Lord HOWARD DE WALDEN is starting a movement with the admirable object
of reinvigorating the drama in Wales by forming a travelling troupe of
first-rate actors. It is rumoured that an option has already been
obtained on a native comedian who is at present a member of the Cabinet.
***
The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER received last week a deputation of the
Men of Kent in order to hear their views in support of the preservation
of the custom of gavelkind; and many persons, we believe, were surprised
to hear that it is a custom and not a disease.
***
Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD, in a speech at Dundee last week, described Mr.
CHURCHILL as the worst Liberal First Lord of the Admiralty that had ever
occupied the position. It is reported that the right honourable
gentleman is having a large number of copies of this statement printed
off as a testimonial.
***
"The Labour organ, _The Evening Chronicle_," says a Johannesburg
telegram, "appeared to-day with the leader column blank." The leaders
were, of course, all in gaol.
***
In addition to Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON's little party an Austrian
expedition to the Antarctic is also being organised. Such persons as
were intending to go to these regions in the hope of finding quiet and
rest there would do well to hesitate, for it looks as if they may be
rather overcrowded.
***
"The American Ambassador," we read last week, "is confined to his room
at the Embassy owing to a cold." Colds, we know, are nasty catching
things, but we consider it shows cowardice on the part of the staff to
have, apparently, locked their chief in his room.
***
The Duke of ATHOLL celebrated his jubilee as head of the house of
STEWART-MURRAY last week. In these days to have remained a Duke for so
long as fifty years shows no little grit.
***
"A Farnham resident," a contemporary informs us, "was badly stung by a
wasp last week." At this time of year these insects are apt to sting
badly, but in the summer they do it quite well.
***
The Roman Temple which has occupied a prominent position in the grounds
of the Crystal Palace during the last three years is to be removed to
Bath, and re-erected there. To the grave regret of the _elite_ of
Sydenham, an attempt to get Kew to take over the large glass house has
failed.
***
A little while ago, at the Palladium, there was a Moore and Burgess
revival. It has evidently been discovered that there is a taste for this
sort of entertainment, for it is now announced that Mr. OSCAR ASCHE will
produce this year a play by SIR RIDER HAGGARD in which the popular actor
and his wife will appear as Zulus.
***
_Joseph_, we read, is to be produced at Covent Garden next week.
Apparently Sir HERBERT TREE'S friend has now parted from his Brethren.
***
A lady in the front of the first circle at Drury Lane, _The Express_
tells us, laughed so heartily the other day in the paper-hanging scene
that her artificial teeth fell out and dropped into the stalls. This
accentuates the importance of having one's teeth plainly marked with
one's name and address.
***
Mr. Fred Burlingham, who recently descended into the heart of Vesuvius,
has written a book entitled "How to become an Alpinist." The idea is
good. One likes to learn how to cool oneself after a visit to a crater.
***
A little girl of our acquaintance has given the most vivid description
of a cold that we have yet heard. "Well, Phyllis," we said, "how goes it
to-day?" "Horrid," came the answer. "Have to make myself breathe."
***
"For the first time for forty years," _The Daily Mail_ tells _us_, "a
wild swan, supposed to have flown across the North Sea, has been shot in
the marshes of the Isle of Sheppey." It does not say much for the
marksmanship of the local sportsmen that this poor creature should have
been shot at all those years without being hit.
***
We learn from _The Tailor and Cutter_ that a garment of double fabric,
with india-rubber balls inside to absorb the shock, has been designed
for motorists by a Budapest tailor. But surely it is rather the
pedestrian who needs this armour?
***
Mr. W. MCDOUGALL declared in a lecture at the Royal Institution last
week that the cranial capacity of the savage was equal to that of the
average Oxford undergraduate. Cambridge has suspected this for years.
***
[Illustration: _First Urchin_. "See, 'err, a Aireoplane!"
_Second Urchin_. "Where?"
_First Urchin_. "See, There--that Loose Bit."]
***
"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea."
"Hitherto more or less content
with a wet sea and a flowing
sail...."
_"Times" Literary Supplement._
It would be terrible if _The Times_ disapproved of the sea being wet.
***
"Multiply Your Income by 3.