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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..95f97c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51841 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51841) diff --git a/old/51841-8.txt b/old/51841-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5b9dc2e..0000000 --- a/old/51841-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2217 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, -Science, and Art, No. 730, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 730 - December 22, 1877 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: April 23, 2016 [EBook #51841] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, DECEMBER 22, 1877 *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. - -Fourth Series - -CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS. - -NO. 730. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1877. PRICE 1˝_d._] - - - - -CHRISTMAS-TIME. - - -'So many men so many minds' has been a proverb long before our days, -and will be to the end of time and human history; and uniformity of -sentiment is the one thing which men need never hope to attain. - -Christmas-time is one of these battle-fields of feeling. To some it is -just the consecration of so many circumstances of torture; to others -the meeting-point of so many facts of pleasure. From the conventional -greeting to the orthodox dinner--from the 'seasonable gifts' that are -more obligatory than voluntary, to the toast that heralds the punch, -and the dreams that follow on that last glass--all is so much pain to -the flesh and weariness to the spirit; and they wonder how any one -can find it otherwise. What is there in Christmas-time to make it -pleasurable? they say. The gathering together of the family? A lot -of rough boys home from school, who spoil the furniture and tease -the dogs, lame the horses and ravage the garden, make the servants -cross, the girls rude, and the younger children insubordinate; who -upset all the order of the house, destroy its comfort like its quiet, -and to whose safe return to discipline and your own restoration to -tranquillity you look forward with impatient longing from the first -hour of their arrival to the last of their stay? Or the advent of your -married daughter with her two spoilt babies, who cry if they are looked -at and want everything that they see, and that very objectionable young -man her husband, with his ultra opinions and passion for argument, -whom she would marry in spite of all that you could say, but to whom -you can scarcely force yourself to be decently civil, not to speak of -cordial, and whose presence is a perpetual blister while it lasts? Is -this the family gathering about which you are expected to gush?--this -with the addition of your son's fine-lady wife who snubs his mother -and sisters with as little breeding as reserve, finds nothing at your -table that she can eat, lives with her smelling-bottle to her nose and -propped up with cushions on the sofa, and gives you to understand that -she considers herself humiliated by her association with your family, -and your son as much exalted as she is degraded? This is the domestic -aspect of Christmas-time which is to make you forget all the ordinary -troubles of life, creating in their stead a Utopia where ill-feeling -is as little known as _ennui_, and family jars are as impossible as -personal discomfort and dissent. Holding this picture in your hand, you -decline to subscribe your name to the Io pćan universally chanted in -praise of Christmas, and wrap yourself up in sullen silence when your -neighbour congratulates you on having all your family about you, and -wishes you a merry Christmas as if he meant it. - -If the domestic aspect is disagreeable, what is the social?--A round -of dinners of which the _menu_ is precisely the same from Alpha to -Omega:--turbot and thick lobster-sauce; roast-beef and boiled turkey; -indigestible plum-pudding and murderous mince-pies; with sour oranges -and sweet sherry to keep the balance even, and by the creation of two -acids perhaps neutralise each other and the third. This is the food -set before unoffending citizens under the name and style of Christmas -dinners for the month or six weeks during which the idiotic custom of -Christmas dinners at all is supposed to last. You are expected to live -in this monotony of dyspepsia and antipathetic diet till you loathe the -very sight of the familiar food, and long for a change with a vehemence -which makes you ashamed of yourself, and more than half afraid that you -are developing into a gourmand of the worst kind. - -As if your nights were not sufficiently broken by the horrible -compounds which trouble your digestion and disturb your brain, -torturers known as the 'waits' prowl through the streets from midnight -to dawn, causing you agonies beyond those which even the hurdy-gurdy -men inflict. You are just falling to sleep--painfully courted and -hardly won--when a hideous discord worse than the wailings of cats -startles you into a nervous wakefulness which banishes all hope for -that night. What can you do? They are too far off for that jug of -water to take effect, and you must not fire; anathemas do not hurt -them, and if said aloud only waken up your wife and make her cry if -she does not preach. You have nothing for it then but to lie still -and groan inwardly, devoting to the infernal gods all the idiotic -circumstances by which your life is rendered wretched, and your health, -already frail, set still further wrong. In the morning, when wearied -and nervously feverish from want of sleep, you go into the garden for -a little quiet and delectation, you find your greenhouses stripped of -the flowers which you had been lovingly watching for weeks, and your -evergreens as ridiculously cropped as a shaved poodle. This is the day -for the decoration of the church, and you, having made an expensive -hobby of your garden, have to contribute what has cost months and good -money to rear, for the childish satisfaction of John and Joan, lasting -just two hours and five minutes. Not only have you lost your flowers -and your evergreens--that splendid holly, which yesterday glowed like a -flame, today nothing but a bundle of chopped ends!--but you know that -your favourite daughter is flirting with the curate, and that a great -deal is going on under cover of wreaths and crosses, laurustinus and -chrysanthemum, of which you strongly disapprove yet cannot check. It is -Christmas-time; decorating the church has become in these later days a -kind of religious duty; and as a conscript father of your village, you -must not forbid your daughter this pious pleasure any more than you can -refuse your costly contribution in kind. - -Turn to the financial side of the time; and what have you?--bills -coming in that you neither expected nor knew of, and every one looking -for a Christmas-box, and insolent or irritated if they do not get it. -The servants obsequious to the worth of half a sovereign--tradesmen -and their lads punctual in anticipation of half-crowns--postmen -levying blackmail, and watermen and dustmen demanding as their -right that they should be fee'd for their persistent neglect of -duty--every one making a dead set at your pocket and trying to get -your money for themselves--the very children more caressing and -affectionate because it is Christmas and papa always gives them -something on Christmas-day:--You groan as you ask yourself where is -disinterestedness on this earth?--and you groan still more as you draw -your cheques and reduce your balance and wonder by what law of right it -is that you should be the pipe by which other folks are to be supplied. - -No; you see no good or pleasure in this boasted Christmas-time as -we keep it up in our benighted country. Its mirth is a sham and its -inflictions are only too real. A time of tumult and expense, of -indigestion and discomfort, you wait, grimly or fretfully as your mood -may be, till it has passed and the current of your life is allowed -to flow evenly as before. When you hear people sing its praises you -long to stop their mouths, as you longed to silence the waits who -woke you up out of your first sleep and spoilt your rest for the -night. What manner of men are these, you think, who can find cause of -congratulation in so much absurdity, if the fun is real to them--so -much dreary make-believe, if it is unreal? You despise your genial, -laughing, merry-hearted neighbour who goes into everything _con amore_, -and accepts it all, from forfeits and snapdragon to plum-pudding and -Christmas-boxes, as if he really liked it. You think what a fool he -must be to be pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw like this. -But for the most part you do not believe in his mirth; and then you -despise him still more as a hypocrite as well. For a hypocrite shamming -folly is an offender against reason as well as truth, whom you find it -hard to forgive, let the motive of his mummery be what it may. - -This is one side of the question; your neighbour takes the other. - -Who on earth, he says with his hands in his pockets, his back to the -fire and his kindly smiling face to the room, who on earth can grumble -at the facts of Christmas-time? For his part he finds it the jolliest -season of the year, and he finds each season as jolly as the other, -and all perfect in their own appointed way. He is none of your crying -philosophers who go through life bewailing its miseries and oppressed -by its misfortunes. Not he! He thinks the earth beautiful, men and -women pleasant, and God very good; and of all occasions wherein he can -transact his cheerful philosophy, Christmas is the best. The boys are -home for their holidays; and it is a pleasure to him to take them out -hunting and shooting, and initiate them into the personal circumstances -belonging to English country gentlemen. He looks forward to the time -when they will take his place and carry on the traditions of the -family, and he wishes them to be worthy of their name and an honour -to their country. He is not one of those nervous self-centred men who -live by rule and measure and cannot have a line of the day's ordering -disturbed. He likes his own way certainly; and he has it; but he can -press his elbows to his sides on occasions, and give room for others -to expand. He does not find it such an unbearable infliction that his -boys should come home and racket about the place, even though they are -a little upsetting, and do not leave everything quite as smooth and -straight as they found it. He remembers his own youth and how happy it -made him to come home and racket; and he supposes that his lads are -very much the same as he was at their age. He thinks too that they do -the girls good--wake them up a little--and while not making them rough -or rude--the mother takes care of that--yet that they prevent them from -becoming prim and missy, as girls are apt to be who have no brothers -and are left too much to themselves. Certainly he does not approve of -the flood of slang which is let loose in the house during their stay; -but school-boy slang at the worst is not permanent, and in a week's -time will be forgotten. - -As for the married daughter's children, they are the merriest little -rogues in the world; and his wife looks ten years younger since they -came. She was always fond of babies; and her grandchildren seem to -renew her own past nursery with all the pleasure and none of the -anxiety of the olden time. He rather wonders at his girl's taste in -the matter of her husband--most fathers do--and cannot for the life of -him see what there is to love in him. But if not an Alcibiades he is -a good fellow in the main, and makes his young wife happy; which is -the principal thing. And if his daughter-in-law is a trifle stiff, and -fond of giving herself fine-lady airs, he for his part never stands -that kind of nonsense, and will laugh her out of it before she has -been twenty-four hours in the house. He finds good-humour and taking no -offence the best weapons in the world against folly and ill-temper; and -prefers them as curative agents to any other. The girl is a nice girl -enough, but she has been badly brought up--had a lot of false ideas -instilled into her by a foolish mother--but when she has been away -from the old influences, and associated with themselves for a little -while, she will open her eyes and see things in their right light. -Who indeed could resist the sweet sensible influence of his wife, her -mother-in-law?--and are not his girls the very perfection of honest -wholesome English ladies? It will all come right in time; he has no -doubt of that; and meanwhile they must be patient and forbearing for -Dick's sake, and not make matters worse than they are by their own want -of self-control. - -Then as to the Christmas-boxes and the tips sacred to the season--well! -well! after all they do not amount to much in the year, and see what -pleasure they give! A man must be but a poor-spirited surly kind of -hound who does not like to see his fellow-creatures happy; and a very -little kindness goes a great way in that direction. He takes care to -live within his income, and therefore he has always a margin to go on; -and he does not object to use it. The servants have been very good on -the whole, and do their duty fairly enough. And when they fail--as -they do at times--why, to fail is human, and are they alone of all -mankind to be blameless and never swerving in the right way? And are -they alone of all mankind to be judged of by their worst and not by -their best?--to be blamed for failure, but not praised for well-doing? -He does not think so; and not thinking this, his half-sovereigns are -given freely without the grudging which makes them an ungracious -tax instead of a kindly voluntary gift. The tradespeople, too, do -fairly well, and--they must have their profit like any one else! -Those Christmas-boxes to their lads may be the nest-eggs for future -savings; and even if they do go in a little finery or personal pleasure -instead--young people will be young, and his own boys are fond of being -smart and amused: so why not these others? You grumble at the waits? If -you in your warm bed, well fed, well clothed, prosperous altogether, -fret at the loss of an hour's sleep, what must these poor fellows feel, -out in the cold frosty night, with the wind blowing and the sleet -falling fast, and they not half fed nor a quarter clothed? For his own -part he would like to give them a glass of hot grog all round; and as -for grumbling at the few coppers which they brave all this physical -discomfort to earn, he makes it shillings, and hopes it will do them -good. We must live and let live, he says with his broad smile; and -if we are sometimes a little inconvenienced by the efforts made by -the poor to accomplish the art of living for their own parts--we must -remember that our loss is their gain, and that they are men and women -like ourselves--fathers of families who want to keep the pot boiling -and the fire alight--mothers who love their children, and are anxious -to do the best for them that nature and man will allow. - -You complain of indigestion and grumble at the monotony of your -Christmas fare?--That is strange! Who can grumble at good plain -succulent meat?--and why do you eat the sweets if they disagree with -you? Neither pudding nor mince-pie comes into the eternal necessities -of things, and you would do very well if only you would refrain. He -does not eat things that he cannot digest, and in consequence he sleeps -well, and when he wakes has neither regret nor remorse. Surely that is -not such a painful trial--to forbear eating what is hurtful to your -health, and in touching your health corroding your happiness as well. - -In a word, the whole difference of the spirit in which we meet the -facts of Christmas depends on the good or ill humour with which we are -naturally endowed, and which we have cultivated by common-sense on the -one hand, or suffered to ride rough-shod over our reason on the other. -If we are unselfish and sympathetic, Christmas-time is as pleasant -to us as popular tradition would make it; if we are egotistical and -peevish, it is a wearisome infliction and a sham which no honest man -can pretend to believe in, nor any sensible one to admire. - -For our own part we believe in Christmas, because we believe in the -kindness of man to man, in genial good-humour, in unselfishness, and -the liking of wholesome natures to give happiness; and so far as we -have gone yet we have seen no reason to change our views. A merry -Christmas then to you all, friends, readers, and countrymen; and a -happy New Year to follow after; and may God bless the rich and care -for the poor, and lead us all in the right way while the day lasts and -before the night has come! - - - - -A CAST OF THE NET. - -THE STORY OF A DETECTIVE OFFICER. - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Long after it had grown quite dark, all remained quiet, and at last -I resolved upon making a move. I had determined upon fetching Peter -Tilley. I had plenty of assistance, but I thought I should like to have -Peter with me. So I went down to the ferry; a gas-light which burned at -the corner shewed me before I left my post that the bony ferryman was -not there; and choosing a pretty good boat, with a strong young fellow -to pull, I got in. It was a most unpleasant night; as dark as pitch, -which was bad enough, but every now and then it lightened, which was -worse, as it dazzled my eyes, and made me think we were running smash -on board some great vessel which I had not seen a moment before, and -couldn't see a moment after. However, the boatman was used to all kinds -of weather, I suppose, and knew the river thoroughly; so through the -darkness and the rain, which never left off for a moment, we reached -the other side. - -I left the boat to wait for me, and ran up to the _Yarmouth Smack_. I -looked in, and saw Peter leaning against the bar and smoking a short -pipe, as a labourer ought to do; and he was talking in a friendly way -to some rough-looking fellows. I slipped in, and using the name we had -agreed upon, spoke to him. He knew my voice of course; but seeing me -so changed, for my make-up was really splendid (it was, although I say -so that shouldn't), it gave him such a shock that he was obliged to -put the pewter down he was going to drink from and look steadily at me -before he answered. 'I'm acoming,' he said at last, and we got outside; -when, as we walked down to the ferry, I gave him a sort of idea of what -was going on, and how I expected to make a great catch that night. -Peter of course was very glad to be in for such a big thing as this, -for he had never been mixed up with anything so important. - -Not to trust the boatman too much, I kept Peter back a few yards from -the water while I finished my story, standing a little on one side, so -as to be out of the way of the people who came and went to and from the -ferry. While I was talking to him, a wherry ran in; we heard her grate -on the pebbles and the sculls rattle as the man laid 'em in; but that -we had heard before. It's a part of my habit to notice little things -however, and I looked to see who had come in by this boat. There was -only one passenger, a woman, and she passed us walking quickly; but -quick as she walked, I saw her, and she saw me. Blessed if it wasn't -Miss Doyle! My being there was no odds to Miss Doyle, nor could it have -signified to her if she had seen me fifty times; yet I felt I would -rather not have met her just then; it looked unlucky, and she was such -an uncommonly sharp one too. Sharp or not, I couldn't see what she -could make out of my standing under a wall on a wet night talking to -another labourer. - -Having finished my explanation, we both got into the wherry, and I -asked the man if he would like a good long job, which might perhaps -last all night. - -'The longer the better, governor,' he says, 'if the pay is accordin'.' - -'The pay _will_ be accordin',' I answered; 'and so you are engaged.' - -The first thing I made him do was to row round that oyster-smack, for -the tide had risen enough to take us round her. I shewed no light, but -we went inside her twice; and the fellow on the watch was very sharp, -so he was leaning over the side when we came round the second time, and -I could say quite quiet-like: 'I am in this boat now--watch the river.' -That was quite enough; he knew he would not now have to look to the -_Anchor_ for signals. - -After this began what I believe was the most disagreeable sort of -patrol I ever had. There was a time when I used to envy the Thames -police; but I can't say I ever did after that night. We were obliged -to be in motion almost continually, because we did not know from which -side of the river the paper might come, and we weren't quite sure that -it would come at all, especially on that night; and I don't know, -speaking from my own experience, that there is anything more trying to -the spirits than the pulling backwards and forwards and loitering about -on the river Thames in a raw October night with a small thick rain -falling. Twice we landed, and went once to the _Smack_ and once to the -_Anchor_. I couldn't grudge the men a glass of hot grog; in fact I was -obliged to have some myself, even if I missed my capture through it. - -It grew later and later; the flashes of lightning still came at long -intervals; but the lights on the shore went out, and excepting the -gas-lamps which burnt at street-corners, ferries, and wharfs, all was -dark. The traffic on the river had long ceased, no shouts or rattle -of wheels came from the shore; and the rain still falling, it was, -I give you my word, most horribly miserable, dull and sloppy beyond -description. Twelve o'clock had struck, and one, and perhaps half an -hour beyond it. I had cautioned my companions to speak very low; so the -boatman only whispered when he said: 'It's as quiet as it is likely -to be, governor, if you've got anything to run. I have just seen the -police galley creep along on the other side; I see her under that lamp. -Now's your time.' - -He thought we were smugglers! Perhaps he didn't care if we were -thieves. I told him to be patient; when at that very instant, just as -we were creeping along under the lee of a coal-barge, a wherry shot -very silently by, right in front of us, going across stream, and not -six feet from our bows. In her sat the sulky ferryman; I knew him at a -glance, dark as it was. 'Pull after that wherry,' I said. - -'Peter Tilley, my lad,' I continued, turning to Peter, 'the time's -acoming, I think.' - -'I'm precious glad of it,' says Peter; 'for I'm catching a cold in my -head every minute I sit in this confounded boat; and it's all soaking -wet where I'm sitting.' - -Our man pulled on; he was a very strong fellow, as I have said, and -we could have overtaken the other boat directly; but this of course I -did not want. I knew where to look for the old scamp; and sure enough, -after a few strokes across stream, he bent to the left and ran under -the bows of the Dutch trader. - -All was dark and silent as the grave aboard the ship; but that didn't -deceive the old boatman, nor did it deceive me. I stopped our man in -the shade of the next vessel, if you can call anywhere a shade, when -it was all pitch dark. We had not been there a minute before I heard a -slight noise--it was impossible to see any one unless he stood between -you and the sky--and then I could tell by the sound that a man had -dropped into the wherry. There was no need to tell me what man it was. -With an almost noiseless dip, the ferryman dropped his sculls into the -river again and rowed on, we still after him. I took it for granted he -was going to the other side of the ferry; but he suddenly bore off to -the right, and rowed on for some little time, then striking in between -two vessels, he went straight for the land. - -'Where is he going to?' I whispered. - -'To the landing at Byrle's wharf,' says the boatman in the same tone. - -So he was; and it appeared this landing-place was at the farther side -of the wharf; that is, lower down the river. - -It was so dark we could hardly see them--for we could just make out -there were now two persons in the boat--but as they reached the shore, -a lamp that was burning on the wharf helped us a little. We could not -clearly see what they were doing; but they certainly got out of the -boat, and as certainly there were then more than two figures moving -about, and seemingly engaged in placing parcels in the wherry. But it -was very gloomy there; they were in the shade of the wharf, and the -lamp glimmered weak and faint through the thick rain. It was the more -difficult to see what was being done, because there were several boats -tied up to the landing-place, making some confusion in the darkness. At -last, however, we could see that they were pushing off from the shore; -so it was time for us to move. We pulled back for a while (there was no -doubt as to which way the others would come), and then sheering off, -lay between two colliers until we saw the wherry we had watched go by, -and then we once more pulled after them. - -'I'm blest if I don't think there's another boat following _us_,' says -Peter Tilley, staring as hard as he could behind us. I looked, but -couldn't see anything; and Peter owned he might have been mistaken. - -We could not make out how many there were in the foremost boat. There -was only one man rowing, that was plain; and he pulled short round -at the proper place, as I knew he would, and rowed towards the Dutch -trader. As he did so, we lost him for a second, a big steamer lying -between us; but the hull of this vessel did not obstruct the view up -the river. I seized the moment, and waved my lantern twice. It was all -right. As quick as thought the light on board the oyster-smack was -moved twice also, and then we too were pulling across the stream. I -wanted to capture my men on board the trader, as otherwise the paper -might be got rid of, because I couldn't be positively certain that it -was not already on board. In fact, Mr Edmund Byrle was my chief aim, -not the skipper. - -The wherry pulled under the bows of the vessel; we followed just in -time to see, by a very convenient flash of lightning, two packages -handed up; then a figure, which we had recognised by the same flash as -the bony ferryman, got into the ship. As he disappeared, our wherry -touched the vessel; and at the same instant, to my great relief, a -long black Thames police galley came alongside us, and its crew, five -constables, with Barney Wilkins, who was there as guide, clambered -up like cats. I and Peter imitated them, but not quite so quickly; -and when I looked over the bulwark, I saw by the light of a couple of -lanterns, screened from the outside, four or five men, the boatman -and the skipper being two, lifting up a great lid which fitted in -the deck--the hatches I heard it called--while by their side lay the -packages of paper. I could not see Mr Byrle; but there was no time to -consider; we all jumped in at once, the men looking round in amazement -at the noise. I fancied that just then I heard a shout from the boat. - -'What do you all want here?' said the skipper angrily. - -'We hold a warrant'--I began. - -'Oh, it is _you_, is it?' he screeched, like a hyena, or something of -that sort. 'I owe you a little for a past score, and you shall have -it.' As quick as lightning he pulled a long straight knife from the -side of his trousers, where it must have been in some sort of sheath, -and jumped at me with such suddenness that he would have stabbed me, -only Barney Wilkins snatched a handspike from the deck, and dashing -between us, hit him down with such a blow, that the skipper fell with a -crash like a bullock when it is killed, the blood pouring from his head -instantly. - -It was all as quick as thought. The other men were all seized in a -breath. So quick was it all done, that I had no idea Barney was hurt, -until he reeled, made a wild clutch as if he caught at something for -support, and then pitched forward on his hands and knees. - -'Hollo, Barney!' I said, stooping down to him. 'What's the matter, old -fellow?' - -'It's all up, Mr Nickham,' he gasped; 'he's done me. I only hope I've -killed him. Where's the other?' - -'Oh, never mind the other, Barney,' I says. 'Where are you hurt?' - -But as I spoke, one of the men came with a lantern, and Barney had -no occasion to answer me, for I could see a straight stream of blood -running from his chest on to the deck; and his hands giving way from -weakness, he fell over on his side. - -'Pull in for the shore, you, sir!' said the sergeant of the Thames -police to my waterman. 'You know Marigold Street? Knock up Mr Gartley, -and tell him what has happened. Say we are afraid to move the man to -his house, so he had better come aboard.' - -'Send one of your own men, will you?' answers the boatman. 'I've got -something to tell the governor' (that was me), 'as I think he ought to -know.' - -'Cut away then, Bill,' says the sergeant to a constable; 'these fellows -are ironed, and we can manage all that are aboard this craft.' - -So the man went off in my wherry; and the Thames men tried to make poor -Barney a little more comfortable, while I undid his waistcoat, hoping -to stop the bleeding. - -'It ain't no use,' he said; but in that short time his voice was almost -gone, and we could tell that he was dying. 'I'm done for, Mr Nickham. -If there's a reward, you'll act fair and square, I know; you always was -a gentleman--let my sister have'---- And with that he gave a gasp, and -was dead. - -I rose up, dreadfully vexed for the poor chap. The sergeant and one of -his men were looking after the skipper, when I felt myself touched on -the arm. - -'I say, sir,' said the boatman, 'when I'm in for a thing, I go through -with it honourable. Did you know as you was followed?' - -'Followed? no!' I said. - -'I thought we was!' said Peter Tilley. - -'We was followed, sir, by a light wherry with two people in it,' -continues the boatman; 'and when they see our boats, they held hard; -and as you all boarded the ship and the noise began, they rowed away as -hard as they could go.' - -'Which way did they go?' I said. - -'Down river,' says the man. 'But it's of no use thinking of looking -after them now. They are ashore long afore this.' - -This was likely enough; and it was quite certain that Mr Edmund Byrle -was one of the two in the boat, and I had lost him for the present. -Well, it couldn't be helped; so we set to work to question the men and -search the ship, till the doctor came. The men knew nothing more about -the business than that they were going to have two passengers, a lady -and a gentleman, this voyage. One of the Thames men understood Dutch, -or we should not have heard even this scrap of information. The sulky -boatman never uttered a word, except that once he said as I passed him, -and he said it with a bitter curse: 'I always had my doubts of _you_.' - -The doctor came off; but poor Barney was stone-dead, while the -skipper's skull was badly fractured. However, the paper was all there; -so I supposed, and so it proved; and I shouldn't have cared if the -skipper's head had been broken fifty times over. - -We got our prisoners to the shore, leaving the craft in charge of a -Thames police galley that came in answer to our signals; and late as -it was, I drove with Peter Tilley in a cab to the City. Our people -there were immensely glad, I can tell you; and when I went over to the -Bank (for there was no need for secrecy or dodging now), I thought the -gentlemen never would have left off paying me compliments. Poor Barney -Wilkins that was dead deserved most credit; but it could not do him -any good to say so now, so I let them go on. The paper was examined, -and found to be exactly the quantity required; enough, I believe, to -have made about twenty thousand bank-notes. Ah! if they _had_ got into -circulation! - -I hope you will understand, however, that I did act fair and square; -and when the reward was paid (and the Bank people did come down most -liberal; I bought my house at Pentonville with my share), I told the -gentlemen about poor Barney and his wishes; and I'm proud to say they -found his sister out and took her away; and after a time she went -abroad with kind people who looked after her, and took care of her -money till she got married, and did well. Why, she sent me a snuff-box -made out of pure Australian gold, with a letter signed by herself and -her husband, who was a butcher in a great way of business out there; -and they sent it as an acknowledgment of my having acted all fair and -square. I promised so to do, and I did. - -Edmund Byrle was never caught, and so far as we were concerned, was -never heard of; and if it hadn't been for his father, I should never -have understood a lot of things that puzzled me. I had given a pretty -good guess as to how Miss Doyle came in the first place to inquire -about Mr Byrle and the detective; a very clever idea in itself, but -like many other clever things, it lost her the game. Mr Byrle had -talked with his friends about employing detectives; and Miss Doyle -knowing about the Bank paper, and being always on the watch, had got -hold of just enough to mislead her. She went out with Edmund Byrle to -Turkey, I think, and was married to him; and old Mr Byrle sent out -a friend to see them; and it was in this way I got the particulars. -It appears she knew me again--only as the limping labourer, of -course--when she saw me talking at the ferry to Tilley. But she knew -_him_ as the detective at the _Yarmouth Smack_, and she thought that -although it might be all right, yet a detective was a dangerous -customer, and his acquaintances might be dangerous also. Consequently -she tried to persuade Edmund to put off his journey; but he wanted -the money for the paper, and wouldn't listen to her. But he agreed at -last to go aboard in another boat, which satisfied her, as she felt so -certain the skipper's boat would be attacked. As I have explained, her -precaution saved him from fifteen years' 'penal,' which is the least -he would have had. The skipper was sent for life, having killed a man -in his arrest; but he didn't live six months in prison; he never got -over the tremendous blow he received from Barney. All the reports spoke -of his being a receiver of 'stolen goods.' The Bank paper was never -mentioned, for the authorities did not want to unsettle the public -again, or let them see what a narrow escape they had had. - -And now comes about the queerest part of my story. Call me names if I -didn't stop the thieving at Byrle's factory as well as recover the Bank -paper, killing two birds with one stone. - -It was all through my catching the bony ferryman. Finding that things -was going hard with him, and hoping to make them easier, and being -disappointed that those who were concerned with him did not come -forward with money to provide for his defence, he 'rounded' on them; he -split on them all, and owned how he was the means of taking the metal -over to a fence on his side of the water, the things being stolen by a -mechanic and a watchman who were in league. (I see I have used the word -'fence;' this means a receiver of stolen goods; but though I have been -warned by the editor of this magazine, we can't do without _some_ slang -words.) - -Peter Tilley got a tidy present, and was noted for promotion through -this business. I was glad of it, for Peter was a capital chap--never -wanted to play first-fiddle; and I admire people of that disposition. I -tell you what I did: I got the newest five-pound note of all what the -Bank gave me, and they were all very clean and crisp, and I wrapped old -Bob the gatekeeper's own sixpence in it; and I went to the factory and -I stood a pint of ale, and says: 'Bob, here's your sixpence!' He hadn't -known exactly who I was till then, for I had made excuses as usual; and -then I'm blessed if he didn't quite cry over his luck. Mr Byrle too -thought a lot of Bob's kindness, for I told the old gent about it; and -I heard that on that very account he put six shillings a week on Bob's -wages, and I was glad to hear it. - -They couldn't keep me off the detective staff after this; and although -I am free to confess--now I am on my pension and nothing matters to -me--that I only stumbled upon these discoveries by accident, I was -praised to the skies by those for whom I worked. However, it all -died away, as such things do; but I had managed to get my house at -Pentonville, as I have hinted; and a pleasanter neighbourhood I don't -know, or one more convenient for getting about. I have had some rather -odd adventures since I have lived in my street; you can't help seeing -strange things, if you keep your eyes open in London. But I didn't -begin to tell about _them_. I have finished my account of the robberies -at Byrle & Co.'s and my story finishes in consequence. - - - - -FEATS OF ENDURANCE. - - -London, which has witnessed many strange doings in its day, was -lately the scene of the most wonderful feats of pedestrianism ever -accomplished within a given period. - -Every hour, day and night, for six weary weeks a man plodded on his way -round a measured track, until the grand total of fifteen hundred miles -in one thousand hours had been made up, finishing his self-imposed task -with his physical and mental faculties apparently unimpaired. - -The task of walking fifteen hundred miles in a thousand hours had never -before been attempted, and henceforth the new achievement will throw -into the cold shade of obscurity even the marvellous act of walking a -thousand miles in as many hours, which was once accomplished in 1809 -by Captain Robert Barclay of Ury, a Scotchman, who proposed to perform -the then incredible task of walking a thousand miles in a thousand -consecutive hours. The proposition was received with every sign of -incredulity, though, when the affair was finally arranged to take -place, many thousands of pounds were staked on the event. Newmarket -Heath was selected as the scene of the exploit, and the famous walk -began on the 1st of June 1809, at midnight. It is unnecessary to -repeat the details of this feat; it will suffice to mention that the -enterprising captain completed his task on the 12th July, at four -o'clock in the afternoon. - -Since then, an attempt has, we believe, been made to walk the same -distance _backwards_; and within the past twelve months, Weston, the -American pedestrian, has performed some remarkable exploits of the -kind; being however at last beaten by an Irishman named Kelly. - -The hero of the lately completed task (fifteen hundred miles in a -thousand hours) is a little Welshman of not more than five feet three -and a half inches in height, and about forty-two years of age; while -in personal appearance and general _physique_ he presents anything but -what is usually supposed to be the characteristic of a good pedestrian. -His name is William Gale, and he is a bookbinder by trade, living at -Clerkenwell. - -At the commencement of his task on Sunday the 26th of August, he -weighed no more than eight stone four pounds (8 st. 4 lbs.); and from -that day until Saturday the 6th October, during a portion of every hour -day and night, he pursued his monotonous way around the inclosure at -Lillie Bridge grounds, Brompton. When the attempt was first announced, -even those most acquainted with pedestrian feats where great endurance -was required, expressed themselves dubious as to the result; and in -order to have a reliable record of his proceedings, Gale requested the -different sporting papers to appoint competent men as judges--a request -which was at once generously complied with. - -Thus we have an official report of his great exploit, and the public -are enabled to judge for themselves on the nature of the feat -performed. Gale's average pace appears to have been about four miles -an hour; but when he had reached his thousandth mile he assumed a -brave spurt, and footed it in ten minutes, or at the rate of six miles -an hour. During the last few days of his walking he started rather -stiffly at first, owing to the pain caused by the swelling of some -varicose veins in his left leg; but undaunted by so great and manifest -a disadvantage, and other disadvantages which we shall presently -refer to, the gallant little Welshman 'plodded his weary way' with a -determined pluck that won the admiration and applause of every one -present. - -On Friday the 5th October, the day before the finish of the tramp, -Dr Gant of the Royal Free Hospital was called in to see this -extraordinary walker, and after examining his legs, he pronounced -Gale to be in excellent condition so far as his physical powers were -concerned; there being no fever, the pulse only seventy, no murmur -at the heart; and the varicose veins which had been the cause of so -much pain to him, were rather better than worse, having considerably -decreased in size. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the performance -is, that it has been accomplished on a system of training which -entirely sets at variance all athletic rules, for Gale partook of no -fixed refreshment, neither did he have his meals at stated hours. His -chief food was plain mutton-chops; and as an instance of how he varied -his dishes, his afternoon meal on Friday the 5th October, which might -have been either breakfast, dinner, or supper (so irregular had he been -in this respect), consisted of a lobster and bread and butter, followed -by a fried sole, and one or two cups of ordinarily strong tea. During -the walk he also drank a good deal of beer--not strong beer, but the -ale which is usually sold at fourpence per quart, which he seemed to -prefer to any other kind, probably on account of its freedom from that -tendency to increase rather than assuage thirst, so remarkably apparent -in the stronger beers. - -Many strange incidents occurred in the course of the six weeks, which -were calculated to while away the time, and occasionally to bring a -smile to the pedestrian's lips. For instance, a certain illustrated -sheet, notorious for its very sensational cartoons, published a picture -of Gale on the track followed by Old Time with the conventional scythe -on his shoulder; and many people it would seem actually paid their -money with the idea that they were going to see the two figures as -thus represented. One man, who had evidently gone to the grounds for -this purpose, had watched Gale go round the track several times, when -he could no longer control his disappointment. He shouted aloud, -angrily demanding his money back, because, as he said with the greatest -_naďveté_ possible, 'the beggar with the scythe hadn't turned up!' - -As the last week of the great walking match wore on, signs of weariness -in the indomitable pedestrian became painfully apparent, and many -persons began to fear that the task he had set himself would after all -remain unaccomplished. On several of the rounds he fell asleep whilst -walking, and dropped to the ground; but this contact with mother earth -seemed to revive him instantly, and he plodded on as pluckily as before. - -At length success crowned his efforts; and at seventeen minutes past -five o'clock (less a second) on Saturday afternoon the 6th October -1877, Gale terminated his long and dreary walk in the presence of a -large, fashionable, and enthusiastic assemblage, who rewarded his -efforts with several rounds of hearty applause. - -From the commencement of his task to the finish Gale bore up against -all obstacles with extraordinary pluck and determination, his last mile -being performed in _ten minutes and eight seconds_. He was at once -removed to the tent or pavilion under which he had snatched so many -brief half-hours' rest, and was examined by three medical men, who -found that his heart was quite natural in its movements, and that the -temperature of his body did not exceed one hundred and six degrees. - -The great feat which has thus been accomplished without the aid of -artificial training, is a marvellous instance of what human endurance, -allied with courage and determination, can effect; though of what -particular benefit it may be to the world at large it is utterly -impossible to imagine. - - * * * * * - -Since the preceding account was written, Gale has accomplished a -still more extraordinary feat, and one which for strength of will -and physical endurance far surpasses his previous efforts. We still -fail, however, to see the benefit which can accrue from exhibitions -of this kind, and well might he have been contented with the laurels -he had already won. He had scarcely allowed himself time to recover -from his former task, when he once more appeared at a public place of -entertainment, namely the Agricultural Hall at Islington, to walk four -thousand quarter-miles under the astounding condition, that it was to -be done in four thousand consecutive periods of ten minutes. - -This of course deprived him of the half-hour's rest which he could -obtain at one time in the former race, and only allowed him a few -minutes between each round to get a little sleep. Despite these -drawbacks, however, Gale finished his task at eleven o'clock P.M. -on the 17th November, after a dreary walk of nearly four weeks. By -accomplishing his task, he has placed himself at the head of all the -famous pedestrians the world has known; and we trust that this fact -will be sufficient to satisfy his craving after what is at best but -ephemeral fame. - -Men have on many occasions attempted walking feats which required a -vast amount of physical endurance, and have failed from their utter -inability to go without the natural quantum of sleep; but Gale has not -only shewn himself to be possessed of the former, but to be altogether -independent of the latter. This, however, instead of indicating 'pluck' -merely, would rather seem to point to a peculiarity in the man's -constitution; as there are doubtless many persons whose courage would -enable them to perform the same or even a greater task if, like Gale, -they could walk about in a state of somnolency or semi-sleep--a state -in which, to use his own words, he was as one in a dream, unconscious -of all that was going on around him, and believing himself to be -walking in forests and other places of silvan beauty; and the truth of -this was made evident by the fact that he would have often exceeded the -limit of his walk had not the voice of his attendant aroused him from -his stupor. - -The average time occupied by this extraordinary walker was by day -about three minutes for each quarter of a mile, and by night about -five minutes; and the fastest round recorded was done in two minutes -and forty-two seconds. His pulse was always found to indicate a -perfect state of health, and was as regular when he left off as when -he commenced his task. His food consisted principally of fish, fowl, -chops, eggs, and light puddings; and his drink was, with only one -exception during the whole time, tea. - -Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the whole affair was the fact -that, although he sank into a deep sleep directly he reached his chair -behind the curtain, which hid him from view between his walks, the -moment the bell rang the second time, he would appear as fresh as ever -and begin trudging away again. - -When the feat was accomplished, Sir John Astley stepped forward, and -amid a scene of great enthusiasm, presented the undaunted Welshman with -a silver belt of the value of a hundred guineas, bearing the following -inscription: 'This belt was presented to WILLIAM GALE of Cardiff, on -the 17th November 1877, by some of the nobility and gentry of Great -Britain, in commemoration of his hitherto unprecedented feat, namely -walking one thousand five hundred miles in one thousand hours at Lillie -Bridge Grounds, August 26th to October 6th, 1877; and four thousand -quarter-miles in four thousand consecutive periods of ten minutes, at -the Agricultural Hall, London, October 21st to November 17th, 1877.' -The belt is of lion's skin, mounted on velvet, the metal portion of it -weighing one hundred ounces of sterling silver. - -None will begrudge Gale his well-earned reward; but it is to be hoped -that such exhibitions will in future be discountenanced by the general -public, as they not only detract from the dignity of man, but are -needless and unwarrantable in a country which, we trust, will ever -pride itself on a nobler civilisation than that which is founded upon -mere physical endurance. - - - - -A DIFFICULT QUESTION. - -THE STORY OF TWO CHRISTMAS EVES. - - -IN TWO CHAPTERS.--PROLOGUE. - -In the gray light of an Indian dawn, with the cool breeze blowing -through the curtains of the tent, and his friend's sorrowful eyes -looking down on him, a soldier lay on his rough couch--waiting for -death. They were soon to be parted those two, who had lived and fought -together; but the face of the one who was starting on that journey -of which none has measured the distance, was smilingly calm, while -the eyes of the other glistened with regretful tears as he spoke low, -faltering, remorseful words. - -'Hush, Ralph, hush!' the other said at last. 'Don't you think, dear -old fellow, I would sooner lose my life in having saved yours, than in -any other way? After all, a few days or years sooner or later, what -does it signify? My fate is perhaps the happiest, though I hope it is -not. I don't think life is so very desirable,' he continued; 'I am only -twenty-six; but mine has not been a happy one. It was my own fault, -though. Take my advice, Ralph; don't marry young. There is only one -thing that troubles me'---- - -'Your little girl,' Ralph interrupted. 'Wrayworth, let me take care -of her; if I can make her happy, it will be some slight atonement, -some'---- - -'You would take care of her, Ralph? would you?' The dying man's eyes -shone gratefully as he looked up in his friend's face. 'She has -nothing, poor little thing,' he went on sadly--'motherless, fatherless, -scarcely more than a baby either. It would be a heavy charge to leave -you, Ralph.' - -'Wrayworth! how can you speak so; you will drive me mad! You--you'---- -He broke down utterly; it was something so terrible to see this friend -dying there--for him. 'Anything on earth that I can do'---- he murmured. - -'You will do for her,' said Wrayworth. 'Thank you. I have no friends to -send her to. I meant to have made her very happy.' - -'She shall be; I swear it!' Ralph answered fervently, thankful for -this charge, which might in some degree help him to pay that debt of -gratitude, and forgetful that he had no control of fate, that the -promise he gave of happiness was a fearfully presumptuous one. But he -made it willingly, gladly, solemnly, before God; and as far as lay in -his power it should sacredly be kept; any sacrifice he would make for -this child. - -His friend's eyes rested on him searchingly for a moment. 'I trust -you,' he said--'I trust you.' - -The hours passed on, the blazing sun arose, and Ralph went out into -the burning glare with bent head and staggering footsteps, while words -he had heard long since seemed floating round him in letters of fire: -'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for -his friend.'--'Is there _none_ greater?' he thought. 'Is there nothing -_I_ can do to repay--nothing?' - - -CHAPTER I.--ASKED. - -The years were well on in their teens since that melancholy scene was -enacted in the Indian tent--since Wrayworth consigned his only child -to the guardianship of the friend whose life, at the expense of his -own, he had saved on the battle-field. A carriage rolled along the -snowy high-road through the cold clear air; the short winter's day -was drawing to its close, and up in the darkening sky the stars were -beginning to shine upon the world's most joyful season, upon Christmas -eve. The world's most joyful season? We call it so, this festival, more -than eighteen hundred years old; but does the world think it so?--the -world, with its thousand cares and crosses, its deep and hidden -sorrows, its partings and its tears? Of those amongst the myriads who -keep the Yule-tide feast, how many hold it with a chastened joy! For -on that day most of all our thoughts go back to other years, to other -faces, to other lips that have wished us 'a merry Christmas;' to other -hands, which have clasped ours so loyally, to those who have loved us -so long ago! - -But Major Loraine had no sad memories connected with the season as he -drove up to the old house, from which duty had so frequently called -him, and which he had not seen for five years. In the wide, dark, -panelled hall his step-mother stood waiting to welcome him, as gladly -as though he had been her own son. He was only a boy when she first -came there, when the pink was fresh on her cheek and the gold bright in -her hair; they had been drawn to each other then; and through the long -years of her widowhood his loving care had helped to lighten her load -of sorrow; so it was not wonderful that for months past she had been -eagerly looking forward to his return. - -The greetings over, they sat down side by side, talking, as those -talk after long separation, of past, present, and future; of their -acquaintances married, dead, or far away; of things on the estate, -prosperous or failures; of the ball to be given next month, of the one -they were going to, to-night; of how much Emma was improved since she -'came out,' how Katharine was considered one of the handsomest girls -in the place, and how she might marry Sir Michael Leyland with thirty -thousand a year if she liked. - -'But why ever doesn't she like?' asked the Major, astonished at this -new phase in the character of his worldly-minded sister. - -'That is just what troubles me,' answered Mrs Loraine. 'They are all at -the church now, helping to decorate. Louise wanted to stay at home to -welcome you, but I sent them all off, so as to have you to myself for -an hour. You will see a great alteration in Louise, Ralph.' - -'Shall I, mother?' he said smiling. 'I think not. Her letters are the -same always; they have altered in style a little of course in the last -year or two, but it is the same spirit--the same creature.' - -'But not the same face, Ralph. Remember you have not seen her for five -years, which have not altered you, but which have changed her from an -unformed girl of fourteen to a lovely woman; with that bright changing -beauty, which has more charm for a man than regularity of feature. It -is a very difficult question.' - -'What is a difficult question?' asked Ralph, as his mother paused. - -'What to do with Louise.' - -'You hinted something of the kind in your last letter, mother,' he said -gravely. 'I am sorry, but I must confess this house seems large enough -for four women. You know how I am situated; you know the promise which -binds me. But tell me,' he added smiling, 'what has Louise done? She -seemed to me gentle and tractable enough when I was last at home.' - -'I have not the slightest fault to find,' Mrs Loraine replied; 'you -know I am very fond of her. You will think my difficulty very womanish; -simply, Louise is too pretty.' - -'And some one has told her so,' said Ralph, laughing. 'Go on.' - -'It is not that; but I cannot bear to see my own child's happiness -destroyed by another, who, if not a stranger, has at least no claim -upon her.' - -Ralph frowned slightly. 'Perhaps not,' he answered; 'the claim is upon -me, and it is a sacred one. So,' he continued, 'it is a case of rivals, -I see.' - -'Simply this, Ralph. You remember the Levesons of Leigh Court, where -we are going to-night? Their eldest son is in the --th Dragoons, and -has been home on leave. Louise was away when he first came here, and he -appeared very much struck with Katharine; and no wonder; she is very -handsome. Well--don't laugh at me; I don't like match-making as a rule; -but I thought as she seemed interested in him, there was no harm in -inviting him sometimes. But as soon as Louise came home, he transferred -his attentions to her. Katharine says nothing; but it makes a kind -of awkwardness between them. I know she feels it, poor child; though -indeed I believe Vere Leveson is simply flirting with Louise.' - -Major Loraine laughed. 'Poor mother!' he said, 'you will have enough to -do if you take all your children's love affairs to heart so seriously. -These things always right themselves, you know. But I confess I am -surprised to hear of Katharine going in for sentiment; I should have -thought Sir Michael more in her line. Is that all, mother?' - -'No; only the first of my difficulties,' she answered half sadly. 'You -know what my health has been for the last few years; you know---- Well, -you do not wish me to speak of that; but it is better to look in the -face of possibility. Suppose anything happened to me, Ralph, what would -become of Louise?' - -'You speak of what I hope may be far distant, mother,' he answered -tenderly. 'But why should you be uneasy about her? In the event of her -not marrying, she would always have a home here with me.' - -Mrs Loraine shook her head. 'Turn round and look in the glass,' she -said; 'thirty-nine is not such a very formidable age.' - -He turned, and contemplated his bronzed face in the glass; such a -handsome, noble face, telling of a nature that could not act falsely or -meanly. The broad square forehead, marred by a sabre-cut, and the dark -hair flecked here and there, by the Indian sun, with gray; nothing else -to find fault with in the frank kind smile, the fine regular features, -the dark true eyes. - -'I think there is no fear of my being taken for younger than I am, -mother,' he said, smiling. - -'It is an awkward position for you, though,' she answered; 'and as -I said, a difficult question what to do. We must hope for the best, -Ralph. You are going to join the others now, I suppose?' - -'Yes; I think I can find my way.' - -He went out into the keen frosty air, walking slowly, though it was -unpleasantly cold to one accustomed to tropical climates. He was -thinking over his mother's words, and knew she was right as to the -awkwardness of the position. He saw the peace of the household was -troubled, without knowing how to set matters right, and he thought -of the old friend who had trusted his child to him. He had vowed she -should be happy, and now it seemed a difficult vow to keep; but for the -sake of the man who had died for him sixteen long years ago, the pledge -then given must be redeemed. - -Louise Wrayworth's life had been a bright one hitherto; her guardian's -home was the only one she could remember, and he had striven to fill in -some degree her father's place. To him, from infancy to womanhood, she -had looked up with loving grateful reverence, regarding him, present or -absent, as the noblest of created beings. - -He reached the old church, and made his way round to the open vestry -door. The steps were encumbered with bundles of evergreens; the voices -of the workers, who had finished their task, were audible. He pushed -the door further open, and went in. The floor was covered with boughs, -and around the pillars were wreathed holly and other evergreens in -honour of the joyous season. Some of the choristers stood waiting -for the choir-practice, and the organist was softly playing _Adeste -Fideles_. - -'Ralph!' cried a young fresh voice; and a slight fair girl with a merry -face sprang up from the floor, with her hands full of the scarlet -berries, which fell hither and thither in bright-hued rain, as with -complete indifference to the by-standers, she gave the returned soldier -a sisterly embrace. 'You dear old thing to come for us!' she exclaimed. - -'Emma, Emma!' exclaimed Ralph, laughing and disengaging himself; 'you -have not learned to behave any better in five years.' - -But his young sister had vanished, and he turned to greet the vicar; -and one or two of the ladies he recognised. In a few minutes Emma -reappeared; and behind her came a tall fair girl with masses of golden -hair, and great beautiful cold blue eyes. She greeted Major Loraine -affectionately, but with the quiet stately grace habitual to her. Five -years had not changed Katharine Loraine; at twenty-four she was still -the same majestic Queen Katharine as at nineteen, with whom he had -always had so little sympathy, whose nature he had found so difficult -to understand. - -'Where is Louise?' he asked presently. 'Is she not here?' - -'She went into the churchyard just now,' answered Emma, 'to put a -wreath on Nellie Bryant's grave. You remember her, Ralph?' - -'Louise's friend? Yes.' - -'A _triste_ employment for Christmas eve,' observed one of the -gentlemen decorators to Katharine, as he stooped to disentangle her -dress from a long sprig of ivy. - -'Oh, Mr Leveson went to hold a lantern for her,' Katharine answered, -with the slightest possible shade of contempt in the silvery tones of -her voice; 'and Louise is never _triste_, unless she is by herself.' - -The choir was now fully assembled; the organist struck up the anthem, -the rest were silent to listen, and Ralph Loraine went out to look -for his ward. He came round the east end of the old church, and stood -still for a moment in the shadow. There were two people standing at -the edge of the path, looking down on the grave at their feet, where -the lantern's light shewed the shining holly upon the upright marble -cross. It shewed too the face of his friend's child; a beautiful face, -as his step-mother had said, with large dark eyes and wavy dusky hair, -a clear delicate complexion with a little rose-flush on the cheeks, and -full red lips half-parted by the sweetest smile he had ever seen; with -the same erect carriage of the head, the same fearless straight regard -which had characterised her father. - -It was so strange to see her there a woman, whom he had left a mere -girl; and as he looked on the fair face, something seemed to whisper -that the ideal beauty he had so often dreamed of was before him at -last. They moved away, and came slowly nearer, and paused again where -he could see her companion; and for a moment he almost hated the man -for his youth, and his handsome face, and the deep-blue eyes aflame -with passion-fire as they rested on the child of his dead friend; and -another whisper which silenced the first, told him how fitted was each -for the other. - -'If _I_ were lying there,' said Vere Leveson, and Ralph could hear -every one of the foolish, softly spoken words, 'would you ever make -wreaths for _me_, I wonder?' - -'I don't know.' - -'Don't you? I wish you did; for I thought just now I should be glad to -be lying there, if you would remember me.' - -Ralph had heard enough, and tried to slip away unseen; but the gravel -crunched under his feet and betrayed him. - -Louise started, and a bright vivid blush covered her face as she sprang -forward. 'Lorrie! Oh, how glad I am to see you again!' she cried, as -she took both his hands in hers and lifted her cheek for his kiss. - -He felt half sorry she had done so; that and the old childish name put -him immediately in his place as guardian, and made him ashamed of his -thoughts. 'How you are altered, Louise!' he said, looking down at her -admiringly. 'I think I should hardly have known you!' - -'I should have known you, Lorrie, anywhere,' she said reproachfully. - -'That is rather different,' he said; 'when we once get old, we don't -change so quickly.' - -'You would not like it if I said you were old, Lorrie. But tell me, am -_I_ altered for the worse? or'---- - -'You have no need to come to me for compliments, surely,' he said -smiling. - -'I should think more of yours than of any one's,' she whispered, with -that sweet dangerous smile; a smile which a man like Ralph Loraine -should have taken as a warning not to feel its influence too often. - -'How rude I am!' she said at last.--'Mr Leveson, do you know my -guardian?' She turned to her companion, who stood holding the lantern a -few yards from them. - -'I had the honour of dining in your company once, Major Loraine,' he -answered, stepping forward. 'It is some time ago, when I first joined -at Madras; but I well remember my anxiety to see such a distinguished -soldier as yourself.' - -There was a ring of truth and honest admiration in the words, which -raised them above an ordinary compliment, and which made Ralph hold out -his hand and answer cordially: 'I have a bad memory for faces, or I -think I should have remembered yours.' - -'Thanks,' said Vere, laughing. 'We shall have the pleasure of seeing -you to-night, I hope?' - -'Yes; my mother told me of the invitation.' - -'Of course he is coming,' said Louise. 'And you will dance with me all -the evening, Lorrie; won't you?' - -'Not quite all, Miss Wrayworth; please, don't forget my waltzes,' said -Vere, holding out his hand. 'I must be off now; so good-bye for the -present. You won't forget?' - -She looked up quickly. 'Perhaps,' the lips said laughingly; but the -dark eyes gave a sweet silent answer Ralph did not see, though he was -watching them. But after Vere Leveson had gone, he walked home beneath -the Christmas stars, with Louise's hand resting on his arm, dreaming as -he went, a fair, fond, foolish dream. - - * * * * * - -The Christmas-eve ball at Leigh Park was a regular institution, one -which Sir Harry Leveson had kept up for years. It was a pretty sight, -Ralph thought, as he stood leaning against a window, and looking round -to select a partner. And amongst all the fair women, the one he thought -the fairest was his young ward Louise Wrayworth, in her white floating -dress, with its wreaths of holly, and the red clustering berries in her -dark hair. - -Ralph had been watching Vere Leveson, trying to decide in his own -mind whether Mrs Loraine's verdict of flirtation was a just one; -and he judged that it was; for the attentions of the young officer -were apparently equally divided between Louise and Katharine. Ralph -did not happen to be near when, later on, he led Louise to one of -the cool empty rooms, where through the open window could be heard -the merry Christmas bells. He did not see the hand-clasp or the -light that flashed in the eyes of each. He did not hear the hurried -whisper: 'Louise, you won't forget me, you will trust me till next -Christmas-time?' - -The ball was over, the rooms were dark and silent; the whole world -waited for the sun to rise on Christmas-day. - - - - -IS THE TELEPHONE A PRACTICAL SUCCESS? - - -In September last appeared in this _Journal_ an article entitled -'Singing and Talking by Telegraph;' and in that paper we attempted -to describe the mechanism of that wonderful little instrument the -telephone. It is now our purpose to say something regarding the -progress that has been made towards perfecting the invention; but in -order to make the article as clear as possible, we venture once more -upon a few words explanatory of the instrument. - -The telephone as it is now made is an exceedingly simple-looking -apparatus similar in appearance to a stethoscope; to the handle of a -girl's skipping-rope; or better still, to a large-sized penny wooden -trumpet. Inside this hollow cylinder, and within an inch or so of the -wider end, is fixed a plate of iron as thin as a well-worn sixpence, -and about the size of a half-crown piece. This is called the diaphragm. -Behind the diaphragm, nearly touching it, and extending to the narrower -end of the cylinder, is a piece of 'soft' iron enveloped in wire -coils, with a permanent magnet beyond. Outside the narrower end of -the cylinder, and communicating with the coils that surround the iron -inside, are attached two screws or 'terminals,' which are 'joined up' -to a main wire, communicating with the distant or receiving telephone -wherever that may be, and which is precisely similar to the one we -have described. When we apply our mouth to the bell-shaped end of the -apparatus, and speak or shout or sing, we set the diaphragm vibrating -as in a tuning-fork; the vibrations thus created are electrically -communicated through the wire to a distant telephone, and are repeated -on its diaphragm with more or less distinctness. - -It is known that the motion of an iron plate contiguous to the poles -of a magnet creates a disturbance of electricity in coils surrounding -those poles; and the duration of this current will coincide with the -vibratory motion of the plate or diaphragm. When, therefore, the human -voice (or any other suitable sound) impinges through the tube against -this diaphragm, the diaphragm begins to vibrate, and awakens, so to -speak, electrical action in the coils of wire surrounding the poles -of the magnet; not a current, but a series of undulations, something -like those produced by the voice in the air around us. In short the -telephone is an apparatus designed to transmit sound through a wire -of indefinite length; the voice being, so to speak, 'converted into -electricity at one end, the electricity becoming voice at the other.' - -With these few explanatory remarks, we now proceed to offer to our -readers the following interesting experiments made by a gentleman well -skilled in telegraphy. - -'Journalists,' he says, 'with no special knowledge of the difficulties -the invention has to encounter as a telegraph instrument, have -expatiated in such enthusiastic terms upon the results said to have -been achieved by the telephone, that a somewhat exaggerated notion of -its powers and capabilities has been accepted by the general public. -It appears, therefore, to the writer of those lines that a statement -of the experiences of a person practically engaged in the work of -telegraphy may assist in placing the phenomena of the telephone on a -proper footing. - -'Scientifically, the telephone is a great and undoubted success; and -a person would be grievously in error if, because of some undoubted -hindrances to its practical use, he pronounced it unworthy of further -experiment. The emergence of telegraphy from the domain of experiment -into that of daily practical use is a fact so undoubted, and one with -which we are now so familiar, that it is impossible to say at what -moment the telephone, at present a scientific toy, may become a daily -necessity not only of telegraphic but of ordinary commercial work. - -'Being engaged in daily contact with a large telegraphic centre, and -in association with men who have the command of every means of testing -the invention in a practical work-a-day manner, the writer was able to -gauge pretty accurately the range within which the telephone can work. -It must be understood, however, that in recording the effects observed -by him and his associates, he has no desire to invalidate, or even to -call in question the experiences of others who may have been able to -arrive at better results. The telephone is in the hands of some of -the first electricians and telegraphists of the day, and differences -of conditions (not to speak of differences of capacity on the part -of the operator) may give variety in the observations made. The very -difficulties and drawbacks now to be recorded will no doubt some day -suggest to a master-mind the method by which they may be overcome. But -till that day arrives, the telephone must be content to remain where -the writer leaves it, an undoubted success from a scientific point of -view, but overwhelmed with obstacles to its practical use, in this -country at least, in general telegraphy. - -'When a telegraphist first gets into his hand this beautifully simple -and electrically delicate instrument, his first inclination is to test -its carrying-power. This is of course a closet experiment, not working -with actual telegraph line, but with "resistance" equivalent to a -telegraph line of stated length. An experiment of this nature gives -better results than could be obtained by a veritable line, because the -insulation is, so to speak, perfect. No leakage at undesigned points of -contact, or disturbance from unfavourable atmospheric conditions, is -felt, and the experiment is entirely under the observer's control. The -apparatus used is designed to offer the same labour for the electric -current to overcome, as would be offered by a stated length of outside -telegraph line. This artificial resistance is nicely graduated, and -as the method of testing was suggested by Ohm, a German electrician, -the unit of resistance is, as we once previously explained, termed an -"ohm." Removing the telephone to such a distance that the two observers -were "out of earshot," the test with resistance was tried, and with a -resistance of one thousand ohms--roughly speaking, equal to seventy -miles of a well-constructed line--the sound was perfect, although not -very loud. Every articulation of the speaker at the other end could be -distinguished so long as silence was maintained in the room, or so long -as no heavy lorry rumbling over the stones outside sent in harsh noises -which drowned the faint whisper of the instrument. The resistance -was gradually raised to four thousand ohms--nearly three hundred -miles--with like favourable results; and for some little distance -beyond, articulation could still be made out. But by the time ten -thousand ohms had been applied, putting the speaker at a distance of, -say, seven hundred miles, sound only, but not articulate sound, reached -the ear. The tone was there, and every inflection of the voice could -be followed; but articulation was absent, although the listener strove -every nerve to catch the sound, which the speaker, as was afterwards -ascertained, was shouting in a loud clear voice. The prolonged notes -of an air sung could be heard with the resistance named, but again -no words could be distinguished. The voice, whether in speaking or -singing, has a weird curious sound in the telephone. It is in a measure -ventriloqual in character; and with the telephone held an inch or two -from the ear, it has the effect as if some one were singing far off -in the building, or the sound were coming up from a vaulted cellar or -through a massive stone wall. - -'Proceeding to our next experiment, we joined up the telephones in one -office to several wires in succession, putting ourselves in circuit -with lines going to various distances and working with different -instruments. When this was done, the real obstacle to telephonic -progress at once asserted itself in the shape of "induction." The first -wire experimented with was partly "overhouse" and partly underground, -and the offices upon it were working Wheatstone A B C instruments. It -is difficult to render clear to the person ignorant of telegraphic -phenomena the idea expressed by the word _induction_. Briefly it may -be put thus, that when a strong electric current is passing on a wire, -it has the faculty of setting up a current of opposite character in -any wire not then working, or working with a feebler current, that may -be in its vicinity. The why or the wherefore cannot be explained, but -there is the fact. - -'In various recent articles on the telephone, mention has been made of -"contact" as the cause of disturbance. This word, however, although it -has been used by telegraphists, is misleading, and can only be used -as an endeavour to express popularly an electric fact. Actual contact -of one wire with another would spoil the business altogether. A wire -bearing an electric current seems to be for the time surrounded, to an -undefined distance, by an electric atmosphere, and all wires coming -within this atmosphere have a current in an opposite direction set up -in them. This is as near an explanation of the phenomena of induction -as the state of telegraph science at present affords. Now the telephone -works with a very delicate magnetic current, and is easily overpowered -by the action of a stronger current in any wire near which the -telephone wire may come. To work properly it "requires a silent line." - -'In the place where the observations were made, there are a large -number of wires, travelling under the floor, through the test-box, -along passages to the battery-room and to a pole on the outside, -whence they radiate, or out to a pipe underground, where many -gutta-percha-covered wires lie side by side. On applying the ear to a -telephone joined into a circuit working in such an office a curious -sound is heard, comparable most nearly to the sound of a pot boiling. -But the practised ear could soon separate the boiling into distinct -sounds. There was one masterful Morse instrument--probably on the wire -lying nearest the one on which we were joined up--whose peremptory -"click, cli-i-i-ck, click," representing "dot, dash, dot" on the -printed slip we read from, could be heard over all. Then there was the -rapid whir of a Wheatstone fast-speed transmitter, sending dots and -dashes at express speed by mechanical means; the sharp well-pronounced -rattle in sounds of equal length of a needle instrument; and most -curious of all, the "rrrrr-op, rr-op, rrrrrrrrrrrrr-op, rrrrr-op, -rr-op" of the A B C, the deadliest foe to the telephone in its -endeavours to gain admission into the family of telegraph instruments. -There may be reason in this, for as the Wheatstone A B C is the -instrument used for private telegraphy, or for the least important -public offices, because it requires no "code" to be learned by the -manipulator, so it would likely be the first to be displaced if an -acoustic telegraph permanently took the field. So the sentient little -A B C opens its mitrailleuse fire on the intruder, on whose delicate -currents, in the words of an accomplished electrician, it plays "old -harry." The peculiar character of the sounds we borrow on the telephone -from this instrument arises from the fact that as the needle flies -round the dial, a distinct current or pulsation passes for each letter, -and the final "op" we have tried to represent shews the stoppage of the -needle at the letters as words were spelled out. - -'It must not be understood that the _sounds_ of those various -instruments are actually heard in the telephone. What happens is, that -the currents stealing along the telephone wire by induction produce -vibrations in the diaphragm of that instrument, the little metal -membrane working on the magnet in ready response to every current set -up in the latter. When it is remembered that the principle of the -telephone is that the sound-caused vibrations in the filmy diaphragm -at one end create similar but magnetically-caused vibrations in the -diaphragm at the other end, and so reproduce the sound, it will be -obvious why the rapid roll of the A B C currents, or the swift sending -of the fast-speed transmitter, when brought by induction into the -telephone wire, cause disturbances in the sound vibrations, and thereby -cripple the instrument. One instrument of either kind named would have -a certain effect, but one Morse or single needle would not have any -greatly prejudicial effect. But a number of Morses or needles going -together, such as were heard in our experiments, would combine to be -nearly as bad as one A B C or fast-speed Morse. So delicate is the -diaphragm to sound (and necessarily so), that in all experiments with -the telephone itself, such as those with "resistance," or those made -at home to test the instrument apart from telegraphic considerations, -every sound from without broke in, giving an effect like the well-known -"murmur of the shell." - -'Joining up our wire now to a more distant station at some miles -along the railway, and having on its poles a number of what are known -as "heavy" circuits, the pot-boiling sound assumed even more marked -characteristics. The A B C no longer affected us; but a number of Morse -instruments were in full gear, and the fast-speed transmitter was also -at work. While we were listening, the circuit to which we were joined -began to work, and the effect was literally electrical. Hitherto we had -only borrowed currents--or, seeing they were so unwelcome, we might -call them currents thrust upon us--and the sounds, though sharp and -incessant, were gentle and rather low. But when the strong current was -set up in the wire itself, the listener who held one of our telephones -nearly jumped from the floor when an angry "pit-_pat_, pit-_pat_, -pit-_pat_-pit" assailed his ear, causing him to drop the instrument as -if he had been shot! It was a result none of us had expected, for it -did not seem possible that the delicate metal diaphragm and the little -magnet of the telephone could produce a sound so intense. Of course -it was only intense when the ear was held close to the orifice of the -instrument. Held in the hand away from the ear, the telephone now made -a first-rate "sounder," and we could tell without difficulty not only -the signals that were passing, but found in it a more comfortable tone -than that given by the Morse sounder in common use. - -'Other experiments of a like character led to results so similar, -that they may be left unnoticed; and we proceed now to describe one -of a different character, designed to test the telephone itself. -At a distance of about half a mile, access was obtained to a Morse -instrument in private use, and joined to the office by "overhouse" -wire. Dividing our party and arranging a programme of operations, two -remained with a telephone in the office, while other two, of whom the -writer was one, proceeded with the second telephone to the distant -instrument. By an arrangement which a practical telegraphist will -understand, the key of the Morse was kept in circuit, so that signals -could be exchanged in that way. It may be noticed, however, that this -was hardly necessary, as the diaphragm of the telephone can be used as -a key, with the finger or a blunt point, so that dot and dash signals -are interchangeable, should the voice fail to be heard. As the wire in -this instance travelled almost alone over part of its course, we were -in hopes that induced currents would be conspicuous by their absence. -In this we were, however, disappointed, for the pot was boiling away, -rather more faintly, but with the "plop-plop-plop" distinctly audible, -and once more a sharp masterful Morse click was heard coming in now and -again. The deadly A B C was, however, absent, so that our experiment -proved highly successful. For some reason or another--probably an -imperfect condition of the wire, or the effects of "induction" over and -above what made itself audible to us--the spoken sounds were deficient -in distinctness; but songs sung at either end were very beautifully -heard, and indeed the sustained note of sung words had always a better -carrying-power than rapidly spoken words. Every syllable, and every -turn of melody of such a song as _My Mother bids me bind my Hair_, sung -by a lady at one end, or _When the Heart of a Man_, sung at the other, -could be distinctly heard, but with the effect before noticed, that the -voice was muffled or shut in, as if the singer were in a cellar, while -it was not always possible to say at once whether the voice was that of -a man or a woman. - -'In the course of some domestic experiments, it was remarked that in -playing the scale downwards from C in alt. on the piano, the result -to the listener was a "tit" only for the four upper notes, although -all below that had a clear "ting," and the octaves below were mostly -distinct, although at the low notes of the piano the sound was again -lost. The ringing notes of a musical box were not so successful, but -with close attention, its rapid execution of _Tommy Dodd_ could be well -enough made out. An endeavour was made to catch the ticking of a watch, -but this was not successful, and the experiment is not recommended, -as the near presence of a watch to a magnet is not desirable; and the -watch exposed to it in this instance was, it is thought, affected for a -short time thereafter, although it received no permanent damage. - -'The observations made in the course of these experiments convinced -those present that the telephone presents facilities for the dangerous -practice of "tapping the wires," which may make it useful or dangerous, -according as it is used for proper or improper purposes. It might be -an important addition for a military commander to make to his flying -cavalry; as an expert sound-reader, accompanying a column sent to -cut off the enemy's telegraph connections, might precede the act of -destruction by robbing him of some of his secrets. The rapidity and -simplicity of the means by which a wire could be "milked," without -being cut or put out of circuit, struck the whole of the party engaged -in the various trials that are described above. Of course the process -of tapping by telephone could not be carried out if the instrument in -use was an A B C or single needle, or if the wire was being worked -duplex or with a fast-speed Morse, for in these cases the sounds are -too rapid or too indefinite to be read by ear. The danger is thus -limited to ordinary sounder or Morse telegraphs; but these still form -the mainstay of every public system. - -'Since the trials above described were made, the newspapers have -recorded a beautiful application by Sir William Thomson, of the -electric part of the telephone to exhibit at a distance the motions -of an anemometer; the object being to shew the force of air-currents -in coal-mines. This is a useful application of an electric fact, and -doubtless points the way to further discoveries. But it is to be -noticed that the experiment, interesting as it is, hardly comes under -the head of a tele_phone_, what is reproduced at a distance being not -sound but motion. - -'Obviously the invention cannot rest where it is; and no one more -readily than the practical telegraphist will welcome an instrument -at once simple, direct, and reliable. Even in its present form the -telephone may be successfully used where its wire is absolutely -_isolated_ from all other telegraph wires. But the general impression -is that its power of reproducing the sound must be intensified before -its use can become general even as a substitute in works or offices for -the speaking-tube.' - - - - -SINGING MICE. - - -These interesting animals are said to be smaller than ordinary mice, -to be usually of a brownish colour, and to have long ears. Naturalists -have not come to any exact reason as to why they sing. Some persons -impute the singing to disease, as in the wheezing of any one from a -cold. Others attribute it to an internal parasite. But these seem -unsatisfactory explanations; for when the little creatures sing they -are as lively as common domestic mice. The faculty of singing in a -small way with various modulations appears to be quite natural to the -animals. It has been noticed that during their musical performances -there is a throbbing in the throat, and that the snout is elevated -in giving play to the voice, as in the warbling of birds. The song -or warble of these mice is said to be sweet and varied. Hitherto not -much attention has been given by zoologists to the phenomenon; but we -observe by various notices in _Land and Water_ and in _Nature_, two -periodicals devoted to pleasant discussions on subjects of natural -history, &c., that singing mice are becoming objects of careful -investigation. - -An amusing account of a singing mouse appears in _Nature_, Nov. 9, from -the pen of Mr Joseph Sidebotham, dating from Menton, south of France. - -'Last winter we occupied the rooms we now do at Menton. Early in -February we heard as we thought the song of a canary, and fancied it -was outside our balcony; however, we soon discovered that the singing -was in our _salon_, and that the songster was a mouse. At that time the -weather was rather cold, and we had a little fire, and the mouse spent -most of the day under the fender, where we kept it supplied with bits -of biscuit. In a few days it became quite tame, and would come on the -hearth in an evening and sing for several hours. Sometimes it would -climb up the chiffonier and ascend a vase of flowers to drink at the -water, and then sit and sing on the edge of the table and allow us to -go quite near to it without ceasing its warble. One of its favourite -haunts was the wood-basket, and it would often sit and sing on the -edge of it. On February 12, the last night of the Carnival, we had -a number of friends in our _salon_, and the little mouse sang most -vigorously, much to their delight and astonishment, and was not in the -least disturbed by the talking. In the evening the mouse would often -run about the room and under the door into the corridor and adjoining -rooms, and then return to its own hearth. After amusing us for nearly -a month, it disappeared; and we suspect it was caught in a trap set in -one of the rooms beyond. The mouse was small and had very large ears, -which it moved about much whilst singing. The song was not unlike that -of the canary in many of its trills, and it sang quite as beautifully -as any canary, but it had more variety, and some of its notes were -much lower, more like those of the bullfinch. One great peculiarity -was a sort of double song, which we had now and then--an air with an -accompaniment. The air was loud and full, the notes being low and the -accompaniment quite subdued. Some of our party were sure that there was -more than one mouse, until we had the performance from the edge of the -wood-basket and were within a yard or two of it. My son has suggested -that many or all mice may have the same power, but that the notes are -usually so much higher in the scale that, like the cry of the dormouse -and the bat, they are at the verge of the pitch to which the human ear -is sensitive. This may be so; but the notes of our mouse were so low, -and even the highest so far within the limits of the human ear, that I -am inclined to think the gift of singing in mice is but of very rare -occurrence.' - -In the same periodical, the following additional particulars as regards -singing mice are presented by Mr George J. Romanes, Regent's Park. - -'Several years ago I received some of these animals from a friend, and -kept them in confinement for one or two months. The description which -your correspondent gives of their performance leaves very little to -be added by me, as in all respects this description agrees perfectly -with my own observations. I write, however, to remark one curious -fact about the singing of these mice, namely, that it seemed to be -evoked by two very opposite sets of conditions. When undisturbed, the -little animals used for the most part to remain quiet during the day, -and begin to sing at night; but if at any time they were alarmed, by -handling them or otherwise, whether during the day or night, they were -sure to sing vigorously. Thus the action seemed to be occasioned either -by contentment or by fear. The character of the song, however, was -slightly different in the two cases. - -'That these mice did not learn this art from singing birds there can -be no doubt, for they were captured in a house where no such birds -were kept. It may be worth while to add that this house (a London one) -seemed to have been suddenly invaded, so to speak, by a number of these -animals, for although my friend has lived in this house since the year -1862, it was only during a few months that singing mice were heard -in it, and during these few months they were heard in considerable -numbers.' - -As corroborative of the foregoing notices, we give the following very -interesting account of a singing mouse, obligingly sent to us by a -correspondent, Mr Alfred Wright. - -'In the early spring of last year I was invited by an old widow lady -to see a singing mouse, which she had at night heard singing and -scratching beneath the floor of her bed, and been so fortunate as to -catch in a trap. I went, and found the little animal in a cage with -a revolving wheel, similar to that in which a squirrel is usually -confined. Whether the mouse was shy at the presence of a stranger, I -do not know. It remained silent; but at length, after my patience had -been nearly exhausted, it began to sing in clear warbling notes like -those of a bird. When I called the next evening to hear the mouse -again, I heard him to perfection; and was so filled with interest in -the novelty, that I begged permission to bring any friend who was -a sceptic of the fact, or who might desire to see the phenomenon. -My request was readily granted. One friend of course had heard of -a singing mouse, but he certainly would not allow that a prolonged -squeak was a song--not he! Another friend of course had heard a mouse -sing when he was a boy; but he was told, he perfectly well remembered, -that the _noise_ produced by the mouse was the result of some internal -disease. Well, both of these went with me to hear the little creature. -Unfortunately, at first it was again shy; but after an interval of -silence it commenced to sing--sweetly, like the low notes, the jug, of -the nightingale. My friends had come, had heard, and were conquered! -The one acknowledged it was really a song and not a squeak; the other, -that the noise was certainly dulcet; but still he thought it possibly -might be the result of disease, and not natural to the little animal. -We suggested that this wonderful natural curiosity (as we deemed it) -should be sent to an eminent naturalist who resided near. Great, -therefore, was my astonishment and pleasure when it was presented to -me, who could only treat it like a schoolboy would his white mouse--as -a pet. And truly it became a great pet to both my wife and myself. - -'In form, the singing mouse did not differ from his humbler brethren; -but in colour he was of a darkish brown, and had very bright eyes. It -soon became used to the presence of my wife, and sang constantly while -revolving the wheel of his cage. The notes proceeded from the throat. -He became exceedingly gentle, and was pleased at being caressed. - -'I deemed him so rare a curiosity that I ventured to offer to exhibit -him to the distinguished naturalist referred to above, and in my letter -described the little creature and its peculiarities, as I have done -here. The naturalist most courteously replied: "The case of the singing -mouse is very extraordinary, but the fact is now well established.... -The best account which has ever been published is by an American -naturalist, and I have given an abstract of his account in my _Descent -of Man_. - -"The American referred to is the Rev. S. Lockwood, author of _The -American Naturalist_, and he gives an account of his observations of -the _Hesperomys cognatus_, an American species, belonging to a genus -distinct from that of the English mouse. This little animal gave two -chief songs. Mr Lockwood gives both songs in musical notation; and -adds, that though this mouse 'had no ear for time,' yet she would keep -to the key of B (two flats) and strictly in the major key.... Her soft -clear voice falls an octave with all the precision possible; then at -the wind up it rises again into a very quick trill in C sharp and D." -I have made this quotation, as it far better describes the peculiar -qualifications of a singing mouse, than my inexperienced observations -could announce. - -'My mouse remained in contented confinement upwards of a year, feeding -upon a little sopped bread and canary-seed; and great was the grief of -my wife (who was his keeper) and myself when he was found dead in his -little nest. During the previous evening he had been heard singing with -more than usual ardour.' - -We shall probably return to this interesting subject. - - - - -USING UP WASTE SUBSTANCES. - - -The subject denoted by the above title, more than once treated in the -_Journal_, is adverted to by an obliging Lancashire correspondent -who, surrounded by one of the busiest and most ingenious clusters -of townsmen in England, has had his attention drawn to various -substances waiting (as it were), for application to useful purposes. -His suggestions are not wholly new, having to some extent been already -anticipated; but they are sufficiently valuable to call for notice here. - -One relates to the waste that presents itself in the processes of -manufacturing cotton. A residue known technically as _willowings_, -that falls into a receptacle during the preparatory beating and -disentangling of raw cotton-wool, consists of a dusty heap of -seed-husks and short broken fibres. It is used by farmers to absorb the -liquid manure of their cowsheds and middens or dung-heaps. Although -some of the cottony fibre may be separated through a sieve, so much -adheres to the seed-husk as to render it unsuitable for paper-making, -for which it has often been tried. The suggestion now made is, that -though unfitted for paper, this refuse may possibly be found useful -in the manufacture of _millboard_. Large quantities of this tough and -durable product are employed for bookbinding, for making the discs of -railway wheels, &c.; and as colour is not a matter of moment, the idea -is that the mingled residue of cottony fibre and seed-husk might be -rendered available. It is known that millboard made from wood-pulp is -imported to a considerable extent from abroad; and we are told that -'a large portion of the private income of the great German Chancellor -Prince Bismarck is derived from the manufacture of wood-millboard on -his Varzin estate.' Many hundred tons of willowings could be obtained -in Lancashire at a very cheap rate, even as low as two shillings per -hundredweight. - -Another suggestion bears relation to the utilisation of refuse from -the manufacture of prussiate of potash, a most valuable product in -the hands of the manufacturing chemist. The prussiate is obtained in -large ratio from woollen rags, after the separation of all the pieces -that can be worked up into shoddy for cheap cloth. The refuse is -calcined in cast-iron retorts, lixiviated with water, and drained off -for subsequent treatment: leaving behind it a thick black sediment of -impure animal charcoal. The suggestion relates to the application of -this residue to the manufacture of blacking--a humble but valuable -agent for those who appreciate tidiness in the appearance of boots and -shoes and economy in the preservation of leather. If useful for this -purpose, it might be found advantageous and economical as an ingredient -in printers' ink. Whether this carbon residue is at present applied to -any other useful purpose, we are not fully informed. - -A third suggestion relates to the preparation of animal size for the -carpet-manufacture and for that of many kinds of woollen and worsted -goods. This size is made from the clippings and scrapings of skins -and hides, from rejected scraps of parchment and vellum, and from -the worn-out buffalo skin pickers and skips largely used in textile -manufactures; also from the pith of cattle-horns, which contain a large -amount of valuable gelatine. The suggestion is, to utilise the refuse -left after making this size. One large carpet factory in Yorkshire -rejects as utterly useless a ton or more of this refuse every week. -The horn-pith contains as one of its components phosphate of lime, and -is on that account recommended to the notice of the manufacturers of -chemical manures on a large scale. - -One more suggestion comes from our ingenious correspondent. Old corks -are applicable to a greater number of purposes than we are generally -in the habit of supposing. That many of them are ground up to make -cork-stuffing for cushions, padding, &c. is well known; but there are -other uses for them as corks or half corks, besides making floating -buoys and life-preservers. A taverner in a Lancashire town covered the -floor of his lobby and bar with very open rope-matting, and filled up -the openings with old corks cut down to the level of the surface of -the mats. This combination is found to be almost indestructible under -the feet; while it gives a good grip or foothold. As the making of -rope-mats is one of the trades carried on in reformatories and some -other large establishments, it is suggested that the managers should -take into consideration the feasibility of adding old corks to their -store of manufacturing materials. - -As this _Journal_ finds its way into every corner of the busy hives -of industry, it may possibly be that some of our readers are already -acquainted with such applications of waste refuse to useful purposes as -those which our esteemed correspondent suggests. But this is a point -of minor importance. The primary question is, not whether an idea is -absolutely new, but whether it is practicably susceptible of useful -application. The history of manufactures teaches us that apparently -humble trifles like these have proved to be worth millions sterling to -the country. - - - - -LET BYGONES BE BYGONES. - - - Let bygones be bygones; if bygones were clouded - By aught that occasioned a pang of regret, - Oh, let them in darkest oblivion be shrouded; - 'Tis wise and 'tis kind to forgive and forget. - - Let bygones be bygones, and good be extracted - From ill over which it is folly to fret; - The wisest of mortals have foolishly acted-- - The kindest are those who forgive and forget. - - Let bygones be bygones; oh, cherish no longer - The thought that the sun of Affection has set; - Eclipsed for a moment, its rays will be stronger, - If you, like a Christian, forgive and forget. - - Let bygones be bygones; your heart will be lighter, - When kindness of yours with reception has met; - The flame of your love will be purer and brighter - If, Godlike, you strive to forgive and forget. - - Let bygones be bygones; oh, purge out the leaven - Of malice, and try an example to set - To others, who craving the mercy of heaven, - Are sadly too slow to forgive and forget. - - Let bygones be bygones; remember how deeply - To heaven's forbearance we all are in debt; - They value God's infinite goodness too cheaply - Who heed not the precept, 'Forgive and forget.' - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 730 - December 22, 1877 - -Author: Various - -Editor: William Chambers - Robert Chambers - -Release Date: April 23, 2016 [EBook #51841] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, DECEMBER 22, 1877 *** - - - - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_801" id="Page_801">{801}</a></span></p> - -<h1>CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL<br /> -OF<br /> -POPULAR<br /> -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.</h1> - -<div> -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<p class='center'> - -<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> - -<a href="#CHRISTMAS-TIME">CHRISTMAS-TIME.</a><br /> -<a href="#A_CAST_OF_THE_NET">A CAST OF THE NET.</a><br /> -<a href="#FEATS_OF_ENDURANCE">FEATS OF ENDURANCE.</a><br /> -<a href="#A_DIFFICULT_QUESTION">A DIFFICULT QUESTION.</a><br /> -<a href="#IS_THE_TELEPHONE_A_PRACTICAL">IS THE TELEPHONE A PRACTICAL SUCCESS?</a><br /> -<a href="#SINGING_MICE">SINGING MICE.</a><br /> -<a href="#USING_UP_WASTE_SUBSTANCES">USING UP WASTE SUBSTANCES.</a><br /> -<a href="#LET_BYGONES_BE_BYGONES">LET BYGONES BE BYGONES.</a><br /> - -<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> - -</p> - - - - - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/header.png" width="600" height="294" alt="Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art. Fourth Series. Conducted by William and Robert Chambers." /> -</div> - - -<hr class="full" /> -<div class="center"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" width="85%"> -<tr><td align="left"><b><span class="smcap">No.</span> 730.</b></td><td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1877.</b></td><td align="right"><b><span class="smcap">Price</span> 1˝<i>d.</i></b></td></tr> -</table></div></div> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div> - -<h2><a name="CHRISTMAS-TIME" id="CHRISTMAS-TIME">CHRISTMAS-TIME.</a></h2> - - -<p>'<span class="smcap">So</span> many men so many minds' has been a proverb -long before our days, and will be to the end -of time and human history; and uniformity of -sentiment is the one thing which men need never -hope to attain.</p> - -<p>Christmas-time is one of these battle-fields of -feeling. To some it is just the consecration of -so many circumstances of torture; to others the -meeting-point of so many facts of pleasure. From -the conventional greeting to the orthodox dinner—from -the 'seasonable gifts' that are more obligatory -than voluntary, to the toast that heralds the -punch, and the dreams that follow on that last -glass—all is so much pain to the flesh and weariness -to the spirit; and they wonder how any one -can find it otherwise. What is there in Christmas-time -to make it pleasurable? they say. The -gathering together of the family? A lot of rough -boys home from school, who spoil the furniture -and tease the dogs, lame the horses and ravage -the garden, make the servants cross, the girls -rude, and the younger children insubordinate; who -upset all the order of the house, destroy its comfort -like its quiet, and to whose safe return to -discipline and your own restoration to tranquillity -you look forward with impatient longing -from the first hour of their arrival to the last -of their stay? Or the advent of your married -daughter with her two spoilt babies, who cry if -they are looked at and want everything that they -see, and that very objectionable young man her -husband, with his ultra opinions and passion for -argument, whom she would marry in spite of all -that you could say, but to whom you can scarcely -force yourself to be decently civil, not to speak of -cordial, and whose presence is a perpetual blister -while it lasts? Is this the family gathering about -which you are expected to gush?—this with the -addition of your son's fine-lady wife who snubs his -mother and sisters with as little breeding as -reserve, finds nothing at your table that she can -eat, lives with her smelling-bottle to her nose and -propped up with cushions on the sofa, and gives -you to understand that she considers herself -humiliated by her association with your family, -and your son as much exalted as she is degraded? -This is the domestic aspect of Christmas-time -which is to make you forget all the ordinary -troubles of life, creating in their stead a Utopia -where ill-feeling is as little known as <i>ennui</i>, and -family jars are as impossible as personal discomfort -and dissent. Holding this picture in your -hand, you decline to subscribe your name to the -Io pćan universally chanted in praise of Christmas, -and wrap yourself up in sullen silence when -your neighbour congratulates you on having all -your family about you, and wishes you a merry -Christmas as if he meant it.</p> - -<p>If the domestic aspect is disagreeable, what is -the social?—A round of dinners of which the -<i>menu</i> is precisely the same from Alpha to Omega:—turbot -and thick lobster-sauce; roast-beef and -boiled turkey; indigestible plum-pudding and -murderous mince-pies; with sour oranges and -sweet sherry to keep the balance even, and by the -creation of two acids perhaps neutralise each -other and the third. This is the food set before -unoffending citizens under the name and style -of Christmas dinners for the month or six weeks -during which the idiotic custom of Christmas dinners -at all is supposed to last. You are expected -to live in this monotony of dyspepsia and antipathetic -diet till you loathe the very sight of the -familiar food, and long for a change with a -vehemence which makes you ashamed of yourself, -and more than half afraid that you are developing -into a gourmand of the worst kind.</p> - -<p>As if your nights were not sufficiently broken by -the horrible compounds which trouble your digestion -and disturb your brain, torturers known as -the 'waits' prowl through the streets from midnight -to dawn, causing you agonies beyond those which -even the hurdy-gurdy men inflict. You are just -falling to sleep—painfully courted and hardly won—when -a hideous discord worse than the wailings -of cats startles you into a nervous wakefulness -which banishes all hope for that night. What can -you do? They are too far off for that jug of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_802" id="Page_802">{802}</a></span> -water to take effect, and you must not fire; -anathemas do not hurt them, and if said aloud -only waken up your wife and make her cry if -she does not preach. You have nothing for it -then but to lie still and groan inwardly, devoting -to the infernal gods all the idiotic circumstances -by which your life is rendered wretched, and -your health, already frail, set still further wrong. -In the morning, when wearied and nervously -feverish from want of sleep, you go into the -garden for a little quiet and delectation, you find -your greenhouses stripped of the flowers which you -had been lovingly watching for weeks, and your -evergreens as ridiculously cropped as a shaved -poodle. This is the day for the decoration of the -church, and you, having made an expensive hobby -of your garden, have to contribute what has cost -months and good money to rear, for the childish -satisfaction of John and Joan, lasting just two -hours and five minutes. Not only have you lost -your flowers and your evergreens—that splendid -holly, which yesterday glowed like a flame, today -nothing but a bundle of chopped ends!—but -you know that your favourite daughter is flirting -with the curate, and that a great deal is going on -under cover of wreaths and crosses, laurustinus and -chrysanthemum, of which you strongly disapprove -yet cannot check. It is Christmas-time; decorating -the church has become in these later days a kind -of religious duty; and as a conscript father of -your village, you must not forbid your daughter -this pious pleasure any more than you can refuse -your costly contribution in kind.</p> - -<p>Turn to the financial side of the time; and -what have you?—bills coming in that you neither -expected nor knew of, and every one looking for a -Christmas-box, and insolent or irritated if they -do not get it. The servants obsequious to the -worth of half a sovereign—tradesmen and their -lads punctual in anticipation of half-crowns—postmen -levying blackmail, and watermen and -dustmen demanding as their right that they should -be fee'd for their persistent neglect of duty—every -one making a dead set at your pocket and trying -to get your money for themselves—the very -children more caressing and affectionate because it -is Christmas and papa always gives them something -on Christmas-day:—You groan as you ask -yourself where is disinterestedness on this earth?—and -you groan still more as you draw your cheques -and reduce your balance and wonder by what law -of right it is that you should be the pipe by which -other folks are to be supplied.</p> - -<p>No; you see no good or pleasure in this boasted -Christmas-time as we keep it up in our benighted -country. Its mirth is a sham and its inflictions -are only too real. A time of tumult and expense, -of indigestion and discomfort, you wait, grimly or -fretfully as your mood may be, till it has passed -and the current of your life is allowed to flow -evenly as before. When you hear people sing its -praises you long to stop their mouths, as you -longed to silence the waits who woke you up out -of your first sleep and spoilt your rest for the -night. What manner of men are these, you think, -who can find cause of congratulation in so much -absurdity, if the fun is real to them—so much -dreary make-believe, if it is unreal? You despise -your genial, laughing, merry-hearted neighbour -who goes into everything <i>con amore</i>, and accepts it -all, from forfeits and snapdragon to plum-pudding -and Christmas-boxes, as if he really liked it. You -think what a fool he must be to be pleased with a -rattle, tickled with a straw like this. But for the -most part you do not believe in his mirth; and -then you despise him still more as a hypocrite as -well. For a hypocrite shamming folly is an -offender against reason as well as truth, whom you -find it hard to forgive, let the motive of his mummery -be what it may.</p> - -<p>This is one side of the question; your neighbour -takes the other.</p> - -<p>Who on earth, he says with his hands in his -pockets, his back to the fire and his kindly smiling -face to the room, who on earth can grumble at the -facts of Christmas-time? For his part he finds -it the jolliest season of the year, and he finds each -season as jolly as the other, and all perfect in their -own appointed way. He is none of your crying -philosophers who go through life bewailing its -miseries and oppressed by its misfortunes. Not -he! He thinks the earth beautiful, men and -women pleasant, and God very good; and of -all occasions wherein he can transact his cheerful -philosophy, Christmas is the best. The -boys are home for their holidays; and it is -a pleasure to him to take them out hunting -and shooting, and initiate them into the personal -circumstances belonging to English country -gentlemen. He looks forward to the time when -they will take his place and carry on the -traditions of the family, and he wishes them to -be worthy of their name and an honour to their -country. He is not one of those nervous self-centred -men who live by rule and measure and -cannot have a line of the day's ordering disturbed. -He likes his own way certainly; and he -has it; but he can press his elbows to his sides -on occasions, and give room for others to expand. -He does not find it such an unbearable infliction -that his boys should come home and racket about -the place, even though they are a little upsetting, -and do not leave everything quite as smooth and -straight as they found it. He remembers his own -youth and how happy it made him to come home -and racket; and he supposes that his lads are very -much the same as he was at their age. He thinks -too that they do the girls good—wake them up a -little—and while not making them rough or rude—the -mother takes care of that—yet that they prevent -them from becoming prim and missy, as -girls are apt to be who have no brothers and are -left too much to themselves. Certainly he does -not approve of the flood of slang which is let loose -in the house during their stay; but school-boy -slang at the worst is not permanent, and in a -week's time will be forgotten.</p> - -<p>As for the married daughter's children, they are -the merriest little rogues in the world; and his -wife looks ten years younger since they came. She -was always fond of babies; and her grandchildren -seem to renew her own past nursery with all the -pleasure and none of the anxiety of the olden time. -He rather wonders at his girl's taste in the matter -of her husband—most fathers do—and cannot for -the life of him see what there is to love in him. -But if not an Alcibiades he is a good fellow in the -main, and makes his young wife happy; which is -the principal thing. And if his daughter-in-law is -a trifle stiff, and fond of giving herself fine-lady -airs, he for his part never stands that kind of -nonsense, and will laugh her out of it before she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_803" id="Page_803">{803}</a></span> -has been twenty-four hours in the house. He -finds good-humour and taking no offence the best -weapons in the world against folly and ill-temper; -and prefers them as curative agents to any other. -The girl is a nice girl enough, but she has been -badly brought up—had a lot of false ideas instilled -into her by a foolish mother—but when she has -been away from the old influences, and associated -with themselves for a little while, she will open -her eyes and see things in their right light. Who -indeed could resist the sweet sensible influence of -his wife, her mother-in-law?—and are not his girls -the very perfection of honest wholesome English -ladies? It will all come right in time; he has no -doubt of that; and meanwhile they must be patient -and forbearing for Dick's sake, and not make -matters worse than they are by their own want of -self-control.</p> - -<p>Then as to the Christmas-boxes and the tips -sacred to the season—well! well! after all they -do not amount to much in the year, and see what -pleasure they give! A man must be but a poor-spirited -surly kind of hound who does not like to -see his fellow-creatures happy; and a very little -kindness goes a great way in that direction. He -takes care to live within his income, and therefore -he has always a margin to go on; and he does not -object to use it. The servants have been very good -on the whole, and do their duty fairly enough. -And when they fail—as they do at times—why, to -fail is human, and are they alone of all mankind -to be blameless and never swerving in the right -way? And are they alone of all mankind to be -judged of by their worst and not by their best?—to -be blamed for failure, but not praised for -well-doing? He does not think so; and not -thinking this, his half-sovereigns are given freely -without the grudging which makes them an -ungracious tax instead of a kindly voluntary gift. -The tradespeople, too, do fairly well, and—they -must have their profit like any one else! Those -Christmas-boxes to their lads may be the nest-eggs -for future savings; and even if they do go -in a little finery or personal pleasure instead—young -people will be young, and his own boys -are fond of being smart and amused: so why not -these others? You grumble at the waits? If you -in your warm bed, well fed, well clothed, prosperous -altogether, fret at the loss of an hour's sleep, -what must these poor fellows feel, out in the cold -frosty night, with the wind blowing and the sleet -falling fast, and they not half fed nor a quarter -clothed? For his own part he would like to give -them a glass of hot grog all round; and as for -grumbling at the few coppers which they brave -all this physical discomfort to earn, he makes it -shillings, and hopes it will do them good. We -must live and let live, he says with his broad -smile; and if we are sometimes a little inconvenienced -by the efforts made by the poor to -accomplish the art of living for their own parts—we -must remember that our loss is their gain, and -that they are men and women like ourselves—fathers -of families who want to keep the pot boiling -and the fire alight—mothers who love their -children, and are anxious to do the best for them -that nature and man will allow.</p> - -<p>You complain of indigestion and grumble at -the monotony of your Christmas fare?—That is -strange! Who can grumble at good plain succulent -meat?—and why do you eat the sweets if they -disagree with you? Neither pudding nor mince-pie -comes into the eternal necessities of things, -and you would do very well if only you would -refrain. He does not eat things that he cannot -digest, and in consequence he sleeps well, and when -he wakes has neither regret nor remorse. Surely -that is not such a painful trial—to forbear eating -what is hurtful to your health, and in touching -your health corroding your happiness as well.</p> - -<p>In a word, the whole difference of the spirit in -which we meet the facts of Christmas depends -on the good or ill humour with which we are -naturally endowed, and which we have cultivated -by common-sense on the one hand, or suffered to -ride rough-shod over our reason on the other. If -we are unselfish and sympathetic, Christmas-time -is as pleasant to us as popular tradition would -make it; if we are egotistical and peevish, it -is a wearisome infliction and a sham which no -honest man can pretend to believe in, nor any -sensible one to admire.</p> - -<p>For our own part we believe in Christmas, -because we believe in the kindness of man to man, -in genial good-humour, in unselfishness, and the -liking of wholesome natures to give happiness; -and so far as we have gone yet we have seen no -reason to change our views. A merry Christmas -then to you all, friends, readers, and countrymen; -and a happy New Year to follow after; and may -God bless the rich and care for the poor, and lead -us all in the right way while the day lasts and -before the night has come!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="A_CAST_OF_THE_NET" id="A_CAST_OF_THE_NET">A CAST OF THE NET.</a></h2> - -<p class='ph3'>THE STORY OF A DETECTIVE OFFICER.</p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">Long</span> after it had grown quite dark, all remained -quiet, and at last I resolved upon making a move. -I had determined upon fetching Peter Tilley. I -had plenty of assistance, but I thought I should -like to have Peter with me. So I went down to -the ferry; a gas-light which burned at the corner -shewed me before I left my post that the bony -ferryman was not there; and choosing a pretty -good boat, with a strong young fellow to pull, I got -in. It was a most unpleasant night; as dark as -pitch, which was bad enough, but every now and -then it lightened, which was worse, as it dazzled -my eyes, and made me think we were running -smash on board some great vessel which I had not -seen a moment before, and couldn't see a moment -after. However, the boatman was used to all -kinds of weather, I suppose, and knew the river -thoroughly; so through the darkness and the rain, -which never left off for a moment, we reached the -other side.</p> - -<p>I left the boat to wait for me, and ran up to the -<i>Yarmouth Smack</i>. I looked in, and saw Peter -leaning against the bar and smoking a short pipe, -as a labourer ought to do; and he was talking in -a friendly way to some rough-looking fellows. I -slipped in, and using the name we had agreed -upon, spoke to him. He knew my voice of course; -but seeing me so changed, for my make-up was -really splendid (it was, although I say so that -shouldn't), it gave him such a shock that he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_804" id="Page_804">{804}</a></span> -obliged to put the pewter down he was going to -drink from and look steadily at me before he -answered. 'I'm acoming,' he said at last, and we -got outside; when, as we walked down to the ferry, -I gave him a sort of idea of what was going on, and -how I expected to make a great catch that night. -Peter of course was very glad to be in for such a -big thing as this, for he had never been mixed up -with anything so important.</p> - -<p>Not to trust the boatman too much, I kept Peter -back a few yards from the water while I finished -my story, standing a little on one side, so as to be -out of the way of the people who came and went -to and from the ferry. While I was talking to -him, a wherry ran in; we heard her grate on the -pebbles and the sculls rattle as the man laid 'em -in; but that we had heard before. It's a part of my -habit to notice little things however, and I looked -to see who had come in by this boat. There was -only one passenger, a woman, and she passed us -walking quickly; but quick as she walked, I saw -her, and she saw me. Blessed if it wasn't Miss -Doyle! My being there was no odds to Miss Doyle, -nor could it have signified to her if she had seen -me fifty times; yet I felt I would rather not have -met her just then; it looked unlucky, and she was -such an uncommonly sharp one too. Sharp or not, -I couldn't see what she could make out of my -standing under a wall on a wet night talking to -another labourer.</p> - -<p>Having finished my explanation, we both got -into the wherry, and I asked the man if he would -like a good long job, which might perhaps last -all night.</p> - -<p>'The longer the better, governor,' he says, 'if -the pay is accordin'.'</p> - -<p>'The pay <i>will</i> be accordin',' I answered; 'and so -you are engaged.'</p> - -<p>The first thing I made him do was to row -round that oyster-smack, for the tide had risen -enough to take us round her. I shewed no light, -but we went inside her twice; and the fellow on -the watch was very sharp, so he was leaning over -the side when we came round the second time, and -I could say quite quiet-like: 'I am in this boat -now—watch the river.' That was quite enough; -he knew he would not now have to look to the -<i>Anchor</i> for signals.</p> - -<p>After this began what I believe was the most -disagreeable sort of patrol I ever had. There was -a time when I used to envy the Thames police; -but I can't say I ever did after that night. We -were obliged to be in motion almost continually, -because we did not know from which side of the -river the paper might come, and we weren't quite -sure that it would come at all, especially on that -night; and I don't know, speaking from my own -experience, that there is anything more trying to -the spirits than the pulling backwards and forwards -and loitering about on the river Thames -in a raw October night with a small thick rain -falling. Twice we landed, and went once to the -<i>Smack</i> and once to the <i>Anchor</i>. I couldn't grudge -the men a glass of hot grog; in fact I was obliged -to have some myself, even if I missed my capture -through it.</p> - -<p>It grew later and later; the flashes of lightning -still came at long intervals; but the lights on the -shore went out, and excepting the gas-lamps which -burnt at street-corners, ferries, and wharfs, all -was dark. The traffic on the river had long -ceased, no shouts or rattle of wheels came from the -shore; and the rain still falling, it was, I give you -my word, most horribly miserable, dull and sloppy -beyond description. Twelve o'clock had struck, -and one, and perhaps half an hour beyond it. I -had cautioned my companions to speak very low; -so the boatman only whispered when he said: -'It's as quiet as it is likely to be, governor, if -you've got anything to run. I have just seen the -police galley creep along on the other side; I see -her under that lamp. Now's your time.'</p> - -<p>He thought we were smugglers! Perhaps he -didn't care if we were thieves. I told him to be -patient; when at that very instant, just as we were -creeping along under the lee of a coal-barge, a -wherry shot very silently by, right in front of us, -going across stream, and not six feet from our -bows. In her sat the sulky ferryman; I knew -him at a glance, dark as it was. 'Pull after that -wherry,' I said.</p> - -<p>'Peter Tilley, my lad,' I continued, turning to -Peter, 'the time's acoming, I think.'</p> - -<p>'I'm precious glad of it,' says Peter; 'for I'm -catching a cold in my head every minute I sit in -this confounded boat; and it's all soaking wet -where I'm sitting.'</p> - -<p>Our man pulled on; he was a very strong fellow, -as I have said, and we could have overtaken the -other boat directly; but this of course I did not -want. I knew where to look for the old scamp; -and sure enough, after a few strokes across stream, -he bent to the left and ran under the bows of the -Dutch trader.</p> - -<p>All was dark and silent as the grave aboard the -ship; but that didn't deceive the old boatman, -nor did it deceive me. I stopped our man in the -shade of the next vessel, if you can call anywhere -a shade, when it was all pitch dark. We had not -been there a minute before I heard a slight noise—it -was impossible to see any one unless he stood -between you and the sky—and then I could tell by -the sound that a man had dropped into the wherry. -There was no need to tell me what man it was. -With an almost noiseless dip, the ferryman dropped -his sculls into the river again and rowed on, we -still after him. I took it for granted he was going -to the other side of the ferry; but he suddenly bore -off to the right, and rowed on for some little time, -then striking in between two vessels, he went -straight for the land.</p> - -<p>'Where is he going to?' I whispered.</p> - -<p>'To the landing at Byrle's wharf,' says the boatman -in the same tone.</p> - -<p>So he was; and it appeared this landing-place -was at the farther side of the wharf; that is, lower -down the river.</p> - -<p>It was so dark we could hardly see them—for -we could just make out there were now two -persons in the boat—but as they reached the shore, -a lamp that was burning on the wharf helped us a -little. We could not clearly see what they were -doing; but they certainly got out of the boat, and -as certainly there were then more than two figures -moving about, and seemingly engaged in placing -parcels in the wherry. But it was very gloomy -there; they were in the shade of the wharf, and -the lamp glimmered weak and faint through the -thick rain. It was the more difficult to see what -was being done, because there were several boats -tied up to the landing-place, making some confusion -in the darkness. At last, however, we could see that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_805" id="Page_805">{805}</a></span> -they were pushing off from the shore; so it was -time for us to move. We pulled back for a while -(there was no doubt as to which way the others -would come), and then sheering off, lay between -two colliers until we saw the wherry we had -watched go by, and then we once more pulled -after them.</p> - -<p>'I'm blest if I don't think there's another boat -following <i>us</i>,' says Peter Tilley, staring as hard as -he could behind us. I looked, but couldn't see -anything; and Peter owned he might have been -mistaken.</p> - -<p>We could not make out how many there were -in the foremost boat. There was only one man rowing, -that was plain; and he pulled short round at -the proper place, as I knew he would, and rowed -towards the Dutch trader. As he did so, we lost -him for a second, a big steamer lying between us; -but the hull of this vessel did not obstruct the -view up the river. I seized the moment, and -waved my lantern twice. It was all right. As -quick as thought the light on board the oyster-smack -was moved twice also, and then we too -were pulling across the stream. I wanted to -capture my men on board the trader, as otherwise -the paper might be got rid of, because I -couldn't be positively certain that it was not -already on board. In fact, Mr Edmund Byrle -was my chief aim, not the skipper.</p> - -<p>The wherry pulled under the bows of the vessel; -we followed just in time to see, by a very convenient -flash of lightning, two packages handed -up; then a figure, which we had recognised by the -same flash as the bony ferryman, got into the ship. -As he disappeared, our wherry touched the vessel; -and at the same instant, to my great relief, a long -black Thames police galley came alongside us, and -its crew, five constables, with Barney Wilkins, who -was there as guide, clambered up like cats. I and -Peter imitated them, but not quite so quickly; and -when I looked over the bulwark, I saw by the -light of a couple of lanterns, screened from the -outside, four or five men, the boatman and the -skipper being two, lifting up a great lid which -fitted in the deck—the hatches I heard it called—while -by their side lay the packages of paper. -I could not see Mr Byrle; but there was no time to -consider; we all jumped in at once, the men looking -round in amazement at the noise. I fancied -that just then I heard a shout from the boat.</p> - -<p>'What do you all want here?' said the skipper -angrily.</p> - -<p>'We hold a warrant'—I began.</p> - -<p>'Oh, it is <i>you</i>, is it?' he screeched, like a -hyena, or something of that sort. 'I owe you a -little for a past score, and you shall have it.' As -quick as lightning he pulled a long straight -knife from the side of his trousers, where it must -have been in some sort of sheath, and jumped at -me with such suddenness that he would have -stabbed me, only Barney Wilkins snatched a -handspike from the deck, and dashing between us, -hit him down with such a blow, that the skipper -fell with a crash like a bullock when it is killed, -the blood pouring from his head instantly.</p> - -<p>It was all as quick as thought. The other men -were all seized in a breath. So quick was it all -done, that I had no idea Barney was hurt, until -he reeled, made a wild clutch as if he caught at -something for support, and then pitched forward -on his hands and knees.</p> - -<p>'Hollo, Barney!' I said, stooping down to him. -'What's the matter, old fellow?'</p> - -<p>'It's all up, Mr Nickham,' he gasped; 'he's -done me. I only hope I've killed him. Where's -the other?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, never mind the other, Barney,' I says. -'Where are you hurt?'</p> - -<p>But as I spoke, one of the men came with a -lantern, and Barney had no occasion to answer -me, for I could see a straight stream of blood -running from his chest on to the deck; and -his hands giving way from weakness, he fell over -on his side.</p> - -<p>'Pull in for the shore, you, sir!' said the sergeant -of the Thames police to my waterman. 'You -know Marigold Street? Knock up Mr Gartley, and -tell him what has happened. Say we are afraid -to move the man to his house, so he had better -come aboard.'</p> - -<p>'Send one of your own men, will you?' answers -the boatman. 'I've got something to tell the -governor' (that was me), 'as I think he ought -to know.'</p> - -<p>'Cut away then, Bill,' says the sergeant to a -constable; 'these fellows are ironed, and we can -manage all that are aboard this craft.'</p> - -<p>So the man went off in my wherry; and the -Thames men tried to make poor Barney a little -more comfortable, while I undid his waistcoat, -hoping to stop the bleeding.</p> - -<p>'It ain't no use,' he said; but in that short -time his voice was almost gone, and we could tell -that he was dying. 'I'm done for, Mr Nickham. -If there's a reward, you'll act fair and square, I -know; you always was a gentleman—let my sister -have'—— And with that he gave a gasp, and -was dead.</p> - -<p>I rose up, dreadfully vexed for the poor chap. -The sergeant and one of his men were looking -after the skipper, when I felt myself touched on -the arm.</p> - -<p>'I say, sir,' said the boatman, 'when I'm in for -a thing, I go through with it honourable. Did -you know as you was followed?'</p> - -<p>'Followed? no!' I said.</p> - -<p>'I thought we was!' said Peter Tilley.</p> - -<p>'We was followed, sir, by a light wherry with two -people in it,' continues the boatman; 'and when -they see our boats, they held hard; and as you all -boarded the ship and the noise began, they rowed -away as hard as they could go.'</p> - -<p>'Which way did they go?' I said.</p> - -<p>'Down river,' says the man. 'But it's of no use -thinking of looking after them now. They are -ashore long afore this.'</p> - -<p>This was likely enough; and it was quite certain -that Mr Edmund Byrle was one of the two in the -boat, and I had lost him for the present. Well, -it couldn't be helped; so we set to work to question -the men and search the ship, till the doctor came. -The men knew nothing more about the business -than that they were going to have two passengers, -a lady and a gentleman, this voyage. One of the -Thames men understood Dutch, or we should not -have heard even this scrap of information. The -sulky boatman never uttered a word, except that -once he said as I passed him, and he said it with a -bitter curse: 'I always had my doubts of <i>you</i>.'</p> - -<p>The doctor came off; but poor Barney was stone-dead, -while the skipper's skull was badly fractured. -However, the paper was all there; so I supposed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_806" id="Page_806">{806}</a></span> -and so it proved; and I shouldn't have cared if the -skipper's head had been broken fifty times over.</p> - -<p>We got our prisoners to the shore, leaving the -craft in charge of a Thames police galley that -came in answer to our signals; and late as it was, -I drove with Peter Tilley in a cab to the City. -Our people there were immensely glad, I can tell -you; and when I went over to the Bank (for there -was no need for secrecy or dodging now), I thought -the gentlemen never would have left off paying -me compliments. Poor Barney Wilkins that was -dead deserved most credit; but it could not do -him any good to say so now, so I let them go on. -The paper was examined, and found to be exactly -the quantity required; enough, I believe, to have -made about twenty thousand bank-notes. Ah! if -they <i>had</i> got into circulation!</p> - -<p>I hope you will understand, however, that I -did act fair and square; and when the reward -was paid (and the Bank people did come down -most liberal; I bought my house at Pentonville -with my share), I told the gentlemen about -poor Barney and his wishes; and I'm proud -to say they found his sister out and took her -away; and after a time she went abroad with -kind people who looked after her, and took care -of her money till she got married, and did well. -Why, she sent me a snuff-box made out of pure -Australian gold, with a letter signed by herself -and her husband, who was a butcher in a great -way of business out there; and they sent it as an -acknowledgment of my having acted all fair and -square. I promised so to do, and I did.</p> - -<p>Edmund Byrle was never caught, and so far as -we were concerned, was never heard of; and if -it hadn't been for his father, I should never have -understood a lot of things that puzzled me. I had -given a pretty good guess as to how Miss Doyle -came in the first place to inquire about Mr Byrle -and the detective; a very clever idea in itself, -but like many other clever things, it lost her the -game. Mr Byrle had talked with his friends about -employing detectives; and Miss Doyle knowing -about the Bank paper, and being always on the -watch, had got hold of just enough to mislead -her. She went out with Edmund Byrle to Turkey, -I think, and was married to him; and old Mr -Byrle sent out a friend to see them; and it was -in this way I got the particulars. It appears she -knew me again—only as the limping labourer, of -course—when she saw me talking at the ferry to -Tilley. But she knew <i>him</i> as the detective at -the <i>Yarmouth Smack</i>, and she thought that although -it might be all right, yet a detective was a dangerous -customer, and his acquaintances might be -dangerous also. Consequently she tried to persuade -Edmund to put off his journey; but he wanted -the money for the paper, and wouldn't listen to -her. But he agreed at last to go aboard in another -boat, which satisfied her, as she felt so certain -the skipper's boat would be attacked. As I have -explained, her precaution saved him from fifteen -years' 'penal,' which is the least he would have had. -The skipper was sent for life, having killed a -man in his arrest; but he didn't live six months -in prison; he never got over the tremendous blow -he received from Barney. All the reports spoke -of his being a receiver of 'stolen goods.' The Bank -paper was never mentioned, for the authorities -did not want to unsettle the public again, or let -them see what a narrow escape they had had.</p> - -<p>And now comes about the queerest part of my -story. Call me names if I didn't stop the thieving -at Byrle's factory as well as recover the Bank -paper, killing two birds with one stone.</p> - -<p>It was all through my catching the bony ferryman. -Finding that things was going hard with him, -and hoping to make them easier, and being disappointed -that those who were concerned with him -did not come forward with money to provide for -his defence, he 'rounded' on them; he split on -them all, and owned how he was the means of -taking the metal over to a fence on his side of the -water, the things being stolen by a mechanic and a -watchman who were in league. (I see I have used -the word 'fence;' this means a receiver of stolen -goods; but though I have been warned by the -editor of this magazine, we can't do without <i>some</i> -slang words.)</p> - -<p>Peter Tilley got a tidy present, and was noted -for promotion through this business. I was glad of -it, for Peter was a capital chap—never wanted to -play first-fiddle; and I admire people of that disposition. -I tell you what I did: I got the newest -five-pound note of all what the Bank gave me, and -they were all very clean and crisp, and I wrapped -old Bob the gatekeeper's own sixpence in it; and -I went to the factory and I stood a pint of ale, and -says: 'Bob, here's your sixpence!' He hadn't -known exactly who I was till then, for I had -made excuses as usual; and then I'm blessed if -he didn't quite cry over his luck. Mr Byrle too -thought a lot of Bob's kindness, for I told the old -gent about it; and I heard that on that very -account he put six shillings a week on Bob's -wages, and I was glad to hear it.</p> - -<p>They couldn't keep me off the detective staff -after this; and although I am free to confess—now -I am on my pension and nothing matters to me—that -I only stumbled upon these discoveries by -accident, I was praised to the skies by those for -whom I worked. However, it all died away, as -such things do; but I had managed to get my -house at Pentonville, as I have hinted; and a -pleasanter neighbourhood I don't know, or one -more convenient for getting about. I have had -some rather odd adventures since I have lived in -my street; you can't help seeing strange things, if -you keep your eyes open in London. But I didn't -begin to tell about <i>them</i>. I have finished my -account of the robberies at Byrle & Co.'s and my -story finishes in consequence.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="FEATS_OF_ENDURANCE" id="FEATS_OF_ENDURANCE">FEATS OF ENDURANCE.</a></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">London</span>, which has witnessed many strange doings -in its day, was lately the scene of the most -wonderful feats of pedestrianism ever accomplished -within a given period.</p> - -<p>Every hour, day and night, for six weary weeks -a man plodded on his way round a measured -track, until the grand total of fifteen hundred -miles in one thousand hours had been made up, -finishing his self-imposed task with his physical -and mental faculties apparently unimpaired.</p> - -<p>The task of walking fifteen hundred miles in a -thousand hours had never before been attempted, -and henceforth the new achievement will throw -into the cold shade of obscurity even the marvellous -act of walking a thousand miles in as many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_807" id="Page_807">{807}</a></span> -hours, which was once accomplished in 1809 by -Captain Robert Barclay of Ury, a Scotchman, who -proposed to perform the then incredible task of -walking a thousand miles in a thousand consecutive -hours. The proposition was received with -every sign of incredulity, though, when the affair -was finally arranged to take place, many thousands -of pounds were staked on the event. Newmarket -Heath was selected as the scene of the exploit, and -the famous walk began on the 1st of June 1809, at -midnight. It is unnecessary to repeat the details -of this feat; it will suffice to mention that the -enterprising captain completed his task on the 12th -July, at four o'clock in the afternoon.</p> - -<p>Since then, an attempt has, we believe, been -made to walk the same distance <i>backwards</i>; and -within the past twelve months, Weston, the American -pedestrian, has performed some remarkable -exploits of the kind; being however at last beaten -by an Irishman named Kelly.</p> - -<p>The hero of the lately completed task (fifteen -hundred miles in a thousand hours) is a -little Welshman of not more than five feet three -and a half inches in height, and about forty-two -years of age; while in personal appearance -and general <i>physique</i> he presents anything but -what is usually supposed to be the characteristic -of a good pedestrian. His name is William Gale, -and he is a bookbinder by trade, living at Clerkenwell.</p> - -<p>At the commencement of his task on Sunday -the 26th of August, he weighed no more than -eight stone four pounds (8 st. 4 lbs.); and from -that day until Saturday the 6th October, during -a portion of every hour day and night, he pursued -his monotonous way around the inclosure at Lillie -Bridge grounds, Brompton. When the attempt -was first announced, even those most acquainted -with pedestrian feats where great endurance was -required, expressed themselves dubious as to the -result; and in order to have a reliable record of -his proceedings, Gale requested the different sporting -papers to appoint competent men as judges—a -request which was at once generously complied -with.</p> - -<p>Thus we have an official report of his great -exploit, and the public are enabled to judge for -themselves on the nature of the feat performed. -Gale's average pace appears to have been about -four miles an hour; but when he had reached his -thousandth mile he assumed a brave spurt, and -footed it in ten minutes, or at the rate of six -miles an hour. During the last few days of his -walking he started rather stiffly at first, owing -to the pain caused by the swelling of some -varicose veins in his left leg; but undaunted by -so great and manifest a disadvantage, and other -disadvantages which we shall presently refer to, -the gallant little Welshman 'plodded his weary -way' with a determined pluck that won the -admiration and applause of every one present.</p> - -<p>On Friday the 5th October, the day before the -finish of the tramp, Dr Gant of the Royal Free -Hospital was called in to see this extraordinary -walker, and after examining his legs, he pronounced -Gale to be in excellent condition so far as -his physical powers were concerned; there being -no fever, the pulse only seventy, no murmur at -the heart; and the varicose veins which had been -the cause of so much pain to him, were rather -better than worse, having considerably decreased -in size. Perhaps the most remarkable part of the -performance is, that it has been accomplished on a -system of training which entirely sets at variance -all athletic rules, for Gale partook of no fixed -refreshment, neither did he have his meals at -stated hours. His chief food was plain mutton-chops; -and as an instance of how he varied his -dishes, his afternoon meal on Friday the 5th -October, which might have been either breakfast, -dinner, or supper (so irregular had he been in this -respect), consisted of a lobster and bread and -butter, followed by a fried sole, and one or two -cups of ordinarily strong tea. During the walk he -also drank a good deal of beer—not strong beer, -but the ale which is usually sold at fourpence per -quart, which he seemed to prefer to any other -kind, probably on account of its freedom from that -tendency to increase rather than assuage thirst, so -remarkably apparent in the stronger beers.</p> - -<p>Many strange incidents occurred in the course -of the six weeks, which were calculated to while -away the time, and occasionally to bring a smile -to the pedestrian's lips. For instance, a certain -illustrated sheet, notorious for its very sensational -cartoons, published a picture of Gale on the track -followed by Old Time with the conventional -scythe on his shoulder; and many people it would -seem actually paid their money with the idea that -they were going to see the two figures as thus -represented. One man, who had evidently gone -to the grounds for this purpose, had watched Gale -go round the track several times, when he could -no longer control his disappointment. He shouted -aloud, angrily demanding his money back, because, -as he said with the greatest <i>naďveté</i> possible, 'the -beggar with the scythe hadn't turned up!'</p> - -<p>As the last week of the great walking match -wore on, signs of weariness in the indomitable -pedestrian became painfully apparent, and many -persons began to fear that the task he had set -himself would after all remain unaccomplished. -On several of the rounds he fell asleep whilst -walking, and dropped to the ground; but this contact -with mother earth seemed to revive him -instantly, and he plodded on as pluckily as before.</p> - -<p>At length success crowned his efforts; and at -seventeen minutes past five o'clock (less a second) -on Saturday afternoon the 6th October 1877, Gale -terminated his long and dreary walk in the presence -of a large, fashionable, and enthusiastic -assemblage, who rewarded his efforts with several -rounds of hearty applause.</p> - -<p>From the commencement of his task to the -finish Gale bore up against all obstacles with extraordinary -pluck and determination, his last mile -being performed in <i>ten minutes and eight seconds</i>. -He was at once removed to the tent or pavilion -under which he had snatched so many brief half-hours' -rest, and was examined by three medical -men, who found that his heart was quite natural -in its movements, and that the temperature of his -body did not exceed one hundred and six degrees.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_808" id="Page_808">{808}</a></span></p> - -<p>The great feat which has thus been accomplished -without the aid of artificial training, is a marvellous -instance of what human endurance, allied with -courage and determination, can effect; though of -what particular benefit it may be to the world at -large it is utterly impossible to imagine.</p> - - -<p class='p2'>Since the preceding account was written, Gale -has accomplished a still more extraordinary feat, -and one which for strength of will and physical -endurance far surpasses his previous efforts. We -still fail, however, to see the benefit which -can accrue from exhibitions of this kind, and -well might he have been contented with the -laurels he had already won. He had scarcely -allowed himself time to recover from his former -task, when he once more appeared at a public -place of entertainment, namely the Agricultural -Hall at Islington, to walk four thousand quarter-miles -under the astounding condition, that it was -to be done in four thousand consecutive periods -of ten minutes.</p> - -<p>This of course deprived him of the half-hour's -rest which he could obtain at one time in the -former race, and only allowed him a few minutes -between each round to get a little sleep. Despite -these drawbacks, however, Gale finished his task -at eleven o'clock <span class="smcap lowercase">P.M.</span> on the 17th November, after -a dreary walk of nearly four weeks. By accomplishing -his task, he has placed himself at the head -of all the famous pedestrians the world has known; -and we trust that this fact will be sufficient to -satisfy his craving after what is at best but -ephemeral fame.</p> - -<p>Men have on many occasions attempted walking -feats which required a vast amount of physical -endurance, and have failed from their utter inability -to go without the natural quantum of sleep; -but Gale has not only shewn himself to be possessed -of the former, but to be altogether independent -of the latter. This, however, instead of -indicating 'pluck' merely, would rather seem to -point to a peculiarity in the man's constitution; -as there are doubtless many persons whose courage -would enable them to perform the same or even a -greater task if, like Gale, they could walk about -in a state of somnolency or semi-sleep—a state in -which, to use his own words, he was as one in a -dream, unconscious of all that was going on -around him, and believing himself to be walking -in forests and other places of silvan beauty; and -the truth of this was made evident by the fact that -he would have often exceeded the limit of his -walk had not the voice of his attendant aroused -him from his stupor.</p> - -<p>The average time occupied by this extraordinary -walker was by day about three minutes for each -quarter of a mile, and by night about five minutes; -and the fastest round recorded was done in two -minutes and forty-two seconds. His pulse was -always found to indicate a perfect state of health, -and was as regular when he left off as when he -commenced his task. His food consisted principally -of fish, fowl, chops, eggs, and light puddings; -and his drink was, with only one exception during -the whole time, tea.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the -whole affair was the fact that, although he sank -into a deep sleep directly he reached his chair -behind the curtain, which hid him from view -between his walks, the moment the bell rang -the second time, he would appear as fresh as -ever and begin trudging away again.</p> - -<p>When the feat was accomplished, Sir John -Astley stepped forward, and amid a scene of great -enthusiasm, presented the undaunted Welshman -with a silver belt of the value of a hundred guineas, -bearing the following inscription: 'This belt was -presented to <span class="smcap">William Gale</span> of Cardiff, on the 17th -November 1877, by some of the nobility and gentry -of Great Britain, in commemoration of his hitherto -unprecedented feat, namely walking one thousand -five hundred miles in one thousand hours at Lillie -Bridge Grounds, August 26th to October 6th, 1877; -and four thousand quarter-miles in four thousand -consecutive periods of ten minutes, at the Agricultural -Hall, London, October 21st to November 17th, -1877.' The belt is of lion's skin, mounted on -velvet, the metal portion of it weighing one hundred -ounces of sterling silver.</p> - -<p>None will begrudge Gale his well-earned reward; -but it is to be hoped that such exhibitions will in -future be discountenanced by the general public, -as they not only detract from the dignity of man, -but are needless and unwarrantable in a country -which, we trust, will ever pride itself on a nobler -civilisation than that which is founded upon mere -physical endurance.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="A_DIFFICULT_QUESTION" id="A_DIFFICULT_QUESTION">A DIFFICULT QUESTION.</a></h2> - -<p class='ph3'>THE STORY OF TWO CHRISTMAS EVES.</p> - - -<h3 title='PROLOGUE.'>IN TWO CHAPTERS.—PROLOGUE.</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the gray light of an Indian dawn, with the -cool breeze blowing through the curtains of the -tent, and his friend's sorrowful eyes looking down on -him, a soldier lay on his rough couch—waiting for -death. They were soon to be parted those two, who -had lived and fought together; but the face of -the one who was starting on that journey of which -none has measured the distance, was smilingly -calm, while the eyes of the other glistened with -regretful tears as he spoke low, faltering, remorseful -words.</p> - -<p>'Hush, Ralph, hush!' the other said at last. -'Don't you think, dear old fellow, I would sooner -lose my life in having saved yours, than in any -other way? After all, a few days or years sooner -or later, what does it signify? My fate is perhaps -the happiest, though I hope it is not. I don't -think life is so very desirable,' he continued; 'I -am only twenty-six; but mine has not been a -happy one. It was my own fault, though. Take -my advice, Ralph; don't marry young. There is -only one thing that troubles me'——</p> - -<p>'Your little girl,' Ralph interrupted. 'Wrayworth, -let me take care of her; if I can make -her happy, it will be some slight atonement, -some'——</p> - -<p>'You would take care of her, Ralph? would -you?' The dying man's eyes shone gratefully as -he looked up in his friend's face. 'She has nothing, -poor little thing,' he went on sadly—'motherless, -fatherless, scarcely more than a baby either. It -would be a heavy charge to leave you, Ralph.'</p> - -<p>'Wrayworth! how can you speak so; you will -drive me mad! You—you'—— He broke down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_809" id="Page_809">{809}</a></span> -utterly; it was something so terrible to see this -friend dying there—for him. 'Anything on earth -that I can do'—— he murmured.</p> - -<p>'You will do for her,' said Wrayworth. 'Thank -you. I have no friends to send her to. I meant -to have made her very happy.'</p> - -<p>'She shall be; I swear it!' Ralph answered -fervently, thankful for this charge, which might -in some degree help him to pay that debt of gratitude, -and forgetful that he had no control of fate, -that the promise he gave of happiness was a -fearfully presumptuous one. But he made it -willingly, gladly, solemnly, before God; and as -far as lay in his power it should sacredly be kept; -any sacrifice he would make for this child.</p> - -<p>His friend's eyes rested on him searchingly for -a moment. 'I trust you,' he said—'I trust you.'</p> - -<p>The hours passed on, the blazing sun arose, and -Ralph went out into the burning glare with -bent head and staggering footsteps, while words -he had heard long since seemed floating round -him in letters of fire: 'Greater love hath no man -than this, that a man lay down his life for his -friend.'—'Is there <i>none</i> greater?' he thought. 'Is -there nothing <i>I</i> can do to repay—nothing?'</p> - - -<h3>CHAPTER I.—ASKED.</h3> - -<p>The years were well on in their teens since -that melancholy scene was enacted in the Indian -tent—since Wrayworth consigned his only child -to the guardianship of the friend whose life, at -the expense of his own, he had saved on the -battle-field. A carriage rolled along the snowy -high-road through the cold clear air; the short -winter's day was drawing to its close, and up in -the darkening sky the stars were beginning to -shine upon the world's most joyful season, upon -Christmas eve. The world's most joyful season? -We call it so, this festival, more than eighteen -hundred years old; but does the world think it so?—the -world, with its thousand cares and crosses, -its deep and hidden sorrows, its partings and its -tears? Of those amongst the myriads who keep -the Yule-tide feast, how many hold it with a -chastened joy! For on that day most of all our -thoughts go back to other years, to other faces, to -other lips that have wished us 'a merry Christmas;' -to other hands, which have clasped ours so -loyally, to those who have loved us so long ago!</p> - -<p>But Major Loraine had no sad memories connected -with the season as he drove up to the old -house, from which duty had so frequently called -him, and which he had not seen for five years. In -the wide, dark, panelled hall his step-mother -stood waiting to welcome him, as gladly as though -he had been her own son. He was only a boy -when she first came there, when the pink was -fresh on her cheek and the gold bright in her -hair; they had been drawn to each other then; -and through the long years of her widowhood his -loving care had helped to lighten her load of -sorrow; so it was not wonderful that for months -past she had been eagerly looking forward to his -return.</p> - -<p>The greetings over, they sat down side by side, -talking, as those talk after long separation, of past, -present, and future; of their acquaintances married, -dead, or far away; of things on the estate, prosperous -or failures; of the ball to be given next month, -of the one they were going to, to-night; of how -much Emma was improved since she 'came out,' -how Katharine was considered one of the handsomest -girls in the place, and how she might -marry Sir Michael Leyland with thirty thousand -a year if she liked.</p> - -<p>'But why ever doesn't she like?' asked the -Major, astonished at this new phase in the character -of his worldly-minded sister.</p> - -<p>'That is just what troubles me,' answered Mrs -Loraine. 'They are all at the church now, helping -to decorate. Louise wanted to stay at home to -welcome you, but I sent them all off, so as to have -you to myself for an hour. You will see a great -alteration in Louise, Ralph.'</p> - -<p>'Shall I, mother?' he said smiling. 'I think -not. Her letters are the same always; they have -altered in style a little of course in the last year -or two, but it is the same spirit—the same -creature.'</p> - -<p>'But not the same face, Ralph. Remember you -have not seen her for five years, which have not -altered you, but which have changed her from an -unformed girl of fourteen to a lovely woman; -with that bright changing beauty, which has -more charm for a man than regularity of feature. -It is a very difficult question.'</p> - -<p>'What is a difficult question?' asked Ralph, as -his mother paused.</p> - -<p>'What to do with Louise.'</p> - -<p>'You hinted something of the kind in your last -letter, mother,' he said gravely. 'I am sorry, but -I must confess this house seems large enough for -four women. You know how I am situated; you -know the promise which binds me. But tell me,' -he added smiling, 'what has Louise done? She -seemed to me gentle and tractable enough when I -was last at home.'</p> - -<p>'I have not the slightest fault to find,' Mrs -Loraine replied; 'you know I am very fond of -her. You will think my difficulty very womanish; -simply, Louise is too pretty.'</p> - -<p>'And some one has told her so,' said Ralph, -laughing. 'Go on.'</p> - -<p>'It is not that; but I cannot bear to see my own -child's happiness destroyed by another, who, if not -a stranger, has at least no claim upon her.'</p> - -<p>Ralph frowned slightly. 'Perhaps not,' he -answered; 'the claim is upon me, and it is a sacred -one. So,' he continued, 'it is a case of rivals, I see.'</p> - -<p>'Simply this, Ralph. You remember the Levesons -of Leigh Court, where we are going to-night? -Their eldest son is in the —th Dragoons, and -has been home on leave. Louise was away when -he first came here, and he appeared very much -struck with Katharine; and no wonder; she is -very handsome. Well—don't laugh at me; I don't -like match-making as a rule; but I thought as she -seemed interested in him, there was no harm in -inviting him sometimes. But as soon as Louise -came home, he transferred his attentions to her. -Katharine says nothing; but it makes a kind of -awkwardness between them. I know she feels it, -poor child; though indeed I believe Vere Leveson -is simply flirting with Louise.'</p> - -<p>Major Loraine laughed. 'Poor mother!' he -said, 'you will have enough to do if you take all -your children's love affairs to heart so seriously. -These things always right themselves, you know. -But I confess I am surprised to hear of Katharine -going in for sentiment; I should have thought Sir -Michael more in her line. Is that all, mother?'</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_810" id="Page_810">{810}</a></span></p> - -<p>'No; only the first of my difficulties,' she -answered half sadly. 'You know what my health -has been for the last few years; you know—— Well, -you do not wish me to speak of that; but it is -better to look in the face of possibility. Suppose -anything happened to me, Ralph, what would -become of Louise?'</p> - -<p>'You speak of what I hope may be far distant, -mother,' he answered tenderly. 'But why should -you be uneasy about her? In the event of her not -marrying, she would always have a home here -with me.'</p> - -<p>Mrs Loraine shook her head. 'Turn round and -look in the glass,' she said; 'thirty-nine is not -such a very formidable age.'</p> - -<p>He turned, and contemplated his bronzed face in -the glass; such a handsome, noble face, telling of a -nature that could not act falsely or meanly. The -broad square forehead, marred by a sabre-cut, and -the dark hair flecked here and there, by the Indian -sun, with gray; nothing else to find fault with in -the frank kind smile, the fine regular features, the -dark true eyes.</p> - -<p>'I think there is no fear of my being taken for -younger than I am, mother,' he said, smiling.</p> - -<p>'It is an awkward position for you, though,' she -answered; 'and as I said, a difficult question -what to do. We must hope for the best, Ralph. -You are going to join the others now, I suppose?'</p> - -<p>'Yes; I think I can find my way.'</p> - -<p>He went out into the keen frosty air, walking -slowly, though it was unpleasantly cold to one -accustomed to tropical climates. He was thinking -over his mother's words, and knew she was right -as to the awkwardness of the position. He saw -the peace of the household was troubled, without -knowing how to set matters right, and he thought -of the old friend who had trusted his child to him. -He had vowed she should be happy, and now it -seemed a difficult vow to keep; but for the sake of -the man who had died for him sixteen long years -ago, the pledge then given must be redeemed.</p> - -<p>Louise Wrayworth's life had been a bright one -hitherto; her guardian's home was the only one she -could remember, and he had striven to fill in some -degree her father's place. To him, from infancy -to womanhood, she had looked up with loving -grateful reverence, regarding him, present or -absent, as the noblest of created beings.</p> - -<p>He reached the old church, and made his way -round to the open vestry door. The steps were -encumbered with bundles of evergreens; the voices -of the workers, who had finished their task, were -audible. He pushed the door further open, and -went in. The floor was covered with boughs, and -around the pillars were wreathed holly and other -evergreens in honour of the joyous season. Some -of the choristers stood waiting for the choir-practice, -and the organist was softly playing <i>Adeste -Fideles</i>.</p> - -<p>'Ralph!' cried a young fresh voice; and a -slight fair girl with a merry face sprang up from -the floor, with her hands full of the scarlet berries, -which fell hither and thither in bright-hued rain, -as with complete indifference to the by-standers, -she gave the returned soldier a sisterly embrace. -'You dear old thing to come for us!' she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>'Emma, Emma!' exclaimed Ralph, laughing and -disengaging himself; 'you have not learned to -behave any better in five years.'</p> - -<p>But his young sister had vanished, and he -turned to greet the vicar; and one or two of the -ladies he recognised. In a few minutes Emma -reappeared; and behind her came a tall fair -girl with masses of golden hair, and great beautiful -cold blue eyes. She greeted Major Loraine -affectionately, but with the quiet stately grace -habitual to her. Five years had not changed -Katharine Loraine; at twenty-four she was still -the same majestic Queen Katharine as at nineteen, -with whom he had always had so little -sympathy, whose nature he had found so difficult -to understand.</p> - -<p>'Where is Louise?' he asked presently. 'Is she -not here?'</p> - -<p>'She went into the churchyard just now,' -answered Emma, 'to put a wreath on Nellie -Bryant's grave. You remember her, Ralph?'</p> - -<p>'Louise's friend? Yes.'</p> - -<p>'A <i>triste</i> employment for Christmas eve,' observed -one of the gentlemen decorators to Katharine, -as he stooped to disentangle her dress from a -long sprig of ivy.</p> - -<p>'Oh, Mr Leveson went to hold a lantern for her,' -Katharine answered, with the slightest possible -shade of contempt in the silvery tones of her -voice; 'and Louise is never <i>triste</i>, unless she is -by herself.'</p> - -<p>The choir was now fully assembled; the organist -struck up the anthem, the rest were silent to -listen, and Ralph Loraine went out to look for his -ward. He came round the east end of the old -church, and stood still for a moment in the -shadow. There were two people standing at the -edge of the path, looking down on the grave at -their feet, where the lantern's light shewed the -shining holly upon the upright marble cross. It -shewed too the face of his friend's child; a beautiful -face, as his step-mother had said, with large -dark eyes and wavy dusky hair, a clear delicate -complexion with a little rose-flush on the cheeks, -and full red lips half-parted by the sweetest smile -he had ever seen; with the same erect carriage of -the head, the same fearless straight regard which -had characterised her father.</p> - -<p>It was so strange to see her there a woman, -whom he had left a mere girl; and as he looked -on the fair face, something seemed to whisper that -the ideal beauty he had so often dreamed of was -before him at last. They moved away, and came -slowly nearer, and paused again where he could -see her companion; and for a moment he almost -hated the man for his youth, and his handsome -face, and the deep-blue eyes aflame with passion-fire -as they rested on the child of his dead friend; -and another whisper which silenced the first, told -him how fitted was each for the other.</p> - -<p>'If <i>I</i> were lying there,' said Vere Leveson, and -Ralph could hear every one of the foolish, softly -spoken words, 'would you ever make wreaths for -<i>me</i>, I wonder?'</p> - -<p>'I don't know.'</p> - -<p>'Don't you? I wish you did; for I thought just -now I should be glad to be lying there, if you -would remember me.'</p> - -<p>Ralph had heard enough, and tried to slip away -unseen; but the gravel crunched under his feet -and betrayed him.</p> - -<p>Louise started, and a bright vivid blush covered -her face as she sprang forward. 'Lorrie! Oh, how -glad I am to see you again!' she cried, as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_811" id="Page_811">{811}</a></span> -took both his hands in hers and lifted her cheek -for his kiss.</p> - -<p>He felt half sorry she had done so; that and -the old childish name put him immediately in -his place as guardian, and made him ashamed of -his thoughts. 'How you are altered, Louise!' he -said, looking down at her admiringly. 'I think I -should hardly have known you!'</p> - -<p>'I should have known you, Lorrie, anywhere,' -she said reproachfully.</p> - -<p>'That is rather different,' he said; 'when we -once get old, we don't change so quickly.'</p> - -<p>'You would not like it if I said you were old, -Lorrie. But tell me, am <i>I</i> altered for the worse? -or'——</p> - -<p>'You have no need to come to me for compliments, -surely,' he said smiling.</p> - -<p>'I should think more of yours than of any one's,' -she whispered, with that sweet dangerous smile; -a smile which a man like Ralph Loraine should -have taken as a warning not to feel its influence -too often.</p> - -<p>'How rude I am!' she said at last.—'Mr Leveson, -do you know my guardian?' She turned to her -companion, who stood holding the lantern a few -yards from them.</p> - -<p>'I had the honour of dining in your company -once, Major Loraine,' he answered, stepping forward. -'It is some time ago, when I first joined at Madras; -but I well remember my anxiety to see such a -distinguished soldier as yourself.'</p> - -<p>There was a ring of truth and honest admiration -in the words, which raised them above an -ordinary compliment, and which made Ralph -hold out his hand and answer cordially: 'I have -a bad memory for faces, or I think I should have -remembered yours.'</p> - -<p>'Thanks,' said Vere, laughing. 'We shall have -the pleasure of seeing you to-night, I hope?'</p> - -<p>'Yes; my mother told me of the invitation.'</p> - -<p>'Of course he is coming,' said Louise. 'And -you will dance with me all the evening, Lorrie; -won't you?'</p> - -<p>'Not quite all, Miss Wrayworth; please, don't -forget my waltzes,' said Vere, holding out his -hand. 'I must be off now; so good-bye for the -present. You won't forget?'</p> - -<p>She looked up quickly. 'Perhaps,' the lips said -laughingly; but the dark eyes gave a sweet silent -answer Ralph did not see, though he was watching -them. But after Vere Leveson had gone, he -walked home beneath the Christmas stars, with -Louise's hand resting on his arm, dreaming as he -went, a fair, fond, foolish dream.</p> - - -<p class='p2'>The Christmas-eve ball at Leigh Park was a -regular institution, one which Sir Harry Leveson -had kept up for years. It was a pretty sight, -Ralph thought, as he stood leaning against a -window, and looking round to select a partner. -And amongst all the fair women, the one he -thought the fairest was his young ward Louise -Wrayworth, in her white floating dress, with its -wreaths of holly, and the red clustering berries in -her dark hair.</p> - -<p>Ralph had been watching Vere Leveson, trying -to decide in his own mind whether Mrs Loraine's -verdict of flirtation was a just one; and he -judged that it was; for the attentions of the young -officer were apparently equally divided between -Louise and Katharine. Ralph did not happen to -be near when, later on, he led Louise to one of -the cool empty rooms, where through the open -window could be heard the merry Christmas bells. -He did not see the hand-clasp or the light that -flashed in the eyes of each. He did not hear the -hurried whisper: 'Louise, you won't forget me, -you will trust me till next Christmas-time?'</p> - -<p>The ball was over, the rooms were dark and -silent; the whole world waited for the sun to -rise on Christmas-day.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="IS_THE_TELEPHONE_A_PRACTICAL" id="IS_THE_TELEPHONE_A_PRACTICAL">IS THE TELEPHONE A PRACTICAL -SUCCESS?</a></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> September last appeared in this <i>Journal</i> an -article entitled 'Singing and Talking by Telegraph;' -and in that paper we attempted to describe -the mechanism of that wonderful little instrument -the telephone. It is now our purpose to say something -regarding the progress that has been made -towards perfecting the invention; but in order to -make the article as clear as possible, we venture -once more upon a few words explanatory of the -instrument.</p> - -<p>The telephone as it is now made is an exceedingly -simple-looking apparatus similar in appearance -to a stethoscope; to the handle of a girl's -skipping-rope; or better still, to a large-sized -penny wooden trumpet. Inside this hollow cylinder, -and within an inch or so of the wider end, is -fixed a plate of iron as thin as a well-worn sixpence, -and about the size of a half-crown piece. -This is called the diaphragm. Behind the diaphragm, -nearly touching it, and extending to the -narrower end of the cylinder, is a piece of 'soft' -iron enveloped in wire coils, with a permanent -magnet beyond. Outside the narrower end of the -cylinder, and communicating with the coils that -surround the iron inside, are attached two screws -or 'terminals,' which are 'joined up' to a main -wire, communicating with the distant or receiving -telephone wherever that may be, and which is -precisely similar to the one we have described. -When we apply our mouth to the bell-shaped -end of the apparatus, and speak or shout or sing, -we set the diaphragm vibrating as in a tuning-fork; -the vibrations thus created are electrically -communicated through the wire to a distant -telephone, and are repeated on its diaphragm -with more or less distinctness.</p> - -<p>It is known that the motion of an iron plate -contiguous to the poles of a magnet creates a -disturbance of electricity in coils surrounding -those poles; and the duration of this current -will coincide with the vibratory motion of the -plate or diaphragm. When, therefore, the human -voice (or any other suitable sound) impinges -through the tube against this diaphragm, the -diaphragm begins to vibrate, and awakens, so -to speak, electrical action in the coils of wire -surrounding the poles of the magnet; not a current, -but a series of undulations, something like -those produced by the voice in the air around us. -In short the telephone is an apparatus designed -to transmit sound through a wire of indefinite -length; the voice being, so to speak, 'converted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_812" id="Page_812">{812}</a></span> -into electricity at one end, the electricity becoming -voice at the other.'</p> - -<p>With these few explanatory remarks, we now -proceed to offer to our readers the following interesting -experiments made by a gentleman well -skilled in telegraphy.</p> - -<p>'Journalists,' he says, 'with no special knowledge -of the difficulties the invention has to -encounter as a telegraph instrument, have expatiated -in such enthusiastic terms upon the results -said to have been achieved by the telephone, that -a somewhat exaggerated notion of its powers -and capabilities has been accepted by the general -public. It appears, therefore, to the writer of those -lines that a statement of the experiences of a -person practically engaged in the work of telegraphy -may assist in placing the phenomena of -the telephone on a proper footing.</p> - -<p>'Scientifically, the telephone is a great and -undoubted success; and a person would be grievously -in error if, because of some undoubted -hindrances to its practical use, he pronounced it -unworthy of further experiment. The emergence -of telegraphy from the domain of experiment -into that of daily practical use is a fact so -undoubted, and one with which we are now so -familiar, that it is impossible to say at what -moment the telephone, at present a scientific toy, -may become a daily necessity not only of telegraphic -but of ordinary commercial work.</p> - -<p>'Being engaged in daily contact with a large -telegraphic centre, and in association with men -who have the command of every means of testing -the invention in a practical work-a-day manner, -the writer was able to gauge pretty accurately the -range within which the telephone can work. It -must be understood, however, that in recording -the effects observed by him and his associates, he -has no desire to invalidate, or even to call in question -the experiences of others who may have been -able to arrive at better results. The telephone is -in the hands of some of the first electricians and -telegraphists of the day, and differences of conditions -(not to speak of differences of capacity on -the part of the operator) may give variety in -the observations made. The very difficulties and -drawbacks now to be recorded will no doubt some -day suggest to a master-mind the method by which -they may be overcome. But till that day arrives, -the telephone must be content to remain where -the writer leaves it, an undoubted success from -a scientific point of view, but overwhelmed with -obstacles to its practical use, in this country at -least, in general telegraphy.</p> - -<p>'When a telegraphist first gets into his hand -this beautifully simple and electrically delicate instrument, -his first inclination is to test its carrying-power. -This is of course a closet experiment, -not working with actual telegraph line, but -with "resistance" equivalent to a telegraph line of -stated length. An experiment of this nature gives -better results than could be obtained by a veritable -line, because the insulation is, so to speak, perfect. -No leakage at undesigned points of contact, or -disturbance from unfavourable atmospheric conditions, -is felt, and the experiment is entirely under -the observer's control. The apparatus used is -designed to offer the same labour for the electric -current to overcome, as would be offered by a -stated length of outside telegraph line. This -artificial resistance is nicely graduated, and as -the method of testing was suggested by Ohm, a -German electrician, the unit of resistance is, as -we once previously explained, termed an "ohm." -Removing the telephone to such a distance that -the two observers were "out of earshot," the test -with resistance was tried, and with a resistance of -one thousand ohms—roughly speaking, equal to -seventy miles of a well-constructed line—the sound -was perfect, although not very loud. Every articulation -of the speaker at the other end could be distinguished -so long as silence was maintained in the -room, or so long as no heavy lorry rumbling over -the stones outside sent in harsh noises which -drowned the faint whisper of the instrument. The -resistance was gradually raised to four thousand -ohms—nearly three hundred miles—with like -favourable results; and for some little distance -beyond, articulation could still be made out. But -by the time ten thousand ohms had been applied, -putting the speaker at a distance of, say, seven -hundred miles, sound only, but not articulate -sound, reached the ear. The tone was there, and -every inflection of the voice could be followed; -but articulation was absent, although the listener -strove every nerve to catch the sound, which the -speaker, as was afterwards ascertained, was shouting -in a loud clear voice. The prolonged notes of -an air sung could be heard with the resistance -named, but again no words could be distinguished. -The voice, whether in speaking or singing, has a -weird curious sound in the telephone. It is in -a measure ventriloqual in character; and with -the telephone held an inch or two from the ear, -it has the effect as if some one were singing far -off in the building, or the sound were coming up -from a vaulted cellar or through a massive stone -wall.</p> - -<p>'Proceeding to our next experiment, we joined -up the telephones in one office to several wires -in succession, putting ourselves in circuit with -lines going to various distances and working with -different instruments. When this was done, the -real obstacle to telephonic progress at once asserted -itself in the shape of "induction." The first wire -experimented with was partly "overhouse" and -partly underground, and the offices upon it were -working Wheatstone A B C instruments. It is -difficult to render clear to the person ignorant of -telegraphic phenomena the idea expressed by the -word <i>induction</i>. Briefly it may be put thus, that -when a strong electric current is passing on a -wire, it has the faculty of setting up a current of -opposite character in any wire not then working, -or working with a feebler current, that may be in -its vicinity. The why or the wherefore cannot be -explained, but there is the fact.</p> - -<p>'In various recent articles on the telephone, -mention has been made of "contact" as the cause -of disturbance. This word, however, although it -has been used by telegraphists, is misleading, and -can only be used as an endeavour to express popularly -an electric fact. Actual contact of one wire -with another would spoil the business altogether. -A wire bearing an electric current seems to be for -the time surrounded, to an undefined distance, by -an electric atmosphere, and all wires coming -within this atmosphere have a current in an opposite -direction set up in them. This is as near an -explanation of the phenomena of induction as the -state of telegraph science at present affords. Now -the telephone works with a very delicate magnetic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_813" id="Page_813">{813}</a></span> -current, and is easily overpowered by the action of -a stronger current in any wire near which the telephone -wire may come. To work properly it -"requires a silent line."</p> - -<p>'In the place where the observations were made, -there are a large number of wires, travelling -under the floor, through the test-box, along -passages to the battery-room and to a pole on -the outside, whence they radiate, or out to -a pipe underground, where many gutta-percha-covered -wires lie side by side. On applying -the ear to a telephone joined into a circuit -working in such an office a curious sound is heard, -comparable most nearly to the sound of a pot -boiling. But the practised ear could soon separate -the boiling into distinct sounds. There was one -masterful Morse instrument—probably on the wire -lying nearest the one on which we were joined up—whose -peremptory "click, cli-i-i-ck, click," representing -"dot, dash, dot" on the printed slip we read -from, could be heard over all. Then there was -the rapid whir of a Wheatstone fast-speed transmitter, -sending dots and dashes at express speed -by mechanical means; the sharp well-pronounced -rattle in sounds of equal length of a needle instrument; -and most curious of all, the "rrrrr-op, rr-op, -rrrrrrrrrrrrr-op, rrrrr-op, rr-op" of the A B C, the -deadliest foe to the telephone in its endeavours to -gain admission into the family of telegraph instruments. -There may be reason in this, for as the -Wheatstone A B C is the instrument used for -private telegraphy, or for the least important -public offices, because it requires no "code" to -be learned by the manipulator, so it would likely -be the first to be displaced if an acoustic telegraph -permanently took the field. So the sentient little -A B C opens its mitrailleuse fire on the intruder, -on whose delicate currents, in the words of an -accomplished electrician, it plays "old harry." The -peculiar character of the sounds we borrow on the -telephone from this instrument arises from the -fact that as the needle flies round the dial, a -distinct current or pulsation passes for each letter, -and the final "op" we have tried to represent shews -the stoppage of the needle at the letters as words -were spelled out.</p> - -<p>'It must not be understood that the <i>sounds</i> -of those various instruments are actually heard -in the telephone. What happens is, that the -currents stealing along the telephone wire by -induction produce vibrations in the diaphragm -of that instrument, the little metal membrane -working on the magnet in ready response to -every current set up in the latter. When it -is remembered that the principle of the telephone -is that the sound-caused vibrations in the -filmy diaphragm at one end create similar but -magnetically-caused vibrations in the diaphragm -at the other end, and so reproduce the sound, it -will be obvious why the rapid roll of the A B C -currents, or the swift sending of the fast-speed -transmitter, when brought by induction into the -telephone wire, cause disturbances in the sound -vibrations, and thereby cripple the instrument. -One instrument of either kind named would have -a certain effect, but one Morse or single needle -would not have any greatly prejudicial effect. But -a number of Morses or needles going together, -such as were heard in our experiments, would -combine to be nearly as bad as one A B C or fast-speed -Morse. So delicate is the diaphragm to -sound (and necessarily so), that in all experiments -with the telephone itself, such as those with "resistance," -or those made at home to test the instrument -apart from telegraphic considerations, every -sound from without broke in, giving an effect like -the well-known "murmur of the shell."</p> - -<p>'Joining up our wire now to a more distant -station at some miles along the railway, and -having on its poles a number of what are -known as "heavy" circuits, the pot-boiling sound -assumed even more marked characteristics. The -A B C no longer affected us; but a number of -Morse instruments were in full gear, and the fast-speed -transmitter was also at work. While we -were listening, the circuit to which we were joined -began to work, and the effect was literally electrical. -Hitherto we had only borrowed currents—or, -seeing they were so unwelcome, we might -call them currents thrust upon us—and the -sounds, though sharp and incessant, were gentle -and rather low. But when the strong current was -set up in the wire itself, the listener who held -one of our telephones nearly jumped from the -floor when an angry "pit-<i>pat</i>, pit-<i>pat</i>, pit-<i>pat</i>-pit" -assailed his ear, causing him to drop the instrument -as if he had been shot! It was a result none -of us had expected, for it did not seem possible -that the delicate metal diaphragm and the little -magnet of the telephone could produce a sound so -intense. Of course it was only intense when the -ear was held close to the orifice of the instrument. -Held in the hand away from the ear, the telephone -now made a first-rate "sounder," and we could tell -without difficulty not only the signals that were passing, -but found in it a more comfortable tone than -that given by the Morse sounder in common use.</p> - -<p>'Other experiments of a like character led to -results so similar, that they may be left unnoticed; -and we proceed now to describe one of a different -character, designed to test the telephone itself. At -a distance of about half a mile, access was obtained -to a Morse instrument in private use, and joined -to the office by "overhouse" wire. Dividing our -party and arranging a programme of operations, -two remained with a telephone in the office, while -other two, of whom the writer was one, proceeded -with the second telephone to the distant instrument. -By an arrangement which a practical telegraphist -will understand, the key of the Morse -was kept in circuit, so that signals could be exchanged -in that way. It may be noticed, however, -that this was hardly necessary, as the diaphragm -of the telephone can be used as a key, with the -finger or a blunt point, so that dot and dash signals -are interchangeable, should the voice fail to be -heard. As the wire in this instance travelled -almost alone over part of its course, we were in -hopes that induced currents would be conspicuous -by their absence. In this we were, however, disappointed, -for the pot was boiling away, rather more -faintly, but with the "plop-plop-plop" distinctly -audible, and once more a sharp masterful Morse -click was heard coming in now and again. The -deadly A B C was, however, absent, so that our -experiment proved highly successful. For some -reason or another—probably an imperfect condition -of the wire, or the effects of "induction" over and -above what made itself audible to us—the spoken -sounds were deficient in distinctness; but songs -sung at either end were very beautifully heard, -and indeed the sustained note of sung words had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_814" id="Page_814">{814}</a></span> -always a better carrying-power than rapidly spoken -words. Every syllable, and every turn of melody -of such a song as <i>My Mother bids me bind my Hair</i>, -sung by a lady at one end, or <i>When the Heart of -a Man</i>, sung at the other, could be distinctly -heard, but with the effect before noticed, that the -voice was muffled or shut in, as if the singer -were in a cellar, while it was not always possible -to say at once whether the voice was that of a -man or a woman.</p> - -<p>'In the course of some domestic experiments, -it was remarked that in playing the scale downwards -from C in alt. on the piano, the result -to the listener was a "tit" only for the four -upper notes, although all below that had a clear -"ting," and the octaves below were mostly distinct, -although at the low notes of the piano the sound -was again lost. The ringing notes of a musical -box were not so successful, but with close attention, -its rapid execution of <i>Tommy Dodd</i> could be -well enough made out. An endeavour was made -to catch the ticking of a watch, but this was -not successful, and the experiment is not recommended, -as the near presence of a watch to -a magnet is not desirable; and the watch exposed -to it in this instance was, it is thought, affected -for a short time thereafter, although it received -no permanent damage.</p> - -<p>'The observations made in the course of these -experiments convinced those present that the -telephone presents facilities for the dangerous -practice of "tapping the wires," which may make -it useful or dangerous, according as it is used -for proper or improper purposes. It might be an -important addition for a military commander to -make to his flying cavalry; as an expert sound-reader, -accompanying a column sent to cut off -the enemy's telegraph connections, might precede -the act of destruction by robbing him of some -of his secrets. The rapidity and simplicity of the -means by which a wire could be "milked," without -being cut or put out of circuit, struck the -whole of the party engaged in the various trials -that are described above. Of course the process of -tapping by telephone could not be carried out -if the instrument in use was an A B C or single -needle, or if the wire was being worked duplex -or with a fast-speed Morse, for in these cases -the sounds are too rapid or too indefinite to be -read by ear. The danger is thus limited to -ordinary sounder or Morse telegraphs; but these -still form the mainstay of every public system.</p> - -<p>'Since the trials above described were made, the -newspapers have recorded a beautiful application -by Sir William Thomson, of the electric part of -the telephone to exhibit at a distance the motions -of an anemometer; the object being to shew the -force of air-currents in coal-mines. This is a -useful application of an electric fact, and doubtless -points the way to further discoveries. But -it is to be noticed that the experiment, interesting -as it is, hardly comes under the head of a tele<i>phone</i>, -what is reproduced at a distance being not sound -but motion.</p> - -<p>'Obviously the invention cannot rest where it -is; and no one more readily than the practical -telegraphist will welcome an instrument at once -simple, direct, and reliable. Even in its present -form the telephone may be successfully used -where its wire is absolutely <i>isolated</i> from all other -telegraph wires. But the general impression is -that its power of reproducing the sound must be -intensified before its use can become general even -as a substitute in works or offices for the speaking-tube.'</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="SINGING_MICE" id="SINGING_MICE">SINGING MICE.</a></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">These</span> interesting animals are said to be smaller -than ordinary mice, to be usually of a brownish -colour, and to have long ears. Naturalists have -not come to any exact reason as to why they -sing. Some persons impute the singing to -disease, as in the wheezing of any one from -a cold. Others attribute it to an internal parasite. -But these seem unsatisfactory explanations; -for when the little creatures sing they are as -lively as common domestic mice. The faculty -of singing in a small way with various modulations -appears to be quite natural to the animals. -It has been noticed that during their musical performances -there is a throbbing in the throat, and -that the snout is elevated in giving play to the -voice, as in the warbling of birds. The song or -warble of these mice is said to be sweet and varied. -Hitherto not much attention has been given by -zoologists to the phenomenon; but we observe by -various notices in <i>Land and Water</i> and in <i>Nature</i>, -two periodicals devoted to pleasant discussions on -subjects of natural history, &c., that singing mice -are becoming objects of careful investigation.</p> - -<p>An amusing account of a singing mouse appears -in <i>Nature</i>, Nov. 9, from the pen of Mr Joseph -Sidebotham, dating from Menton, south of France.</p> - -<p>'Last winter we occupied the rooms we now do -at Menton. Early in February we heard as we -thought the song of a canary, and fancied it was -outside our balcony; however, we soon discovered -that the singing was in our <i>salon</i>, and that the -songster was a mouse. At that time the weather -was rather cold, and we had a little fire, and the -mouse spent most of the day under the fender, -where we kept it supplied with bits of biscuit. In -a few days it became quite tame, and would come -on the hearth in an evening and sing for several -hours. Sometimes it would climb up the chiffonier -and ascend a vase of flowers to drink at the water, -and then sit and sing on the edge of the table and -allow us to go quite near to it without ceasing its -warble. One of its favourite haunts was the wood-basket, -and it would often sit and sing on the edge -of it. On February 12, the last night of the -Carnival, we had a number of friends in our <i>salon</i>, -and the little mouse sang most vigorously, much -to their delight and astonishment, and was not in -the least disturbed by the talking. In the evening -the mouse would often run about the room and -under the door into the corridor and adjoining -rooms, and then return to its own hearth. After -amusing us for nearly a month, it disappeared; -and we suspect it was caught in a trap set in one -of the rooms beyond. The mouse was small and -had very large ears, which it moved about much -whilst singing. The song was not unlike that of -the canary in many of its trills, and it sang quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_815" id="Page_815">{815}</a></span> -as beautifully as any canary, but it had more -variety, and some of its notes were much lower, -more like those of the bullfinch. One great -peculiarity was a sort of double song, which we -had now and then—an air with an accompaniment. -The air was loud and full, the notes -being low and the accompaniment quite subdued. -Some of our party were sure that there -was more than one mouse, until we had the -performance from the edge of the wood-basket -and were within a yard or two of it. My son -has suggested that many or all mice may have -the same power, but that the notes are usually -so much higher in the scale that, like the cry -of the dormouse and the bat, they are at the -verge of the pitch to which the human ear is -sensitive. This may be so; but the notes of our -mouse were so low, and even the highest so far -within the limits of the human ear, that I am -inclined to think the gift of singing in mice is but -of very rare occurrence.'</p> - -<p>In the same periodical, the following additional -particulars as regards singing mice are presented -by Mr George J. Romanes, Regent's Park.</p> - -<p>'Several years ago I received some of these animals -from a friend, and kept them in confinement for -one or two months. The description which your -correspondent gives of their performance leaves -very little to be added by me, as in all respects this -description agrees perfectly with my own observations. -I write, however, to remark one curious -fact about the singing of these mice, namely, that -it seemed to be evoked by two very opposite -sets of conditions. When undisturbed, the little -animals used for the most part to remain quiet -during the day, and begin to sing at night; but if -at any time they were alarmed, by handling them -or otherwise, whether during the day or night, -they were sure to sing vigorously. Thus the -action seemed to be occasioned either by contentment -or by fear. The character of the song, however, -was slightly different in the two cases.</p> - -<p>'That these mice did not learn this art from -singing birds there can be no doubt, for they were -captured in a house where no such birds were kept. -It may be worth while to add that this house -(a London one) seemed to have been suddenly -invaded, so to speak, by a number of these animals, -for although my friend has lived in this house -since the year 1862, it was only during a few -months that singing mice were heard in it, and -during these few months they were heard in considerable -numbers.'</p> - -<p>As corroborative of the foregoing notices, we -give the following very interesting account of a -singing mouse, obligingly sent to us by a correspondent, -Mr Alfred Wright.</p> - -<p>'In the early spring of last year I was invited -by an old widow lady to see a singing mouse, -which she had at night heard singing and scratching -beneath the floor of her bed, and been so fortunate -as to catch in a trap. I went, and found the -little animal in a cage with a revolving wheel, -similar to that in which a squirrel is usually confined. -Whether the mouse was shy at the presence -of a stranger, I do not know. It remained silent; -but at length, after my patience had been nearly -exhausted, it began to sing in clear warbling notes -like those of a bird. When I called the next -evening to hear the mouse again, I heard him to -perfection; and was so filled with interest in the -novelty, that I begged permission to bring any -friend who was a sceptic of the fact, or who might -desire to see the phenomenon. My request was -readily granted. One friend of course had heard -of a singing mouse, but he certainly would not -allow that a prolonged squeak was a song—not -he! Another friend of course had heard a mouse -sing when he was a boy; but he was told, he -perfectly well remembered, that the <i>noise</i> produced -by the mouse was the result of some -internal disease. Well, both of these went with -me to hear the little creature. Unfortunately, at -first it was again shy; but after an interval of -silence it commenced to sing—sweetly, like the -low notes, the jug, of the nightingale. My friends -had come, had heard, and were conquered! The -one acknowledged it was really a song and not -a squeak; the other, that the noise was certainly -dulcet; but still he thought it possibly might be -the result of disease, and not natural to the little -animal. We suggested that this wonderful natural -curiosity (as we deemed it) should be sent to -an eminent naturalist who resided near. Great, -therefore, was my astonishment and pleasure when -it was presented to me, who could only treat it -like a schoolboy would his white mouse—as a -pet. And truly it became a great pet to both -my wife and myself.</p> - -<p>'In form, the singing mouse did not differ from -his humbler brethren; but in colour he was of -a darkish brown, and had very bright eyes. It -soon became used to the presence of my wife, -and sang constantly while revolving the wheel -of his cage. The notes proceeded from the throat. -He became exceedingly gentle, and was pleased -at being caressed.</p> - -<p>'I deemed him so rare a curiosity that I ventured -to offer to exhibit him to the distinguished naturalist -referred to above, and in my letter described -the little creature and its peculiarities, as I have -done here. The naturalist most courteously -replied: "The case of the singing mouse is very -extraordinary, but the fact is now well established.... -The best account which has ever been published -is by an American naturalist, and I have given -an abstract of his account in my <i>Descent of Man</i>.</p> - -<p>"The American referred to is the Rev. S. Lockwood, -author of <i>The American Naturalist</i>, and he -gives an account of his observations of the <i>Hesperomys -cognatus</i>, an American species, belonging to a -genus distinct from that of the English mouse. This -little animal gave two chief songs. Mr Lockwood -gives both songs in musical notation; and adds, -that though this mouse 'had no ear for time,' yet -she would keep to the key of B (two flats) and -strictly in the major key.... Her soft clear -voice falls an octave with all the precision possible; -then at the wind up it rises again into a very -quick trill in C sharp and D." I have made this -quotation, as it far better describes the peculiar -qualifications of a singing mouse, than my inexperienced -observations could announce.</p> - -<p>'My mouse remained in contented confinement -upwards of a year, feeding upon a little sopped -bread and canary-seed; and great was the grief of -my wife (who was his keeper) and myself when -he was found dead in his little nest. During the -previous evening he had been heard singing with -more than usual ardour.'</p> - -<p>We shall probably return to this interesting -subject.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_816" id="Page_816">{816}</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="USING_UP_WASTE_SUBSTANCES" id="USING_UP_WASTE_SUBSTANCES">USING UP WASTE SUBSTANCES.</a></h2> - - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> subject denoted by the above title, more -than once treated in the <i>Journal</i>, is adverted to -by an obliging Lancashire correspondent who, -surrounded by one of the busiest and most ingenious -clusters of townsmen in England, has had -his attention drawn to various substances waiting -(as it were), for application to useful purposes. -His suggestions are not wholly new, having to -some extent been already anticipated; but they -are sufficiently valuable to call for notice here.</p> - -<p>One relates to the waste that presents itself in -the processes of manufacturing cotton. A residue -known technically as <i>willowings</i>, that falls into -a receptacle during the preparatory beating and -disentangling of raw cotton-wool, consists of a -dusty heap of seed-husks and short broken fibres. -It is used by farmers to absorb the liquid manure -of their cowsheds and middens or dung-heaps. -Although some of the cottony fibre may be -separated through a sieve, so much adheres to -the seed-husk as to render it unsuitable for paper-making, -for which it has often been tried. The -suggestion now made is, that though unfitted for -paper, this refuse may possibly be found useful -in the manufacture of <i>millboard</i>. Large quantities -of this tough and durable product are employed for -bookbinding, for making the discs of railway wheels, -&c.; and as colour is not a matter of moment, -the idea is that the mingled residue of cottony -fibre and seed-husk might be rendered available. -It is known that millboard made from wood-pulp -is imported to a considerable extent from abroad; -and we are told that 'a large portion of the -private income of the great German Chancellor -Prince Bismarck is derived from the manufacture -of wood-millboard on his Varzin estate.' Many -hundred tons of willowings could be obtained in -Lancashire at a very cheap rate, even as low as -two shillings per hundredweight.</p> - -<p>Another suggestion bears relation to the utilisation -of refuse from the manufacture of prussiate -of potash, a most valuable product in the hands -of the manufacturing chemist. The prussiate is -obtained in large ratio from woollen rags, after the -separation of all the pieces that can be worked up -into shoddy for cheap cloth. The refuse is calcined -in cast-iron retorts, lixiviated with water, -and drained off for subsequent treatment: leaving -behind it a thick black sediment of impure animal -charcoal. The suggestion relates to the application -of this residue to the manufacture of blacking—a -humble but valuable agent for those who appreciate -tidiness in the appearance of boots and shoes -and economy in the preservation of leather. If -useful for this purpose, it might be found advantageous -and economical as an ingredient in printers' -ink. Whether this carbon residue is at present -applied to any other useful purpose, we are not -fully informed.</p> - -<p>A third suggestion relates to the preparation of -animal size for the carpet-manufacture and for -that of many kinds of woollen and worsted goods. -This size is made from the clippings and scrapings -of skins and hides, from rejected scraps of parchment -and vellum, and from the worn-out buffalo -skin pickers and skips largely used in textile -manufactures; also from the pith of cattle-horns, -which contain a large amount of valuable gelatine. -The suggestion is, to utilise the refuse left after -making this size. One large carpet factory in -Yorkshire rejects as utterly useless a ton or more -of this refuse every week. The horn-pith contains -as one of its components phosphate of lime, and is -on that account recommended to the notice of the -manufacturers of chemical manures on a large -scale.</p> - -<p>One more suggestion comes from our ingenious -correspondent. Old corks are applicable to a -greater number of purposes than we are generally -in the habit of supposing. That many of them -are ground up to make cork-stuffing for cushions, -padding, &c. is well known; but there are other -uses for them as corks or half corks, besides -making floating buoys and life-preservers. A -taverner in a Lancashire town covered the floor of -his lobby and bar with very open rope-matting, -and filled up the openings with old corks cut -down to the level of the surface of the mats. This -combination is found to be almost indestructible -under the feet; while it gives a good grip or foothold. -As the making of rope-mats is one of the -trades carried on in reformatories and some other -large establishments, it is suggested that the -managers should take into consideration the feasibility -of adding old corks to their store of manufacturing -materials.</p> - -<p>As this <i>Journal</i> finds its way into every corner -of the busy hives of industry, it may possibly be -that some of our readers are already acquainted -with such applications of waste refuse to useful -purposes as those which our esteemed correspondent -suggests. But this is a point of minor importance. -The primary question is, not whether -an idea is absolutely new, but whether it is -practicably susceptible of useful application. The -history of manufactures teaches us that apparently -humble trifles like these have proved to be worth -millions sterling to the country.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /></div><div> -<h2><a name="LET_BYGONES_BE_BYGONES" id="LET_BYGONES_BE_BYGONES">LET BYGONES BE BYGONES.</a></h2> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Let</span> bygones be bygones; if bygones were clouded<br /></span> -<span class="i2">By aught that occasioned a pang of regret,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh, let them in darkest oblivion be shrouded;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">'Tis wise and 'tis kind to forgive and forget.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let bygones be bygones, and good be extracted<br /></span> -<span class="i2">From ill over which it is folly to fret;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wisest of mortals have foolishly acted—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The kindest are those who forgive and forget.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let bygones be bygones; oh, cherish no longer<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The thought that the sun of Affection has set;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eclipsed for a moment, its rays will be stronger,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">If you, like a Christian, forgive and forget.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let bygones be bygones; your heart will be lighter,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">When kindness of yours with reception has met;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The flame of your love will be purer and brighter<br /></span> -<span class="i2">If, Godlike, you strive to forgive and forget.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let bygones be bygones; oh, purge out the leaven<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Of malice, and try an example to set<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To others, who craving the mercy of heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Are sadly too slow to forgive and forget.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Let bygones be bygones; remember how deeply<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To heaven's forbearance we all are in debt;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They value God's infinite goodness too cheaply<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Who heed not the precept, 'Forgive and forget.'<br /></span> -</div></div></div> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class='center'>Printed and Published by <span class="smcap">W. & R. Chambers</span>, 47 Paternoster -Row, <span class="smcap">London</span>, and 339 High Street, <span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class='center'><i>All rights reserved.</i></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular -Literature, Science, and Art, No. 730, by Various - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL, DECEMBER 22, 1877 *** - -***** This file should be named 51841-h.htm or 51841-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/8/4/51841/ - -Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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