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Oar Irimdoii Letter.
[FBOM 0VB. COBBCSPOHDXKT.]
London, 20th December
The Christmas. holidays may, in on.»
sense at least, he said ta; date their com
mencement frqro£he Sinithfield Clab^aH^
Show- Itisherethe'jiutchers obtain the
pieces de resistance for their annual display
of meat, and the first change noted is the
bedecking ot their shops with he-ribboned
androsetted carcases bearins tickets an
nouncing prizes won by f he breeder of such
and soch an animal weighingso much and
reared at so and so farm. The butchers'
neighbors must not be observed and the
result is of late years it has been quite the
rule for the Christmas equipment of o*r
stores and shops to be fully complete by tte
20th December at latest.
The Show this year was notea, fike
the Birmingham one, for the success
of the Queen in her entries, the estra
?rdmaiy proportion of 14 prises being
accorded to 13 gnimnle. The Shprtiiorn
steer which' won the champion prize
was from the PrinceX3pnMOct'p Show^arm,
Windsor, 3 years 2 mo^ibj .2£rew&i^aays,
bred by Mr. James Bruce, Invergahonxery,
Aberdeenshire,«nd weighing 21 cwt 171bs.
Phe number of entries is smaller than
during the lastvtwo ^ars- bat exceeds the
register of auybf tibeiour -previous ^ears^
Cattle (265) snow a '''-lrfxi^AfJiwi^ but go
a compensation the sheep entries were' 20:
the highest since 1884. Pigs | shW a fell
iug-off.fce nurSerbf pens^^^^t
86 last year. The Prince .of W)alea(who
wasasu8ualpjee»e«totttne.8etptfadaya|i
ooked woncferfutTy bale and well) confined
bis exhibits to four* sens/o£ ^SooUidoim
sheep. I*rdPoiS'8^vo^1£H&Ae'
of Portland's shorthorns and Lord Coven
try's Hereford were among the prominent
objects of interest. The Kerry Dexters
seem to be ceminginto vogue, prizes being
for the first time awarded for three classes
of these pretty little beasts. On the whole
the quality of exhibits was judged to be
eupertor to the average though the entries
tendance, which was about 15,500
daily. The show of objects ' not for
competition' .fW larger than ushbI TOd
comprised amongst other « things, ivariois
kffds of meat extract, kitchen cranges,
fency soaps, harneaB and other objects not
less ; detracting frpw*hetegitamate objects
oftheBxhihiton. The «rbwing tendency
in. this direction which may be noticed of
late years in most class exhibitions would
seem to indicate a falling off of the interest
taken in (this method of comparing the pro
^^tl^^faBBOB^ EX
hibitipn jo to be.beld at Islington in March
exfc, hegiimiag, on the 17th. Jar. Harry
Etiiaangto^ the «nterprisiiig manager, has
wjdeued jthe fieM«f exh£btts- which is to
include machinery, manufactmreB, appli*
qnceganaittgentionaiticiVtentaltoiengineere'
electricians, builders and ironmongers*
The .Spertsm«a'6 Exhibitonwffl this year
have an ^M*t^f^ atbaction intiie Doe
Show pf the &ennel dub to be held sunnl
taneouslyinihe«ame building. The event
comes off in ApriL ? ;.:?:.
Talking of shows, one as obliged to men
tion one, which, especially *£ thiB aeason,
appeals to the sympathies «f«lL It is now
ten years since the. Editor of ftatft made
the first appeal to his readers to Contribute
Something towards a baxaarof toys to be
on view and afterwards to be distr&nted'
amongst tbe poor«haanea in the hoepitels,
vrwkbouses and asylums of this vast city
The first of those, held in 1880 at the EdK
ierial oftices, numbered 1O00 exhibits j last
yeartbetoyeofaJl kinds reached 62,000.
including-4iOeo dolls, each of which bad
been dressed for the show by readers of
Truth and their friends. The show was
held last year at the Portman Booms, tut
through the kindness of Sir Coutte Lind
say, the more spacious Groevenoc Gallery
was this year placed at the disposal of the
promoters. The number of exhibits was
roughly speaking 23,000, which will be
divided among 162 institutions^ and wiB
doubtless bring on ChriKtmas morning a
glad surprise to manyalittie inmate. Tbe
dolls werefthe great attraction^- many of
them being in sets, «.?.,« f nursery
group/' in which a visitor ib being intro
duced to the tiny denizens of the 'play
room,' a ? f Mikado ^grbup,' ' and others
Then^he «astames of the «n#e dolls in
cluded «jer|«ito&o|^most Ashion|ble,
as well?«s.t*'tolst«*^»»Se^ti« ^es,
displaying a wealth of ingenuity and per
severance on tbe part of the donors which
it is to be hoped will inspire others to
emulate their example. fHie models ere of ^
different kinds: railway ? stations, i dolls,
houses, schools, pymnasia, Noah's arks.
boxes of soldiers, mechanical animals and
ab»V£ all in this line, « booth -,scene ik
which the acrobata go tinough^nelrfter^
fonnauceB, whBe the meny^o-round »»^ *
swing boat are in fall wark. Many Bcrap
bsoks (jn article far which tint hospital
authorities are!abrayB eager) ate ahnrys to
be Connd, £prae of 4h»m &is year being
bigl%«miisiag and displaying gn^KB
in doBeetion ;aad nnBii-ement «T the de
tails. Stfin!additionto-«ie«awBi«n-ain-'
onyoionBairiend^ «f the littie fioea has
xestfa/ since 18SS «eat a welcome »» «f
10,000 bright new mxpenny pieces for dw
tribation, artule Aomwther «ources arrive
packets jof teanlpertfee old women anfl of
snuSfoxtheoldnieuin'ti^ London work-'
houses. I must also mention a gift quite
stti^Miens— a trophy of Chrisbnas -e&cker
bpnhona .fcy ibe vtmtaoaBy - known
'Tom Smith.' The whole Bhbw is loadr
atbactivsand totny mind test exceede fiie
beauty :'?£ t Omki P&*aii*aesiktfdnts t*
Baas, the Passage Jonifrdyy where ±he
gorgemra Oretmes areonly tor those wBtiA
friends can put 4heir hands into i deep
pocket, and at which the poor can lmt
gaze with desire and envy. I understaud
that co-operation in this work is, if not
directly Aukcdjfog, rpswefl/^'lhanlGfal
ness bythfeMuor, wrXwn* «fe riBsisuSce
of.^aany lady-friends ,has proved such a
benefactor to our IftOeones.
A new and. int^fttipg.a^hihs^nf, ,q aig©
on hand. at the Charing Cross. Hospital,
cansuting 'of some 200 doUs carefully
dressed to represent the nursing costaoes,
of nearly 100 lnstitntions within the BnUM
E3ngdora. These'lhave been prepared 'fjg
^romen actually engaged in ?''?''g and in
the majority of inraances have been exe
cuted with greatexactoesB. in some cases,
the dolls are xumished with miniature
modele of the appUances, such as chate
laines with tfceir aeeeasories, bandages,
pincushions, «tc. ? Ttta it organised by the
fiditoroftheaocjntol, „ :.
There appears to be an impression that
W. Maefc's lecture before the Royal Col
onial Institute ((which I. was nrorroMk
ab^ prevented ftem attending,) -ooghtl
to * have contained some new and start
ling suggestions, for, the development
of Australasian cesouicss. Instead, how
ever, of doing so he contented JtimmJf
with laying down . certain principles
bo often enunciated before that a sense of
disappointment is the result. What is
trite to the Fellows of the Institute js of
ten a refreshing novelty to die mass of tbe
public, who know relatively little of tbe
processes which combine in the develop
ment of s new country. Shortly
put, his paper meant thiB: The Col
onies want good settlers, both capita
lists and labourers to devote themselves, to
agriculture, not manufactures. The atten
dance waa not so huge as usual on these
occasions, partly on account of the weather
no doubt, but chiefly by reason of Lord
Camarroa'« paper on ' Imperial Federa
tion,' which was read the same afternoon.
I am pleased te note that the two Mel
bourne vocalists whom I had the pleasure
of mentioning in my last letter have scored
fresh triumphs sines that date. On Wed
nesday weekatthe Royal Academy stud
ents' concert at St. James's HalL Mrs.
Bethell, Mr. Morton ana Six. C. M. J.
Edwards (whom I have not yet named)
were pronounced the pick of the erenpnedS
vocalists; while the next vverdng they sanf
attheLyricClnbaadwere roach 'applaud-
ed. ? -
The Daily Graphic has issued a prelimin
ary number consisting of 16 pages of the
usual size of the weekly edition and illus
trated with some clever portraits and
sketches. A list of the artiste who have
offered the services of pen and pencil to
the new venture is given and ©emprises
many of th§ -names known befit t^ lh£ P*-^
lie. Artists, amateurs and all who are fond
?of sketching are invited to contribute.
The first number will appear On the 4th
of next month.
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