... ; By A. A. Milne. Our contributor here makes merry over the accident in surance offer of the Daily Mail and The- Datly Chronicle but nevertheless the far-seeing father' of a family will fill in the forms of both these journals each day, and he will certainly be wise if, as is' pro bable, he has filled in the one signature required with a year's subscription' for The Sphere £2,000 accident ...

... . IAear George, It would be idle, I suppose, to expect a coal- heaver to display any marked delicacy of feeling. At the same time, when you consider that I gave the man a Christmas box of a shilling onlv a month ago I do think he might have waited until the cold snap was over and I had replenished my cellar before selfishly deciding to down sacks. That he should have thus thought lessly ...

... . l T)ear George, I am delighted to hear how much you are enjoying your visit to the south of France, and hope that you will on no account hurry home. I shall of course be only too glad to execute your various commissions, for, as you know, I work but a bare ten hours a day and can easily devote the remainder of my f! time to running errands for you. Your hand- writing is not very legible, but ...

... c j . By Harry Graham. ear George, I agree with every word you jjj say in deprecation of our modern London jjj street cries. They seem to me to be distin- jjj guished not only by a total absence of melody but jjj also by a lack of intelligibility which tends to jjj stimulate the imagination unhealthily without in jjj any way allaying curiosity. Day after day as I jjj sit at the open window of ...

... . By Harry Graham. PA ear George, It is extremely kind of you to suggest giving me luncheon at the aerodrome next Tuesday, but I must reluctantly decline your invitation. To tell you the honest truth, although I entertain the highest opinion of their skill and courage, I find the society of airmen singularly unattractive. There are few things I enjoy more than watching feats of daring ...

... OPENING of the ART EXHIBITION SEASON. II A LONDON LETTER. By Harry Graham. I DEAR GEORGE,-- I am sorry to hear that you won't be back in time to attend this year's private view at the Royal Academy. I never miss that social function if I can help it, for of all forms of artistic entertainment this seems to me to be at once the most stimulating and the most suggestive. It is, of course, the ...

... I . n g I By Harry Graham, i l I TYear George, I am sorry to think that you will miss the Naval and Military Tourna- ment, for I am given to understand that this year's programme at Olympia is to be distin- SS guished by a notable number of particularly interesting features. There is to be, first of all, a grand historical spectacle arranged by a well- j| known member of Parliament showing the ...

... . >r y -K-^P. V V H *CT|| E By Harry Graham. TAear George, It does not require the per- 1 spicacity or acumen of a Sherlock Holmes i to detect the fact that this is Horse-Show week. The streets are crowded with clean-shaven and somewhat stunted individuals whose elliptical nether limbs are encased in close-fitting garments which cannot possibly have been donned without i the aid of a shoe horn ...

... 1 A LITERARY LETTER Books and the War. I si ffj London, August 31, 1914. A good friend of mine whose deep love of the best literature has followed him through a long and well-spent life, in a recent letter inci dentally remarks, I can hardly read anything but newspapers now. Yet my friend was one of the founders of the Omar Khayyàm Club, and in the fourth edition of FitzGerald's splendid ...

... A FEW DAYS AGO A Random Chronicle. By V. V. V. I wish the inadequate term, Huns, had never been applied to our blackguard foe. The Huns belonged to the dark ages and are no more. The Germans are not Huns-- they are Germans. In the search for a fitting word for an enemy capable of the callous and monstrous methods of aggression now in force, from well-poisoning and gas suffoca tion to the ...

... A LITERARY LETTER The New Herrick. London, May 31, 1915. There are no books being published, complained a bookseller to me. Yet in one day I received no fewer than thirty-eight. I admit that for the most part these were novels, and that serious biographies and histories are not having their usual spring season. Among these novels I welcome a set of reprints-- in Constable's two-shilling ...

... . A LETTER FROM THE SPHERE'S CORRESPONDENT WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY. Russian Army, 3/9/17. My Dear Mr. Editor, I have not received The Sphere for some weeks. I hope that you have heard from me more regularly and frequently. Of course, I have very much news but alas I cannot tell you it Personal news I am well in spite of the very severe nerve strain of the past months. Also all is fairly well ...