... CHRISTMAS FESTITIES. FATHER CHRISTMAS AT THE QUEEN'S HOSPITAL. One of the most pleasant of the Christmas festivities at the Queen's Hospital was that which took place on Saturday evening wben Father Christmas made his annual visit to the wards and distributed presents to the inmates and the staff. Prior to beginning the presenta- tion the visitors. of whom there were a numoberresent, ...

... The following table, from the Economist, shows ?? traffic receipts for the past week and for the hlmf-yea4r together witth those of the corresponding periods of last Year. Week's Receipts CTrefi per Hall-year's Aggregate rile. Receijes. 1899. 1&98. 1M89. 1398. 1999. 1898 ENG -SE. £ - f£- - Barry . 1,850 12,614 3S2 l45,25 -I180,.3IU Cambrianr . 5,129 4 21 17 164S389 157,590 Furness ?? 11,321k 9 ...

... COURT CIRCUIAR. Os cExE, Saturday.-Tbe Queen drove out. yesterday afternoon, attended by the Dowager Countess of Erroil and the Hon. Alinc Majeedie. and her MIajestTpwent out this morning, accompanied by her R°OYIt Highness Princess Henry of Battenberg. -Captain Walter Camp- bell, Groom-in-Waizing, on behslf of her Majesty, attended the faneral yesterday of the late Rev. Canon ;La J. Ellson. ...

... SO - T - I _ I SPRTN . IW - 2o the Editor of the _Daiy Po5-Sir,'The wnriableness of ourelimate has manifeted itelf again dring the Present weekfor it placed a veto ig t held at the epostpo p eeting at Hay- dock Park and the Keele Park mnpeting, Sinig to obtain a new date in place of last Wedesday, has had to be abalndoned. Happily the return of the frost was of the briefest character in the ...

... [Rezas Tergram] W*S.sanrror, December 30.-n order-to correct misapprehension 'with regard to the pending reciprocity treaty between France and the United States, the State Department announces that, instead KC injuriously affecting American wines, the treaty wptualy secures a reduction of aboipt 25% on Cali- trblan in:es imported into France without any Srrespsli remissions of duty on French ...

... NEW YEAR'S HONOTURS' A SHORT LIST. The list of honours which the Queen has bestowed I on the occasion of the New Year was issued lasti night, and is much briefer than usual. The Prime MinDister's list is as follows:- NFSw P.Ezs. The Queen has been pleasecd to confer the dignity of a peerage of the United King-dom upon each of the following:- The Hon. Sir Stafford Norihcote, Bart., and the ...

... ALMANA0S & ANNJA-LS fOR 1900. The ipyalghle Whitaker fo; yet another year g onlce rare reaches us. In tW now histori prcdue- a t~ipo each succeedin: issue is invariab1j an impIpye- l nent on the last, and Wfhitker for 1900 is no ex- i ception to t~hat rule. oom has been found for ii a list of charitable bequests in 1899, and for E the veinsertion of a list of eminent octogen- a npane. ...

... CORRESPONDENCEt NOTICE TO CoGPZESPOND-t-TS.--_A( letter intended for bi en~o mast ee ecoapso nSoid, by floe wroe a4n a d rees of t1he writer;- not necessarily for putbdation, tai for the irsfor-reatioe of the Ed itr. Wihen cnswcrs to qusin ore nt item we the. ronree o~f a flay or: ties, th qustones sot plea to undrsta tha~t toe are iuectie to eu~pl1' the ?? teske4 for. ?? ernonot return i ...

... Presents were on Saturday handed to three memnbers of the city police iurce, who are shortly leasving for South Africa. They were the racipients of pipes, tobacco, pouches, and money, from thei comrades. '*ie three men are Frnest Da&vid Pists, of the C Division, who belongs to the 1'?th Lancers . Philip Wright, of the R lDivision, the 3rd Dragoon Guards; and Frederick Payne, also of the E ...

... ECCLESUSTICAL INTELIGENCE. Convocation will meet at Westminster for the desnatch of business on Tuesday, January 23, and the sessioa will extend over four days. On the presentation of the Crown. the Rev. Doveton Vincent Staddart has accepted the rectory of Holuipton and the vicarage of Wetwick, to be held together by dis- pensation, and be has been instituted by the Archbishop of York to the ...

... fTHE mILITARY SITUATION The opposing forces in South Africa are still, apparently, under the influence of the Christmas holiday lull-a lull, however, which is evidentlyv r0 incompatible- with a certain amount of desnltory fighting. Although no forward movement is t,,, attempted on either side there are plent sidrmiishes and sniping and shelling eng-agements .ut graver events are evidently ...

... LETTERS FROM WAR CORRESPON- :DENTS.I SITUATION IN NATAL. [From the Dcily News Special Corrmvspont. 1 P rZTar1LkiT7BVoa, December 9.-Elaborate pro- parations are being made in the neighbourbood of Dundee and Newcastle to enable the burghers to expedite theirflight in theeventof defeat;,and wagons and teams of oxen belonging to natives owning land on the Zululand border have been comimandeered I ...