputedly new varieties, but for consistent cutting there is nothing better than Lockie's Perfection. Mulch Tomatoes under glass with Moss-litter-manure. I mention this because it is easily applied, either alone or mixed with loam or any good soil. Let the top-dressing be free from wireworms or other insects. Give final thinning to Onions, Carrots, Beet, and other root crops. To keep up a suc- cession of good Lettuces requires some effort in dry, hot weather. Sow on well-manured land and mulch between the rows with short manure or rich compost of some kind. Water when the plants seem distressed, and give a thorough soaking if it is necessary to water at all. This applies to all watering. I have come to the'conclusion that the hoc is more useful than the water, especially where the land is iii Cood licart.

I NORHAM CASTLE. In a curious manuscript on the site of Norham Castle, in 1522, not long after the battle of Flodden, and now in the British Museum, it is stated that the inner ward or keep was impreg- nable; The provisions are three great stores of salt eels, 49 kine, three hogsheads of salted salmon, 40 quarters of grain, besides many cows and 400 sheep, lying under the castle walls nightly; but, as a number of arrows wanted feathers a great fletcher-maker of arrows—was required."

I JAPANESE COAL. The coal mines in Japan now yield some 4.000,000 tons annually, of which more than three- fourths hail from the mines at the island of Kiau- siu. In the year 1899 the exports of coal from Japan amounted to 2,500,000 tons, the rest being consumed at home for railways, steamers, and factories. Private individuals (says Sell's Commercial Intelligence) hardly use coal at all in Japan. From the harbours of Kiu-siu the exports during 1899 were about double what they had been four years previously. Most of the coals go to China and Hong Kong.

WHEN HANDS GROW OLD. According to Sir James Crichton Browne, the hand begins to lose its suppleness when the indi- vidual is about 40 years of age. The scale of wages in the button trade, for example (says Health) is a good indication of this tendency of the hand to grow old so early in life. At his very best, in his prime, a skilful button maker can make 6240 ivory buttons a day on his lathe. For this he receives 45s. a week. At 45 years of age it is only the exceptional man who can make more than 28s. a week. When the workman is 65 years of age he can seldom make more than 20s., this providing he still enjoys sound health.

AN UNCOMMON COFFIN. There has just been added to the Egyptian col- lection at the British Museum a very fine Egyptian coffin of extremely good workmanship. The lid is brilliantly painted in bright colours, representing various gods and goddesses of the Egyptian Pantheon. Among these the most notable is a scarabaeus in high relief representing the god Kheper-Ra, the god of resurrection, with the head of Horus. This combination of Kheper-Ra and Horus is extremely uncommon, and the specimen in question is possibly unique. There are also lines of hieroglyphic containing prayers to Osiris, the characters being painted black upon a yellow ground. The coffin is now exhibited in the first Egyptian Room at the Museum. ■

I "FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT." A cross is shortly to be forwarded from London to be placed over the grave of Prince Christian Victor in the Pretoria Cathedral burial ground. The late Queen took a deep interest in the mew,orial at the outset, and by her Majesty's wish the cross (of Early Irish type in treatment) and kerb are made of granite taken from the royal estate at Balmoral. Upon the kerb is a railing in quiet taste, made from the metal of old British guns. The inscription on the base of the Cross is as follows: In loving memory of CHRISTIAN VICTOR, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, Captain and Brevet-Major King's Royal Rifle Corps, eldest son of Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Grandson of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India. Below is recorded: Born at Windsor Castle, April 14th, 1867-died at Pretoria, October 29th, 1900. Upon the cross in the centre on both faces are the sacred monograms in raised polished letters, while around are the texts In Thy light shall we see light." They go from strength to strength." On the three sides of the base are inscribed texts, with the various campaigns of the Prince: I have fought a good fight." Hazara 1891. Mirwagai 1891. Isazar 1892. I have kept the faith." Ashanti 1895. Soudan 1898. I have finished my course." Natal. 1899. Transvaal 1900. And upon the kerb the following texts are also cut Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." He giveth His beloved sleep." I sleep, but my soul waketh." The designs were carried out in detail from sug- gestions made by Princess Christian.

THE ROYAL CYPHER. I The Secretary for War has notified to the army that the King has selected and approved the Royal Cypher to be worn on badges, buttons, and other devices throughout the Service wherever the Royal Cypher is at present borne. The Cypher consists of E and" R" impaled, with VII." inserted in the lower loop of the E," the whole surmounted by a crown, and the design has been made plain, without foliation, at His Majesty's express wish. No deviation from it whatever will be permitted, and no device or ornament will be placed above or upon it. The crown now to be adopted and to become the sealed pattern for the army is the Tudor Henry VII." crown, stated to have been chosen and always used by Queen Victoria person- ally and all other patterns are to be abolished.

JUST 44, Slatin Pasha, otherwise Sir Rudolf Slatin, has had a most exciting career. Born in Vienna, he left his home at the age of 17 to take a clerkship in a Cairo mercantile house, and at 23 he caught the eye of Gordon, who, recognising his ability, made him Governor of Darfur. Many victories he gained over the turbulent Arabs, but in 1883 he was captured by the Mahdi. Then began a terrible imprisonment, which lasted until 1895, when he managed to escape. More than once did Slatin Pasha relate his adventures to the la Queen Victoria. THE improvement of the Findochty (Banffshire) Harbour comprises the deepening of the present harbour and the building of a pier. The new pier is to be built on a spur of rock lying north of the east quay, and running parallel to it. The approach to the pier will be along the top of a ridge of rock, which comes quite close to the back of some of the houses. One of'these houses has been bought, so that a proper junction can be made with the main street, at a point due west of the churche Working accommodation will be provided by. cementing a large portion of what is at present a rough, rocky ridge. Landing and discharging and loading accommodation will be provided by carry- ing out the new pier beyond the point where the rock stops for a distance of 45ft. This projecting pier is to go out 45ft. each way into deep water, so that, at this point, even at low tide, there should be 10ft. deep of water.

I POOR PARSONS. Of the 14,000 benefices in the Church of England one-half are, it is stated, of less annual value than £ 150. Fifteen hundred livings have less than £ 100 a year 300 less than 250; many only E25 a year, while in not a few cases it is doubtful whether the vicar ever gets back the amount he has to pay in dilapidations and the heavy legal and other charges he has to meet on his induction. This light on the question of starvation livings was thrown by Mr. T. A. Brockelbank in a paper on the poverty of the clergy which he read at the Greenwich ruridecanal conference. Mr. Brockelbank mentioned that the income which the Ecclesiastical Commissioners distri- buted last year was £ 1,400,000. The Arch- bishopric (not the Archbishop) of Canterbury has £ 15.000 a year, but so close are the meshes of the legal net which surrounds the Archbishop that it is doubtful if even JS2000 a year ever comes into his actual possession. In two successive weeks of March last, Mr. Brockelbank said, the Church Times recorded the deaths of 27 clergymen whose united ages reached over 2000 years, the youngest being 64 and the mean average just 75 years. He urged that a proper system of superannuation and annuities ought to be carried out. The traffic in livings, he said, still continues and in 1900 74 changed hands for gold. In 16 cases clergymen bought them either for them- selves or their sons. Eighteen ladies, of whom six were wives of clergymen and one was Mrs. Terah Hooley, bought others. In advertisements of livings for sale social advantages were dwelt on, nothing being said of the spiritual condition of the parish or the work of the Church. One result of the poverty of the clergy was, Mr. Brockelbank contended, the increase of Celibacy making for sacerdotalism. He strongly urged that recourse should be had to Parliament, and that a reconstruction and investigation of the revenues of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners should be instituted.

BOERS STILL IN THE FIELD. Mr. Balfour, in answer to a question in the House of Commons by Sir H. Campbell-Banner- man, said that the information possessed by the Government with regard to the position in South Africa had been communicated in general outline to the public. The question of political recon- struction must, of course, depend upon the pro- gress of military affairs, and the House knew that the war was no longer a contest between organised military bodies. This remark was met by the Nationalist members with cries of dissent, and the right hon. gentleman thereupon amended the phrase, saying that the contest was no longer one between large organised forces, as the Boera were scattered in small commandos of 100 and 200 men. The largest, he believed, consisted of 600 men, and their total forces were estimated at about 17,000. He added that there was no foundation for the rumours which had appeared in the Press as to peace negotiations. i. M

HANDS AND FINGERS. According to a scale of value furnished by the miners' unions and miners' accident insurance com- panies of Germany, the loss of both hands is valued at 100 per cent., or the whole ability to earn a living. Losing the right hand deprecates the value of an individual as a worker 70 or 80 per cent., while the loss of the left hand represents from 60 to 70 per cent. of the earnings of both hands. The thumb is reckoned to be worth from 20 to 30 per cent. of the earnings. The first finger of the right hand is valued at from 14 to 18 per cent., that of the left hand at from 8 to 13k per cent. The middle finger is worth from 10 to 16 per cent., the third finger from 7 to 9 per cent., and the little finger from 9 to 12 per cent.

THE GOOD SORT. Once upon a time men were advanced because they were wise, or because they were old,. or both. Sometimes they rose through bravery, which was common in the middle ages; sometimes through brains which were not so common. We have (says the Review of the Week) changed all that to-day. Whether it is that men in these later years of stormy competition never grow old, we cannot tell. They do not get the chance in public life. All the prizes are for social qualities, and since old men are too tired, most of them, to shine in drawing-rooms, the prizes are for those yet young. Any middle-aged man who cares to put himself out sufficiehtly to sparkle in society will get what he wants. The world, so far as the British Empire is concerned, is no longer with the wise, or aged, or brave, or skilful, but with the good sort."

HEALTH OF THE TROOPS. The Army Medical Department report for the year 1899 has just been issued. The average strength of European troops serving at home and abroad in 1899, as computed from the returns re- ceived by the Army Medical Department, was 201,004 warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men. The total number of admissions to hospital was 173,204, and the total deaths 1594. The admissions represent a ratio of 861 7 per 1000 of strength as above; the deaths one of 10-82 per 1000 on a strength of 204,720, which in- cludes detached men not shown in the returns re- ceived. The statistics of troops serving in the United Kingdom show that the admission and mortality rates were both higher than in 1898, but lower than the average rates for the preceding 10 years. The admission rate for eruptive fevers was practic- ally the same as in the previous year. As regards South Africa no annual returns of sick are, for the present, forthcoming, and complete statistics for comparative purposes cannot be prepared until after the military operations have been brought to a close. The prevailing diseases previous to the outbreak of hostilities were, however, enteric and other fevers, dysentery, digestive disorders, con- tagious affections, and rheumatism.

THE West Promenade at Rhyl has been extended at a cost of about £ 6000. THE Swedish explorer Sven Hedin has dis- covered a great "dead sea" in Thibet. The bottom is crusted with salt and everything put in the water becomes coated with salt. The surround- ing country is quite sterile. THE Sultan of Turkey is one of the most enthu- siastic chess-players in Europe. He will play for hours without intermission, and will not allow any matter of State to interfere with the game in which at the time he is engaged. OF the entire population of the world, 26 per cent. live under the Union Jack, 9 per cent. under Russian rule, 6 under French, and nearly 6 under American. PRESIDENT Low has announced an anonymous gift of one hundred thousand dollars for a Pro- fessorship of the Chinese Language and Literature at Columbia University. THE Russki Invalid announces the reorganisa- tion of the Servian Army. The 15 regiments of infantry of four battalions each are converted into 30 regiments of two battalions. Perhaps the gist of the whole matter is that each of the 30 regi- ments is named after some notability. Thus the fifth bears the name of King Milan, the seventh that of King Alexandra I., and the eighth that of Queen Draga. Queen Draga also gives her name to a fifth cavalry regiment of 480 men, which has been raised by public subscription. Four cavalry regiments existed previously. For the artillery new position and field guns have been supplied from the Creusot works. PERMISSION to float a huge lottery for the benefit of the new Theatre Building Fund, Stock- holm, has just been granted by King Oscar in council. There will, says the Anglo-Russian, b three issues of 100.000 lots per annum, each costing 10 kroner, making an annual gross income of 3,000,000 kroner, or about £ 165,000; of which 70 per cent. will go back to the public in the form of prizes 10 per cent. is to cover expenses, and 20 per cent., or about £ 33,000 will go to the building fund. There will be 20 issues in all, covering a period of nearly seven years before the lottery is Wound 1tp.

"I, THE EARL OF MORAYr J A few days ago there passed away at his least important seat of Doune Lodge, near Stirling, Edmund Archibald Stuart, 15th Earl of Moray, Lord Doune, St. Colme and Abernethy, and Lord Stuart of Castle Stuart. The words quoted in the title of this article (says the Daily Express) refer to a claim the deceased earl used to make at every meeting of the Scottish peers, when" I, the Earl of Moray," used to declare that the Right Honourable Walter John Francis, Earl of Mar and Kellie, cannot be called or admitted to vote in this election of peers next in order to the Earl of Caithness and prior in order to me, the Earl of Moray." This declaration, "I, the Earl of Moray," has been heard in Holyrood House again and again for many years. The origin of claim is to be found in the fact that the original earl, the great Regent Moray, was created Earl of Moray by Queen Mary two years before the creation of the title of Earl of Mar. The claim, however, has always been disputed, and the Earl of Mar still retains his prior position on the roll of the peers of Scotland. There is no title of nobility, either in England or Scotland, around which a greater web of romance has been woven than that of the earldom of Moray. The mere fact that they are Stuarts with the royal but irregular blood of the great Scottish house in their veins would alone invest the scions of this great house with historic interest-an interest which they share with other Stuarts, or Stewarts, now represented by the Marquis of Bute, the Earl of Galloway, the Earl of Castle Stuart, and other noble lines. But the earldom of Moray is peculiar in the manner of its descent. The first earl, the Regent, was murdered by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, and the earldom descended, not to any direct issue of his, but to his son-in-law, known as the Bonnie Earl of Moray, who was murdered in his turn. The third earl healed the feud by marrying the daughter of his father's murderer. And then we come to the singular fact that a second son and afterwards two brothers succeeded as fifth, sixth, and seventh earls, from which point the succes- sion continues in the direct line to Francis, the ninth earl. From this point the earldom descended to George Philip, 14th Earl, and then, all the inter- vening members of the family who could have succeeded to the title having died, it reverted back to the nobleman now deceased, who had descended from the ninth Earl, and who was the eldest son of a country parson holding a living of E158 a year. The new Earl of Moray was already 55 years of age; he had been married for 15 years to the daughter of a clergyman of Clapham and he was suddenly raised from a position almost of indi- genee to one of the highest in the Scottish peerage, to a seat in the House of Lords, to the ownership of Donibristle in Fifeshire, of Castle Stuart in Inverness-shire, of Darnaway Castle in Elginshire, and of Donne Lodge in Perthshire, together with vast territories in all of these counties and a large part of the fashionable quarter of the city of Edinburgh. It is difficult to imagine a greater change in the fortunes of a family than that which was effected by the failure of the direct line of the Earls of Moray. Such things have, of course, frequently happened in many noble families, and they supply some of the most romantic episodes of the peerage. But here was the son of a simple Eng- lish clergyman raised at once to nobility and wealth; while his brothers and his sifter received patents of precedence as sons and a daughter of an earl. Unhappily fortune did not come to the Earl of Moray with both hands full. At the time when he succeeded to the title and estates he was suffering from an incurable disease. There is something infinitely pathetic in the fact that the inheritor of the glories of the Scottish monarchy, of historic associations with Mary Stuart and Darnley, and of titles which go back to the time of David 1. and Robert Bruce, should be fated to end his life in a condition of compassionated splendour.

A CURIOUS AWAKENER. I To prevent over-sleeping, and thus risking the loss of their employment, the mail carriers of Morocco (says the Family Doctor) resort to a unique and perilous scheme. They tie a string to one foot, and as they know how long a yard or two will burn, they regulate the length of the string by the time they have to sleep. They light the string, which burns slowly, and when the fire comes to their foot they are painfully reminded that it is time to rise.

TEA PLANTING IN THE UNITED I STATES. According to a Dutch Consular report in the Consulaire Verslagen en Berichten, satisfactory progress is being made in the planting of tea in several States of the Union. In South Carolina there are at the present time about 60 acres under cultivation which have produced a crop of very good quality, the tea from that particular planta- tion selling at one dollar per pound retail. It is in- tended to plant 4000 acres with tea shrubs, esti- mated to produce about 300,000 pounds of tea per annum.

A VIKING DRINKING-CUP. I At Haroldswick, Uist, Shetland, there has been found a Viking drinking-eup made from a vertebra z, of a whale, and in a good state of preservation. It was found in what seemed to be a sea-king's grave below the cliffs, among bones—human, horse, and dog. The ancient Viking hero was buried along with his horse, dog, and cup, and the relic, no doubt, dates back to the landing of Harold Aarfager, 1000 years ago.

r FOR every hundred letters which passed through the Post Office in 1801 there are to-day 16,600. SIR JOHN RAMSDEN, whose elclest son has just been married, is a very rich baronet, reputed to be worth some E168,000 a year. He is the great ground landlord of Huddersfield. There is a time- honoured story to the effect that his grandfather owned the whole town save a small bit owned by a Quaker, and offered, if the latter would sell this, to cover it with sovereigns. The Quaker agreed if the baronet would place them edgewise. If not," said he, "Huddersfield must belong to you and me." The negotiations came to nothing. ACCORDING to a sale of value furnished by the miners' unions and miners' accident insurance companies of Germany, and quoted by Health the loss of both hands is valued at 100 per cent., or the whole ability to earn a living. Losing the right hand depreciates the value of an individual as a worker 70 to 80 per cent., while the loss of the left hand represents from 60 to 70 per cent. of tbw earnings of both hands. The thumb is reckoned to be worth from 20 to 30 per cent. of the earnings. The first finger of the right hand is valued at from 14 to 18 per cent., that of the left hand at from 8 to 13wl per cent. AMONG the most interesting of the late Lord Wantage's possessions was Fotheringay Castle, where on February 8, 1557, Mary Queen of Scots laid her head upon the block. Fotheringay was an important castle and fortress, and re- mained so until the Cromwellian period, when it was dismantled. At present it consists.of a pic- turesque farmhouse and a few scanty remains of towers and walls, which are carefully preserved, rathG¡i on account of their historical associations than their architectural beauty. Fotheringay was the birthplace of Richard III., and in the fine old parish church, which Lord Wantage restored, are interred two Dukes of York—Edward, killed at Agincourt, and Richard, who was slain at Wake- field. THE secretary of the British Home and Hospital for Incurables, Streatham, has received a dona- tion of EIOOO from the trustees of the estate of the late Frederick Rothwell, to name the Roth- well bed in that institution. THE President of the Local Government Board has appointed Major-General H. Darley Crozier to be Chief Engineering Inspector of the Local Government Board, in the place of Major-General C. Phipps Carey, R.E.. who has retired.

L A KING'S EDUCATION. A book of exceptional interest, and which is con- sequently attracting wide attention, has just been published in Italy. It is by Signor Morandi, pro- fessor of Italian literature at the University of Rome, and it tells how the present King of Italy was educated, Signor Morandi having been for some years the monarc's principal instructor. On the first day when I went to the Quirinal," says the author, I met Colonel Osio, the Prince's tutor, and he told me that I should treat him as I would treat any other pupils, neither showing him any undue respect nor any indulgence, even in trifling matters. For example, if anything was needed during the lesson, it was the Prince who should rise andget it, and not I, and, if a book or anything else were to to fall from the table, it was he who should pick it up. I was then introduced to the Prince, and the first lesson began. Before it was over I waa satisfied that my pupil was endowed with an alert, prudent, and unusually studious mind." That evening, Queen Margharita having asked him how he liked his new teacher, the Prince, who was then hardly twelve, replied gravely: He seems to be a clever man, but I cannot be certain until I have received several more lessons from him." The Prince, says Professor Morandi, rose at six o'clock every morning, both in winter and summer, after which he took a bath and a light breakfast, ajnd then went to study. Once or twice during a winter he would be loth to leave his warm bed at that hour, but on such occasions Colonel Osio never failed to appear at his bedside and to inform him that he would get no breakfast for several hours if he did not rise immediately. After his lessons were over the Prince spent an hour on horseback, and then devoted considerable time to athletic exercises. Now and then," says his former instructor, the Prince showed little interest in his studies, but Colonel Osio was always on hand, and he never hesitated to reprimand him severely. I Your Highness,' I heard him say once, 'should remember that a king's son, if he is a blockhead, will remain a blockhead, for in this respect there is no difference between him and the son of a shoemaker.' After he had said these words the Colonel strode out of the room, and, wishing to console my pupil, I remarked that his tutor was acting solely for his good, to which he replied, gravely, I know it. At times the Prince suffered severely from pains in the head, and one day, when they were especi- ally violent, Professor Morandi suggested to Colo-iel Osio that the horseback exercise should be omitted. The Colonel, however, replied, If a battle were to be fought to-day do you think that a pain in the head ought to prevent the Prince from appearing on horseback at the head of his troops ?" And the suffering Prince rode out that day as usual. Under Professor Morandi and his other instruc- tors Prince Victor worked hard and systematically, and as a result it is claimed that there is to-day in Europe no monarch who is quite as well-informed or as energetic.

QUICK-FIRING RIFLES. II: is intended, says the Daily Express, to issue 50 rifles of a new pattern to each battalion of the British Army, thus adding to the regimental firing-line a 50 Maxim power." The new weapon is the Simpson machine rifle, which has received official approval after extended tests. This machine-rifle is a bijou Maxim, which can be used by individual soldiers almost as easily as the ordinary weapon, and it can pump a hail of lead with extraordinary speed. It is used in the prone position, with the user lying across a saddle frame, the weapon being held in position by the weight of the body. It is a weapon for hand car- riage, and there is no comparison to it for rapidity of fire in the ordinary rifle. Mr. Simpson is also submitting a rifle fixed with rests. There are two rests made of steel which lie in scalloped sockets in the butt and near the magazine. The rests when pulled out on going into action do not in any way hamper the move- ments of the man or impede the free use of the rifle with the bayonet fixed. When the soldier comes to the prone position the rests entirely re- lieve the strain of steadying the rifle. Some remarkable scoring has been made with Lee-Enfield rifles, fitted with the rest attachments, and the scorers have been indifferent shots. The invention has been seen and approved by Lord Roberts, .the Duke of Connaught, Lord Lans- downe, and many others.

A DYING RIVER. There can be no more pitiable sight in nature than the nearly dried-up channel of a once fair flowing perennial river, writes Mr. John Lloyd to the Times. Such was the sad fate of the Usk at Brecon in 1893 and 1899, and such will happen again this summer if the present drought continues for another week. But the fault is not with nature. The cause now, as then, is the wasteful and ex- cessive abstraction of water from the stream close above the county town of Brecon, nominally to supply the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal. Nominally, I write, because while the trade on the canal has dwindled down to two boats a day, the canal company take from out of the river sufficient water to pass 400 boats through the locks in 24 hours. They even take the same amount on Sun- days, when no boats pass at all. And there is no Sabbath for the poor worn out exhausted river! And the company take this monstrous excess of water mainly to sell it at a profit, like a London water company, and for numerous other purposes, wholly outside the navigation proper, and ultra vires of their Acts of Parliament. One of their customers is the Lord Lieutenant of the county, in whose ornamental grounds magnificent foun- tains, fed from the canal, delight the eye, and in whose farm and estate yards a powerful turbine, similarly supplied, conveniently turns a saw-mill and farm machinery. I may add that the Board of Trade had the matter brought before it by an indignant town's meeting nearly two years ago, and also the Board of River Conservators re- peatedly by myself, but both have refused to take any action to restrain the canal company from mis- using the water so unnecessarily taken from the river. The Board of Trade has, however, gone so far as to promise some improvement in the fish- pass at the canal weir, and that is all they will do. They decline to place any check or limit on the flow of water into the canal or the use made of it.

WITHIN a few miles of the greatest industrial centre of the Midlands there is a small railway, linking together two trunk lines, on which only one train is run a day, and occasionally without any passengers! The line runs from Wliitacre, on the Midland Railway, to Hampton-in-Arden, on the London and North-Western. It seems that the service is a paper or dummy one, continued simply in order that the running powers of the Midland Company may not be forfeited through non-usage. The only town served by this line beside the two termini is Coleshill, which, though L. market town, is little more than a large village. HERE is an interesting story of Eleonora Dus6 regarding the famous actress's infancy. She was born in a waggon near Venice, and was being taken to a church for baptism according to local custom in a glass cradle ornamented with gold when a detachment of Austrian soldiers came along. Regarding this sumptuous cradle as a shrine full of holy relics, they respectfully pre- sented arms. This mistake delighted the father. Eleonora Duse, however, had to pass through great trials and privation before she achieved her great success in Verona at the age of 18 in the character of Juliet. PRESIDENT LOUBET is rapidly driving hia master of ceremonies to despair. The President will not have ceremony; it does not fit in with his happy, impetuous manner. Directly his visitors arrive he rushes forward and gives a grip of the hand before his bewildered attendant has got out with the usual announcement. And now, copying the example of the King of the Belgians, and no doubt with happy recollections of his struggling bachelor days, the President takes Mme. Loubet out to dine at a café in the open air. Parisians are delighted. <

MOSQUITOS AND EUCALYPTUS. The British Medical Journal doubts the wisdom of the proposal by the Sanitary Depart- ment of Havana to plant eucalyptus trees in all the marshy and malarial districts in and around Havana as a mosquito deterrent. The journal in question points out that in a paper by Professor Celli, which appeared in the Journal of the San- itary Institute for January, that distinguished authority says that the eucalyptus, so far from being protection, is, like other trees, rather a shelter for mosquitos, and in the neighbourhood of dwelling-houses adds to the danger of malarial in- fection.