THE LIVING IMAGE.

T AM duite an old woman now, but the ? i?IT.m about to relate made so customary «"«« oti b° rse back, according Kfiliber (who was in failmff health) and JKffiwn visiting at the house of a •"ft, fripnd whose residence was JamU^ in otte of the wildest parts of sllnate h tp about fifteen miles distant yorwhire. •»« honse _ Our visjt tended, we started- to rideihome on . Jm& sharp afternoon in February, and 'M&SS.-SS^T, -hen the ,ky .eDJoyiugo»f' , y e( j an d v wag evl . ?T° lowrtorm was pending We ieat a .»n^""™ in the hope of reach ?Q iokenedou PWe, ln . q of ■rT£ff exceedingly dark, our horses L nimost unmanageable, and it was KLvtcesnaryfor us to seek shelter *^'"& presently, we nbticed alight SSfdSunb. up a lane leading out ot sSin road. and. making towards it, we ■faßßoourselvesio front of an old, tumble- Ti» looking inn, with a swinging sign- Sl which creaked on its hioges above Jrju0 r We dismounted and entered. flKrt'were several raecally-looking fel *~ dfjQitiim in the bar, and the landlord ISf was a man of anything but prepos- TZfoa appearance. HirOromised to fjtv« us the bert accom -3.H08 he could umil the storm had JJaad over, and, after glancing significantly ktts raw* i" tUB Dar> fhow»-d us up a pair *, jSTirrto a dismai-lookin,?; sitting-room, ™jy, BHelita8 Helita fire, and leftu-> to ourselves. The room was miserably fivnished ; there m a jew old chairs, a Bofa in tae last JLao of declice, a table, an age-stained •rfSortWOon ihe walls, and in one corner tow oak cabinet, on which stood aa ordi- plaster bust, chipped aod yellow with *«* remained here several hour?, but the rfano still rtlged with unabated fury, and iDWfce niatters worse, my father became "K7 these circumstances I was reluc tanUyiorced to the conclusion that we Si be compelled to swy ail night in that bliwpituble pUce. We summoned the Sndlordi and learnod that he could acoom •modate us, providing I would sleep in a bed oom which was separated by a door tool the room .wo occupied,1 and if my fether would bo content with a makeshift bed in the sitting-room itself. It was the very thing. By this arrange ment I could attend to my father in the nlshti ia theeyeat of his needing such at tentiro) so we agreed 5 and the landlord, treating us to a very curious look, Went downstairs again. As the evening wore on, my father sank into a doze, and I did my best to while away the time oy reading the contents of a remarkably stupid book which I had found £a the table. Presently I took out my watch, a very valuable one, beautifully inlaid with gems and enamel, and fonnd it was eight o'clock. I threw aside the book, as being more cal culated to depress than enliven me, ,-md wlliOK in the powerful aid of imagination fa soon in a world of thought. I thought of all manner of things—l don't ian»ober what—Uie only thing I do re me^bsr is that none of them gave me much ntWMtion. ■. , , . , , .. I went to the window and looked out. All traces of the recent stoim, save the now which lay thick upon the ground, had nuudaway, and it was a lovely moonlight 52*,-,, «■*-' ■'■ WhU« I held aside the curtains, the mocfll killing the light of our wretched jjn^p,;besmed brightly into the room, and bj itsrays the old cabinet, the piaster bust, mil the decaying pictures looked more desolate.than;everv My father was still Mppfegt and, as a last resource, I returned once more to the book. It was about this time that I became im pre*ed with the idea that we were not alDo&-4V seemed to me that my every jcUob was being closely watched. I looked ■oaref ally round and could Bee nothing to warrant.the supposition.; nevertheless the jmprgaaioa grow stronger aod stronger. Toe letters in the book mixed themselves iogetier, and. the print swam before my I was confident we were not alone, and thougfe not generally superstitious, the thought struck me that' some invisible spirit bom the other world was bearing us [ csmpsny. I dismissed this idea as being diculons, and opening the door, looked out. \tm nothing bnt the darkness of the mjage, so, chiding myself for my timidity, retained once more to the book. My fataar still slept, and I would have j»ea Anything to wako him; but 1 dared Mt, t9 Ms disease, an affection of the heart, to always so aggravated when the r.ioaj tttriil-event,out of the ordinary' course bppened to disturb him. Ag«a looking at my watch, I fonnd it ntjialirpait nine,* and now something WU»i occurred. While in the act of itsdiDg the. time, my eyes, obeying some Mience which I cannot, explain, were iiiesiitibly drawn towards the plaster bust co tha cabinet. My blood curdled with km; my heart ceased to beat, and my Vsgtie clove to the roof of my month. In teimigewere two gleaming eyes, which rat fixed full on me with evil, stealthy *%v . . .'.' ; it was do optical illusion. I cay nothing htihe simple truth when I tell you that I, Irak girl, was alone, or as good as alone is toy father slept on),' with that awful Mug image. Spoil-bound, I stared at the Hitting, fascinated, as I have heard birds ; abj l serpent, Its burning eyes met my ft'tfeniiig me through and throngb. »»Wb help me 1 I tried to pray in vain, id I verily believed that I was face to iw with the Evil One himself. Time Ndj! how. long I cannot tell, but it sued aa eternity, and the eyes went out, wild the bust lifeless as it was before. I coold not scream; I could not ft speak, but I sprang at tbe ■■-,*•:: to seek for help—help of «f*ta&. The door was locked. With wtioeagerness.l turned the knob again again, without avail. • The door was *Wy locked on the outside, Then sud %flwhed across me the suspicious ap- Nttof the'landlord, the ruffians in :;."|V,: 'BJid it struck me that we were in 'taof thieves, assisted, as I believed, in •J Odted state of mind, by no other than «fad himself. I i«red not wake my father, as I knew Wtißhook would be fatal to him. What Mddol.did. ,'fßied quickly through the door lend v'S.to the bedroom I was to have oc- W • rdnd, hurriedly tying the W together, made a kind of rope, which I fastened firmly to the "Post, throwing the other out of the ,p«W. By this means, possessed with wcourage of desperation, I descended to

, Leaving that dreadful place, I ran an last is my legs would carry me. The enow clang about my skirts and ologgs'l my boots, but this was nothing. On, on I rushed, till, seeing a house ia the distance, I made towards it, entered, look ing, I believe, more like an escaped lunatic than anything else, told ray tale in a few incoherent words, and sank fainting on i the floor. ,■.... • When I awoke I was in my accustomed room at home, and they told me that I had , been dolirioua. It seems that I went to the house of a magistrate well known to my father, who taking several labourers with him lost no time in visiting the inn, which had long borne a bad name. Several scoun drels, including the landlord, were arrested, and former crimes being proved against them, they were transported. It turned out that the old cabinet was used as a hiding-place, and that by stand ing up In it a man could easily insert his head inside the bust and watch at pleasure. So it was no spirit I saw after all.. Luckily my father's sleep lasted till all the disturb, ance was orer, and he was removed to his own house in safety. I believe he never thoroughly knew all the details of my ter rible adventare.

A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER.

Adventures tn the Far West,

one night we were sitting in our mining cabin discussing the news and telling stories of peril and ad venture. I had been a com mercial traveller out in this wild district, and, having found it the best paying of my routes, 1 often returned to it, so that I had become generally well acqusinted with the gold miners on "SimtnoMes Flat." This camp was on* of the richeat on the Pacific Coait, and, on the whole, I found the miners the most civilised I had over met with. I wa» ia fact more of a pedlar than legitimate drummer, and was always made very welcome at the camp, which I supplied yt'.q many of the neossearies of living. The conversation, after awhile, turned on the inevitable Chinesefqneation, and the indignation against the almond-eyed was becoming boisterous when I threw in my word tor flap Lee. Hun was the errand boy, washerwoman, and barber of the (flat—a little, good natnrcd, cunning Celestial, whom the "dots" were alwa * iinding fault with, but who had mala iiim oil indispensable to them. One article or another, of more or less value, would mysteriously disappear from the camp, never to return, but no amateur detective could succeed in fastening the smallest peculation on Hap. We had another Chinaman who officiated as cook. Heaven knows what,,his real name was, but in camp he wets always called Gin Sling, and he answered to the name as readily as bis surly, nature would allow. He was the opposite to Bap Lee both in appearance ana disposition. He had a brutal manner, a gigantic frame, and the wickedest expreauon on the ugliest face I had ever seen. Gin hod none of the obseqniousneea of his oountryman, bnt asserted himself on all oooaaionff; and, aa to bad shown the most desperate brnrery in the numerous drunken battles of tab Flat, he was regarded with a trifle of fear by his employers. However, as he was industrious, and was satisfied with little pay, he "filled the bills" for Simmonsoß Flat •', ', A few «iafs befcta iaat on which my story opens I had bad an altercation with urn Sling, in which I was at length irritated to such a degree that I struck him in the face. He dtew hit l«ng kuiie, anil I should have been boywtd all pcwibHity of striking anyone again when instantly twenty re volvers glistened from all points' of the compass in the hands of the miners who had sto»d by listening to us. I was a favourite with them, and, as Gin looked about him, he fazed, into the barrels of the shooting irons, all' levelled with harmonious acoord at various parts of his body. '■~:'.,. Uin replaced his knife in his belt, gave me one look which I shall never forget, and walked quietly away. For the few intervening days I saw little of him, and he appeared to avoid me. So I tried to laugh off, even to myself, the apprehension I always fell " I tell yt, boys," remarked Soil Blake, a large-bodied, Rood-natured son of the West, "that that there Hap Lee knows where all our lixln's is gone that's disap peared so quiet . Chaneymen hea pooty lonafingeTS," ... .; .. . "Why don't yon blame it on Gin Sling, then?" 1 asked. Even while we were discussing the ques tion the door opened, and Tim Pellew entered the .cabin. He marched straight toward the fireplace, took from bis pocket a bundle of new rank notes, and hurled them toward the fire. They struck the side of the fireplace and fell to the floor at my feet. As I picked them up, Tim said : — " You can keep 'em if you want 'em." ' • Whyy Tim," I rejoined, •• there's exactly two hundred dollars here." "Now, boye," shouted Tfm, with sparkling even and flushed face, "don't tell me about Chayneee thievin' 1 Bf you want an out-and-out thief, go to 'Frisoo and sell your dust. .Why, what is them two hundred dollars ? Them's the proceeds of two hundred and fifty dollars' worth of dust. Well, all of them is counterfeits, andl'ra.gpin' oaok to 'Frisco to .find the fellow as gimme 'em.. Old Nathans told me aa they waa counterfeit," and Tim strode quickly bock to the door and wss gone. ~;. "Thcro'll be trouble in 'Frisco to morrow," said Noll Blake, shaking his huge head. A confirmatory murmur followed the words. I did not pay any attention to the conversation, bnt sat roilocting, with the condemned notes in my hand., till I was routed by one of my companions saying:—< " Yon might as well sling them into the fire at on»e. is.sl ] "Hold on," I answered. "I bet I can put them, to use. Who's giving any wash ing to Hap Lee to-morrow ?? "Why, I am," aaid Blake. " Well, then," said I, " These notes are excellently counterfeited., Old Nathans never makes a mistake. If he hadn't con demned them I'd have thought sure they weroTgenuine. Is your vest going to be washed ? Yes ? Then so much the better. Now, suppose we put these counterfeits in the pocket of the vest, and see if Hap leaves them there ? But first we'll mark them." A shout of approval followed. Noll Blake asked, doubtfully — "Don't you think that little rat'll find out they're not genuine ? Them Chaynese beggars is a darned sight more up to anuff thaa we are." But I assured him that nobody on the Flat except old Nathans, who was infallible, could detect the counterfeit; so the crisp twenty dollar notes were foiled up in a package and placed carefully in one of the pockets of the vest. The soiled shirts

were, thrown iuto a bundle with the vest, and all went to Led in high expectation of tho event. The next.'morning t!se bundle was sent to Hap. Washing was an expeditious process in Simmonses Wat. Ironing was diaponsed with, and thorough drying was uo sine qua non, so that we expected the bundle back the aext day. Lute in the afternoon Tim Pillow returned fromSiin Francisco, after having rummaged the city in vain for tho swindler. The trick was explained to him, and he heartily ap proved of it, declariug it was worth more, money than he had lost. The following morning we were about leaving the cabin on our various pursuits when Hap Lee entered with the bundle, and, after grinning around in the most friendly way, said - .. "Blakee. Washec. Dollar." ..#!■' . Noll gave him a dollar, with a hand trembling with excitement, and Hap went out. The minute the door was closed a rush was made upon the bundle, the vest was torn out, »nd Noll Blake pulled out from the pocket a little paper, bundle. There was n dead silence as he opened the wrapper. But as he spread out the ten hills on the rude table a shout ot surprise burst from all. There th«y were, not even wet, which proved that Bap must have found them, and replaced them in the pocket, after washing tbe vest. Everybody except I* oil agreed with me that Hap was the pink of honesty, Noll swore he must have found out they were counterfeit, but no one would believe it now. I gathered up the notes and, going to tbe fire, remarked— '•I guess we may as well burn these now." " Let me see them notes again," said Noll. They were handed to him, and he ex amined them carefully. Then he asked — " Wbere did yon mark these here notes tbo other night?" I took the bills to show him, but there was no murk on any of them. I looked more closely at them. They were not the same bills at all. The original notes were excellent counterfeits. ihtne were the mo«t wreched imitations I had ever seen. Tho came was clear vow, and Hap had almost suaoceded in it. ll.i luvi replaced the ten bills, which he believed to be genuine, with the miserable counterfeits be had picket up somewhere. Noll declared ho must hnve made them himself, fie could believe almost anything of Hap Lee ; and, indeed, to could I now my illusion was to rudely dispelled. We sooured the Flat in search of Hap, but he had dUappeared <Wo found that he had ttartfd in the direction of 'Fiisco, but we could as easily have traced a bird in the air as followed Hap's trail when he did not wi-h to be found, and we knew it, I thought I had *een ttie last of Hap Lee .and the counterfeits, but I was mistaken. The afternoon of thai day I got my large valiße packed, shook hands with all the boys, who gave me many kind wishes, mounted my horse, and sut out on the road to 'Frißoo, I paced onward, meditating on Hap's character, and about five o'clocK I came to that ngiy part of the rood which every traveller between San Francisco and Siui monßoe Flat shudders to see. The road narrows considerably at this point, (inks down into a deep glen, and winds about, so that a traveller one hundred yards on either aide of the glen wonld not be aware of its existence. To the right of me towered granite rocks ; on the left were tbe trees of a thick and gloomy wood. The overhanging foliage made the epot dark at noon-time, so that I had to pick my way oarefolly. I hid just reached the bottom of the glen, and was calculating the steepness of the ascent on the other side, when something like a long snake sprang out from tbe trees to the left, and my arms were pinioned to my side. Tbe naxt moment 1 was hurled heavily from the saddle to the grouud, and my feet were tied. I saw Gin Sling standing be side me, with a knife in his hand, and a leer of satisfaction on bis brutal face. I had been lassoed, and my horse was standing near me, looking about with a bewildered air, I hod no hope now. 1 mentally ejaculated such prayers as canre into my mind, and prepared myself for death, Gin approached, grinding his teeth and muttering something to himself in Chinese. Bat now from the very same wood came forth no less a person than Hap Lee him self. Without looking at me, ho addressed an earnest remoostrance to his countryman. At every pause be made, Gin Bhook hi* head and came nearer to me. At length Hap held up one of the very notes he had stolen. Gin paused, but shook his head. Hap held up one after another, till the whole ten were exhibited. It wan too much for Gin. He calculated the long course pi more than brutal debauchery this money would secure him in the dens of the Chinese quarter of the great city, ho threw down his knife, and held out his hand. By his gestures I could see that Hap had made him go through some formula of Chinese oath. He then got tho money, and sprang into tbe wood. When' Hap nad released me I fell upon his neck, exclaiming : " Hap, yon have saved mo !" " Hum !" said Hap. Then ho took from his pocket a book, on the corner ot which was written, "Hap Lee, in account with the First National Bank of San Francisco." He tore a blank leaf out and ?aid : " You writeo what I do. Say I givee money to save yonr life. I wantee go back to Sim monses Flat. Mebbe they mad at Hap there; you writeo." As well as I could in tho dim light, I wrote a note addressed to Noll Blake, say ing that Hap had saved me, and asking him and the miners to forgive him anything he might have done for my sake. Bap pocketed this, and then edging over toward the horse, said: " Me just comrao frovc 'Flipco." 41 Ho. bo 1" said 1, a light breaking in on me. "Then yon found that the notes were " " Clountefeitee 1" rejoined Hap, with an indescribable twinkle of his little grey eye. "Glin filing dlaminca fool," At the next moment he had ilung him self on my horse, and was .tearing, back on the road to Simonses Flat, . " Hold on there, you rascal!" I shouted. But Hap was gone. I found that my watch, my revolver, and all my loose cash were gone too. But my business was urgent at San Francieco, and 1 walked all tho way. 1 have often reflected on Hap s motive m saving me, and I am obliged to think he did bo less to please me tn;»n to give him self the exquisite pleasure of cheating his countryman. But " all's well that ends well," says I.

last year the Japanese Government, having a good many old bronzra guns and antiquated field-pieces on hand, had them melted down, refined, and converted into coin at the Imperial Mint, Probably, how ever, the money will go tor the purchase of more deadly weapons. A little girl said to her mother one day, "Mother, I feel nervous." "Nervous," said the mother. "What is nervous?" " Why, it's being in a harry all over."

INTO THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

Graphic Description of the

Work Done,

The boring of a tunnel under the English Channel is itti enterprise of such world like interest that I make no excuse for getting the following entertaining deserip. tion of a visit to the workings recently con^ tributed to a London daily paper by Mr Sain:—Not many days ago, says the well-known writer, a few favoured indi viduals' assembled before uoon at the Char ing cross Kailwny station, in responsn to an invitation of .the. chairman and direc tors of the South-Eastern lUilway, to journey down to Duvcr, aod there to inspect the boring under the sea, which was intended to strike upon the French burrowing from the other side of the "silver stieak," and, together, form a Channel tunnel. There were thirty of us, all told", including thu chairman and direc tors of the South-Werteru line. My fellow guests and 1 wire not asked to write or to speak ia favour of tue scheme, only to see for ourselves what progress had been made when the flat went forth to stop tbe works, and to judge for ourselvas how men may feel on a twenty minutes' journey through a sevon-feet pipe, de-titute "f cranny or crevice whereby a sti ■ak or light or a breath of air can penetrate from the upper world. Sir Edward YYatkiu might havo quoted, had he cared to be under an obligation to the prophetic genius of Dant: AJigbitri, the saying attributed to Virgil in the fouith canto of the " Inferno," tfow wo ro down >o dusky regions blind, 1 lead the way-do ihou puwu,, behind. .In due time we found oursel vec, alighting from the special train,on lop of ,m eminence overlooking the sea, with Shakespeare's Cliff above and to the riant, aud to the left the Admiralty Pier at Dover The sun was shining brightly overhead, and a light, freeh wind curled the foam-crosted hurrying waves nearest the shore a wiud which farther away in mid-channel bellied the glancing sails of merchant ships outward bound, meving between our steep platform and the dim lines of the French coa.it, visible underneath a loug, lifting cloud bank. Hire, on the, furthest headland, upon a soft carpet of sp-iug turf, where the keen, sale savour of the sea filled the nostrils with delight, and the unsullied air made breathing an appreciable) pleasure, was the mouth of the pit leading into " the dnsky regions "—the blind alljy beneath the bottom of the sea. .And here anyone acquainted with the lay of the laud may easily perceive that sir Edward Watkin has already altered the shape of England, All that great cyliudrlc 1 mass of earth, 21ft. in circumference and 6,900 ft. iv length, taken out of the boring, has been lumped up on the foreshore iv front of the cliff, adding a new estate to the company* assets. Although the addition thus made cannot be called a novel accession to the territory of the Crown, yet, it represents a suggestive method of enlarging a kingdom by taming part of the conutry inside out. A tall shaft, a steam engine, an air loco motive, and a couple of wooden shanties, mark the spot destined, it may be, to abut upon the English mouth of the Channel tunnel, or rather of a Chunnel tunnel— for there are other schemes afoot to join London and the extrcmest point ot the continent of Europe in a continuoua rail- I way journey and without change of car riages. Sir Edward Watkin airily colcu- I Utes that the cost of the enterprise in which he is interested would amount to three millions Stirling, and that the tunnel would allow the passage of 250 trains each way every day, at an average speed of 45 miles an hour. So that the tunnel of 22 miles in length might be traversed in half an hour—a speed, be it said, very much higber than that kept up in the longest tunnels of the St. Gothard between Switzerland and Italy. The South-Eastern boring might, so it is said, be accomplished ia three years, or more than thtice as quick as the estimate arrived at by Lord diehard Growrenor of the rival scheme which he so ably advocates. The question of the feasi bility of making a sub-way under the sea between England and France is declared practically settled; ana it remains only for the Joint Committee of the Houses of Lords and Commons, who are engaged inquiring into the expediency of such a means of communication, to conclude their labours, and issue a report which, for the time I being, will probably make or mar an enter prise on which the fate of Bngland may hereafter depend. "Coming erents cast their shadows before." In one of the wooden shanties, maybe in both, were towels, and soap and water. There were also clothes-brushas, and a supply of white canvass overalls, jackets,' and caps. Into those sheds went thirty well-dressed gentlemen, presently to emerge transfigured, if not transformed. The costume de rigucur of the Channel Tunnel may have its merits, but it if not suggestive either of •' a thing of beauty" or~a joy for ever." Six at a time we went down the pit, to where, as Dante sings : "I observed a flame so brijhtly burn, That it o'ercame the hemisphere of night." That was, in this case, the clear effulgence of electricity, which lit the shaft with intervals of light between lengths of half • darkness for some distance along the way. Six at a time— the heavier men welcoming the champion ship of their moro spare brethren—we stopped upon a smalt platform, shut in and parted by an iron railing, and attached to a crane with strong chains. In a moment or two the platform rose in the air; then, with a swift downward motion, it rushed through space, spinning round and round, down and down, the level sides of the nar row way—always seeming to grow wider ! than the space above—until through the ; little opening at the top we saw the stars twinkling in a patch of purplosky, At the bottom of the shaft, at the mouth of the boring, no more than 7ft. in diameter from end to end—excepting here and there a j somewhat wider square opening, technically called a " turn-out "—we found a couple of trollies, fitted with seats on cither tide, i after the manner of the tramcara of the military train familiar to habitues of Wim bledon camp. Knnning along the sides of the trolly, close to the ground, was a foot board like that attached to a railway car riage, and above the sent with a somi-cir cular hood, lined with red baize, sufficient to protect the head and shoulders from dripping wot or particles of falling debris, but not wide enough to savo the legs and feet, By reason of the space taken up in the lower arc of the circle, so as to make a level floor, along which the rails were laid, it was necessary that we should sit with knees drawn up and heads bent during the whole time occupied in journeying to the face of the tunnel and back again, A Rembrandt or a Salvator JKoaa might have done pictorial justice to such a scene. Under foot for a great portion of the way the ground is almost ankle-deep in Blush; and the stalwart fellows who drag and push the trollies—trudging manfully along—have enough to do to keep their foot hold. The travellers, for the greater length of time moving through a dim twilight,

caunot well make out the features even of those who sit beside them. Now laid again the little electric lamps, set iD rode niches of the naked grey chalk, cost a brilliant but fugitive li«ht on the pai&ing train. Then, for awhile, all is ut'iiin but dark ness visible. There are shadows above and benoath, and all around. Look ing backwauTfi or forwards, throush the deepening gloom, the traveller fefs an evar receding, seemingly end.'i-gs funnel shaped perspective, lit at long intervals as with fiery eyes. Onward,' ami yet onward no sound save ihe spinning made by the tall workmen tramping through mud, and the drip, drip oi the water upon tne hood above our heads—we aie dragged and pushed beneath the shingle and the snnd of the shore for a timu level with the beacb, and then down, a quarter ot a mile deep, past low watermark, under tho bed of the Channel. The bore has cut clean through the grey chalk in a circle as round and true r.s the inside of a wedding ring. So thoroughly, iudeed, is the instrument adapted to the work and tothe material that in dry places it Is possible to see the chisel mnrks made a couple of years ago. At intervals along the route, where itia feared the water might come through, the sides and roof have been packed with lead or clay, ar.rt held up with solid iron bands, apparently about 18in wide. Sometimes, in the fitful flashes of light, the eye rests upon falling red rivulets, like streams of blood, pouring down the damp walls. Ever and anon thore are faults in the clayey chalk not vet reme di«d._ So we go on and on, moments seeming an minutfs, until the electric lamps cease altogether, and the long, awful cave is enveloped in a darkness which would be impenetrubli! Unit for the glimmer of a few tallow candles stack into the bare walls of the cutting. Kven v mile and more from the mouth of the shaft it is not diflicultto breathe, for th« same machine which works the bore pnmpa drives a continuous supply of fresh air into the 7ft, pipe, which at present form* no more than a nucleus of a tunnel, At a distance of i!, 300 yards from thepitmouh, wo come upon the simple and wnrtcrful piece of machinery which can pierce throngh the soa with extraordinary oelertt , aud at a cost cheaper than is required for the making of an ordinary tunnel unMfet ;; hill. By permission of the President of th" Uoard of Tradf, the engineer is allowed tc'iuake a (»i|le of turns in order to show our party tho method of its working. Presently we remount onr not too comfortable cor ; riage, and puss stooping, oucc in»ro along : the fearsome narrow way ; pass by spaces of horrible shadows and L-limraeß of wel come light. And, finally, wo arc mvuiie up through the ihaft into the outer air, where the glad sunshine catchen the tall cliffs face and bathes the smiling :m I as yet un betravelted Channel in an uunospberc of golden glory,

A Gambler's Ruse.

A philosophic friend, who spends Ms time bo as to bet gratify his inclination for the time, thus wrote tho other <ivy from Monte Carlo :—" I have been for three months in vesting in a bank here ■ v very matter* uf-fact institution. They do not announce what interest they allow, nor do they furnish their customers with deposit re ceipt?. Xhoy just take th» money, much or little, and say no more anoiit it. 'Ihere are about 130 clerks, a»y kind of coin is accepted, but neither signatures nor cheques wiil do. All sorts of customer? deal at tbe bank, and eince I have ben bore I have seen H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Hamilton, and ni»ny noble persons investing money in a must indiscriminate way. There are occasionally romantic incidents ocenning, and tragic ones too, I am told; but I saw none beyond a sudden fainting, and sometimes agonised faces. I had some Scottish ucquaintane is, but their investments were ot so mild a character that the following story could not have applied to any of them:—At Monte Carlo they sny'that when people have invested all their cash in the bank, they sometimes, iv a rash and ill-considered way, blow their brains ont. The directors of tho bank, in order to smooth over an unpleasant incident o! this kind, and to stay ill-natured gossip, get tome of their people to thmst money into tho pockets of the deceased. They don't care to have it snid that suicide has been caused by over-investment in their institution, leaving the customcis penniless. But a late even' ban impelled the management to be capful aud dis criminate, a pistol-shot was heard out side one evening wheo the bank was crowded and business in full swing, Some confidential attendants rushed out at once, and before the wreath of pow^r-smoke had vanished the pockets of thi> prostrate man were filled with notes and coin. Left to himself, this recumben- arid ingooions Scotchman arose, and retired to his hotel, "ratified by the success he hnd attained ;u the cost of one blank cartridge f"

German Encouragement to Inventors.

AH opportunity for an inventive genius is offered in Germany, where the Society of German Railway Associations has resolved npon opening every three yenm prize com petitions of a total amount »f 57,500 for im portant inventions ia railway matters, namely: First for inventions mid improve ments in the construction of railroads -first prize, $1,875; second priz ■ §7'>o;; third prize, $375. Second, for inventi>ui- and improve ments in the means of transportation und their nee—prizes the same us number one. 1 bird, for inventions an<i improvements respecting the general arimiiiistratioQ of railroads, railroad statistics, and prominent subjects of railroad hteratam— lirst prize, S7SU; second and third p ize, §375 each. The awarding of prizes U tot to exclude the patenting of any invention on thu sale of the patent for the bentfit of the inventor. The first competition of thi- kind has jast been made public for priz s of doable the amount for all inventions dining the l;*«t six yean, say from July IJB, • I&7S. U July 15,1884; application to tot sent ia between January 1 and July 15. ISS4, to this managing director of the socjnty at Berlin.

The Bombardment of Alexan dria.

SOMB interesting data about the bombnrrl ment of Alexandria wer reeontfy Riven by Captain AValford, Royal Navy, in a lecture delivered in London The expend!* tureof ammunition was 'w-methihg out of all proportion to the dama,' done or the losses of life sustained. The' Britiah ships fired 1721 rounds of heavy xhctls, of wldeh the Inflexible is credited wiih 88 From smaller Rims 1467 solid shot' wero fired, while the aggregate numh" of bullets from Martini-Honry rifles, >(<-(lcnfol4 and Gatling guns, was 33,493 'the amount of powder exploded was 1,318,585 pounds, of which the Inflexible fired '0,900 pounds, The losses of the Ejryp iv:<■• have been variously estimated at from 2SO to 500 men, wbile the British loss w.>s li killed ami 28 wounded. Only 17 per c : ••■ of the shots struck the fortifications, ned tno 77 hnavy guns carried by the fleet fi- <1 on an average only 22 shots daring the entire bombard* i ment.

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, JUNE 23, 1883,

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