... MRS. HARRIET BEECHER-STOWE. FHOM A PHOTOGBATH BY HASTINGS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. ...

... . To my surprise I lately heard it asserted without contradiction that the French get all their bicycles from us. It was a curious case of insular assumption that we are the world's manufacturers. No doubt, since we took the lead at one time-- until, in fact, biking became the rage in France, we had almost all the market. However, in 1 890, when the Dunlop tyre was first introduced to the ...

... . There is much of interest in the exhibition of national products which is now being held in Geneva. This exhibition was first thought of and projected in 1866, but there have been various difficulties in the way, and it has at last taken place in 1896, a year to be long remembered by the cantons of Switzerland, which have subscribed between them a total sum of 562,000 francs for this purpose ...

... . CRICKET. For the second time this season the full strength of Australia will be pitted against the presumably full strength of England at Manchester to-morrow. The selection of our international teams is not satisfactory. For the match played at Lord's the Committee of the M.C.C. chose the England eleven, for the Manchester fixture the Lancashire executive select the team, while for the Oval ...

... THE MERRY MOKE. ...

... . The Queen gives a garden-party in the grounds of Buckingham Palace on Monday. On Thursday her Majesty received at Windsor Castle nearly four hundred of the Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute Nurses, who, by the royal command, had been invited to the Castle. It has now been definitely arranged that the wedding of Prince Carl of Denmark with Princess Maud of Wales shall take place on ...

... THE MAID (MISS STEWART) AND THE BUTLER (MR, TROODE). Dobbs on Divorce. THE WAITER (MR. KINGHORNE) AND POPPLECOMBE (MR. HENDRIE). Keep your hair smooth, as a Scotchman should. C.ESAR BORGIA (MR. ELLIOT) AND SIR VICTOR (MR. BOURCBIER). It will do for a riding-whip. POPPLECOMBE AND SIR VICTOR. When we married we did a d silly thing. ...

... . Perhaps nothing in Mr. Tree's tenure of the Haymarket has been so remarkable as his last performance on Wednesday. To represent four such different characters as Loris Ipanoff, Falstaff, Svengali, and Gringoire, to adapt one's personality to the humorous, passionate, melodramatic, and poetic in one evening, is certainly an extraordinary feat. Perhaps nothing more clearly showed the actor's ...

... . If any colossal cataclysm of nature were certain to happen and swallow up this island, and I were asked to say which product of our nation would most adequately represent its progress in the sciences and arts, I should feel disposed to choose one of the great ocean steamers, and if any one suggested to me that the Greater Scot would be the best representative, I should hardly say no. For in ...

... . Mr. William Canton has secured in recent years a distinctive position as one of the greatest living interpreters and poets of childhood, a position first achieved by the Invisible Playmate, and greatly confirmed by the singularly charming, fresh, and melodious little volume just published, and entitled W. V.: Her Book and Various Verses (Isbister). Mr. Canton was born in the island of ...

... . Perhaps the most interesting Chinatown in California is the Chinatown of San Francisco. It is the Chinese colony of the Western States, and attracts inquisitive visitors who come to San Francisco from the Eastern States and from Europe, as White- chapel attracts curious foreigners visiting London for the first time. The main streets in Chinatown, however, are not nearly so narrow or so dirty ...

... . I fancy the Wheel Club at Hereford House, South Kensington, has proved a great success. I fancy the Floral Parade which took place there lately gave much satisfaction. I fancy the number of members is increasing steadily. I fancy we see there some of the finest women- riders in London. I fancy Miss Alice Murray sustained a nasty shock when the tyre of her machine flew off so suddenly. I ...