... 4OW HENS TALK. l1 (c INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. t ? Do birds talki It is an interesting question 6 t which has attracted a good deal of attentiou of n recent years. The study of iild language of C birds has made great proggress. 'f he University s of Pennsylvaina has even goue sv far as to estab- n r lish a museum for investigation uinto the linguistic a a capacities of what hns hitherto been ...

... CHRISTIAN SOCIAL UNION AND POU3R LAW RELIEF. On Tuesday evening at a meeting of the Oxford City Branch of the Christian Social 'Union in the PI Parish Room of St. Ma~rY-the-Virgin a lecture on T .;,The True Principles , of Poor Law Relief, with I reference to Oxfor, Brixworth and Whitechapel' II was deliverad by tho Rev. i. C. Cox, LL. D., rector ra of Holdenby -and Chairman of the Brjxworth ...

... rn CAST FOR _iE YlEAR 1900. uri In oue of the L ondou aetroloical almanacks i' fie may be noted soine initereiting ?? iu regard to the fortune of Europeau S taver-vigu duringrthe d coiaiug year. Predictiolls of this liid have been DU I made in three altianacks during the last half he, century, and if we are to believe the publishers 3 e niany of them have Jproved to be true. How- I1 ever this ...

... THEE FLEETS- usMEDITERRANEAN, in Turs cruiser Minerva and the cruiser High- r- flyer left uibraltar, on blMonday, for the aast- er J ward, on a week's cruise. 'i'_TE special servioe vessel Imiogene left Con- le stattinople ou Sunddy for Lemrnos, where she ',ill be paid off and receive a new. crewl broughit by the treopship Tyne. at PORT 4AIDp-liebe arrived 29th December and sailed same day for ...

... ! I for late to to late ldi- idy ters ,ke, Lst, as. ior. ier ro- ad e9.- of id, the tog ant to 1. rtI .11 Id Ii Ja It at At at 5, bei It A SERIOUS ACCiDENT, HEELE., OVER IN DOCK AND BADLY STRAINED. Theu new Royal yacht Victoria and Albert which was to have been undocked at Pembroki ou WedneIrlay morning. has nmet with a sierols ! accident. .i heu sufficient wa;w r hid 'eer admitted to flout ...

... A AGRICULTURE ?? A COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF -THIRTY YEARS' PROGR11iSS. The last thirty years has ' brought inmeinse change in the croppings of agricultural lands, and.in the total.areas under. cultivation and grass. - The '60's, '70's and '80's were all marked by bringing in of fresh land to cultivation. Between 1869 and 1889>nearly two'million acres were added to the farms of the. United King ...

... Bn d, At' 11 I'll _ ?? St, de The time-honoured Druids' dinner, with he which the opening of a New Year is celebrated, is always made the occasion of a display of what may be called uncontroversial politics, and never has there been a better opportunity than the occasion this year affords for show- ing that in a true spirit of patriotism party I spirit can be sunk, and one voice give expres- ...

... TZE S NuaGETS. rtbe I ?can ?? W' itiihos t r, whol has bern 04~It IIs tla, I!Iwei I 1`1'0 L Ilf at ?? nfa n a i atac~g $it~lut~'pro'n-ess- Az. I v~:.Ot u `%kturday L. oujig44 Ringo~, pr.o- at f ?? tttd~, waits fint. £~10 W1-Id costs for1 tctit lllk!3. i -0 a 1.ppeall wajs granuted. !;lotsrot tt lttrstate evocdh ctcit'forte oc o 0 e~t.s t ut ~Iiot5 Ba-istagi hevred ?? $1. ?? h0e tlec1 d d ?? ...

... 13BITISH VICTORIES , AG'AINw FIGHTING IN CAPE CLY _ . | ?? mA^TACRE AND FRENCH SUCCESSFUL, 0 THE BOERS, MAIN POSITIONS STRENGTHENED ON THE MODDER AND p THE TUGELA. EXPECTED ATTACK BY BULLER. t There has been Iiuhting in Cape Colony this week, and tho Bue: ...

... THE DRUIDS' IDIN.NER. : ?? n ._ Beo 11 ST _ - r _e a The scene of the Druids' annual New Year's Day rga dinner on Monday was the Corn Exchange, which it was bettor suited for the gathering than the Drill he, Hall, where the function was held last year. There tb had been some effort at decoratiop by means Of tl Begls,. etc., in -which a large hunc of mistletoe or' han~ging from the centre of ...

... I I~ . I ?? I .,nh Mr¶IuvI U. LOCAL VOLUNTEERS. a 3m The enrolnent of redruits for the Oxfordshire 0 ect Company of the Imperial Yeomanry fdr servic I t lin at the sat of war in South Africa had proceeded P with reassuring activity during the Present. week, itj and, CoL. Norris, who has been in daily attendance i or- astrthe Q.O.O.11. headquarters in New-Inn-H3all- r in, steet, has had the ...

... THE WEEK'S SUMMMARY. ?? LI An earthquake has destroyed ten small villages r. in the district of Achalkalak in the Caucasus. The Registrar General gives it as his opinion 3- that the twentieth century begins Jan'ary 1- I9OL d The wages of 40,000 operatives employed i. -the.1- -'woollen industry in New England were -advanced.-' e on Monday. Count Leo Tolstoi is well enough to take walks e and ...