Tfeo Un ted States of America has
wuu and liolda the most conspicuoas
place in international conversations.
American shoes are steadily grow
ing in favor in the markets of Europe.
There is naturally a good deal of
kicking at this, but it does no good.
Many Spaniards have been ap
pointed to places on the new police
force of Havana. They and the
Americans will club together for
peace.
Great Britain has ordered two new
battleships, each to have a displace
ment of 14,000 tons, and cost $5,000,-
000. That is what England thinks of
the disarmament scheme.
The hauling down of the Spanish
flag in Havana the other day has been
supplemented fittingly in Madrid by
the abolition of the office of minister
for colonies. This was the final act
of abdication for which more than
four couturier of misrule were the
preparation. The shutters were put
up as the proprietors had decided to
go out of tho colonial bnsiness.
Among other departments of gov
ernment activity, the work of the
weather bureau during the last fiscal
year calls for some comment. The
most important incident in the work
of the bureau for the year was the ex
tension of its field of operations, so
as to include the West Indies and the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico. This
was in large part dictated by consid
erations of a military and naval char
acter, but in part also the departure
was intended for the benefit of our
growing commercial interests through
out the West Indies and Central and
South American countries. In the
United States new observing stations
have been established, mainly in the
west and southwest, and a climate and
or op centre has been located in Alaska.
It may interest statisticians to know
that the bureau has undertaken the
work of collecting statistics, which it
is hoped will in the course of time
"enable those interested to determine
he relative frequency of lightning
Strokes throughout the United States."
The cycle show at one time, both in
this country and in England, seemed
to have outlived its usefulness. There
seemed not to be enough that was new
each year to warrant the trouble and
expense of a large show. But either
the cycling public yearly includes so
large a proportion of new comers as
to make what is old to others a novelty
to them, or else tho people found suf
ficient beguilemeut in the many
souvenirs, together with the few nov
elties, to make them willing to sup
port an annual exhibition, observes
the New York Commercial Advertiser.
At any rate, the recent show proved
to be one of the best held in America.
That burning question, the chainless
wheel, will be the chief feature, and
next to it will come the automobile
vehicles; for the cycle, from a fad,has
oome to take a similar place to that of
the trolley cars in the public mind as
a necessity with a certain pleasurable
ness about it. The chainless wheel is
a problem on which everyone is work
ing. Like the storage battery, it ap
pears to be foreordained, but just in
what form and who shall be its proph
et are as yet undecided.
A paper lias recently appeared in
the English journals giving some not
able data based on the national census
of several successive decades. A most
remarkable fact is the decline in the
proportion of women employed in ag
ricultural and farm service in the
realm, also a marked decline in the
proportion of women employed in silk,
worsted and woolen manufactures,
likewise in the proportion of seam
stresses; on the other hand, an enor
mous increase is noted in the propor
tion of the sex engaged in the teach
ing service and as tailoresses, who
are mostly sewing machinists. It is
admitted, in this paper afler an elab
orate and careful investigation of all
the facts and statistics relating to the
point in question—that, while the in
dustrial employment of married wom
en with young children is an obvious
sin, it is not the paramount one. In
• word, the paper corroborates the
conclusion arrived at by previous in
vestigation by eminent specialists in
this Hue, that the factory employment
of women is not the main cause of ttie
high rate of infant mortality in Lan
cashire and other industrial localities.
Some interesting tables are given in
the paper cited, showing that there is
much more constant relation between
infant mortality and the social condi
tion of different town populations,
measured by the proportion of domes
tic servants employed, than there is
between the proportion of industrial
occupations among women and in
fant mortality.
' This country uses five times as
many telephones as any other nation.
The Americaus are the champion long
distance talkers in the world.
Foreign governments are at "outs"
about almost everything else, but they
all agree that American manufacturers
are capturing the markets of tlie
world.
One year ago it was seriously pro
posed to abolish the marine corps, but
in view of the admirable services of
that body during the recent war it is
now the intention to enlarge and ex
tend it. Events have shown that the
marines knew their business.
Two hundred cities and towns in
Germany are preparing grauite col
umns surmounted by braziers in hon
or of Prince Bismarck. On the an
niversary of the late chancellor's birth
fires will be lit in these. It would be
interesting to know what the kaiser
thinks of Ihe scheme. If he is wise
he will insist on designing the pil
lars himself. That would show that
he had a real sense of humor.
The Salvation Army has established
three colonies, one at Fort Amity,
Colorado; one at Fort Herriok, near
Cleveland, and one at Fort Pomie,
California. In all three there are not
quite two hundred persons, all in
cluded. The cost of tho experiment
during the first year has been about
$15,000, and Commander Booth
Tucker thinks that with $50,000 more
he will be able to pull through another
year.
The British postoffice is pluming it
self upon marked improvements in
mail collection and delivery. Iu the
tight little isle the problem of mak
fng efficient the postal service is far
simpler than in this country of vast
distances, and yet there is no de
partment of our government that has
kept itself more closely iu touch with
the people, or that lias more readily
adjusted itself to the growth of popu
lation and the needs of newly devel
oped agricultural districts, than has
that of the postoffice. It seems odd
to us that the British postal authori
ties should regard as a great achieve
ment the placing of letter boxes in
private houses at a minimum fee of
$25 a year.
Wo cannot expect that our crops
will always be abundant, or that a
great yield will always be coincident
with a shortage abroad; but the
growth of our exports of manufac
tures cannot be checked by conditions
like those which may reduce the ship
ments of products of the soil. There
is rich promise in this growth, which
shows that iu important industries we
are not only supplying the home de
mand but also marketing a large sur
plus in foreign countries. Last year
we were shipping manufactures from
our ports at the rate of about §1,000,-
000 for every working day. There is
nothing so significant aud euconrag
iug iu the returns as those figures
which show the rapid increase of the
exports of iron and steel, not only be
cause of the great importance of the
iron industry the world over, but also
for the reason that the inexhaustible
supplies of our raw material easily aud
cheaply obtained, and the progressive
improvement of our processes of man
ufacture caunot fail to establish the
supremacy of the United Sta'es in the
world's iron trade. We are now on
Ihe threshold of a great conquest in
tl-e field of manufacturing industry.
In an article on the open-air cure
ior consumption in the Nineteenth
Century, James A. Gibson describes
the methods in vogue at Nordracli in
the Black Forest. There the patients
live in rooms the windows of which
are never shut, summer or winter.
They go out in the rain and come home
and sit down without thinking of
changing their clothes, and never take
cold. Their system is putin such a
condition that it throws off the cold
microbes, and infection touches them
not. The obvious disadvantages of
trying any such method iu the places
where it is most needed—in the places
where there are the most peojjle.in the
town—is that the wider you open
your windows the more microbes you
let in and the harder yon will have to
work to throw them off. Still, it seems
that for freedom from colds it is not
advisable to do as many city men do,
dash from their houses to the cars,
and then from the cars to tlffeir offices,
with just as little life in the opeu air
as the still incomplete inventions of
man render necessary. Whether the
doctors will eventually trace the cold
microbe to his lair and throttle him
there or not, it is wisa for us not to
wait for them, but to put ourselves iu
a state where we can combat the
wicked microbes ourselves. For we
do not catch cold, as we have thought
all these years; the oold catches us
THE MISER.
He said to himself, "I would fain be rich. He died, and all hl9 schemes and plans
No squandering spendthrift, I; The mould of the churchyard hid,
With might and main the gold I'll gain, w '' h n J?' er a tear on his friendless bier,
To ar.«n.l In th« hv anrt hv " Nor A°Wer on blB Coffin lid ;
lo spend in the by and by.. He , ef d {or a Bpendthrift foo i
111 grusp and gather and pinch and save, To Rca tter to earth and sky.
Nor answer the fools who jeer, And the grasses wave on his lonely grave,
But my hungry till their coin shall (111, Neglected and rank and high.
To pay for each mocking snoer." , , ,
There are beautiful lands that he might have
And so, as the years rolled swiftly by, seen.
A mountain of gold he piled, There are joys that he might have known.
Whoso shadow fell on his lonely cell, There are cries to heed, there ure mouths to
Where never a loved one smiled. There's seed he should have sown.
He meant to barter his wealth for joys And „ rutefu i blessings from thankful lips,
To brighten his journey's end, And love of a child and wife,
But It grew a part of his very heart All th6se ho sold for a bag of gold—
That he could not bear to spend. And his was a wasted life.
—Joe Lincoln.
P THE DEXTER? BARGAIN. "1
4 BY P. G. GRANT. fr
i'rvvvvvwvwwvvvwvwvvvvvw^
The Dexters were noted as a family
for their shrewdness, and Squire Dex
ter was proud of it. He called it fore
sight which enables him to get much
for little, and he was elated when be
saw the same trait creep out now and
then in Don and Aleck, his sous.
Not that the Dexters were dishonest
as the world detiues dishonesty; * the
squire would not have done anything
that he thought dishonorable, but he
had a knack of getting the best of a
bargain.
For various reasons Squire Dexter
did not keep a horse, which was a
sore vexation to the boys. Doll was
Mr. Dick's horse, a clean-limbed
young chestnut which the squire liked
to drive. As he frequently hired the
animal, he thought himself quite a
benefactor to poor Mr. Dick.
Mr. Dick had uot made such a suc
oess financially as had the squire. He
was a simple,straightforward old man,
who had seen nearly all his property
slip through his fingers in his dealings
with those sharper than himself. The
squire said this was due to a lack of
business qualifications,and he private
ly opined that the old man should not
keep a horse, since he could hardly
provide himself and wife with neces
saries.
Hut old Mr. Dick clung to his horse,
and as no one except the Dexter boys
had evinced much desire to own it, he
had eucouutered no great temptation
to part with it.
Now the temptation had come in j
the form of bodily needs. The old i
man shivered in his thin clothes that
morning ns he curried Doll.
"After Doll again?" lie asked, with j
an abortive attempt to cease shivering ;
as the boys ruslied into the stable.
"Yes, sir," answered Aleck.
"Your pa's getting pretty fond of
Doll," said Mr. Dick, giving a last
touch to her mane. "I don't see why
he don't have a horse."
"Nor I," said Don, impulsively.
"He might buy Doll," said the old
man, slowly.
Don and Aleck exchanged glances.
Don slipped on the bridle before he
put the question that was crowding
for utterance: "Would you sell her?"
"I've seen the time I wouldn't, but
it's different now," said Mr. Dick,
Badly. "I'm getting old, and—and —
I need the money."
The boys knew what this meant, j
Last week there had been talk that the ;
Dicks would be on the town this win- j
ter.
"How much will you take for Doll?"
asked Aleck.
"it don't seem as if $75 ought to be ,
too much. Doll's got good blood in
her—but Ido need the money," the ,
old man sighed.
"Will you give father the refusal
nutil tomorrow?" It was Don who i
put this question. He could not await [
Aleck's more deliberate speech.
"I'd rather your family should have !
her. You know how to use a horse,
and you like Doll," partly mused the ,
old man.
The squire had told tho boys to put j
Doll to the carriage before bringing j
her up the lane to the house door, j
but they could hardly wait to this, so
eager were they to tell the news.
"It's what t call a bargain," said
Don, emphatically, as he jumped into
the carriage.
"Yes," assented Aleck, "father sup- |
posed old man Dick would wuut 8101)
for her."
"Well, Uncle Eben will think it
cheap. He paid SSOO for a span, and
I guess neither one was any better
than Doll."
Soon they were at the gate where
Squire Dexter anu his brother were
standing.
Don screamed out first. "We've
struck such a bargain, father!"
Then the two, as they tumbled out
of the vehicle, poured out an excited
account of their call on the old man.
Squire Dexter turned to his brother
with a laugh.
"They're Dexters, Eben, through
and through. Know a good thing
when they see it."
"And will you take her, father?"
said Don, as the squire and Eben got
into the buggy.
"We'll see. Uncle Eben will test
her."
It was noon before the two men re
turned.
Eben Dexter was a good judge of
horseflesh, and the animal had been
closely .scrutinized in every particular.
As he stepped out of the carriage the
eager boys heard him say, "I'd clinch
it at once. She'll sell in the market
for S3OO at least, with that style and
action. Sound as a dollar, too. I'll
find a buyer at that price any day. I'll
give you $20!), myself."
"Whew, but did you hear that?"
Don whistled ecstatically, and gave
Aleck a punch in the ribs that sent
him heudlong iuto the vacated carriage
as they got into take the mare home.
"I should say I did," grumbled
Aleck, rubbing his side. "But it
won't do a fellow any good with his
ribs smashed to flinders.
"We mustn't look too delighted,"
cautioned Aleck. "Old man Dick may
repent when we tell him father will
come to see him about Doll."
"No, he won't. He isn't that kind.
He's straight as a string, if he is poor.
You know pa's said more than once
that he wouldn't have been so poor if
he hadn't been so straight. He's a
good old man, and it's a pity he and
old Mrs. Dick 've got to come down
to the poorhouse." Don flicked a bit
of hay out of Doll's tail. "And even
$75 won't go far to keep them out very
long."
"That's so," replied Aleck; "but
I'm glad we've got the chance to get
the horse as long as he had to sell
her, though I'm sorry for them."
Mr. Dick was looking for the return
of the horse and met them at the gate.
The boys said nothing, according to
Aleck's suggestion. Hut the old man
betrayed his anxiety.
"Did you speak to your pa about
Doll?"
"Oh, yes, Mr. Dick. Father 'll be
across to see you."
"I wouldn't be in any hurry, only
it's all 1 can depend on for winter,"
said the old mau. "I'd like to get in
coal before the price rises, and there's
Doctor Smith's bill—he don't like to
wait long,and Mrs. Dick's apt to have
him any time with her rheumatism—
and some fltuiuels for her and then the
| living."
"Father'll let you know before the
i time's up," answered Aleck.
"Poor old man has got the price
| whittled down pretty close," observed
i Don, as he swung the hitching-strap
| against the gate-post in turning into
I the street. It was Don's habit to hit
. things when he was thinking hard.
"He'd cut it still more, I suppose,"
Aleck rather curtly replied, "but he
needs an overcoat."
Nothing more was said. They hur
ried into the dinner table, where the
family were already gathered. Eben
Dexter was reviewing the horse's line
points, aud the squire was in a very
jubilant mood. Mrs. Dexter, who had
smiled indulgently when Don and
Aleck had announced the news to her,
now sat silently listening.
After dinner she followed the squire
| iuto the hall. "Are you going to buy
the horse?" she asked, timidly, as she
1 helped him into his ulster.
; "I think so."
"But can you afford it?" she ven
tured, with still more diflidence, for
Mrs. Dexter did not often inquire iuto
, u:iy of her husband's business.
"Why, you heard Eben," Squire
i Dexter replied, with a look of sur
i prise. "I can make a good sum. He'll
guarantee me a buyer."
"But I thought perhaps you couldn't
i afford it," she repeated, with gentle
| insistance, brushing off a bit of mud
! from the garment and avoiding his
eyes.
"H m," said the squire. He pulled
| on his gloves and joined his brother
without reply.
The boys, standing in the door,
j looked puzzled. Tliey followed their
| father and uncle down the road to
Mr. Dick's, while Uncle Eben kept up
■ a one-sided conversation, not seeming
; to notice that the others were unusual
!ly quiet. They fouud the old man in
■ the stable.
".Stays about Dollall the time now,"
observed Aleck,as he and Dou stopped
at the door while their father went in.
Eben Dexter walked up and down out
side, smoking his cigar.
The sqnire chatted a few moments
j on various topics, noting involuntarily
[ as he did so how rapidly the old man
was aging. He felt impelled to say,
kindly: "We're all getting on in
years, Mr. Dick."
"Yes, sir; yes, sir," said the old
man, with assumed cheerfulness and
an attempt at a smile. "It's all lam
getting on in,squire." Then,quickly,
as if fearing his visitor was avoiding
' the important subject, "The boys
| told you I wanted to sell Doll?"
"Yes, they said so." The squire's
tone was perfectly non-committal.
"I do hope you'll take her,squire."
; Mr. Dick stopped before the manger
with a scant forkful of hay. "The
boys want her, and Ido need the
money powerfully just now, squire."
The squire saw the withered hands
tremble, and he felt that it was not
from the weight they were holding.
| "lt'd go hard togo to the poorhouse
! this winter," sighed the old mau.
! "Perhaps my wife and I won't be here
i to worry about another winter. Don't
say you cau't afford it!"
"H—m."
The sqnire wrinkled his brows,
turned on his heel aud walked to the
door. The boys stepped back and
watched hiin. He looked toward the
old house beyond. Mrs. Dick,scantily
clothed, was emptying a wash-tub of
water. She looked up, saw him and
bowed.
Tha sqnire raised his hat gravely.
The gray-haired woman reminded him
of his own mother, dead bnt a few
years. His mother had every comfort,
lie thought, gladly. It was a shame for
old Mrs. Dick to be so poorly provided
for as she was. How those two old
people would fare and feel in the poor
house! Then his mind ran to the
horse. Could he afford the bargain
before him? He understood well what
his wife had meant.
"Pshaw!" He uttered the impatient
exclamation aloud. "The bargain
was Dick's own making," thought
the squire. "I'm not bound to tell
the old mau he is letting his horse go
far below its value. Or am I?" The
squire grew angry with himself that
he should allow such a qutry to con
front him.
" 'Taint the money," just then Don
observed in an uudiblo mutter to
Aleck, giving the stable door a kick as
he spoke.
The boys had let nothing escape
then. Dou bad been reading his
father's thoughts. The kick called
Squire Dexter back to the preseut.
He looked up at the boys. His sons
were sharp like himself, he reflected.
Could he afford it? He determined to
shift the responsibility of the bargain
upon the boys. Tfcey should decide.
As he turned to speak the olu man
quavered behind him. The hesitation
had worried him.
"I thought- it was a good bargain,
squire. I'll have to sell her. I might
take "
The squire had whispered to liis
boys: "I could get the horse for soo.
She is worth 8300. Shall I beat him
down to $00? I leave it to you."
"But, pa," interposed Don, with a
frown, "would that be just right when
we took the refusal at $75?"
"And he's got lots of things to get,"
said Aleck.
"I say he ought to get what's right,"
said Don, stoutly, and Aleck nodded
a vigorous assent.
"Mr, Dick!" The squire pulled
his coat about him and wheeled upon
the old man. "Jon't say a thing.
1 can't aft'ord the price." The per
emptory tone made old Mr. Dick
shriuk.
"Eben!" The squire turned back to
the door. "Step here!"
Ebeu Dexter had thought it best not
to be seen in the transaction. He
was used to bargaining, and he thought
tho sight of a stranger might raise the
price, lie did not know what kiud of
a man Mr. Dick was. Then lie had
wanted to enjoy liis cigar. But he,
too, had been obser\ing some of the
very things the squire had observed,
and the cigar had lost its flavor.
He threw it aside in disgust as he
stepped inside at his brother's call
and saw the white-haired, bent,shabby
old mau trying to hide disappointment
in unnecessary attentions to the ani
mal in the stall.
"This is my brother, Mr. Dick."
The squire's tone was cool and even.
The old man raised his faded, misty
eyes and bowed sileutlv - . "He'll make
you an offer for your horse."
Eben Dexter looked in surprise at
his brother. "Not going to buy it
yourself?" he asked.
"We can't afford it." The squire
made a comprehensive gesture that
took in the wondering boys, Mr. Dick
and himself. "Make him the offer
you made me."
Ebou Dexter raised his shaggv eye
brows, glanced at the boys, who were
staring straight iuto their father's
eyes, looked once more at his brother,
took hold of his own coat-collar and
shook himself up. "Mr. Dick, I'll
buy your horse for $200."
"What!" The old man gasped.
"I guess I can add 8100 on mv own
account," said Eben Dexter, coolly,
nodding sturdily back at his brother
aud then laughing encouragingly as
he saw old Mr. Dick clinging trem
bling to the inauger. "That'll make
three. That is what your horse is
worth."
"And I could not afford to give
what slio is worth," said the squire,
recovering his most matter-of-fact
manner.
The Dexters were prompt to act
when a decision was reached. A check
was drawn on the spot, while the
squire tried to ward off the broken
thanks that Mr. Dick nttempted to
utter.
"No poorhouse, no poorhouse," he
murmured, again and again, causing
both men to shulHe about uneasily and
sending Don and Aleck outside for a
violent wrestling-match by way of con
cealing their emotion.
"You'll have a horse when I can af
ford it,"the squire simply said to the
boys as the two men came out to find
them thus jojonsly engaged and to
send tlieni back for Doll. He knew
that his sons understood.
"I'm glad a Dexter's got him," re
iterated old man Dick, his bent form
straightened up, his eyes beaming, as
he steppedspryly about makingprepa
rations for Doll's departure. "It ain't
so hard to let her go now. Oh, but
it's what a man takes along when he
makes a bargain that shows his reli
gion. I'ou should be proud of your
father, boys."
"We are," Don promptly answered,
elevating his chin proudly. "It's
better than even having Doll our own
selves."
But Aleck could not refrain from a
boast at the tea table. "I tell you,"
said he,"it takes a Dexter to make a
bargain, though, and this is the best
one yet."
The squire looked across at his wife,
and she smiled with loving approval.
—Youth's Companion.
Kilts in llie Mosquito Spiunn.
Out of the 400 men required for the
Victorian Scottish regiment only
sixty-four have been enrolled, aud on
the third occasion of receiving appli
cants only eleven entered their names.
So bare legs during the coining mos
quito season are too much for the Vic
torian Scotmen's endurance.—South
Australian Critia
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
A Loudon physician, Stanley Kent,
claims to have discovered the specitio
bacillus of smallpox, after five yeara
of experimenting.
A tantalizing fact pointed out by an
English astronomer is that Herr Witt's
new planet between Mars and the
earth was, in January, 1894, in a mora
favorable opposition for observation
than it will be again until 1924.
A German physician, Dr. Biegel,
has made some important discoveries
relating to internal diseases, by mak
ing patients swallow a miniature pho
tographic apparatus, and taking pic«
tures of the interior of the stomach.
Dr. Joseph Carne Ross, physician
to Ancoats hospital, Manchester, Eng
land, writes in praise of a decootion of
cinnamon as a cure for influenza. The
treatment must be begun within
twenty-four hours of the beginning of
the attack.
It is well known that the pressure
of the atmosphere 011 the surface of
the earth is about fifteen pounds to
the square inch, equivalent, that is, to
a pressure at the lower end of a col
umn of mercury about thirty inches
high, or to the pressure of a column
of water thirty-four feet high.
Careful weighing sliows that an or
dinary bee. not loaded, weighs the five
thousandth part of a pound, so that it
takes 5000 bees to make a pound. But
the loaded bee, when he comes in
fresh from the fields and flowers,
freighted with honey or bee bread,
often weighs nearly three times more.
ART AND SCIENCE.
The Porter Knew More Tliun tlie Pro*
feasor About Sheurit.
An article in Coruhill on the sim
plicity and ignorance of great men,
says that Professor Huxley delivered
a lecture at Newcustle-on-Tine, for
which numerous diagrams wore re
quired. Old Alexander, the porter of
the institution, and a favorite among
the members of the society, was helping
the professor to hang the diagrams,
but the screen was not large enough,
and the blank corner of one would
overlap the illustration of another.
The professor declared that he
■would cut ofl' the margins, and asked
Alexander to bring him a pair of scis
sors; but alas! they would not work,
and the learned man threw them down
in disgust.
"Vera guid shears, professor," said
Alexander.
"I tell you they wou't cut," ex
claimed Huxley.
"Try again, "said Alexander. "They
will cut."
The professor tried again and called,
angrily:
"Bring me another pair of scis
sors. "
Sir William Armstrong stepped for
ward at this point and ordered Alex
ander togo out and buy a new
pair.
"Vera guid shears. Sir William,
persisted Alexander,and he took tbeni
up, and asked Huxley how he wanted
the paper cut.
"Cut it there," said the professor,
somewhat tartly, indicating the place
with his forefinger.
Alexander took the paper, inserted
the scissors and cut off the required
portion with the utmost neatness.
Then he turned to the professor, with
a significant leer and twinkle of the
eye.
"Sceance an' airt dinuaay gang the
gether, professor," said he.
Huxley gave way to laughter, and
so did everybody present, and of
course the scientist, paid the line of
his stupidity in a sovereign.
Some one expressed amazement to
Alexander that he should dare make
freedom with Huxley.
"Why, mou," said Alexander with
great emphasis, "they bits o' professor
bodies ken naething at a' except their
buiks."
Sham* at tlie Kensington Museum.
The investigation being made into
the conduct of the Kensington museum
has sliowu among other things that
the authorities are not above manufac
turing false antiques. One of the
staff is said to have concocted from
genuine old panels a Vernish-Martin
cabinet, for which the museum paid
nearly B'tOOO. A chair bought at the
Hamilton palace sale, ami said to have
belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, has
been proved to be of the last century
and to have bean made in Ceylon.
And there are imitation Delia Kobbias
and modern antique agate cups which
have been bought for ten times their
value.
Perhaps the chair of St. Augustine,
reported to have been discovered at
Stanford Bishop, near Bromyard, may
turn out to be something of this sort.
There is a tradition that the saint vis
ited the place during his ministrations
in Britain. Ho probably did not re
main standing all the time lie was
there. An old chair put together
without uails was until recently in the
church, which, when thrown out as
rubbish, was picked up by the parish
clerk, who sold it to a phvsiciau from
Birmingham, who has written it up in
a monograph, and, putting together
the historical fact of St. Augustine's
sojourn in Britain, the local tradition
and the actual old chair, claims that
it is the "Bishop's chair," in which
be is said to have seated himself.—
Art Amateur.
The Sultan* Hobbiea.
The estimated value of the Sultan's
jewels is 840,000,000. If his mujesty
has any hobby at all it may be said to
be the purchasing of jewels and wit
nessing private theatri«llß. No pro
fessional of note, be he actor, singer
or conjuror, passes through Constan
tinople without an invitation from the
sultan. He always pays for these
performances in Bavk of England
note*.