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

PIGS AND POTATOES. I Whenever potatoes are very cheap, farmers are apt to try to get something out of them by feeding them to stock. Every year there is a certain proportion of potatoes too small or too scabby to be marketable, and some of these are likely to be given to the fattening pigs with the idea that their starch can be converted into fat. But only twenty per cent. of potato is -starch, the other 80 being nothing but water. Even when cooked the potato absorbs as much water as it loses, and is much too bulky in the small stomach of a pig to serve as its principal food. c:r

HOUSING DUCKS AND GEESE. I When ducks and geese are to be kept though I the winter, a separate place should be provided for them. They roost upon the ground, and in order to have them warm and drv, and at the same time lessen the work of keeping clean, a, good bed of dry straw should be provided for them to roost upon, and this should be changed sufficiently often to keep it from becoming foul. It is very essential (savs "Farm Life") that they bo dry, as dampness induces cramp. As with other fowls, it is important to have roomy quarters, as crowding tends to induce disease.

DUST MULCH BEST. I This evaporation begins on the surface, and extends gradually downward. If the soil is too thick and compact the moisture has difficulty in rising up, and the top layers dry very slowly. Such land is usually wet and muddy in ordinary rainy weather, and it is unfit f crops. In order to facilitate capillary attraction, the soil must be so pulverised that the air spaces in the soil are small. This en- ables the water to rise gradually and continu- ously. By good cultivation on the surface, the plants are kept well supplied with moisture all tRe time, and every fresh stirring of the top soil starts up new reservoirs of water from the subsoil. Gardeners have what they call a dust mulch, which is simply another name for good, thorough surface cultivation. They stir the soil around the plants every week or few days, and the soil becomes so thoroughly pulverised that capillary attraction is in rapid progress all the time. The dust mulch is better for the plants than an artificial one of leaves and litter, al- though the latter are not to be neglected where it is impossible to give the thorough pulverisa- tion required. This stirring of the surface soil is more important when the plants are young than when they get half grown. Then they shade the ground around the roots, and form a protective moisture-holder that helps them through the hot weather. After all, it is the young immature plants that we have to care for and tend, and if we succeed in getting them started aright, the crops are pretty well assured. -.0-

RIPENING CREAM. I The one thing necessary to ripen cream is to bring it to the proper temperature. 'Leave the cream in the cellar until about twenty four hours before the churning is to be done. Then heat it to about 70 degs., and keep at that tem- perature until it begins to thicken, when it should be cooled to about 60 degs. for churning. A convenient way to heat a small amount of cream is to place it on the stove and stir con- stantly, so as to warm evenly until the desired temperature is reached. It is better not to warm above 70 degs., and thenplace the cream where it will remain at that temperature until it begins to thicken. Let both the warming and the cooling be gradual. Cream taken from the cellar and warmed on one morning ought to be ready to churn the next moraing.

i BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. I FROM PIT-BOY TO STAR.Afr. Harry Lauder has written about himself at home and on tour. He thus describes his first appearance on a London stage, where he got a chance as "extra turn": I was at Gatti's long before ten o'clock, eagerly yet nervously waiting my number—my extra turn. Beyond the fact that, I sang "Tobermory," "Calligan," and "The Lass o' Killiecrankie," and that I had the greatest diffi- culty in getting off the stage, so many were the recalls I got, I remember very little about my first performance in London. The stage seemed to be going round and round, while for all I knew the house might have been empty, but I threw my whole heart into m.y work, and on getting to the dress.in.g-room I nearly collapsed through sheer nervoasnes.s and fatigue. Mr. Tinsley came to me in a few minutes with the remark: "Lauder, any lad, you've done it!" and I took a somewhat different meaning from the phrase than had 'been inSfisoded earlier in the day. He engaged me for the rest of the week straight away, and from that date to this I have never been long out of London. In a few days the managers of the teg West-end halls were after me with contract forms and ex- tended engagements were entered into between them and myself. FIRST CARDINAL GOLFER.—A pen portrait 'of Cardinal Merry del Val, the Pope's Secretary of State, is given in "Munsey's Magazine." The cardinal, says Mr. E. A. Powell, is an in- defatigable worker, a. frugal liver, a, man of strong likes and dislikes, with a hot Latin temper that is often in evidence, but :always under control. Tall and slim of figure, grace- ful of motion, showing the highest type of the Andalusian in every feature, his face when in repose is little more than a mask, so utterly de- void is it of all feeling and expression. But when a smile gives life to his sphinx-like coun- tenance, then, indeed, all the marvellous fasci- nation which this remarkable man can exercise becomes apparent. When a youth he was very fond of pranks, and was nicknamed by his schoolfellows "Merry Devil." He is the first Cardinal to indulge in golf, a game which he plays twice weekly over a private course in the grounds of the Villa Doria-Pamphili. THE END OF A GREAT LIFE.-Lord Stan- more gives a pathetic picture of the death of Lord Herbert of Lea in the memoir which he has published. He writes:—It was a great joy to the dying man to be permitted once more to see the home he loved so dearly, and to look again upon the faces of his children. On the day of his arrival, August 1, he was well enough to go out in a bath-ohair, and gaze for the last time on the green lawns, the stately cedars, J and the Palladian bridge reposing in all the glory of an English summer afternoon. After coming in again, he lay for some time on a sofa by the window enjoying the calm beauty ) of the evening and its sunset lights. Some- what later he took leave of his children and sisters, and received the Holy Communion. Then, with perfect calm and resignation, he waited for the end. No expression of im- patience escaped him throughout his illness, nor to the very end did he lose his cheery play- fulness of manner, or his tlioughtfulness for others. Throughout the night, alone with the devoted wife who had watched and tended him with unremitting solicitude, he repeatedly ex- pressed his thankfulness to God for many mercies, and his trust in the promises of the Saviour. At half-past eleven on the following morning he expired, surrounded by his family and near relations. Almost his last words were, Well, this is the end. I have had a life of great happiness a short one, perhaps but an active one. I have not done all I wished; but I have tried to do my best." A WORK FOR THE WORLD.—A book of 4,600 pages (Kelly's Post Office London Directory) is probably the best evidence possible of the enormous commercial activity of the metropolis. It is not less eloquent of the colossal task which Messrs. Kelly's Directories, Ltd., undertake from year to ysar, and the great accuracy dis- played is certainly a marvel of organisation. Nothing in the directory line is omitted, nothing is over-stated, but with almost malig- nant monotony the scroll is writ. Streets, mer- chants, trades, law and Parliamentary, even Court particulars, are given in briefest fashion-the information simply, no more and no less. A wealthy merchant prince, with his country seat and a motor-car—the best present-day evidence of affluence-ma,y- find his name bang up against the name of some cat's meat dealer. An aristo- crat may jostle a coster, and so on and so forth. But nobody complains, and every up-to-date business man, not only in London, but through- out the whole country, even the whole world,, is repeatedly thankful in the course of a year to the publishers of this valuable commercial compilation. The Directory has now reached its 108th year of issue, but it bears no evidence of senile decay. Rather it seems to renew its youth like the eagle leastways, it has the at- tributes of the snowball which gathers substance as it rolls, and it has also the qualities of the iron that has been hammered into finest steel. IMPORTED MISTLETOE.—The mistletoe harvest is one that we leave all to chance—and France. You can never be sure, says the "Penny Maga- zine," that the mistletoe sprig under which you kiss or are kissed is British unless you have picked it yourself, for the English farmer does not regard what grows of it here as worth the trouble of gathering for market. HER LAST HALFPENNY.—Miss Olive Chris- tian Malvery, in her book, The Soul Market," describes how she and her protectorMr. C." lighted on the Embankment upon a woman in forlorn circumstances. We gathered from stray remarks that she had come from uie country with a tiny capital to seek work in London. She never found it. The money was spent, and her clothes wore out, and she found herself one of the many for whom the world had no place. She noticed that I was crying, and thinking it was my own misfortune that troubled me, she pressed a halfpenny into my hand. "You can't buy anything for a half- penny till morning," she said. The coffee is a penny a cup at night, but at five o'clock you can get a cup for a ha'penny; it is dreadful to be hungry till you're used to it." I walked swiftly away, and she said to Mr. C. Don't be hard on her, she's such a little thing." Can you imagine the heavenly charity of the poor creature; she had eaten nothing that livelong day, but she gave me her last halfpenny. THE WAY TO Mow.-This is the way to mow, as described by Mr. Hilaire Belloc in "Hills and the Sea": You must regard the scythe as st pendulum that swings, not as a knife that cuts. A good mower puts no more strength into his stroke than into his lifting. Again, stand up to your work. The bad mower, eager and full of pain, leans forward and tries to force the scythe through the grass. The good mower, serene and able, stands as nearly straight as the shape of the scythe will let him, and follows up every stroke closely, mov- ing his left foot forward. Then, also let every stroke get well away. Mowing is a thing of ample gestures, like drawing a cartoon. A SONG FOR SIbLERS.-Lord Alfred Douglas hae some very amusing verses in the book which he has written, "The Placid Pug." Here are the two last verses of the "Song for Sidlers" Peace, peace, the crab adopts a sidelong walk, For reasons still impossible to see. And if his pride permitted him to talk To anyone who did not do as he, His instinct would, be, probably, to balk The hopelS of vulgar curiosity. And while the schoolmen argue and discuss, And fill the air with "whats," and "whens," and "whys," And demonstrate as: "Thus, and thus, and thus," The crab will pulverise their theories, And put an end to all this foolish fuse By walking sideways into Paradise.

NEWS IN BRIEF, I I1J Trogctiies and Disasters. I Found frozen to death iff; the Finchley football pavilion on December 29 was an un- known woman, aged about forty, height 5ft. li-in., with dark hair. Tattooed on the right forearm were the letters "I.J 'F.L. on the left forearm Alfred, I.L. 85. LL.T., For Jove," together with numerous other indis- II tinct tattoo marks. Mr. A. Carpenter, landlord of the Lord Nelson public-house, Dover, wae found dead on Monday with his throat cut. A tragic incident occurred in Cork on Monday. A constabulary pensioner named Sproule (70) had been suffering from dropsy, and died in the afternoon. His son (24) was suffering in the same house from consump- tion, and on hearing of his father's death he -suddenly succumbed. A young woman named O'Hara died sud- denly in a Belfast police cell on Monday, Death is attributed to heart disease. From the river Avon, near Bath, the body of a man named Tucker, who had been miss- ing for a month, was recovered on Saturday. Returning from a dance at Turlough More, Co.. Galway, a young man named Michael Reilly fell into the river Cordrum, and, de- spite a gallant attempt at rescue on the part of a companion, was drowned. Michael Murphy, a stoker, belonging to the torpedo-boat destroyer Arun, slipped on the snow while walking along the wall at Keyliam Dockyard on Sunday, fell into the basin, and wa-s drowned. William James Wood Stadden, the ex-in- ternational Welsh Rugby football player, who murdered 4is wife on Boxing Day and -afterwards cut his own throat, died on Sun- day night in the Dewsbury infirmary, Mr. Arthur Rodgers, a well-known Hants and Dorset auctioneer, was found hanging dead from a water-pipe in his house at Win- ton, Bournemouth. Accidents. Owing to the breakdown of a dynamo at the generating station, the London County Council electric tramway service from Ald- gate to Poplar failed early on Monday morn- ing, and the horse service was temporarily resumed. A pony attached to a trap bolted on Mon- day, broke through a hedge, and fell with the vehicle into the Grand Junction Canal at Blisworth, near Northampton. The animal was rescued with difficulty. Four children were playing in a ehed in which they had locked themselves, at Heath Town, near Wolverhampton, when the pina- fore of one caught alight. The flames spread, and the panic-stricken children were unable to unlock the door. They were liberated, but not until they had been badly burned. At Welshpool, on the Cambrian Railway, a porter named Gough was struck and thrown on the line by the engine of a goods train, but when the whole train bad passed over him he was found to have suffered no injury more serious than a severe shock and a few fleeh wounds. A large quantity of cotton was damaged by n fire which broke out in Danson's ware- house, Blake-street, Bootle. A horse attached to a hansom cab took fright in Kingsway, dashed into a heavy vehicle, and then ran away. The animal was pluckily stopped by a young man, who succeeded in seizing the reins. Mrs. Cecil Chaplin, of Whissendine, a well-known hunting lady, was thrown from her horse. near Melton Mowbray, and was in- jured seriously. Two houses in Graham-street, Lancaster, were set on fire by the explosion of a gas main at Lancaster on Sunday. The fire ran along the service pipes from the main, and blazed through the ground and several inches of snow. The noted young Notts cricketer and foot- bailer, J. Hardstaff, playing with the Sutton Town Football Club, ruptured a muscle and injured a bone in his left elbow. A medical man, fearing that the injuries might jeopar- dise Hardstaff's cricketing, has given instruc- tion for a specialist to be consulted. St. David's, Newtown, Montgomeryshire, the residence of Mr. Albert Pryce Jones, was destroyed by fire. Told in the Courts. For assaulting the young wife of an assis- tant gamekeeper, Samuel Crompton, police- constable at Cowan Bridge, Lunedale, was at Lancaster Quarter Sessions on Monday, sen- tenced to twelve months' hard labour. Edward Devlin was again remanded at Emyvale, co. Monaghan, on Monday, charged with murdering the infant child of Mary Kelly, his servant. The mother, who is also charged in connection with the child's death, was too ill to appear. It was stated at Dudley Police-court on Monday that in the course of an orgie five chainmakers consumed nearly thirty gallons of ale. » The death of Mary Law, aged six months, who was found drowned with her mother in the' canal at Cradley Heath, 'resulted in a coroner's jury on Dionday returning a ver- dict of "Wilful murder" against the parent. Alfred Hughes, an electrical engineer, was fined 20s. and costs on Monday at the New- castle-under-Lyme police-court for assault- ing, by kissing, Jane Lee, a domestic servant. Henry Buckley, tramp, who was remanded at Nantwich on Monday, charged with set- ting fire to a farm, states that he struck two matches, which he threw down amongst the hay in a barn, went into the road, and watched the flames until the arrival of the firemen. The World of Sport. For a substantial wager, a Mr. Herys is about to undertake to trundle two cart- wheels from Portsmouth to Newcastle thence to Penzance, and back to Portsmouth, a dis- tance of over 1,000 miles, and an average of not less than twenty miles a day is to be maintained. Two foxes—probably pressed for food—- entered the outskirts of Leicester on Mon- day and afforded exciting sport to a number of workmen and two fox-terriers, but eventu- ally escaped. Music and the Drama. Mies Lily Hall Caine, who was to have played "Greeba" in the resumed run of "The Bondman," at the Adephi Theatre, has been compelled by ill-health to surrender the part, which will be played by Miss v Wynne Matthison, when the drama is re- vived on January 5. Mr. Beerbohm Tree has accepted an invi- tation from the Rev. R. J. Campbell to de- liver a lecture on the drama before the mem- bers of the City Temple Literary Society. Military and Naval. Lieut.-Gen. G. E. Baynes died at his resi- dence at Norton Lees, Hay wards Heath, a the result of a seizure just before Christmas. One of the three survivors of the garrison of Jellalabad, Sergeant John Moore, who en- listed at Ennis, Co. Clare, in the 13th Foot at the age of sixteen, died on Sunday at South- ampton. The result of the test of gurilayers with light quick-firing guns in the Fleet in 1906 has been issued by the Admiralty. There has been a very marked improvement in the results as compared with those obtained in 1905. A Crimean and Indian Mutiny veteran has just died at Bury St. Edmunds in the person of John James Cousens, who, at the age of 18, enlisted in the 20th Regiment, now known as the Lancashire Fusiliers. Speakirjg at Auchterarder on Saturday night, Mr. Haldane said that probably in the spring the Government would ask the has been issued by the Admiralty. There has been a very marked improvement in the results as compared with those obtained in 1905. A Crimean and Indian Mutiny veteran has just died at Bury St. Edmunds in the person of John James Cousens, who, at the age of 18, enlisted in the 20th Regiment, now known as the Lancashire Fusiliers. Speakirjg at Auehterarder on Saturday night, Mr. Haldane said that probably in the spring the Government would ask the Volunteers to accept a better organisation. Referring to the removal of the Scots Greys from Edinburgh," he said that national, con- sideratiphs much precede local claims. Social. Lord O'Neill celebrated the sixty-seventh anniversary of his birthday, and Lord Ash- ton attained his sixty-fifth year on Monday. The Prince and Princess of Wales will visit Dcvonport, in the King's yacht, on February 20, to open the new dockyard works at Keyham. The Grand Cordon of the Osmanieh, with the star and badge in brilliants, has been conferred upon Musurus Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador in London. It is proposed to hold a historical pageant at Colchester, and Mr. Louis N. Parker has been invited by the corporation to lecture on the subject. Mr. Chamberlain, in declining the invita- tion to speak at the annual dinner of the Birmingham Jewellers' and Silversmiths' As- sociation on February 23, expresses the hope that by that time he will be ready for work again; but he does not wish to be under the necessity of fulfilling engagements made dur- ing his illness. The Rev. J. H. Le Breton Girdlestone, late vicar of St. Andrew's, Worthing, has been received into the Roman Catholic Church at Lourdes by the Bishop of Tarbes. Lord Burnham has just celebrated his seventy-third birthday. The Rev. Henry Bickersteth Ottley, vicar of South Norwood, has been appointed Canon of Canterbury Cathedral. Canon Ottley has been prominently identified with the Sun- day National Observance Movement, and is secretary to the Archbishop's Advisory Com- mittee. Commercial and Industrial. A profit of C4000 was made at Hastings during the last weeks by herring fishing, it is a long time since the fishermen have had such a prosperous season. The Great Central Railway Company on Monday took over the system of the Lanca- shire, Derbyshire, and East Coast Railway Company. The British shipbuilding production for last year reached the unprecedented total of 2,000,000 tons, which beats the record of 1905 by about 175,000 tons. In response to a petition signed by nearly 200 officers of the Wilson shipping line, it has been decided to advance the rate of re- munera-tion all round. The increase will mean an addition of P-3,500 per annum to the wage bill of the line. The returns of the Commonwealth show that the total imports of merchandise from January to November, inclusive,. | amounted to £ 38,672,443, being an increase of £ 5,574,583 as compared with 1905, says Reuter. The exports amounted to £ 43,305,196, an increase of £ 4,995,000. Owing to the improved demand in the Dean Forest coalfields, the masters have ar- ranged to advance the prices of house coal by Is. per ton. At the end of the year a number of work- people who have been employed at the Nas- sau Mills, Patricroft, Manchester, for 35 and 40 years, will be pensioned off by the trustees of the late Mr. Godfrey Bremen, of Messrs. Bremen and Roby, who formerly owned the mills. The Select Committee appointed to in- quire into the alleged grievances of Post Office servants, recommend that a Committee on the same subject should be appointed. next Session. The directors of the Star Life Assurance Society have appointed Mr. Frederick William Mitchell to the position of metro- politan manager at the head office as from January 1, 1907. Resolutions in favour of a law prohibiting employers from evicting workers during. trade disputes, and calling upon the Govern- ment to proliibit unskilled labour in mines, were adopted at the Scottish Miners' Federa- tion meeting in Edinburgh. National and Political. Addressing a public meeting in Mid Cork, Mr. William O'Brien, M.P., announced that the transactions of the Nationalist Party during the past three years would be investi- gated in the law courts, and that the revela- tions would be more interesting than any- thing of the kind since the Parnell Commis- sion. In a communication issued on Monday, the Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress advocate centralisation, pro- testing against two or more unions in one trade, and especially against a municipal em- ployes' union as distinct from the union of the trades of the individual employees. Dr. Josiah Court has consented to stand for the fourth time as Unionist candidate for North-East Derbyshire, and will contest the division with Mr. W. E. Harvey, the secre- tary of the Miners' County Association, who has been adopted by the 'Liberal Association. The Scottish Miners' Federation have de- cided to ballot on the question of whether ■ they should join the Scottish branch of the Labour representation party. Mr. George Alexander, the well known actor, and Mr. Frank Goldsmith, L.C.C., have been selected by the Unionist and Con- servative Association of South St. Pancras as candidates for the representation of the ward at the London County Council elec- tions in March. Mr. Devlin, formerly M.P. for Galway, has been elected to the Canadian Parliament for Nicolet County, Quebec, by a majority of 500. He supports the Laurier Government. On Saturday, the anniversary of the birth of the late Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the Glad- stone statue in the Strand was florally deco- rated as a tribute to the memory of the great political leader. From Other Lands. The King of Siam will visit the Court at Berlin in the spring, according to the. "Taegliche Rundschau." Damage to the amount of < £ 120,000 was done by a great fire in Brussels on Monday, a whole block of shops, including the large premises of Messrs. Cohn and Donnay, being completely destroyed. The yield of cereals in Australia during the season 1905-6 was, approximately, 90,000,000 bushels, against 75,000,000 bushels the previous season, and 105,000,000 bushels in 'the record year, 1903-1904. Mr. J. F. Williams, of Gastonia, North Carolina, had his leg broken while being baptised recently. It is said that he will sue the clergyman who officiated for damages. Containing 300 gold doubloons, of the value of = £ 1,400, an old walnut-wood chest has been dug up by navvies in one of the streets of Madrid. Of sixteen persons bitten by a mad dog in Silesia five have- already died and the others are in a precarious condition. A Japanese potato grower, of Stockton, California, has succeeded in cornering the Californian potato market. He expects to make a urofit of £ 200,000. Other Interesting Items. Mr. Eugene Goossens, who was formerly conductor of the Carl Rosa. Opera Company,' has died at Liverpool. Five new magistrates, all Liberals, have been appointed for the Isle of Ely. The net revenue for New South 'Wales dur- ing December was S-1,402,068, compared with £1,051,2:39 during December, 1905. Mrs. Woolven, the wife of a labourer, has given birth to triplets at Bolney, Sussex. On Mrs. Brocklebank's farm at Worst- horne, near Burnley, 110 fowls have been killed, as were 83 on a neighbouring farm a month ago, and the police suspect a couple of Airedale dogs which have been seen prowling about the district. < Whereas one firm has offered to remove the temporary bridge at Vauxhall for £ 400, another firm offers to pay £ 210 to the Lon- don County Council for the privilege of taking away the materials. The Rev. Canon O'Halloran rector of St. Mary's, Greenwich, celebrated'the jubilee of his ordination as a priest on Sunday, and was presented with an illuminated address and a purse of gold in honour of the occasion.

ILLUSTRATED FUN. I "All the water we use here is boiled," said the boarding-house lady. "Ah," said the heart- less wretch, as he poured out his tea, "you must have boiled this!" "Johnnie, you shouldn't have eaten those pre served fruits. They were placed on the table merely to fill up." "Well, ma, that's just what I used them for." "David, you are a fool!" David: "Well, sir, I can't help it. When you engaged me you told me to imitate you, and I've done the best I could. He had come on her dozing by the fireside, and when she woke up she accused him of steal- ing a kiss. "Well," he said, "I will admit that the temptation was too strong to be resisted. I did steal one little kiss." "One she exclaimed indignantly. "I counted eight before I woke up l" LIMITED COURAGE. Prospective Victim (on the dentist's door- step) If I were only sure that the dentist was out I would ring the bell!" "Why do people always say' -le same to you!' when you wish them A Merry Christ- mas ?" asked little Richard of his uncle. "Well, my lad, "replied his elder, "if another boy struck you, you'd strike back, wouldn't you?" "As a matter of fact," boasted a chronic idler who had been remonstrated with on the score of laziness, "I always do my hard work be- fore breakfast." "Indeed!" said his friend, considerably astonished. "Whatever's that?" "Getting out of bed!" was the slothful man's reply. Towards the end of the mince-pie stage Willie put down his spoon, and pushed away his unfinished trifle. "Whv. Willie," said his father, "what's the matter? You look quite mournful!" "Yes," replied Willie, "that's just it, I'm more'n full." And the innocent child wondered why everybody laughed ENCOURAGING HIM. Old Grumps: If you want to marry my daughter, young man, you must first get your life insured in her favour." Enamoured Youth: Certainly, certainly, sir. Which company would you recommend?" Old Grumps "Well, I think it had better be the Pay All Claims Company. They allow suicide." "What shall we name baby sister?" asked a mother of her little four-year-old daughter. Call her Early, mamma; that's a pretty name." "Early? That is not a little girl's name. "■ Oh, yes it is Don't you remember you read to me about a little girl who was to be the May Queen, and she wanted her mother to call her Early?" Miss Sharp: "Ah, Mr. Dullard, you are look- ing the part of the Black Prince to perfection.' Mr. Dullard: "Ye-es, but do you know, Miss Sharp, I feel like a perfect idiot." Miss Sharp Mr. Dullard: "Ye-es, but do you know, Miss Sharp, I feel like a perfect idiot." Miss Sharp (earnestly) "Now, that will never do, Mr. Dul- lard. At a fancy ball, as on the stage, one must forget his real character entirely." IN A DILEMMA. Mrs. Bargain "What are you worrying about this morning Mr. Bargain: "I need some new clothes and a new watch, and I can't maks up my mind whether to get the clothes at a shop where they give awav watches, or to buy the watch at a shop where they give away clothes." Intelligence has just reached me began Mr. Blodger, as he sat down at the dinner-table. "Thank goodness if it has at last," exclaimed Mrs. Blodger, and the food was partaken of in 1 silence. "I don't see that there is any advantage in those clay pipes which you always seem to prefer." "Oh, but there is. When they drop on the ground, for instance, you haven't to stoop an ick them up." MissMugley: "Did Mr. Knox seem surprised to hear that I was engaged?" Miss Cutting; "Oh, a little bit." Miss Mugley "Did he a^k when it happened?" Miss Cutting: "No, not when,' but 1 how on earth.' I a

CONSUL'S TRAGIC DEATH. -0 A sensation was caused in Liverpool by the-- tragic death of Colonel Robert de Geimann, the Russian Consul in that city. For some time he had suffered from melancholia, for some private matter was troubling him, though, the facts were known only to a few intimate friends. While in his residence alone it is stated that he stabbed himself twice in the chest with a long-bladed Turkish knife, which had been used as an ornament, and then fired two revolver shots into his body. The servants, alarmed by the reports, ran into his bedroom, where they found him lying on the floor. The. Vice-Consul and several doctors were sum- moned, but it was seen from the first that the case was hopeless, and death took place next day. Before he died, and while he was still con- scious, a telegram came to the house stating that a certain matter had been satisfactorily arranged. When informed the colonel said, "It is too late," and died shortly after. It is stated that the deceased had been strange in his manner for several days prior to the tragedy. It is but a few weeks since the deceased re- turned from Germany, where he had been re- cuperating, and when he attended a banquet" recently Colonel de Geimann appeared to be in excellent spirits. He was a litterateur of no mean ability, and wore several medals for active service, he hav- ing been present at the seige of Plevna under- the Grand Duke Nicholas. The colonel was a. State Councillor of the Russian Empire, about 50 years of age, and a widower, His only daughter, who was in London, returned to Liverpool on the day of his death. He had. been in Liverpool since 1904.

I "I CAME OFF CONQUEROR." & Charged at Blvth with the wilful murder of his son Richard, aged 23, George Johnston, 54, was committed for trial on a charge of man- slaughter. On Saturday afternoon, December 15, the accused and his son quarrelled, and the attitude of the younger man was so threatening that the father fetched a policeman, who ordered the son to leave the house. The son returned late in the evening and entered his father's bedroom. Subsequently the father left the room and said: "I've finished him this time. It was either him or me for it, and I came off con- querer. To the police he said "The only thing I am sorry for is my wife and tne poor daughter, for I think my wife will soon be a. widow." Accused pleaded not guilty, and the, plea was that of self-defence.

FRIED FISH CAUSES DEATH. 5 Mrs. Florence Evelina Skerry, 35, of Fardell- road, Battersea, was taken ill after eating some1 fried fish and died in the infirmary. The hus- band told the coroner that other members of the family who had partaken of the fish were also stricken, but recovered. Mr. Maddison,, of Garrat-lane, from whom the fish was pur- chased, said he had a fresh supply daily from Billingsgate. The dripping came from the best- class restaurants in London. He could not say whether the fish tasted nastv or not, as he had never eaten any. Commenting'on the evidence, the coroner said: there could be no doubt it- was the fried fish or- what the fish was fried in that caused death. The supply of food, especially to the poor, was a matter of enormous importance, and it was; highly important that all persons supplying food should be inspected. In the present case there was nothing to show tha,t\Mr. Maddison was aware the food was unwholesome. The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death," and suggested that the dripping should be in- spected.

CLIFTON BRIDGE TRAGEDY. I While a crowd of people were streaming out. of the railway station underneath Clifton Suspen- sion Bridge, a. body suddenly fell from the heights, above, a distance of about 90ft., and breaking an electric tramway wire in its descent, fell in front of a passing tramway-car. The body, which presented a terrible spectacle, was, quickly removed to the mortuary. On it was found an envelope containing a Christmas card addressed to Mr. F. White, 61 Treharris- street, Roath, Cardiff, and on the back of the; en«*l°Pe message was pencilled:' — May God help you to bear your trouble.— i-our broken-hearted brother Fred. Tell A. not to grieve." The initial of the sender of'" the Christmas card was "A."

I INTOXICATED HENS. I A correspondent in the Field writes that the following, method of inducing refractory hens to sit is stated to be practised with success in the Department of Charente Inferieure, France —The hen is fed with bread soaked in wine and soon becomes hopelessly drunk. Eggs -are then placed under her, and she is covered with an overturned crate or basket, which is removed in the course of a few hours. When the fowl returns to sobriety she accepts the clutch of eggs as an accomplished fact, and duly hatches them out. This notion, due to the ingenious humour of a boy, has been found to work well, and is now well known among local poultry keepers. The correspondent adds that it might be worth while experimenting in this country to seo whether bread soaked in beer will act as an inducement to hens to save the expense of incubators.

USES OF SHOWS. I No man can breed cattle, sheep, or pigs in I the wise.st way, says Professor Plumb, wno does not attend the shows and study and compare breeds and types. No man can feed and sell to the fullest degree of success who is un- familiar with the butcher beast, a model of fit- ness in the show ring, or who is a stranger amid the pens of the stockyards, where quality and character make values. 11\:1

POULTRY AND GRASS. I Grass pasture is essential for all kinds of 'I fowls, and if a clean grass plot is provided for them they will make half their feeding of it. The grass should be short, such as is growing I on a lawn. If grass is not conveniently provided, a chopped cabbage is an excellent substitute. drass may be mown if it is short, and fed to fowls that are confined, with great advantage if the gras,s or clover is long, it may be cut in a feed cutter very easily. Fat or scraps from the table are very good for mixing with the meal; and in winter, if there are not very many scraps, it is a good plan to buy some liver, lights, paunch, or tripe to boil for the fowls. A sheep's paunch may be had for twopence, and the tripe—nine to eighteen pounds—may be bought for one shil- ling, and this should be given to the fowls the last thing before going to roost, as they will greatly enjoy it, and eat ravenously of it.

TAKE CARE OF THE COLT. I A great part of the losses incident to horse- breeding arises from neglect and inattention to the growth of the colts. Many youngsters bred w the growth of the colts. Many youngsters bred in the purple turn out nondescripts, because they were starved when they were colts. Many two- year-olds are not larger than yearlings, because not fed sufficient and proper rations when they were weanlings. There are plenty of colts to- day whose owners are paying no attention to theip growth and development. They have been simply turned out to pasture to forage until winter, when they are taken up to run in an open yard and eke out a precarious existence, subsisting on a straw stack or damaged hay. Some farmers may call that raising horses, it is the short-cut to poverty, for an animal reared amid such surroundings, whatever his breeding, can never rise above a scrub. When animals are of an age to sell, they are shunned by horse buyers, and the breeder condemns the horse industry. To make money in the horse business, farmers must take good care of the colts and keep the youngsters thriving. The animals will then mature into valuable horses, and command the best prices of their class in open market.

PLANTS GROW BETTER. The value of pulverising the soil repeatedly is not generally understood by farmers who cultivate large acres of land, but the market- gardener, who has only a small space on which to make a living, shows by his methods that he realises the importance of this work. Incident- ally, pulverising the soil means good culture of plants, but plants can be cultivated and the soil may not be pulverised. The finer we pulverise the soil around the plants the better is the mechanical condition of the soil for making the plants grow and resisting dry weather. Wh en we study the subject from a scientific point of view we can understand better the -effects of what is good culture. Everybody in this age understands the theory of the evapora- tion of water from the soil, how the water rises from: the subsoil or underground springs by capillary attraction, and if taken up by the plants passes off into the air. —

NAVAL MTSHAP. The following message has < heen issued from- the Admiralty The Secretary of the Admiralty regrets to report that the following telegram has been received from the "commanding officer- of H.M.S. Lapwing, dated the 27th inst., 7.50 < a.m., at Jask: "Boat belonging to H.M.S., Redbreast has been capsized. Regret to re- port that the following have been drowned:' T r/ Brooks, gunner, and Private i?,n ^rrow.> Plymouth, 5,972." Ihe Lapwing, with the Redbreast and the; Sphinx, are attached to the East Indies; spuadron of the Eastern Fleet. J ask is a fort in the Persian province of Kerman, and is near the shore of the Arabian Sea.

TRAINS IN COLLISION. Seven passengers sustained slight injuries in; a collision between a passenger train and a train of empty carriages on the London and: North-Western Railway at London-road Sta- tion, Manchester. But for the presence of mind of the engine driver of the light, train the acci- dent would have been much more serious. A train from Crewe, it appears, entered the station at the wrong platform, where the empty- train was standing, but the driver of the latter, perceiving that a collision was inevitable, backed his engine. As it was, .both enginpa were damaged, and two coaches of the Crewe train were derailed.