WHY I DON'T WRITE PLAYS. (From the Common-place Book of a Novelist.) Because it is so much pleasanter to read one's work than to hear it on the Stage. Because Publishers are far more amiable to deal with than Actor-Managers. Because "behind the scenes" is such a disappointing place—except in Novels. Because why waste three weeks on writing a Play, when it takes only three years to... more...

FALLS OF THE GENESEE. The Genesee is one of the most picturesque rivers of North America. Its name is indeed characteristic: the word Genesee being formed from the Indian for Pleasant Valley, which term is very descriptive of the river and its vicinity. Its falls have not the majestic extent of the Niagara; but their beauty compensates for the absence of such grandeur. The Genesee, the principal... more...

THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN RAILWAYS. The condition of our railways, and their financial prospects, should interest all of us. It has become a common remark, that railways have benefited everybody but their projectors. There is a strong doubt in the minds of many intelligent persons, whether any railways have actually paid a return on the capital invested in them. It is believed that one of two results... more...

CHAPTER I. GEORGE GINSLING was alone in his College-rooms at Cambridge. His friends had just left him. They were quite the tip-top set in Christ's College, and the ashes of the cigarettes they had been smoking lay about the rich Axminster carpet. They had been talking about many things, as is the wont of young men, and one of them had particularly bothered GEORGE by asking him why he had refused a... more...

A WORD OF EXHORTATION. Sensible of our accountability to God, of our entire dependence upon his blessing for success in all our undertakings, knowing that of ourselves we can do nothing, but believing that through Christ strengthening us we may accomplish something in his service, we enter upon the duties of another year—the twentieth year of our editorial labors. With language similar to that which... more...

GOOD-BYE TO THE AUXILIARY PATROL. I.—THE SHIP. When it was announced that we were to be paid off and that the gulls and porpoises that help to make the Dogger Bank the really jolly place it is would know us no more, there was, I admit, a certain amount of subdued jubilation on board. It is true that the Mate and the Second Engineer fox-trotted twice round the deck and into the galley, where they... more...

VOCES POPULI. THE RIDING-CLASS. SCENE—A Riding-school, on a raw chilly afternoon. The gas is lighted, but does not lend much cheerfulness to the interior, which is bare and bleak, and pervaded by a bluish haze. Members of the Class discovered standing about on the tan, waiting for their horses to be brought in. At the further end is an alcove, with a small balcony, in which Mrs. BILBOW-KAY, the... more...

COPEMAN & PINHEY'S LIFE RAFTS. The experiments with life saving appliances which Mr. Copeman brought before the delegates of the Colonial Conference, on the 13th April, at the Westminster Aquarium, had a particular interest, due to the late and lamentable accident which befell the Newhaven-Dieppe passenger steamer Victoria. In many cases of this nature, loss of life must rather be attributed... more...

THE NEW LABOR EXCHANGE, PARIS. The new Labor Exchange is soon to be inaugurated. We give herewith a view of the entrance facade of the meeting hall. The buildings, which are the work of Mr Bouvard, architect, of the city of Paris, are comprised within the block of houses whose sharp angle forms upon Place de la Republique, the intersection of Boulevard Magenta and Bondy street. One of the entrances of... more...

"WHY DID ELFRIDA GO TO SLEEP?" HAT was the question, "Why did Elfrida go to sleep?" She had been sent to the grocer's in the village; and the grocer's was only half a mile off from Brook Cottage, where she lived with her aunt and five cousins. She had been sent to buy a pound of sugar, half a pound of coffee, and five small rolls of bread.Usually she would go to the shop and... more...