10 AUGUST 1929

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The Netherlands Foreign Minister opened the Confer- ence on Tuesday

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morning on behalf of his hospitable .country. M. Briand, Herr Stresemann and Mr. Snowden replied. Mr. Snowden was probably wise in speaking out very frankly upon the sacrifices...

News of the Week

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August 4th A NOTHER fourth of August has passed. It was marked in France by a ceremony that recalled the date when we became her comrades in arms, and it was wholly in harmony...

Mr. Snowden is unanswerable in his figures, and we must

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all agree with what modesty we can that British money and services have been fairly generously given in the past when demanded by friends who pleaded that their needs ,were...

EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING OFFICES: 99 Gower Street, London, W.C.1.—A Subscription

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to the SPECTATOR CO8t8 Thirty Shillings per annum, including postage, to any part of the world. The SPECTATOR is registered as a Newspaper. The Postage on this issue is : Inland...

• The Hague To turn from such thoughts to the

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Conference Chamber at The Hague must be dispiriting. We seem to keep high and noble thoughts for the past, and to descend to sordid bargaining over debts and the materialism of...

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Diplomats It is proposed that a British Ambassador should be

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accredited to King Fuad's Court. But for the present Sir Percy Loraine, His Majesty's Minister at Athens, is appointed High Commissioner. He is an able diplomat in whom we...

Sugar Some of the West Indian Governments have lately been

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pressing for an increase in the preference duties on sugar. Mr. Snowden has very properly said "No." Ile could hardly have done otherwise, in view of the telling criticism by...

A number of explanatory notes accompany these proposals, and we

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regret the prospect of uncertainty from their nature. Lawyers and diplomatists know the danger of " inexact" drafting of intentions or aspirations in a legal document. How far...

Russia The Soviet Government continues its course unchanged. The prospects

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of bread supplies in Russia grow worse, and the Government pours out venomous words to divert the attention of the more ignorant of its subjects V) London and Manchuria. There...

Cotton We have written elsewhere of the complete deadlock in

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the cotton industry, as between the organized employers and employees. This does not mean, of course, that all mills are closed, since those firms which are organized on...

Egypt The King and Prime Minister of Egypt left this

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country on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the result of their visit was published. No treaty is signed to come into operation as yet, but Mr. Henderson and Mahmud Pasha have agreed...

Emigration The Lord Privy Seal is to sail for Canada

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to try to improve the prospects of emigration from Great Britain, and, indirectly, to forward one of the many attempts to solve our problems of unemployment. He is following up...

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The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the final

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Court of Appeal within the British Empire. It is one of the blessings of the Empire that it should be available. The Free State has before now, notably over the case of the...

Parliament Since Parliament adjourned, two by-elections have taken place, and

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the result of the Twickenham election will be known this week. The Attorney-General was returned for Preston by a majority of 6,440. His Conservative opponent, Dr. Howitt,...

Bank Rate, 5k per cent., changed from 4k per cent.,

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on February 7th, 1929. War Loan (5 per cent.) was on Wednesday 10011 ; on Wednesday week 100k ; a year ago, 102 &; Funding Loan (4 pr cent.) was on Wednesday 5k; on Wednesday...

The Permanent Court has come before our notice at home

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in another way. We mentioned last week the dispute that has arisen between Northern Ireland and the Free State over the fishing rights in Lough Foyle, which washes part of the...

The Permanent Court at The Hague The Times of Friday,

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August 2nd, published a letter from Professor J. H. Morgan upon the appointment of a successor to Lord Finlay on the Panel of Judges of the Permanent Court of International...

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Cotton and Chaos

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W HEN we wrote last week it appeared that Lancashire might still remain true to tradition, and even at this late hour patch up the differences within her cotton industry by...

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Our Public Statues T HE controversy concerning the statue of Lord

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Haig and, in a less degree, the Epstein figures on Electric House, has recently raised again the question of art and the public, as it was raised by the Rima monument, and has...

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England in 1940

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TOLD BY CAPTAIN FORRESTER, R. E. III.—Rationalization and the Handicrafts "N OW that we've finished our luncheon," said Graham, "I want Hilary to show you the Handicrafts...

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Puzzles for the Doctor

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A GREAT deal of interest was aroused last year among medical men in the British Isles by the mysterious illness of a boy at Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, whose tem- perature rose to...

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Birds in Versailles Gardens

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D ID Marie Antoinette, after she took to reading Rousseau and hunting for crayfish in the little streams and ponds of Rambouillet, ever become, in her practice of the new...

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Eileen the Bold F H.EEN is a bold child. She is

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bold in the Irish sense of the word, which has shades of meaning all to itself. If you saw Eileen with her fuzz of flaxen curls and her round blue eyes, you would agree with me...

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Poetry

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The 'Plough and Sail' A LITTLE Inn upon the River Aide Gave shelter to us in the summer hail— A shabby, snuff-brown Inn, divinely called The Plough and Sail. The fire was...

Correspondence

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A LETTER FROM MOSCOW. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—The King's Speech made an unfavourable impression in Moscow ; both lzvestia and Pravda commented upon the difference...

A Hundred Years Ago

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THE SPECTATOR, AUGUST 8TH, 1829. THE STEAM CARRIAGE. The success of the experimental tour to and from Bath much exceeds whatever could have been anticipated by the most...

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Features of the American Political Structure

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[During the nest few weeks the American Notes, which have previously appeared on this page, will be replaced by a series of articles by our American Correspondent, designed to...

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The League of Nations

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The Business Man and Internationalism [The most authoritative writers on international affairs, like Prof. Madariaga or Prof. Ziromern, rightly insist on the fact of the...

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SIAMESE-TWIN APPLES.

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It is seriously suggested by Mr. W. Davidson in an admir- able little book on fruit culture, just published, that most of us in the future will not plant a Cox or a Bramley's...

SPARROWS' HOLIDAYS.

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On the subject of town sparrows, a special inquiry ought to be made into their summer holidays. They are said to have been moving this year, as every year, out of the towns into...

HARVEST AND MACHINES.

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The harvest now falling is not likely to be notable for its yield ; but it will give evidence of the rapid increase of machinery on the farm. In the hayfields some of us saw for...

A SOLTTFI AFRICAN CLAIM.

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A South African " farmeress " sends me some interesting details on the value of hens and their average yield. She writes, "I have increased my flock of utility White Leghorns to...

PLANT COMPLEXION.

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What may be called the science of complexion, of which the botanists and biologists of Rothamsted are making a special study, is developing very rapidly. A pretty illustration...

It is at this juncture that Sir Rowland Biffen, the

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greatest expert in the world on the wheat grain, repeats and emphasizes his conviction that the future lies with the wheat-farmer. He has always argued that the climate of...

Country Life

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CAN WHEAT FARMING PAY? Will the doctors in question explain how they come to disagree diametrically on a vital subject of English farming ? Now the Oxford Research Institute in...

YOUNG BUILDERS.

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The compiler of the annual and always interesting record of birds in the London parks has made a great success of his story of the moorhen who after several failures...

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UNEMPLOYED ADOLESCENT BOYS IN THE SOUTH WALES COALFIELD

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As a resident in the Rhondda Valley and honorary secretary of a group of boys' clubs I ask your kind permission to place before your...

ELECTORAL REFORM

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Judging from the letter of S. R. Daniels, on p. 80, it is evident that our Electoral System requires radical reform if the whole country...

Letters to the Editor

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THE LORD MAYOR'S FUND [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—The Report of the Lord Mayor's Fund for the relief of the distressed mining areas in England and Wales," which has...

THE DRUNKENNESS PROBLEM

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—As I have had considerable acquaintance with the working of the Temperance (Scotland) Act of 1913, perhaps you might kindly allow me to...

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THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —On July 28th I did not read the Archbishops' letter to their Brethren of the Church of England at either service. In my opinion the...

RELIGION WITHOUT THE CREEDS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Ball says truly that " we are not born with a creed." Neither are we born with the principles of mathematics, but that does not...

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR .1

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SIR,—In his article on "The Spirit of Orthodox Devotion" Professor N. Arseniey shows how the Johannine conception of the Incarnation underlies that spirit and also moulds the...

IN DEFENCE OF THE FAITH

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR, —Many Christians all over the world will be grateful to you for the series of articles "In Defence of the Faith." To many it seems that...

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BLACKBIRD VERSUS THRUSH

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Snt,—Sir W. Beach Thomas's notes on "Blackbird versus Thrush" and "Frost Victims" in your" Country Life" of May 18th remind me of the great...

FEATHERED PENSIONERS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Slit,—I am encouraged by Mr. Anderson Ramsay's letter, in your issue of June 8th, to tell of another incident. I am accustomed to provide a...

ETHICS OF HUNTING

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—We came home from Kenya when your paper was in the middle of a correspondence about stag hunting. It is so strange how some people can see...

CHILD SLAVERY IN HONG KONG-THE MUI TSAI SYSTEM

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,— A considered and solemn pledge was made to the country in the House of Commons by Mr. Churchill on March 21st, .1922, to abolish finally,...

BIRD FOSTER-PARENTS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Snt,—I think the following true story may interest some of your readers. In a wood near here there lives a semi-wild cat, which often makes its...

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WESTMINSTER HALL

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the article under this heading, in your issue of May 11, these words occur : "The Surrey estate of Sir George Courthope (the estate...

LONDON REVISITED

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—May a visitor to London, after an absence of several years, crave the hospitality of your columns, in order to set down her impressions ?...

GOATS

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[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I entirely agree and sympathize with your writer "A. T." in a recent issue "Virgil and the Goats." If he should wish to see the goat (and...

DirtEcr subscribers who are changing their addresses are asked to

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notify the SPECTATOR Office BEFORE MIDDAY OR MON DA I' or EACH WEBS. The previous address to which the paper has been sent anl receipt reference number should be quoted.

POINTS FROM LETTERS

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MBE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES. We have received an appeal which we can commend to our readers with great confidence in the worth of the object. The National Library of Wales at...

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Dom Ethelbert Home has written a charming monograph on Scratch

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Dials (Simpkin, Marshall, 2s. ad.), with sixteen illustrations showing how these indicators of the hours of service in our country churches were fashioned, chiefly by the local...

Those who regret the passing of local patriotism, and they

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are many, will welcome the first three volumes of The County Anthologies, issued by Messrs. Elkin Mathews and Marrot (at as., 3s. 6d., or 2s. 6d.). They are designed to" survey...

Some Books of the Week

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Tin: Great Fire of London was not an unmixed evil, for it Swept away most of the parish churches which, if we may judge from surviving remains, were not of great architectural...

(" General Knowkdge Competition" and "More Books of the Week"

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will be found on pages 200 and 202.)

Years and diligence have made Mr. A. T. Bryant our

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most erudite interpreter of the Zulu, and in his book, Olden Times in Zululand and Natal (Longmans, 12s. ad.), he presents us with an historical account of the " Zulu ''...

We all take a pride in the administration of our

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colonies and dependencies and pay little attention to what other nations do in this field. For that reason the painstaking History of French Colonial Policy by Professor Stephen...

As pants the hart for water-brooks, .so pants the soul

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of the town-stayed mortal for the trout-stream (though not perhaps so much in July and August). If he can't get there ever again; or only seldom, here is Mr. Arthur Ransome's...

As shrewd, liberal and enlightened a Prince as Arabia ever

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produced" is Burton's judgment of Said bin Sultan, the Ruler of Oman who became the first Sultan of Zanzibar in 1830 or thereabouts. His grandson on the spindle side, Mr....

The Competition SINCE the planning of holidays does not seem

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to be as inspiring as we hoped, we suggest for our next competition a description or an impression of some exciting or entertaining incident which has actually been experienced...

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A Footnote to History

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Tim woman of the world who is also a woman of wit and reflection has always been the peculiar possession of France, a part almost of her national genius. Such women stretch in...

Some Books on Religion

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Dogma in History and Thought : Studies by Various Writers. Edited by W. R. Matthews, D.D. (Nisbet. 8s. 6d.) The Naturalness of Religion. By A. Barratt Brown, M.A., (Constable....

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. A Lot of Learning

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Introductions to Modern Knowledge. Nos. 1 to 12. Edited by F. B. Kirkman. (Routledge. 6d. each.) How often we have regretted the great days of the Quarterlies ! There was no...

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The Bird as Thinker

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Tuts is a study chiefly of the sexual behaviour of certain birds ; and as such it would entitle the author to our gratitude how- ever his material might have been presented, for...

King's College, London, 1828-1928

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The Centenary History of King's College, London, 1828-1928. F. J. C. Hearnshaw. (Harrap. 21s.) ON February 9th, 1825, Thomas Campbell wrote to the Times suggesting "a great...

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"The Physician's Cooke"

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The Mystery and Art of the Apothecary. By C. 3.5. Thompson. (Bodley Head. 12s. 6d.) COUNTRY children, with pricking wrists and legs, still chant :— " Out nettle, in Dock ! Dock...

Some Intimate Memoirs

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THE Princess Victoria of Prussia, sister of the ex-Kaiser William II. and grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, has written a most readable book. My Memoirs amble pleasantly along...

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Fiction

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Below the Surface Tim pleasure of the reader of modern studies in the fantasia of consciousness is the pleasure of the diver. But it has the diver's limitations ; the time...

The Magazines

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IN the Nineteenth Century and After a phenomenon is observable to which a parallel may be seen in almost any of the Opposition periodicals to-day. Lieut.-Colonel Stewart L....

A Great Sculptor

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Alfred Gilbert. By Isabel McAllister. With forty plates in photogravure. (A. and C. Black. £2 2s.) Tins is not a critical biography, but rather an essay in hero- worship. The...

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DAVID MARCH. By J. S. Fletcher. (Jarrolds. 7s. 6d.) —Few

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living writers excel Mr. Fletcher in historical fiction of the older kind that traces its lineage to Sir Walter Scott. David March is a new edition, after some years, of one of...

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Travel

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[We publish in this column articles and -notes which may help our readers in their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited the...

General Knowledge Questions

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OUR weekly prize of one guinea for the best thirteen Questions submitted is awarded this week to Miss G. Pitt, 8-6 Wyndham Crescent, N. 19, for the following :— Questions on...

New Travel Books of Reference Baedeker's Egypt. Revised Edition. (Allen

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and Unwin. 28s.)—Brittany. (Ward, Lock. 5s.)—The Blue Guides : Southern Spain and Portugal. Edited by Finlay Muirhead. (Macmillan. 18s.) Southsea and Portsmouth. (Ward, Lock....

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So much depends on the reason a man has for

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visiting Corsica, If he seek scenery he will always get that in splendid variety ; if bandits, he will never meet them if trout fishing (for some rivers hold a good head of...

The personality of little Alice, an American child of ten,

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whose mother was shooting big game in the Dutch East Indies, forms an intriguing aside to Mrs. Bradley's clever, slight, and very readable Trailing the Tiger (Appleton, 12s....

More Books of the Week

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(Continued from page 192.) It is a pleasure to record the appearance of a second volume of the late Colonel Ramsay Weston Phipps' remarkable work on The Armies of the First...

* * * *

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Hazebrouck, Ypres, Armentieres, Courtrai, Bethune, St. Pol, Mons—what names of pride and sorrow are recalled by turning the pages of The Silent Cities ! This illustrated guide...

- " It is a golden rule of life, Sambhu,

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not to depend on another for your daily needs "—in such simple words Mr. K. S. Venkataramani tells an Indian boy of twelve how he should worship the dawn, the river ; how he...

The glittering dialogue of Alfred de Musset has suffered a

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sea-change in crossing the channel, piloted by Mr. Maurice Baring. Brilliance is not always achieved by an abrupt staccato, and dogged determination is often just dog. As thus :...

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Financial Notes

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IRREGULAR PRICE MOVEMENTS. To some extent, of course, general business on the Stock Exchange has been restricted during the past week owing to the holiday season, while the...

Home Railways and the Investor

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LAST week I gave a brief resume of the unexpectedly good results achieved by the leading English railway companies for the first half of the current year, and it may now,...

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SPECULATIVE INFLUENCES.

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At the same time, it is impossible also to escape the conviction that, monetary influences notwithstanding, there is a good deal of vitality in some of the industrial and more...

EAGLE OIL.

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Additional interest attached to the accounts which have recently been published by the Mexican Eagle and the Cana- dian Eagle Oil Companies, by reason of the fact that they are...

A SUCCESSFUL TRUST.

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Few trusts of recent origin have started better or have within a short time achieved more solid results than the Continental and Industrial Trust which was formed in 1924 under...

A BANKING Loss.

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The deeply regretted death of Sir D. Drummond Fraser removes a personality who will always be held in grateful remembrance in banking and economic circles, and, indeed, by the...

Answers to Questions on Holiday Resorts

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I. Charles and Mary Lamb (The Old Margate Hoy—Essays of Elia).-2. Thomas Nash ("-Lenten- Stuff ").-3. Swanage, Southsea, and Ilfracombe were so-called by Thomas Hardy.-4....