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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1901-5-23, Page 7A WICKED GIRL. BY MARY CECIL HAY. (coigns vela) "Two hundred pounds reward," he repeated, That would pay a man's losses--" Halting suddenly, he turn- ed half round to a very young man near him, who had been speaking, "Best stroke in the room, are you, Blaker? Let's see. I'm the worst, and I will give you fifty. Are you on?" "Oh, Inn game; hut I've a consid- eration for you, and I advise you not to venture to -night," Maker said, in a patronizing, tone, which as he had before ventured to assume it to Steven I3asset, struck agreeably on his own ear. "This is the very night, my son," returned Steven. "After another bot - tie or two, I'm your man. Sonita thing has been the matter with my cue to -night, but I'm all right now. Prudden, if you like, I'll give you the eighty you once offered me, and a hundred to the back of that, and yet beat you," An irrespressible laugh ran round the room, for Steven Basset was known to be no billiard -player ---even in his own conceit — and was chal- lenging (and offering geace to) the crack player of the county. "Don't be a fool," muttered Pried - den, without joining in the laugh. "Basset's head wasn't molded for re. champagne cup, eh, Glentroarray?" one of the men near the door asked a' gentleman who entered at that moment—a middle-aged artillery of- ficer of quiet bearing, who paused, looking gravely into the room. "Do you mean to tell me," he in- quired, in a pained, low voice, "that Basset is—has been drinking?" "Self-evident," laughed the other, "but there's nothing to look so glum about in a fellow getting screwed, however unusual with him." "This is a hateful sight. to me," said Captain Glenmurray, still gazing incredulously across at Steven, a,nd still hesitating to' advance. "Why, man aliv'e, you've seen plen- ty of fellows more thoroughly drunk -than Basset is!" "But none so thoroughly changed. As I say, this is a hateful sight to me. What can have possessed him?" "Varied potations have possessed him, there's no doubt about that. I bet he will have fallen asleep within (half an hour. ' He's nearly asleep ticiw for all his restless swagger." Before the speech was at an end this listener had passed on. ' `Shouldyou have guessed Glen- murray was such a soft old chap?", , "Never. He looks hard enough -- -the grizzly bear." Steven Basset was feebly balancing his cue, vhen Glenmurray came up and spoke to him. As he listened, he waved it in the air, seating himself awkwardly upon the table. "I say, Blaker," he shouted, almost before Glenmurray was silent, "could you wait for one game till I've fought Glenmurray for preaching soberness to me? To me—good Lord!" "To -night," observed Glenmurray, coldly. "I would not even fight you, Basset." "And to -morrow you may wish you had fought me while you could," "Possibly." ' "Then shall we strike out?" "I, am lea.ving," said Glenmurray, in a grave and anxious way. "Let nee drive you, 'Basset, as far as my way lies with yours." "No thanks. I have a bed here for to -night — when I'm ready for it— bot I have to lick all these fellows first." Though Capt. Glenmurray said he was leaving, he stayed on as if he could not bear to leave the man he cared for in this unusual state. "I declare, I never before saw l3as- set in the slightest degree affected by wine — did you, Glenmurray?" in- quired a solemn -looking young fellow, who had been for a long time silent- ly observant. "I always considered him so mentally robust. It won't do to feel sure of any one. Why, he must have been at it half the day, more or less, I should think." "I say, Basset," said Blaker, his young excited voice filling the room, "I went up to Herrick's this after- noon to sec you, and they told .the you hadn't been seen 'since early morning. Where have you been all day?" "I forget," said Steven, stupidly. "Touch up your memory, man, we want to hear about this mysterious woman who was seen to enter your cousin's park just before he was mur- Ored, I heard that poor old Mrs. Basset sent to summon you to the Tower and you were not to he found." "I'll go now," said Steven, com- ing up to the fire with spasmodic liveliness. Then he leaned against the mantel -piece, his drowsy eyes fixed upon the bill opposite. "That's right. Come along," put in Glenmurray, desirous on any preteet of getting his friend away from there, 'No, I won't go to -night. Let a man rest in peace, Glenmurray ---- is it Glenmurray, though? Which of you is it? How cOnfoundedly alike you all look to -night! I'll tell you, fellows, evha,t it is. I esteem my great-aunt immensely, but 1 don't--- tvhen 1 can help it --run the blockade of her keen oyes, You wouldn't' if you knesv as much as I know about that night. Why, sometimes I feel as if she looked right, through me, and saw that I could explain every- thing about that murder. She's pay- ing away her money to those idotic crim i nal investigators, as she calls 'ern, to find out what there's no man In the world knows except myself." "You know?" Only one man gave voice to the ex- elaination; but it interpreted every man's astonishnient. Steven made a change in hie attitude so unsteadily as to reel against the man next him, then ho pushed his..hands deep into his pockets as if by so doing he could steady himself. . "Murder. Two hundred pounds re - Ward," he mead aloud again from the paper opposite. 'Poor old lady! / believe she wonld positively enjOY paying thitt ttvo litindeed pounds. Well, Would any 01 you like to earn more; as a.wind Met Don't, look it? Wouldn't it cover your losses at pool, Charley? Speak the word, and you shall have the opportunity of pocketing it," "J3asset!'' said Glenmurray, .most earnestly; but Steven peemed 'to be incapable of •listening now. "Champagne," he ordered, in loud, indistinct tones, "Say half a dozen a martyr, Gleninurray! You can't be sober if you object to that. Have you lost, too? Fie, sonny! ' Will two hundred pounds pay the piper? You shall have first claim for mild acquaintance sake. hto-morrow you go and ( claim the dear old dame's two hundred poundsI'll wager," his voice was husky, and his words seemed to jostle each other; but they were perfectly intelligibleto all in the room, "it will do you as go.od service as any of the other fellows. Take it, I don't care a rap. I ran the risk with my eyes open, and you may be sure I shall die game, What amuses me is that nobody's else's eyes were open. Such fools the de- tectives sent down here must be, for I'll swear there's no man who hated Miles as I 'did, and no man but niy- self could have used his own dagger so skillfully. Couldn't they see that a friend must have done it? That who- ever stabbed him must have been by his side and trusted by him? That dagger always lay on the table, and it was a natural thing to take it up, being beside him there, by any ono trusted, What fools never to see that the man who did it must have been utterly unsuspected by Miles." "You sleephere, do you; Basset?" asked Capt. Gleninurray, in a chang- ed voice, laying his hand heavily now on Steven's shoulder. "I don't go home till morning," Shouted Steven. 'Nov, then, Prud- den, why don't you open the cham- pagne? As this will be my last night of liberty, I must make the most of it, We don't get fiz in prison, do we, Glenmurray? What! Have you drunk it all up, you fiend? He al- ways was a rare old toper, wasn't he, Charley? Poor Glenmurray! Poor old chap! When did he go away? Be's in a hurry for that two hun- dred pounds." Capt. Glenmurray's hand, heavy yet tremulous, was still on Steven's shoulder while he asked this question a.nd one or two of the men laughed. "Do you stay in this hotel to -night, Steven?" he asked again, the austeri- ty of •the question softened a little by the use of the Christian name. "Yes, Captain Glenmurray," said a by-stander when Steven kept sullen silence, "I know that Mr, Basset has bespoken a room here." "Come, Basset," said Glenmairray, taking the young man's arm, "I, too, stay here to -night, so we may as well retire." - Steven began to smile round on the assembled company with an amiable stupidity not unusual with inebriat- ed men, but an instant afterward he straightened his features into pre- ternatural solemnity and left the room with an aPpearance of doing so of his own accord, and not at all of needing the support of his friend's arm. It was significant of the esteem in which Steven Basset had hitherto been held, that among the men left behind in the billiard -room those who knesv him said no word of this terri- ble revelation of his, aad almost im- mediately dispersed. Among the few who remained, one man, in a hard authoritative way, spoke out his mind: "We should all be crimin- al, too, ,if we allowed this disclosure to pass unnoticed, or the man to evade the law any longer." shall not assuredly, Denyer,'' said another, "but for this night he is incapable of action, and to -morrow morning the- news will be all over Thawton." "Still I think the police nught to be told to watch this house." "Scarcely necessary to -night, as Glenmurray is with Basset. I don't suppose he will to -morrow be aware of what he divulged to -night, and he will bo as safe here as in jail." "I shall see to that," asserted Ben- 3'er, harshly, "if no one else does. Not that I'm snob enough to claim the reward, but I'll seejustice done if only for the sake of Miles Basset's old grandmother." "Or sister, say," was the retort with a laugh that NVELS a sneer. Capt. Glenmurray was reading Ids paper in the coffee -room of the Atheling Arms nest morning, waiting breakfast for, Steven Bassat, when a well-dressed middle-aged Man entered and ordered breakfast for himself at the adjoining table. Glemnurray did not notice him, be- ing to all appearance engrossed in ,his newspaper, but any one who had known the officer well, would have detected that even if he read at all, his mind did not follow what he retid. "Shall I send up to Mr. Basset's room, sir?" inquired the waiter with a reeening glance at the clock, for already the breakfast was an hour and it half behind time. Do, said Captain Gterusturray, without looking up from his "Times." It was not many minutes before the man returned to say Mr. Baeset's room was empty.. The cap- tain looked sharply up with a sus- picious penetrating glance, but his neighbor went on cutting his toast into fingers. "Some lazy chamber-xnaid has told you that, lie. Mr; Basset is not like- ly to forget an appointment with me." "Not usually, *sir," the waiter al- lowed, with strict regard to justice "but do you consider Mr, 13asset to have been quite as usual,lazt night, sir?" ''Pelly about his having gone!" reiterated the cepta in, showing little variety of language in Ina impati- tote°. "An idiot of a chamber -maid has been at the wrong door. Go yourself'/' On the man's departure, Capt. Glemnurray's neighbor, 'using his eerviette slowly, glanced across and saw that the officer was preoccupied and ill at ease; then' be looked from the :window, Yes, it was all right. A little way 'up the dull High street', it young. man was lounging on the step of the sailor's sbop, his atti- tude indolent but his eyes alert as he; talked with the master tailor h ise11, who o cc up led the greater part of every working day on ,hie own door -step. tigreeer down the street it laboring scan stood at the bar entrance to a little oldeissikiohed publieshonse, whistling. With his hands io hie pockets, )(es, It was all right; Mr, Basset could not have passed either way unfollowed, even if the old detective within could have been so overacting his part as to have failed to cover his escape. '"Des quite true, sir,'affirmed the wafter, returning with a fussy air. "Mr, Baseet; must have left before any of us Were down."' "Then are your doors oh the latch all night?" 'No, sir. It's my work to unbolt and unchain the 'all door, but 1 so often find the master's been before me aml done it 'ireself, that I take D 0 notice when I don't find it fast, like I did this morning.'' - ''At what time?' "Just, before six. Were always open by six, because gentlemen often drive in for the 6.45 up, and like it CUP of coffee or anything, or they'll leave their 'orses 'ere if they're com- ing back. Yes, we're always open anti busy by six." 'Then Mr, Basset must have left before that hour?'' "Not. a doubt of it, sir. And one can't tell how long before that hour. He could riot have left after with- out being seen by some of us." The quiet -mannered man at the sec- ond table had risen, and buttoning his coat as he went, nodded to ths waiter (for he had a running accouat at the Atheling Arms): and left the coffee -room. "Call out my man, and dog -cart," said Capt. Glenmur- ray, "and bring me some coffee—no, tea, and anything you have ready. Don't keep me a minute." . "Capt a in Glemnurra y ' '—Mr. Be- ves, the proprietor of the Atheling Arms had come up to the captain's table to address him --"I regret ex- ceedingls that this has occurred here and just at this juncture. Mr. Bas- set appears to have been in a state of intoxication last night, and to have made a very startling announce- ment. This extraordinary departure —a.1 may even call it escape—will confirm this into a confession." "Excuse me, neves, I ain in great haste. I've only two minutes to breakfast in. having an appoint- ment. The ravings of a drunken man never did have any meaning in my ears.'' "But, sir, so many circumstances thatiis,.:m were mysterious about this m Un- der seeexplained, as it were, by ti °I really am sick of the Very men- tion of that affair at the Tow cr. Kindly hurry round my man, will yons'' That gentleman who breakfasted , near you," said Ain Beves, in it bow- er key, before he departed, "is from Se o.3 and Yard, Ca.ptain Glemnurra.y. land he has ordered a conveyance for Barrack's Beacon. They tell me, too, that my house has been watched since day -break." "And I don't suppose you mind, a , bit. about that," rejoined Glenmur- ray, carelessly. "No murderer would choose your respectable hotel for a hiding -place." ''I believe you're right, captain," said the landlord, with lively burst of coal:deuce. But he woo no fur- ther remark. Capt. Glenmurray drove down the I High street at a leisurely pace, but las soot:, as the little town was left behind, he cut his fresh young thor- I ough-bred, and the high light dog- ( cart rolled fleetly along the level roan to Dewring. Yet when it turned in to the ascent to Barrack's, the gentleman from Scotlafid. Yard was not a mile behind it. Up the steep rugged lane, Glenmurray did not spare his horse, but before reach- ing the gate he stopped. "I will walk from here, James," he said. "Draw up the cart across the lane, and if any one drives up behind. take as much time as you can in giving him room to pass." Two minutes later Captain Glen- rxturray was standing. in Steven BasseVs sitting -room, listening blankly. to Mrs. Frayd's announce- ment, that Mr. Basset had slept last night at, Barrack's as usual, coming in late with his latch -key. That he had`gone out that. morning at eight o'clock to bathe as he very often did, though warned by her that Feb- ruary was not a wholesome bathing month, especially this being an ex- tra dull and dark morning, but he was always fend of it, and very strong, and after all he only took one rapid swim when it was cold. That he had ordered breakfast at half past nine, and that her only sur- prise ,was his not having returned to it now at hall past eleoen. "You are quite certain you are not mistaken?" interrogated Glenmurray, with a suspicious dcrutiny of the woman's bland countenance. "And in what could I be mistak- en, sir?" she inquired, fluently aggrieved. "There's his bedroom just as he left it for you to see if you thee, and he asked for a bath- ing towel, and slung it over his shoulder, and he called Fitz, who alseays goes with , him and wa tchee his things. And he. gave me his watch and chain to -take care of, as -he always does When he bathes, and just as he went whistl- ing off with the towel ami the dog, sir, Amos came up -- my man, you see, and as -useful as two or three younger ones—and seeing the towel warned Mr. Basset against bathing, as there was a nasty ,'old nip )11 the air, and the water would •bo bad for any one. But he only laughed, and said he: should not drown till Its time came, which sort of speech, sir, alWays makes rale sick with fear, re- membering how my own father, be- fore Ile WEIS thrown Out of his gig and killed, and joked to my step- mother in a simitar—' "That reckless way wasn't like Mr. Baseet., I suppose you SaW he was not quite as usual?" "That's just it, sir," with 6. fresh and lively start, "and I should have knowo even if he hadn't told me, which he did, being alwayS confident in me, and knowing 1 don't let things out. 'Mrs, Frityd.' he said, (no no coserts000,) Cle=elfStt OUSEIJOLD CHOICE RECIPDS. Saudage Rolls—These golls May be eaten hot or cold. Have the fried aansage in links, hot. Keep thenaso while you Mix Up the tollowing US - Cult rule: One quart flour, with 2 large tableepoons baking powder sift- ed through, 1 teaspooa salt, and rich, creamy milk enough to make a dough that evill not stick. There must be at least 1-2 cup( sweet cream in the mixture. Roll out very thin on the board. Take a large cooky cutter, or a large cartiater lid., and cut out. Roll or wrap up one hot sausage in each disk of dough. Pinch the ends together and lay side by side in a shallow baking pan, and bake 10 a hot oven. Serve on a hot diah, pouring the gravy, if desired, over them when Neat to the table. , An Italian Dish—Fry 1 onion in hot fat, add a green pepper and about 1 qt. tomatoes sliced. Prepare an eggplant by cutting in thin elicenand putting the tees ingredients together with a dressing of bread crumbs and eggs, s.easened svith salt and herbs. When the tomato is boiling., add the eggplant and cook gently until soft. Egglees Squash Pie—In this time of scarcity of fresh eggs, it is wplI to know that pies made from squash, are better, if anything, without them, for the reason that they can be well baked and tot whey, as they are apt to do when eggs are used. Instead of an egg to a pie use a cracker rolled fine and ntirred into the clear squash a little while before using. Next, add a little cinnamon, noma salt, 3-4 cup sugar and 3-4 pt mil1 to 1 large cup of squash. It should be thicker than when an eg.g is used. Ham and Egg Pancake—To make enough pancake for three or four per- sons, take 6 eggs and beat well, add 2 cups aweet milk, and 2 heaping tableepoons flour gradually stirred into it, aleo a pinch of salt. Cut eolme nice fat ham into very thin ,slices, fry separately and divide into small pieces about three inches square. Butter the frying pan well and pread a very thin coating of batter in pan, then put in three or four pieces of the ham and, cover with another very thin coating of batter, and brown very nicely on both aides. Should be eaten while warm. Scrapple—Take a cheap piece of freah pork and cook until the meat fella from the bonen. Remove the bones, break the :neat into small pieces and return to the fire. When thicken with corn meal, as for fried haety pudding, and season, with salt, pepper and eggs, about as for sausage. When thoroughly cook- ed, turn into a pan and when cold cut in lices and brown in a frying pan. If the meat is very fat, remove some before thickening. Baked Quince Sauce—An excelle.nt way of preserving quinces is to pare and slice them. Then spri:akle, first a layer of quince, in a large earthen dish, then one of sugar, and so on 'Instil the dish is full. Then turn over the whole hot water enough to keep it from burning and to make a sauce. Cover tight with a plate or flat tin and let it bake and simmer in the oven several hours until the quince is cooked soft. Then seal tightly in fruit can while hot. Spider Cake—This is an old-fashion- ed way of making bread, and if you never have tried it, you will be pleas- ed with it simplicity. Mix the dough as you would for cream tartar bis- cuits: A pint of flour, 2 medium teaspoons baking powder, 1-2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 2 tea- spoons shortening. Instead of bak- ing powder our grandmothers used soda and cream, tartar. Heat a Spider or griddle, grease it and pour in the mixture. When a crust forms turn it and continue to do so until the brea.d i browned upon' both sides and thoroughly cooked. This can be made upon the top of the etove very quickly, and is a nice wily to have hot bread in euMmer without the trouble of heating the oven. Break, instead of cutting it. You( will find this equal, if not superior, to biscuits baked in the oven, and with half the trouble. Cold Water Gingerbread.—Tbis re- ceipt None of a senator's wife's. The first time eating any, I thought it the moist delicious gingerbread made, and atilt think so. She served, it hot for dinner. It ia quickly put to- gether and baked. Use 1 cup mo- lasses, 2 tablespoons lard, sausage fat is best, 1 teaspoonful soda, gin- ger and cinnanaon. Stir these .smoothly together. Add 1 cup cold water, 3 cups flour and bake in a long pan or two Washington pie plate,s, HANDY HI.NTS. Anyone who ha, a had to take some- thing out of the oven lief a hurry, and found no holder handy, will appreciate these few suggestions: Elelderl are always in deniand. Ote can hardly have too many of these useful little friends. Why not uti- lize the leisure of a rainy day by "taking Time by -the forelock," and getting a number ot them ready and in their places? Make essmo of several thicknesses of common white cloth and cover with any pretty wash goods. Five inches square is a good size. Sew a meee of tape to caoN one, and when you get out a tresh kitehen apron fasten Orte of these to the band, at the right side, by means( of a small safety pin. The, conk will find these a great converuence. They Man be Washed when. soiled. For ironing hoidera made of bed ticking are good, an that is so thick it keeps the heat from. the harld. Some prefer a eireular holder or iron, • ing, It 15 Well to have several of both kitsch% on hand. A holder coVered with bright wort - cd material, and with a loop of braid or ribbon to hang it up by, should Lie near every fireplace or stove. I For ironing isleeves, a steeve board, Suoh as May be bought a.4 almost any department Stoic for twenty-five or thiety-five cents, saves mueh veXation of spirit, ani prevents the crease which ii alwaye visible when the glecve is merely folded and ironed. It is a good idea to have, two paste- board bosel, ehoe boxea a.re a very good Size, for strings, Save all the strings that come into the house. Put the coramoa tring in one box, the pretty colored tring in the, other. Then, when you wish to del up a pres- ent or wish your package to( be dein- ty, you will not have to hunt for the color you wish. This is especially a convenienee at the holiday season. ,Two good-sized bags, made of cali- co., are nice Sor paper. 1.n one keep all the ooramon wrapping paper, in the other put the tiesue paper, and any pretty wrapping paper that cornea to you. This will be a treas- ure -mine when you are doing up Christraas gifts, The tissus paper should be ironed and folded before putting it into the bag. , A PAPER WEDDING. The paper wedding, tno first an- nivereary of a wedding day, is oc- casionally observed among a group of young folks, who turn it into a merry, makiug. They come adorned with grotesque paper taps extracted from, motto crackers, and sometimes in en- tire costumes evolved from gorgeous crepe paper. The paper wedding of- fers an excellent chance for a mas- querado party, when paper of all Sorts may be utilized, frorn pert pret- ty Yum -Yum with a Japanese para- sol to a frolicsome youth represent- ing the yellow kid in an impromptu euit made from yellow Journals. There is the greatest latitude when it comes to gifts. The offering may be a dainty box of atationery or a book in the moat artistic of bindings. For table decorations paper can be used lavishly, with paper table nap- 1t'in5, and even one of those beauti- ful table cloths hi paper which can be found in Japanese stores. Globes for gas and. electricity, ortlamp-s, can revel for that one night in( wonderful paper hadas, and where an artistic) taste would demand flowers and wreathinga of smilax or the delicate asparagus vines, it yields to the harmony of things and substitutes paper blossoms as true to nature as they can be found, with japanesa lan- terns and lengths of paper ribbon for draping. If the decorator hag taste, a house can be naade really charming with paper decorations, if they are kept in delicate colors which harmonize. At the paper Wedding, as in all other celebration, the bride ought to wear her wedding gown, and after the pass- ing of only twelve months, it is Pos- sible for her to be surroundedr by her bridearaaids in their year-old frocks. FORECASTING THE WEATHER. Professor Langley Slakes a Very Ienparlant Sclert1111c Discovery. The discovery by Professor S. P. Langley, aecretary of the Smithsonian Institution, at Washington, of 700 lines in tho invisible spectrum of the Sun, is likely to be of inestimable value in forecasting the weather. Ile came upon them quite unexpectedly while investigating some phenomena on the summit of Mt. -Whitney. He has since in.apped out 700 lines in the new epectrura and has stated that with this aa a basis we aret coming to a knowledge which hat hitherto been hidden from us of the way in which the sun maintains every, form of life upon the earth. Charts down at! the Smithsonian Institution indicated dis- tinctly the spectrum's progressive changes through spring, summer, autumn, and winter and Prof. Langley, lx.lieved it not impassib1e. that pre- dictions would yet he 'made as to fu- ture changes in the character of com- ing seasons, anel their effects upon the crops somewhat similar to those now made from day to day byi the Weather Bureau, but infinitely more far -reach - THE PROFESSOR. Mr. Langley is one of the most widely known of the astronomers and physicists of the world. He began his career in science as an assistant in the Harvard observatory, but soon afterward because professor of mathe- matics in the United States Naval Academy. He left that chair to ac- cept the directorahip of the Allegh- eny Observatory, and while filling that post wrote most of his well- known works on astronomical sub- jects. In January, 18E37, he was ap- pointed assistant secretary of the Smithsonian, and in November of that year 'full secretary. Mr. Langley has devoted himself to many scientific, in- vestigations other than those of a s'- tr o-phy sic s. His most favored la- borhave been in his experiments with the flying machine, in which he lute succeeded in building an aeroplane which gives, a very creditable per- formance. 11331 TARRIED NOT. He was a dilapidated Specimen of a dusty tramp, and as he rapped t at the door of the farmhouse he look -ed, hun- gry enough to eat half a dozen din- ners. Who are you, and what do you want? asked the prim old lady who opened the door. Madam, he replied pompously, you aee before yciu an exiled King of Hun- gary. I was hunting in yonder for - mit, and in some waybecame separ- ated from my retainers, and also rona nay purse and gun. I am foot- sore, weary, and so hungry that 1 fain ',would bide with yeti awhile to refresh rny inner and outer man. We've nothing in the house fit for a king to at, she replied: but tarry, prithee, whilst 1 unchain my dog Tiger. He will escort your Majesty wtili all dUe ceremony to .the gate, and perehaneo-- 1iut, the king had fled. THE LAND OF THE ROSE WHAT IS GOING ON IN TliE HEART OF THE ElltlYIRE, -- 1Vews Not by titan Erna* Old Lup,lantl— occurrences That +Into, Intere4t Song el St. George. Over fifty peers and thirty baronet* have been engaged on active service in South Africa, , There has tot been a single death in the ptirish'. of Besingi on Yorks for the laat two Years. For the flail: time in itg history the Church itliestonary Society has pass- ed the £400,000 point in it annual receipts. Major-General Hector Macdonald, C. 13., has been offered the hon, coloneleyi of the Liverpool Scottish Rifle Vol- unteera. Lord Tamen, of Hereford, is said to be the only man living, who has re-, fusesl the Seals of the Lord Chancel-. lordship, the highe,st honour for a Bri- tieh lawyer. , Tin 1300 there were in all the world leas than fifty 'shipbuilding yards, To- day there are more than '700 ship- building yaada, turning out a total of 1,000 vessels yearly. Lancaahire is on the eve of losing part of ita textile machinery indua-t try. Belgium is beginning the manu- facture of spindles and flyers, of which hitherto Lancashire, has bad almost a monopoly. Sir Sohn T. Brunner, M.P., ha S de- cided to provide spectacles for scholar vvho are affected with equ.int. The offer applies to elementary Eichoola in the Northwich parliamentary divi- sion of Cheahire. The music of the organ at Llangors, len church was so eccentric that the instrument was examined, and a cat was found inside. The animal was with difficulty removed, and it ba a since made frantic efforts to return. Although all the old British battle - hips had elaborately carved figure- headS on their bolas modern nen-. aela ara not allowed any such sort of decoration by virtue of an order of the Admiralty issued some years ago. It is it curious fact that the greater portion of famous generals were, and are, men below the average height. Napoleon and Wellington were email men. 1tol3erts is Much below the aver- age size. French is said to be five feet els inches fax height. The remains of the late General Sir Samuel jamea 1Browne, V. C., were cremated at Woking,. The service at Woking was attended by, among other, Sir Dighton Probson repre- seating the King and Earl Roberta, with whom the deceased served in The sum of 235,000 required to de- fray the espenaea of Queen Victoria's, obsequies is, says the St. .Tames' Gazette, 45,000 less than the cost of Nelnon's funeral. S:x months after Nel- son another great figure was laid low • Pitt was buried at a oost of, 240,000. , Sir Robert Ball has been telling a youthful audience that every hund- red years the sun loses fire miles of its diameter. To allay anxiety, how -1 ever, he mentioned that the diameter', of the Sun is 800,000 miles, and that 40,000 years hence the diameter would 'still be 858.000 miles. It is Said that the beer -poisoning Scare has had the effect of dimi_nishing the consumption of beer in London by at least two per cent. Most of the, licensed victuallers are now displaying placarde guaranteeing the freedom of their liquors from arsenic ancl all chi- letesioue Substances. The Baroness-T3nrdett-Coutts, who id now 80, was once described by the King aa "the MC/St wonderful woman in the world except my mother," and assur- edly she deserves the description. She is still actively plailanthropic, and works very hard, keeping, two score- tariee buy all the time. Under the Poatal Union each coun- try keeps alt ita own postal receipts, and by thie arrangement Britain ben - receives postage on four letters and receive only four. The British Govern- ment receives postage on five letters and delivere only four. The foreigner receives postage on four letters, and delivers laThe nylfai'*:::101.1ine igt frequlca tions aevri7n:g -sof le' ad ie. fgtae o.'f'") truat funds has directed, the attest- tionof tile legal profession to the matter, as one intimately affecting the honour of the whole body, and which is calculated to prejudice the intereet of professional men general- ly with their clients. Frogmore House is one of the royal residences. It was the home of the Duchess of Kent, Queen VictoriaS) mother, and was later occupied by Prince and Princess Christian. It is only a very short diitanee from Wind- aor Caetle. In the grounds of Frog- 111C4T: 0, on the left elide af the Long Walk, is the splendid mausoleum, which can be seen from the Clefts itself. The building is in the shape of a cross, built of the richest, most costly materials—the rarest /Derbies and bronze a and inlay work. It Was: begun eoon nIter the Prince Con- sort died, and was consecrated in 1802, THE POPE'S RECORD. Leo xiir. ,%vrt's ninety-one quite re- cently, end is believed, therefore, to have surpessed all ,records of Roman Pontiffs sine° St. Peter. As a matter of fact, he hae in all probability beat- en alb records whatsoever of the Papal Chair, for the Abbe Maletre ha e shown that St. Peter could not have bbeen more than geventy-five, and was most likely only seventy-two, when he sval martyred. The recorcie which give St. Agathen 107 years ; Gregoey IX. nine- ty-nine, and Celestin E11. ninety-toSo ate almoSt certainly spuricalg.