Show IN BRITAIN How 1 Periodicals are Con F f i ducted There 0 J I j NOTABLE MONTH OF NOVEMBER I l b rr i Some Remarks Concerning Politics in il the Islands Pnrnell and the Irish Question LONDON December 51885 Cqrrespondence or Tun tier anA an-A periodical appears weekly in London Lon-don called Tit pit It is Sixteen page trablfcdtion arid is devoted ojtha re printfnf of short and pungent selections fr cnp all the leading newspapers and periodicals in the world as well as from books These selections are humorous scientific legal and interesting notes on every topic imaginable Short stories are also published correspondents answered and a large amount of original origi-nal matter finds its way into each number num-ber It is without question the best thing of the kind published anywhere and its pronounced success has resulted in the appearance of an indefinite number num-ber of other productions of a similar character Five dollars is offered every week for the best selection from continental conti-nental humorous papers 5 each week for the best story original or selected a e given prize is offered for thg most accurate answers to a given number of questions about once a month a prize of 100 is offered for the best story for the Christmas number fifty prizes are offered of 5 each and the average length of the competition for each prize will not exceed onefourth of a column of HERALD matter if indeed it reaches that much About three weeks I ago the publishers of this remarkable production offered a prize of 250 for the postal card that would contain the closest estimate of the appointment of the Parliament now beinir elected The estimate had to be written on a postal eardpUBil was to contain only the number num-ber of Conservatives Liberals Radicals Nationalists and Independents which the sender guessed would compose the new Parliament tiThe last day on which competitions could be received was the 17th inst This competition resulted re-sulted in the receipt i oC Q05CO postal cards of that number 48030 predicted a Liberal majority wnile 17400 estimated that the Conservatives would have a majority and 110 placed the membership member-ship of the two parties in Parliament as equal On lhe day ihe competition closed 47000 cards for the competition arrived The postoffice department of the British government was benefitted at the rate of almost 750 by this competition compe-tition Added to the above number about 4000 camein late and were not allowed to enter the competitton This is what one might term genuine enter rise and it has met with the warmest Kind of reception throughout the United Kingdom In addition to the above prizes which are always being offered in one form or another and besides the standing prizes from week to week there is also anotherpeculiar inducement induce-ment made to purchase this production and it appears under this heading in each number The New System of Life Insurancefollowing which came these words One hundred pounds 500 will be paid by the proprietors of TidBits Tid-Bits to the nextof kin of any person who is killed in a railroad accident provided pro-vided a copy of the current issue of TidBits Tid-Bits is found upon the deceased at the time of the catastrophe This offer does not apply to railway servants The wonder is that the idea lias not seed attempted in the United States The price of this remarkable periodical and it is on fair paper printed with clear and clean type is 2 cents a copy I November is considered a mean month in London and it is to all appearances I not unjustly considered Ions Hood tells the tale in his own style and tells well No warmth no cheerfulness no healthful ease No comfortable feel in any member Si shade no shine no butterflIes bees No fruits no flowers no leaves no birds November Leigh Hunt said it was the month in which Englishmen are said by Frenchmen French-men to hang and drown themselves and he adds November with its loss of verdure its frequent rains the fall of the leaf and the visible approach of winter is undoubtedly agloomy month to the gloomy But he presently brightens up and to another tune tells us that there are many things in November No-vember we lift up our matter of fact eyes and find that there are matters of fact that we seldom dream of = gentle fine rays that come to contradict our sayings pleasure in the very falling of the foliage as we View the leaves thin dancer upon air Go eddying r und And to a stranger it is not difficult to endorse the words of anoptimist who has said A London g in November is a thing for which r have a sort of natural affection in a well mixed metropolitan met-ropolitan fog there is something substantial stantial and satisfying it is meat and drink at the same time November is a month full of historical interest beside > All Hallow Tide occurs November Novem-ber 1st which having once taken place in May was changed by Gregory IV to November in 835 Holy wells were at one time worshipped in Eng land so superstitious hart this worship become that in 960 the Saxon King Edgar forbid the worshipping of foun ains = Ixoyenttier 3d specially i interesting esting on account ot the story that Winifred a noble British maiden gave such offense to the Welsh Prince Cara doc by the rejection of his suit that he ordered her head struck off The earth I immediately opened and swallowed him while her head went rolling down the hill and a sprint began to flow at the place where it stopped and itis to this day known as St Winifreds well November vember 5th is kept as the anniversary of the discovery of Gunpowder Pot > while it is more famous in the history of warfare the one on which the battle i of Inkermann was fought when In i S54 after some 1400 Household Guards had stood for six consecutive hours against a force about ten times as large 14000 troops English and French drovelrom the field an army of Russians 00000 strong November 9th is Lord Mayors day and also the one on which Richard the il bestowed the title of Lord on Sir William Walwonh II for his eryice in quelling Jack Straw s rebellion November llth is SI Mar tins day called so often Martus Bishop of Tours in 371 who began life as a soldier of whom it is related that when stationed at Amicus in 332 in mid winter he met a poor man scantily clad and gave him half ofhsmilitarv cloak dividing it with his sword N nrt ot ww oi > uju November 20th is the festival of St Edmund Jung and martyr November 22nd is ot Cecilias day celebrated by Drydens grand song November 23rd is dedicated dedi-cated to St Clement a companion of St Paul November 28th is St Catherines day November 30th is St Andrews daYHehas long since been considered the patron Saint of Scotland In November No-vember two Enplish kings were born Charles I and William III and among the famous men of other countries may be mentioned the name of Martin Luther the German reformer Mo hamet the prophet of Arabia while the death list includes the names of Prince William son of KIng Henrv I of Eng land Cardinal Wolsey Queen Mary Queen Charlotte the Princess Charlotte John Knox old Parr aged 152 years and Sir Henry Havelock On November lot 175 the great earthquake at Lisbon destroyed nearly 60000 lives and on November No-vember 1701 the great storm as it is emphatically called began by which in London alone more than 800 houses were laid in ruins while at sea the Eddystone lighthouse was completely destroyed and 6000 British sailors lost their lives Not a bad showing for November all things considered Dr Johnson says Instead of looking for spring with anxious and caring minds enjoy the present daythere are pleasures pleas-ures even in November At the present time the Liberals are still ahead in the election yet there seems to prevail a strong belief that the Conservatives will pull through with a majority The papers are as absolutely valueless here as they are in America so far as enabling a man to estimate the result is concerned Each paper keeps on swearing by its own side and the Nationalists aremore than ever insolent I see a number of papers or mysterious pamphlets are getting among the Irish tenantry especially in National quar ters making showings of how the Irish fund is employed and it almost entirely goes to individuals Dillon Sexton Healy and others come in for a large share annually while it is quite evident that Mr Parnell does not torget Number One as he invariably has the lions share There does not seem to be a doubtthafc Parnell is an arrant Knave who is making himself rich out of the insane enthusiasm of his countrymen under the delusive claim that he is animated ani-mated by purely patriotic motives and is working for the political salvation of Ireland WANDERER |