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YOUNG FOLKS. Three Little Dolls- 1 have three little dolls in my play-room Annie, and Fanny. and May, And one is witty and one is pretty. And one is naughty all day. And some people wouldn't-believe it, Mai others would think it queer, . Ba}; the third is my pet and my darling, Naughty, but dearest dear. And over and over I kiss her, And over and over I say, I never could spare the dolly. Who is often naughty all day. MAUD’S REMINDER. “ Oh,” exclaimed Maud impatiently, “ I wish mother wouldn’t ! “’hy can’t she let things alone?” Out of the window she had caught sight of her mother working in a flowenbed which an intruding mass of periwinkle with its multitude of rooting, progressing. runners threatened to occupy to the exclusion of the rightful plants. " I’d sooner let that old flower-bed go than work out there,” thought Maud, I wonder if it’s necessary for me to help her? I don’t want to one bit ! dening is such a bother.” She turned away from the window. , “I don’t believe I will,” she concliia'fidJ “I want to read that paper Uncle Fran sent, with all those pictures in 1" 0f “1,6 fireworks at the soldiers reunion} There 5 ever so much historical informal”Ion “1 that paper, too. One ought to know about the history of one’s country." And Maud settled herself on the lounge and read her paper. out gidem th, warm sun her mother Worked. She Md hurried through her in- door tasks in ,rder to have seine time to spend in thygarden, for she hadbeen afraid “mt the ,zer advancing periwnikle would root mo some plants that she did not want to 10/59. But she was tired, and the peri- Wukle’s {interlacing rootless seemed like shoe-strings, the knots of which she could never get rid of. She pulled and hood, and :till more weeds and periwinkle confronted l er. . , “I’m so tired,” she said to herself. i" No wonder she was tired. She had work- ed enough. She had hurried down stairs b:fore six'that morning to be sure to get breakfast ready for her son who had to catch the train to the city. It would never do for him to be late at the store. And as for Maud’s doing such a think as running down stairs and lighting the fire, and get- ting her brother’s coffee and graham gems, and eggs ready, Maud’s mother would have been astonished if such a thing had occurred. Maud wasjstrong and well, but she was not much help to her mother. And yet Maud accounted herself a Christian. After seeing her boy of, Mrs. Crowell had put Maud’s breakfast where it would be warm when she should come down. Her mother washed dishes and heated some water for some flannels that must be wash- ed, too. Mrs. Crowell swept and dusted, and made beds, and burned through the most of the usual household work in orderl that she might have time that forenoon for the extra outdoor toil. Her boy was in the store day and evening, and had no time to help about gardening. Neither could Mrs. Crowell afford to hire some one every time there was something in the garden that ought to be done. And Maud never seemed to think she could help. Some way, ever since she came home it had been so. \Vhen she had been attending the seminary she could not have done much but study,and her mother toiled bravely, ready to work be- yond her strength if Maud might have an education. But now that Maud had gradu- ated and come home, was she ungrateful for all the patient days of toil her mother had borne? _ “ She used to help me when she was a little girl,” murmured Mrs. Crowell to her- self as she hoed at the periwinkle. “ When she was a little thing. she’d always want to hand me the clothes-pins wash-days, ‘ to help mamma. Mrs. Crowell’s lips trembled. Some way, the recollection of the time when it had been baby Maud’s highest ambition to "help momma. ” overcame her mother just now. A tear dropped on the periwinkle. Mrs. Crowell brushed her eyes. It was not the work, so much as it was Maud’s seeming lack of sympathy and a reeie-tion of the work, that hurt her mothrgii. “Maud means all right,” Mrs. Crowell )” thought now as she worked, “She cares just as much for mother, I guess, as she used to, only she doesn’t think. And I can’t bear to say anything to her. 011 ! It must be time I went and got the potatoes ready.” And she went in to attend to the work. That afternoon Maud went out to make some calls, and on her way she met sworn- an, a friend, who had recently lost her mother, a very aged lady. Maud stopped to speak to her friend, and all the woman could talk of was her bereavement. She went over again to Maud the story of how the old lady died. “ But, oh, I haven’t any mother any more l” exclaimed the woman, her face quiv- ering. ' Maud looked at the gray-haired woman, and almost realized a little of what she felt. I haven’t any mother any more 2” repeat- ed the grieved woman, “I thought if I did all I could to make mother’s last years com- fortable and happy and didn’t let her do a bit of work more than she wanted to, may- be I’d have her a good many years yet. But she’s gone and it seems so lonesome, it seems as if I couldn’t bear to go into our house,” and the woman wiped her eyes, in unaffected grief. “It’s too bad,” responded Maud, hardly knowing how to express hersyinpathy. “I’m real sorry.” “Good-bye,” said the woman sorrowfully as she turned away, drawing her black shawl closer about her shoulders. Maud’s face grew more and more sober as she walk- ed on alone. She was thinking about the words she had just heard, and her thoughts turned to her own mother, how much that mother was to her. ‘ ' The words the woman had just said about £95 kit-£3,315? own mother do “a. bit of ‘work more than she wanted to,” gave Maud’s conscience an uncomfortable feel- ing. She. had not meant to be so careless. She did my charitable things, and be longed to several societies, and she did not like housework. Had she neglected her mother ‘2 a {‘13 haven 1 any mother any more !” A quivering feeling some in Maud’s .1 "" La. Mu. d 8 go §;._ go down to her usual work. ,. It seemed to her she was tired to begin throat. Supposing she should ever have to say that ! Maud’s memory awoke. “ \Vhen I was going to school,” she thought, “mother worked and workedat home, sweeping, and cooking, and washing paint and windows, and ironing, and doing everything, and she was so tired at night, and yet I couldn’t spare time from'my les- sons to help get supper, and she’d tell me to keep at my books, and she’d wash dishes, and everything. Some mothers would have thought they needed me too much at home to let me keep on going to the seminary, but mother wasn’t that way. She had too hard 3. time getting her own education to start me on mine. And how she used to spend time hearing my lessons when I was little and wasn’t strong enough to g0 E0 school all the time ? Some moth'trs 0011mm ‘7 have thought they could spare a couple 0f hours a day to hear a child reg/10, bu‘ She did. And here I am, lettinzfidr, d9 ever)“ thing now 1 What sort ofgz’bnristiam have 1 been? Apcrson who dim] t eve“ PI‘Ofefis to be a church-member “"31”? have been better.” - The next morning Mrs. Crowell awoke with a kind grindistinct feeling that she had heard same one go softly downstairs a while befar8. But she thought she must have been mistaken. “It can’t be time for Harry to be up yet,” he'thought as she hurriedly made ready to with. She was always tired. There was so much to be done. But when she reached the kitchen, she was half startled. Maud stood there turn- ing hot water into the coffee-pot. There was a fire. The table in the next room was spit for the breakfast that was almost cook- e . “Why, Maud !” exclaimed her mother. “ I’m up early for once,” returned Maud quietly. But it was not till after two or three days of such helping'that Mrs. Crowell realized what happened. One morning M and took the broom and the carpet-sweeper out of her mother’s hands, and insisted on doing the day’s sweeping upstairs. Mrs. Crewell went away by herself into the parlor, and listened to Maud’s steps as the girl wcntup~stairs. Her mother’s eyes filled with tears. It seems so good to have a helper. “ Oh,” almost sobbed the mother to her- self, “ I knew Maud cared! I do believe she has thought, at last l” How Pontoâ€"finâ€"t to Church- It was laughingly said in Uncle Jerry’s family that Ponto was a pious dog, for he always followed the carryall to church, and lingered to return home with his friends after service. This was considered a rather decorous trait in the dog, and even Deacon Jerry was known to crack a mild joke on Ponto’s regularity in “assembling himself together” on Sunday morning. But one bright Sabbath, when the apple trees were in blossom, and the factory girls had donned their new straw bonnets, and all the more fortunate boys were lookin g so spruce in their fresh spring suits that it was a pleasure as well as a duty to present them- selves at the quaint village church, Ponto resolved to be no longer a doorkeeper and accordingly he sidled up the aisle aft-er his mistress and followed her into the pew. \Vlien he showed no disposition to regard her hint to go out as he came in, the timid lady concluded to let him be where he was, hoping against hope that he would disturb no one. Uncle Jerry owned two pews, and Ponto might, during good behavior, be al- lowed to spread himself in one of them, His demeanor was reverential enough for a time, but when the immemorial seamstress of the family appeared at the door of the pew, escorted by a suitor from a distance, who was hospitany entertained at the dea- con’s house in View of the fact that he was a man of substance and a class-leader withal, I’onto challenged the latter with a few gruff notes that decided the worthy couple to re tire to another scat. He had taken an ob- stinate dislike to Sarah’s choice, based, it was hinted, on canine jealousy, and this was his opportunity to show it. ‘he embarrass- ment of the devoted pair was increased by the significant glances of the younger mem- bers of the congregation ; but it was of brief duration, being effectually relieved by I’onto himself. When the organ voluntary (one of Men- delssohn’s songs, without words) began, he arose on his hind legs, placed his fore-paws on the back of the pew, and resting his nose on them, sent forth aseries ofpenitcnialhowls thatmust have come from the inmostrecesses of his dog soul. All the lapses of his mature life, all the forgotten peccadillos of his youth the very vagaries of his puppyhood, passed before him in fearful array. Thatlace bon- net of Abby’s that he shook to pieces ; that melodeon cover that he chewed up and hid in the currant bushes ; that kitten that he kept trembling in the top of the pear-tree all one morning. â€".1[ iscrcre :â€" His mistress at the first utterance of his confession, strove to divert his mind from the painful subject by inviting him out into the sunshine and free air, but not an inch would he budge till he made a clean breast ofit, and ruined Miss Simkin’s beautiful voluntary in the process. Then, with the assistance of his young master, just arrived at the dignity ofa cane and tail coat, he was led out into the aisle, but instead of turning toward the door of egress, he made for the pulpit, which he in- vaded with a bound, and quitted with equal precipitancy on the other side. Before any one had the presence of mind to open the east door for him, around he came into the deacon’s aisle again, and by that time his pursuers had crossed in front of the pews to the other side. Two or three turns like this for that mod- est damc, the deacon’s wife, and that sensi- tive young man, the deacon’s son, in the face of a congregation at once tittcring and awe- struck, constituted an experience to be remembered for a lifetime. “ Oh, I can laugh now,” said the deacon’s wife, in recalling the incident, “ but I thought I should die then.” ' A fortunate doubling on the intruder, an open door, a waving tail, abrandished cane, and then a sudden exit of two of the actors left the exhausted matron free to drop into a rear pew and collect her thoughts as best she might. That new rattan cane was never seen therafter, and there were those who believed that Ponto had a taste of its quality that embittered his ecclesiastical views to the- end of his life. ______â€"_._â€"â€"â€"-â€"â€"-â€"â€"'-â€"’ to be found. (in the arrival of the family at church there he was, awaiting them ; but he showed no inclination to enter. From that time until the day or his death Ponto never failed to disappear early Sun- day morning, and to reappear in the church- yard at half- st ten. But never again did he cross the cfifeshold of the church door. rosflGNBss HAVE LA GRIPPE. Natives of Warm Clinics Catching it at Chicago. A Chicago, 111., despatch says :â€"Visitors from the tropics who are not accustomed to snow and sleet and chilling rains have had a rough experience this week. Many of them came here late in order to escape. the early spring, and were somewhat surprised to find that they had dropped into town al- most in midwinter. There is not a native of the warm countries now at Jackson Park, with the possible exception of the Arabs, who is not sick, either with la grippe or bronchitis, and the only reason these sons of the desert are exempt from the ills that beset the other warm blooded people is that they are full of beer all the time. They have taken very kindly to the Chicago brew.’ In fact they drink it at every oppor- tunity and are very quarrelsomc in con- sequence. The most pitiable objects at Jackson Park are the Cingalesc, who left the sunny clime of far away Ceylon to build the Cingalese Court on the lake front, not far from the warship. and Cingalese pavilions in the agricultural, woman’s and other buildings. The court is to be a magnificent affair, but the thin-blooded workmen cannot finish it in the face of the Michigan breezes that blow from ad the big lake of that name. Nearly every workman is utterly in- capacitated, while not one of them is well enough to do a fair day’s work. They sit in their quarters, HOLLOW-EYED AND AS mmsrnv as their coffee complexions will permit, and gravely cough the time away. The in- p habitants of Java, Sumatra and Borneo are quite as badly off. They cannot work either, most of them being down with la grippe. It is as much as the most harden- ed Chicagoan cau do to keep in good eon- ditiou in such weather, while it is an utter impossibility for these sons of the sun to get up steam enough to work. A few warm, sunny days might bring them around all right, but they are not the sort of days we are having now. It was warm enough up to \Vednesday, but it turned very cold then and has been chilly ever since. The Japanese want to complete their bamboo village as soon as possible, but they can’t work on it while they are so sick. The Japanese, who went through the winter all right so bundled up that not even the tips of their noses could be seen, are shivering now and many of them can do nothing. They thought that when spring came it would stay, but it didn’t. These subjects of the Mikado, who count every day they are absent from home as a clay absolutely lost, are heartily sick of Chicago and every- thing connected with it. The giant Zulus who are guarding the precious clay from the mines of Kimberly are not only heart- siek, but sick in body as well. The clay is said to contain diamonds in the rough A STATION MASTER’S MORTAL AGOLY. The Lapse of Memory or :1 Railroad omclnl Nearly Causes :1 Fearful Trag- edy-Quick wii'mid Illepllsc or Nlnihle Fingch Avert a Catastrophe. I had been travelling all the afternoon, and it was with a feeling of disgust that I alighted at the little station of Dâ€":, where I niust wait five hours for the traiuto take me to the city. There was no one in the station but the station master, and as misery loves compiny we were soon on friendly terms. As the evening wore on 1 occupied myself in examining the railway maps and in fin- ishing a novel which I purchased that afternoon on the train. At about eleven o’clock I heard the dull and laborious puff of a freight engine approaching in the distance. Louder and louder the noise became, un- til, suddenly, with a glare from the head- light,the great locomotive thundered by the little window and in a moment the train rolled away, in the direction from which I had come a few hours before. Silence again fell upon us. \Ve continu‘ ed our talk, interspersed now and then with moments of quietness, broken only by the frequent clicking of the telegraph in- strument on the table under the window. At last I finished my novel, and again sat idly tossing about my watch charm. The station master sat opposite me, with his feet on the edge of the telegraph table, while he carelessly ran over the columns of a newspaper. I was on the point of mak- ing some remark when suddenly there came a sharp clicking of the instrument. My companion sprang to the table and answered the call. Instantly I saw that something unusual had happened. As the little brass key clicked off the messageIsaw the station master’s face grow white, then livid. He rose quickly from his chair, laced his hands over his eyes, and almost shouted, “My God ! \Vhat have I done i” Isprang to his side, asking him what was the trouble. He rudely pushed me away, fairly yelled : “ Don’t speak to me 1 Don’t speak to me ! Then he sank into a chair with his hands convulsively grasping the arms. But it was only for a moment. Quickly gathering himself, he drew up the table, and, then followed some of the most excit- ing moments that I have ever experiencd. \Vondering what it all meant, yet realiz- ing that something must have occurred in which he was an important actor, I closely fixed my eyes upon him. No sound save the spasmodic ticking of the machine and the heavy breathing of its operator was audible. He sat bolt upright in his chair, his left hand on the arm, his right busy with the key. His eyes were riveted on the table be- fore him. For a minute he was busy with his message, and then, silence. And what a silence ! Not a. muscle moved, not a sound could be heard. Even the agent’s breathing had stopped. He watched his machine with the eye of a lynx. I stood behind him, my heart throb- bing with anxiety and fear. At last after a silence which seemed ages, the machine be- valued at $250,000, and when the Fair opens gun to click. I watched him while the mes- the Zulus will proceed to dig them out for the edificaticn of visitors. Tiffany is to set the diamonds when they are produced. But the Zulus feel as though they would not live to perform the task allotted them, although the doctor says they are all right, I it being nothing more nor less than a case- ' ofla grippe. Hamscch, the native police man of the the “ Street in Cairo,” was in a l bad humor to-day. The chilly wind whistled about his baggy calico trousers and his pink and black blouse. Then he drew his dirty brown blanket closer about his shoulders and swore strange Egyptian oaths at people who tried to push past him through the gate in the wall which en- closes the tapering minaret and the mosque and all the horde of picturesque and SIIIVERING ARABS AND EGYI‘TIANS. He was guarding the consignment of don- keys, camels and other beasts being un- loaded from the ears. The men who did the unloading on the contrary were “ load- I ed.” They wore bare legs and slippers} down at the heel, a costume eminently unsuited to the uncertain glory of an April day in Chicago. The bare, brown limbs of the trees swayed in the blast ; the bare, brown limbs of the Arabs offered a wide surface for the unkindly caress; only un- limited glasses of beer kept the Arabs up. The Egyptians are down with colds and V ls. grippe, women particularly. A ceremony that has never taken place outside of Tur- key will be the dedication of the Turkish mosque in the midway plaisance, on Fri- day, April 28. The ceremonies will be conducted under the auspices of the An- cient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, an organization which has flourished in Turkey many years before it gained a foothold in this country. Noble Robert Levy, of Constantinople, who is the conces- sioner of the Sultan of Turkey, has invited all the members of the Medinah Temple, of this city, and all visting Shriners, to be present in a body at the dedication of the mosque, and to partake of a Turkish lunch within its walls. A Narrow Escape- Travellers in the uncivilized regions of South America have to face many perils. from intense heat, poisonous reptiles and savage men. ' M. Thonar, who explored the Pilcomayo delta for the Argentine Govern- ment, describes an experience which prompt- ed him to eternal vigilance in regard to snakes. He was lying in his hammock ; the sergeant of his guard was asleep under a tree close by. Suddenly he noticed an im- mense serpent coiled around the sergeant’s leg and extending its head toward his bare chest. \Vhat should he do? To wake the man meant certain death to him, but how could the snake be killed or driven away without rousing the sleeping soldier? Then he recalled a method of capturing the cobra. of India. He prepared a slip-knot, and by stealthy, almost imperceptible movements, he attracted the serpent’s attention. It turned its head. Then M. Thouar leaned from the hammock, and tickled the snake gently on the throat. sage came forth from the wires. It was, evidently, a satisfactory reply, for he did not appear more agitated. Then the machine stopped. He rose from his chair and came toward me. It needed no words to tell me that he suffered during those five minutes. Great‘drops of sweat rolled down his cheeks. His hands shook with anxiety. Placing them both on my shoulders he addressed me thus in a hurried and impassioned voice: “I don’t wonder that you were surprised â€"heaven knows that I was awfully fright- enedâ€"but listen :vâ€"I got orders this after- noon to stop the freight train which just went by here on our turnout. I was to de- tain it until the express should arrive and then allow it to go on. But somehow or other I forgot the order, as you know, and didn’t think about it till a few minutes ago. Soon after it wentI heard from 13â€", two stations above here sayin’ that the ex- press had just left there for this station. You see it doesn’t stop at‘Aâ€"-â€", the one between here and Bâ€"-â€"-. That message reminded me of my mistake, and now the express and freight have both been running toward the same station. If the expresa had arrived there first, and left before the freight got there, or they had not received my message, thenâ€"then--.” He paused in his rapid talk and said in awful voice : “ Then there would have been a collision and I’d been to blame. God knows that I didn’t mean to forget to obey that order !” said he, impulsively. “ There was only one thing to be doneâ€" telegraph to Aâ€"â€", telling them to hold the train that had arrived there first. That I did. For five minutes. as you saw, I wait- ed in mortal agony for the answer to that message. It came just now. Said that neither train had arrived and that they’d hold over the one that got there first. So, thank God, I was not too late and that every thing is all right.” , He sank into a chair and folded his arms I and with a look which I shall never forget, # â€"â€"â€"_ m 1., .. TRADE AND commence It is said that shad are used as money in many of the North Sea islands. France has t1)er .Ey'napiite factories, which produce over 25.0%);900 dynamite cartridges a year. The hair springs for watches are made principally by women on account of the careful handling required. The orange crop in Southern California this year is said to have been the largest on record, amounting to 7,000 car loads. The earnings of the Canadian Pacific Rail way for the week ending April 4th were $397,000, an increase of $3,000 as compared with the corresponding week of last year. An American, Mr. Henry, in Longuyon, France, has constructed a clock entirely of paper, which has run regularly for two years, with no greater variation than a min- ute a month. Fall w‘leat has wintered well in most sections throughout western Ontario and appears to be in a healthy condition. A 1 though too soon to venture a prediction as to the crop, it certainly has got a. good start and if favorable conditions are continued a good yield should result. The gold exports from New York so far this year are $41,084,076, against $13,072,- 460 for the same period in 1892, and for last week alone $4,880,200. Imports for the same period were only $5,751,500, and for last week $91,085. One of the first dynamite factories was founded at Isleton, Switzerland, about twenty years ago by Xavier Bender_on the suggestion of Louis Fabre, chief engineer of the St. Gothard tunnel, in order to obtain means for blasting the rocks. The mechani- cal operations are mostly performed by women with simple machines which are worked by hanil. The streets of Rome are shortly to be lighted throughout by electric lamps sup. plied with current from dynamos located at the cascade at Tibur, twenty miles from the city. This plant is known as the Tivoli long distance power transmission line, and has been used considerably for experimental purposes before beginning practical work. There is evidently no doubt as to its prac- ticability. The Cataract Construction Company of Niagara hopeto have their mammoth turbine: wheels and monster dynamos at work next July for those who may desire to use their power. More than $2,000,000 and many lives have been sacrificed to this gigantic undertakingâ€"this harnessing of the mighty Niagara to serve the manufacturing world and the enterprise is now, after two years work, drawing near completion. No where in the world has any hydraulic work of such magnitude been attempted ; and no where are there Wheel-pits 160 feet deep, and wheels capable of developing 5,000 horse power. This is an immense unit for a tur- bine; and the largest heretofore known in the United States is 2,000,horse power. According to English papers, glass houses may be one of the features of the not far distant future. They say that stone and brick are not unlikely to be superseded as building material by blocks of glass. They would not necessarily be transparent. and as they would be cast of large size the pro- cess of erection would move forward with unusual rapidity. Glass is practically moisture proof and indestructible, and as'it need not be of fine quality, it is estimated that it would be as cheap as brick or stone. It will readily be noted that the glass may be colored to suit the ,_whim of the builder, and a man may easily live in a house reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. No opinion is given of its attributes as a con- ductor of heat and cold. Gold exports move not only in settlement of trade balances, they take place also to pay to import of securities, to meet the de- mand for coin of financial centres in which credit is crushed by panic, and also to finan- cial centres in which the rate of money is higher than at the point of export. The rate for money is now relatively higher in London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg than in New York ; and gold goes there because it pays better to ioan it there than in New York, just as currency, gold and paper is going from‘our own finan- cial centers to the \Vest bcCause there is better demand there for money. This has as much to do with the abnormal European Accumulations as the alleged war prepara- tions. Those interested in the shipping of Can- adian cattle to Great Britain are not satis- fied with the negative and conditional promise of the minister of Agriculture last week at Montieal to investigate the open charge of substituting unsound Irish cattle for sound Canadian ones as a trick to drive Canadian cattle out of the British market. This is a very serious charge, deliberately made by responsible business men ; and if for no other cause than that of common jus- tice. neither Canadian nor British (and es- pecially Irish) should rest until the seat of the moral disease is as well known as that of the physical. If those interested in the trading of Irish cattle are wronged by these suspicions they will surely facilitate the on his breast. Hardly had he done this investigation so much desired by Can- when the ticker began again. He read the message, and then as the clicking stopped, lie bowed his head on his hands and sobbed aloud. The message was : “ Have stopped express here; will hold over as directed.” The train reached Dâ€"-â€"- half an hour late, by reason of the stopover at Aâ€"-â€"â€". Bidding my friend good night, who was now completely calmed down, I board- ed the sleeper and soon went rolling toward life and civilization. Two weeks later I came across a country paper from the vicinity in which 'my adven- ' ture with the ticket agent took place, and I noticed this article : “Much to the surprise of his friends, Mr. John Huss, the popular and trusted station master of Dâ€"â€"-, last week resigned his position, and has now, we learn, removed to Toronto. We wish him much success in his new quarters.” M. Marinoni, who commenced life as a factory lad, is new chief owner of “Le Petit Journal,” circulating nearly 1,250,000 copies It raised its head, daily, and proprietor of several valuable and as it did so the noose was drawn tight patents, including the famous rotary print- around its neck. Just then the sergeant ing machine that bears his name. . awoke and almost fainted with fright. But- the danger was past, the slip-knot had saved him, and the stroke of a sabre had After the service Deacon Jerry said: out off the serpent’s head. “ Boys, you must tie Ponto up next Sunday morning.” Sunday morning come but no Panto wasl â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-'â€"-â€"â€"- ' Mr. Gladstone’s rate of speech averages 150 words per minute. The herring is more largely used as an article of food than any other fish, both in its fresh and cured states. More than a quarter of a million tons of herrings are landed on the coasts of Great Britain every year, represent-ing a money value of about £1,200,000. adians. In connection with the recent announce- ment of the failure of the leading Austra- lian bank, attention was drawn to the de- pressed and disorganised state of colonial finances. On the 13th inst. another impor- tant bank failure was announced, from practically the same cause, viz., an extraor- dinary run on deposits, of which the September balance sheet showed $30,000,- 000. There is evidently a lack of confidence in the situation, which cannot failfito be debilitated most seriously. The English, Scottish and Australian chartered bank is now said to have liabilities of over 558,000,- 000, and very uncertain assets. Its paid up capital is £900,000, and reserve £310,000; and its solvency has not been questioned until recently. It is to be hoped that a financial panic will be averted. ..____._..._..._.__. A hundred years ago the expense of building a ship-of-tlic-line of 100 guns in the Royal dockyards was £67,600. This included the cost of .coppering and copper bolting, and of masts, yards, rigging, sails, anchors, cables, and all other boatswains’ and car- penters’ stores. Vhe modern equivalent to the old wooden linebf-battle ship of the first rate is the first-class ironclad battleship, ‘and the Trafalgar may be reganfied as a good specimen of the finest and mac recent ves- sels of this type. Her original cost, etclu- sive of armament, was no list» than £802,- 794.