The Strand 1912-5 Vol-XLIII № 257 May mich

MORE PERSONIFIED CITIES. 583 \"WHAT OTHER FIGURE THAN ROBIN HOOD?\" of the loth Legion, Julius Caesar's favourite body of soldiers, I think an appropriate figure would be that of a Roman soldier resting on his shield, with pike and broadsword. The Roman occu pation began 55 B.C. and con tinued to A. D. 410; and owing to its importance the Romans them selves styled the city Altera- Roma, in preference to its classic name of Eboracum.\" \" A sailor,\" writes the Mayor of Portsmouth, \" would typify Ports mouth very well. A pair of guns crossed might be on the arm.\" \" Portsmouth,\" writes the Editor of the Portsmouth Times, \" is, of course, the chief naval port of the Empire, and it is the home of the torpedo. Therefore the figure of a British bluejacket, or a drawing of a tor pedo or battleship, would, I should think,' fairly typify the town.\" What about \" Dick Derby,\" that shrewd driving fellow of the Midlands ? \" Our industries,\" writes the Mayor, \" are of a very varied description, but engi neering may be said to be the chief, taken in conjunction with the presence in our midst of the Midland Railway central works, which employ no fewer than ten thousand men of the wage - earning class. As Derby owes so much of its growth \" MOLLY LEICESTER, WITH HER BRIGHT SMILE AND WELL-KNIT FIGURE.\" NEWCASTLE PERSONIFIED AS A TYPICAL MINER. to the presence of the Mid land Railway works, it would not be inappropriate to introduce a railway- engine into the picture.\" Coventry has a legendary association with Lady Godiva, and it was thought that perhaps this lady— decorously garbed, of course —might suggest the city. But the Mayor of Coventry, when approached in the matter, would not hear of

THE STRAND MAGAZINE. \" HARRY HULL AS A BURLY SEA-DOG, OUT FOR OIL AND TIMBER.\" in this outward form, should go marching— or, rather, motoring—down the ages. \" What other figure than that of Robin Hood,\" asks the Mayor of Nottingham, \" might appropriately represent Notting ham ? \" And. truly, Nottingham is particu larly happy in this respect, of having a local legendary hero like the valiant archer of Sherwood Forest to represent it. Otherwise, as the Editor of the Nottingham Guardian writes, lace being the great industry of the city and district, a female figure is thereby suggested. But no fair lace-maker or lace- wearer could possibly hope to supplant Robin Hood. \" Molly Leicester is a good stay-at-home lass, with a bright smile and a well-knit figure, and her heart is in hosiery.\" With this personification the Mayor of Leicester agrees. \" The Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne begs to send you the accompanying sketch of a typical miner, which his lordship thinks would form a suitable manner of personifying the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, although coal represents only one of the three great indus tries of Newcastle, the other two being engineering and shipbuilding.\" Like Portsmouth and Bristol and Liverpool, Harry Hull is a sailor, but of a different sort. He is a burly, hail-fellow-well-met kind of sea-dog who is out for oil and timber in the Baltic, and is accustomed to the rougher work of a seaman's life. And, although he occasionally swears at Russians and Dutch men, yet, as the Mayor of Hull reminds us, he swears by his idol, William Wilberforce. whose maxims he has at heart, and whom he sent to represent him for many years in Parliament. \" As to the city of Bradford,\" writes the Town Clerk of Bradford, \" I might suggest for your consideration that, as Bradford is in regard to the worsted trade what Manchester is in regard to the cotton trade, a drawing on the lines of the figure representing ' Miss Cottonopolis ' would not be inappropriate, except that the figure of a male person (' Mr. Worstedopolis '), and not that of a female, should be depicted.\" \" BRADFORD AS MR. WORSTEDOPOLIS.

AN ALPHABET BOOK BY EDWARD LEAR. Author of \" The Book of Nonsense,\" \" No -i EDWARD LEAR, like Dickens, was horn one hundred years ago this year. Unlike Dickens, his centenary is not likely to be celebrated in any very striking fashion. And yet in his time he was one of the world's merry makers. His \" Book of Nonsense,\" which was first published over sixty years ago. was once to be found in every -nursery in the kingdom, and has, perhaps, given delight to a greater number of chil dren than any other book of its kind ever produced. It is certain that no book since written has exactly filled the same place. Nor does it appeal to children onlv. Even a man so .v „,.;,.-.,, .>»/- b#* +iftw ?£'£ sSiftt ,'£.-y JH**& / v^/c «*&• <£ *•«& ./« t# a1'' &-• Songs and Stories\" etc. different in all respects from Lear as Ruskin, when asked togivealistof what, in his opinion, were the hundred best authors, replied, \" Surely the most beneficent and innocent of all books yet produced is the ' Book of Nonsense,' with its carollary carols, inimitable and refreshing and perfect in rhythm. I really don't know any author to whom I am half so grateful for my idle self as Edward Lear. 1 shall put him first of my hundred best authors.\" His works have also held their ground more firmly than any others of their class, as is shown by the constant demand for the charming /*« * (jf C'

586 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. reprints of them issued by Messrs. F. Warne and Co. It is hardly necessary to call to mind that Lear, if not the originator, was at least the popularizer of the form of verse known as the Limerick—a form which has since descended to baser uses. It is a somewhat singular coincidence that in the very year of his centenary we should be enabled to reproduce : H ^*^^ «- C^r« e^mf rf£ ** a little work of his which has not so far seen the light—an Alphabet Book which was done for a child about the year 1857. The child, now grown into a man, preserved the book, and has placed it at our disposal. In sending it to us the owner, Mr. F. R. ]. C'alvert, states that it has passed through the hands of many children, who have derived from it as much delight as he 1

AN ALPHABET BOOK BY EDWARD LEAR. 587 M It may be interesting, perhaps, to recall certain of the facts concerning the life of Edward Lear. By profession he was a land scape painter, and for some time was drawing- master to Queen Victoria. An anecdote in this connection has been preserved and is worth retelling. \" On one occasion the did when it was drawn for him so many years ago. *- f1* N Queen, with great kindness, was showing him some of the priceless treasures in cabinets either at Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace, it is uncertain which, and explaining their history to him. Mr. Lear, entirely carried away by the wonderful beauty and interest of what he saw, became totally oblivious of all other facts, and in the excitement and forget- fulness of the moment exclaimed, ' Oh ! how

THE STRAND MAGAZINE. P did you get all these beautiful things ? ' Her Majesty's answer, as Mr. Lear said, was an excellent one, so kind, yet so terse and full of the dignity of a Queen: ' I inherited them, Mr. Lear.' \" It may be mentioned that alphabet books of the kind here reproduced were a form of amusement which he was fond cf extem ** \"\"* / ••* iiSM porizing for the sake of his child friends, and more than one instance is referred to in his \" Letters and Life.\" We believe, however, that this is the first to be brought to public notice, and we are pleased to have the oppor tunity of placing before our readers in the year of his centenary a work which, however slight, is so characteristic of the man.

AN ALPHABET BOOK BY EDWARD LEAR. 5»9 ._ - Books are intended not only for the amuse- one ready to their hand, and we hope that It is hardly necessary to say that Alphabet nursery-book for this purpose will here find ment of children, but are also designed for many thousands of future STRAND readers the useful end of teaching them their letters will take their first steps in knowledge under in an interesting way. Those who require a its guidance.

The series of stories now appearing 'are specially retold by Mr. Post Wheeler for English-speaking boys and girls from a volume of the best Russian Wonder Tales selected by command of the Czar for the use of his own children. Oust/we- ^ ^x NCE, in olden times, there was a merchant whose wife had died, leaving him three daughters. The eldest two were plain of face and hard of heart, and cared for nothing but finery, while the youngest was a good housekeeper, kind-hearted, and beautiful. One day, when the merchant set out for the Fair, he called his three daughters and asked : \" My dear daughters, what do you most desire me to buy for you ? \" The eldest answered, \" Bring me a pair of satin shoes.\" The second said, \" Bring me a silken Copyright, 1912, '/L^ A STORY FOR CHILDREN. Illustrated ty H. R. Millar. petticoat.\" But the youngest said, \"Father, bring me only a little scarlet flower to set in my window.\" The two sisters laughed at her request. \" Little fool,\" they said, \" what do you want with a scarlet flower ? You had better ask for a new apron.\" But she paid no heed, and when the merchant asked her again, she said, \" Father, buy me only the scarlet blossom.\" The merchant set out to the Fair, and he purchased the pair of satin shoes and the silken petticoat, and then he bethought him self of the little scarlet flower and went about inquiring for one. But search as he might he could find not a single blossom of that colour in the whole town, and drove home sorrowful that he must disappoint his youngest daughter. And as he rode along wondering where he might find the flower, he met by the roadside in the forest a little old man whom he had never seen, with a hooked nose, one eye, and by Post Whcrler.

THE FEATHER OF F1NIST THE FALCON. 59* a face covered with a golden beard like moss, who carried a box on his back. \"What is that you are carrying, old man?\" he asked. \" In my box ' answered the old man, \" is a little scarlet flower which I am keeping for a present to the maiden who is to marry my son, Finist the Falcon.\" \" I do not know your son, old man,\" said the merchant, \" nor yet the maiden whom he is to marry. But a scarlet blossom is no great thing. Come, sell it to me, and with the money you may buy a more suitable gift for the bridal.\" \" Nay,\" replied the little old man. \" It has no price, for wherever it goes there goes the love of my son, and I have sworn it shall be his wife's.\" The merchant argued and persuaded, for now that he had found the flower he was loath to go home without it, and ended by offering in exchange for it both the satin shoes and the silken petticoat, till at length the little old man said : \" You can have the scarlet flower for your daughter only on condition that she weds my son, Finist the Falcon.\" • The merchant thought a moment. Not to bring the flower would grieve his daughter, yet as the price of it he must promise to wed her to a stranger. \"Well, old man,\" he said, \"give me the flower, and if my daughter will take your son, he shall have her.\" \" Have no fear,'1 said the little old man, and giving the box to the other he vanished. The merchant, greatly disturbed at his sudden disappearance, hurried home, where his three daughters came out to greet him. He gave the eldest the satin shoes and the second the silken petticoat, and they clapped their hands with delight. Then he gave his youngest daughter the little box, and said : \" Hi-re is your scarlet flower, but as for me, I take no joy in it, for I got it from a stranger, though it was not for sale, and in return for it I have promised that you shall marry his son, Finist the Falcon.\" \" Do not grieve, father,\" said she. \" You have done my desire, and if Finist the Falcon will woo me I will marry him.\" And she took out the scarlet flower and caressed it, and held it close to her heart. When night came the merchant kissed his daughters, made over them the sign of the cross, and sent them each to her bed. The youngest locked herself in her room in the attic, took the little flower from its box, and, setting it on the window-sill, began to smell it and kiss it and look into the dark blue sky, when suddenly through the window came flying a swift beautiful falcon with coloured feathers. It lit upon the floor and instantly was transformed into a young Prince, so handsome that it could not be told in speech nor written in a tale. The Prince soothed her fright and caressed her with sweet and tender words so that she

592 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. splendid gown and put on her own, went to the porch, waved the bright feather to the left side, and the carri age and horses, the coach men in livery, and the splendid gown disappeared, and she sat down again at her attic window. When the elder sisters returned they said: \"What a beauty came to-day to church ! No one could gaze enough at her. You Irttle slattern, you should have seen her rich gown ! Surely she must have been a Princess from some other Province!\" 'AS SOON AS THE CHOIR BEGAN TO SING THE MAGNIFICAT, SHE LEFT THE CHURCH. Now, so hastily had she changed her clothes that she had forgotten to take out of her hair a diamond pin, and as they talked her sisters caught sight of it. \" What a lovely jewel!\" they cried, enviously. \" Where did you get it ? \" And they would have taken it from her. But she ran to her attic room and hid it in the heart of the scarlet flower, so that, though they searched everywhere, they could not find it. Then, filled with envy, they went to their father, and said : \" Sir, our sister has a secret lover who has given her a diamond ornament.\" But he would not hear them, and bade them mind their own business. That evening when all went to bed the girl set the flower on the window-sill, and in a moment Finist the Falcon came flying in and was transformed into a handsome Prince, and they talked lovingly together till the dawn began to break. Now the elder sisters were filled with malice and spite, and they listened at the attic door hoping^ to find where she had hidden the diamond pin, and so heard the voices. They knocked at the door, crying : \" Whom are you talking to, sister?\" \" I am talking to myself,\" she answered. \"If that is true, unlock the door,\" they said.

THE FEATHER OF FIN 1ST THE FALCON. 593 Then Finist the Falcon kissed her and bade her farewell, and turning into a falcon flew out of the window, and she unlocked the door. Her sisters entered and looked all about the room, but there was no one to be seen. They went, however, to their father, and said : \" Sir, our sister has a lover. Only just now we listened and heard them talking.\" He paid no heed, however, but chided them and bade them better their own manners. Every night thereafter the spiteful pair rose from their beds to creep to the attic and listen at the door, and .each time they heard the sound of the loving talk between their sister and Finist the Falcon. Yet each morning they saw that no stranger was in the room, and at length, certain that who ever entered must do so by the win dow, they made a cunning plan. One evening they pre pared a sweet drink of wine, and in it they put a sleeping powder and prevailed on their sister to drink it. As soon as she did so she fell into a deep sleep, and when they had laid her on her bed they fastened open knives and sharp needles upright on her window-sill and bolted the window. When the dark fell, Finist the Falcon came fly ing to his love, and the needles pierced his breast and the knives cut his brilliant wings, and although he struggled and beat against it the window remained closed. \"My beautiful dearest,\" he cried, \" have you ceased so soon to love me ? Vol. xliiL—4O. Never shall you see me again unless you search through three times nine countries, to the thirtieth kingdom, and you shall first wear through three pairs of iron shoes, and break in pieces three iron staves, and gnaw away three holy church loaves of stone. Only then shall you find your lover, Finist the Falcon!\" But though through her

594 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. and to weep salt tears. \" Surely,\" she thought, \" my cruel sisters have killed my dear love !\" When she had wept a long time she thought of the bright feather, and ran to the porch and waved it to the right, crying, \" Come to me, my own Finist the Falcon !\" But •he did not appear, and she knew that the charm was broken. Then she re membered the words she had heard through her sleep, and, telling no one, she went to a smithy and bade the smith make her three pairs of iron shoes and three iron staves, and with these and three church loaves of stone she set out across three times nine countries to the thirtieth king dom. She walked and walked for a day and a night, for a week, for two months, and for three. She wore through the iron shoes, and broke to pieces the iron staves, and gnawed away the stone church loaves, when, in the midst of a wood whicli grew always thicker and darker, she came to a The old woman gave the girl something to eat and drink, a portion of all God had given her, and a bed to sleep in, and in the morn ing when the dawn began to break she awoke her. \" Finist, who flies as the Falcon THE CZAR'S DAUGHTER SAID TO HER, ' MAIDEN, WILL YOU SELL ME THAT PLAYTHING?' lawn. On the lawn was a little hut, and on its door-step sat a sour-faced old woman. \"Whither are you going, beautiful maiden ?\" asked the old woman. \" Oh grandmother,\" answered the girl, \" I beg for kindness ! I am searching for Finist the bright Falcon, who was my friend.\" \"Well,\" said the dame, \"he is a relative of mine; but you will have to cross many lands still to find him. Come in and rest for the night. The morning is wiser than the evening.\" with coloured feathers,\" she said, \" is now in a kingdom far from here. He has recently proposed marriage to a Czar's daughter.

THE FEATHER OF FIN 1ST THE FALCON. 595 with high towers of white stone, whose golden tops were glowing like fire. Near the Palace a black serving-wench was washing a piece of cloth in the sea, whose waves it tinged with red, and the girl said : \" What is it you are washing ? \" The servant answered: \"It is a shirt of Finist the Falcon, who in three days will wed r.iy mistress, but it is so stained with blood that I can by no means make it clean.\" The 'IF YOU WILL BUY IT AT MY PRICE,' ANSWERED THE GIRL.\" girl thought, \" It is a garment my beloved wore after he was so cruelly wounded by the knives in my window,\" and taking it from the other's hands she fysgan to weep over it, so that the tears washed away every stain' and the shirt was as white as snow. The black serving-woman took the shirt back to the Czar's daughter, who asked her how she had so easily cleansed it, and the woman answered that a beautiful maiden, alone on the sea-sand, had wept over it till her tears had made it white. \"This is, in truth, a remarkable thing,\" said the Czar's daughter. \" I would see this girl whose tears can wash away such stains,\" and sum moning her maids and nurses and attendants she went walking along the shore. Presently she came where the merchant's daughter sat alone on the soft sand gazing sorrowfully out over the blue sea, and she accosted her, and said : \" What grief have you that your tears can wash away blood ? \" \"I grieve,\"answered the girl, \" because I long to see the beauti ful Finist the Falcon.\" Then the Czar's daughter, being very proud, tossed her head, saying : \" Is that all ? Go to the Palace kitchen, and I will let you serve there; per haps as payment you may catch a glimpse of him as he is din ing.\" So the merchant's daughter entered the Palace and was given a humble place among the servants, and when Finist the Falcon sat down to dine she put the food before him with her own hands. But he, moody and longing for his lost love, sat without rais ing his eyes, and never so much as saw her or guessed her presence. After dinner, sad and lonely, she went out to the sea-beach and, sitting down on the soft sand, took her little silver spindle and began to draw out a thread. And in the cool of the evening the Czar's daughter, with her

596 THE STRAND MAGAZINE. put in his hair an enchanted pin, by reason of which he will not waken, and with the spindle I can cover myself and my mother with gold.\" So she agreed, and that ni^ht, when Finist the Falcon was asleep, she put in his hair the enchanted pin, brought the girl to his room, and said: \"Give me the spindle, and in return you may sit here till daybreak and keep the flies from him.\" Through that long night the merchant's daughter bent over her loved one, weeping, and crying: \" Finist, my own dear, ray bright Falcon with coloured feathers, awake and know me ! I have worn through the three pairs of iron shoes, I have broken to pieces the three iron staves, I have gnawed away the three stone church loaves, all the while searching for you, my love!\" But by reason of the enchanted pin, although he heard through his sleep her cry ing and lament ing, and his heart grieved because of it, Finist the Falcon could not waken. So at length, when day - dawn was near, the girl pin in his hair and she drew it out, lest by chance it might harm him. Thus the spell of its enchantment was broken, and one of her tears, falling on his face, woke him. And instantly, as he awoke, he recognized her and knew that it was her lamenting he had heard through his sleep. She related, to him all that had occurred, how her sisters \"TURNING INTO THE FALCON, HE SET HER ON HIS COLOURED WINGS AND FLEW TO HIS KINGDOM.\" said to herself: \" Though he shall never be mine, yet in the past he loved me, and for that I will kiss him once before I go away,\" and she put her arms about his head to kiss him. As she did so her hand touched the had plotted, how she had

PERPLEXITIES. By Henry E. Dudeney. 88.—THE EXCHANGE PUZZLE. HERE is a rather entertaining little puzzle with moving counters. You only need twelve counters : six of cue colour, marked A, C, E, G, I, and K, and the other six marked B, D, F, H. J, and L. You first place them on the diagram, as shown in the illustra tion, and the puzzle is to get them into regular alpha betical order, as follows :— ABCD K F G II The moves are made by exchanges of opposite colours standing on the same line. Thus, G and J may exchange places, or F and A, but you cannot exchange G and C, or F and D, because in one case they are both white and in the other case both black. Can you bring about the require 1 arrangement in seventeen exchanges ? It cannot be done in fewer moves. The puzzle is really much easier than it looks, if properly attacked. IJKL 89.—THE TRUSSES OF HAY FARMER TOMPKINS had five trusses of hay, which he told his man Hodge to weigh before delivering them to a customer. The stupid fellow weighed them two at a time in all possible ways, and informed his master that the weights in pounds were no, 112, 113, ir4, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120, and 121. Now, how was Farmer Tompkins to find out from these figures how much every one of the five trusses weighed singly ? The reader may at first think that he ought to be told \" which pair is which pair,\" or something of that sort, but it is quite unnecessary. This, again, is an absurdly simple puzzle, and yet some readers may find them selves quite unnecessarily perplexed. Can you figure out trie five cor rect weights ? 90.—THE STOP-WATCH. WE have here a stop - watch with three hands. The seconds hand, which travels once round the face in a minute, is the one with the little ring at its end near the centre. Our dial indicates the exact time when its owner stopped the watch. You will notice that the three hands are nearly equidistant. The hour and minute hands point to spots that are exactly a third of the circumference apart, but the seconds hand is a little too advanced. An exact equidistance for the three hands is not possible. Now, we want to know what the time will be when the three hands are next at exactly the same distances as shown from one another. Can you state the time ? We shall explain next month how you can at once show the answer without any calculation whatever. Solutions to Last ^lonth s Puzzles. 85.—THE CROWDED CHESSBOARD. HERE is the solution. Only 8 queens or 8 rooks can be placed on the board without attack, while the greatest number of bishops is 14, and of knights 32.

CURIOSITIES. \\We shall be glad to receive Contributions to this section,, and to pay for such as are accepted.} IS THIS PERPETUAL MOTION? A TWENTY-FOOT wheel spanning a narrow street /\"X in Los Angeles, California, was a source of great wonder to the passers-by, as it appeared to be a solution of the ancient problem of \" perpetual motion.\" The wheel stood upon a frame of structural iron, and was enclosed at the sides with a wooden support, within which it slowly revolved. The wheel itself was of light wooden construction, and had a thickness of about eight inches. As the photograph shows, it had nine large spheres of metal, which ran in grooves that extended from the axle to the rim of the wheel. As they approached the outer edge, their weight would have a tendency to draw down that side of the device. The ascending side would have no such weight at the rim, as, by an ingenious curvature of the grooves, the balls would run towards the centre. Thus there would always be a greater weight on one side of the wheel than on the other, and it would keep revolving indefinitely. That this was not a purely scientific affair is indicated by the advertisements painted on the structure, for the inventor had an eye to business. Thousands of people examined the device minutely to discover some outside power which kept the wheel in motion ; but, although the framework was built so that one could see every part of it, no machinery could be detected.—Mr. C. L. Edholm, 4 624, Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. THE \"KISS IN THE MOON.\" SEEING the drawing of the \" Lady in the Moon \" in a recent number of THE STRAND MAC.AZINE, I thought the accompanying picture would be of interest. It is an aspect of the moon discovered by M. Filippo Zamboni, and is called the \" Kiss in the Moon.\" It can be seen distinctly by the aid of an opera-glass. I need hardly add that I can see only these two faces when I look at the full moon.—Miss E. Kirby, Deep- dene, Bickerton Road, Birkdale. AN EASILY-GROWN ORNAMENT. IF the top of an old carrot be hollowed out, filled with water, and then suspended by a cord, it makes a most charming and decorative object, as the accompanying photograph clearly proves. The leaves, as will be seen, shoot out in great profusion and assume a most graceful aspect. — Mr. S. Leonard Bastin, Morningside, Lyndhurst.

CURIOSITIES. 599 JACK TAR AS A HUMORIST. NOTICE ' I M1E accompanying amus- JL ing'y • worded notice is the work of a bluejacket on H.M.S. Bedford, who gave it to a Japanese lady to be used as an advertisement for her house of refreshment. What her feelings were when she learned, as she probably has by now, that her obliging guest considered she \" would not be thought handsome even in a crowd\" is perhaps best left to be conjectured. — Private Royal, R.M.L.I., H.M.S. Mag nificent. \\ A TIGER-PROOF HOUSE. •^p RAVELLING in an un- _L frequented part of the Malay Peninsula, I came upon this very remarkable habi tation! '\"\"I- having a camera photograph of it. H! Having lately r»en REFITTED and palpation* have, fwun made to supply those who may givens a look up, with tlic WORST of LIQUORS and FOOD at a reasonable price, and served by the Ugliest Female Servants that c.xn be procuteil The Establishment can not boat of a Proprietor but is carried on by e. Japanese lady who would not be thought handsome even-in a crowd The Cook wlicn his faco is washad is considered the best looking of the co npiny. Come up and see us and don't let the .linnkisha men bluff you by saying here is no such a place as. YOKOHAMA HOUSE. No tl, YEBISUMACHI HAKODATE. ith me, took a The ordinary Malay house is built on posts from five to seven feet high ; but, as will be seen, this house was perched high up in a tree/' It was the home of a man, his wife, and family, and,they informed me that it was pbced in this unusual situa tion so as to be out of the way of the numerous tigers which then infested the neighbourhood. As tigers have been known to jump eighteen feet in vertical height, somewhere about twenty feet is considered to be the limit of safety. The Malayan house is a frail and flimsy structure of sticks tied together with rattan, thatched with palm leaves, and walled with plaited bamboo, or, A fit BREWER -f- fied observer of the cruel mauling and ultimate slaughter and devouring of his relatives.—Mr. L. Wray, Thft Laurels, Grayshott, near Haslemere. A DOG THAT WALKS THE TIGHT-ROPE. IE of the most remarkable performances ever given by a pet dog is that shown in the above photograph. The dog is an expert tight-rope walker, and, as the picture shows, accompanies its master when exhibiting. It is quite at home in mid air, and posed for the picture without a tremor.—Mr. C. L. Edholm, 4,624, Figueroa Street, Los Angeles,

6o:> THE STRAND MAGAZINE. THE FLYING-MACHINE IN CHINA. ONE can hardly express the surprise ar.d wonder caused by the appearance of the flying-machine in China. The better-class people were dumbfounded ; that a man could make a machine to not only fly, but also carry him into the clouds, was to them a wondrous feat. The poor \" chinks,\" on the other hand, were afraid ; they called it a \" flying devil \" ; when the machine was a distance away they turned round to look, but immediately they saw the flying-machine approach, and especially when they heard the loud explosions of the engines, they turned and fled for dear life, screaming and calling out \" Flying devil ! \" The photograph was taken in Shanghai, just after the fatal flying accident ; when it became known that the aviator had fallen, all sports were suspended, but only until he had been carried away and the wreckage removed, when the sports continued as though nothing had happened.—Mr. G. Birchenull, Athenaeum, Prin cess Street, Manchester. ORNAMENTED 'BY OYSTERS. \\70UNG oysters have a curious way of fastening themselves to old cans, stones, shoes, and even tree-stumps, so that sometimes a hundred or more will be found clustered together in a very small space. The accompanying photograph shows a portion of old stump which was washed up on the shores of Puget Sound, in the State of Washington. The waters of Puget Sound form a great natural oyster- bed, and seed oysters, as the young ones are called, attached themselves to the stump in such numbers I hat they practically hid the wood from sight. At high tide the stump is en- tirely covered with water, so that the young oysters could readily fasten them selves to it. Fully ten thousand oysters are fastened to various parts of the stump. —Mr. D. A. Willey, Porter Building. Haiti' more, Maryland. U.S.A. CINEMA PICTURES BY THE MILE. OME surprising figures regarding the cinematograph shows will be seen by the following table. It may be news to some readers that every foot of film contains sixteen separate pictures, which are passed through the lantern at the rate of sixteen per second. Now, suppose that the average length of film of each subject is 1,000 feet—though some are much more, others less. At each picture palace there are, as a rule, eight subjects shown twice daily. These subjects are shown twice a day for at least six days. As near as one can find out, there are 3,000 picture palaces in existence in Great Britain, i foot of film 1,000 feet of film 8 pictures do.