Yesterday the King left London for his annual visit to a foreign Spa. This year Marienbad has again been chosen and it is said that his Majesty intends to undergo A rigorous course of treatment under the direction of Dr. Oth, who prescribed for him when he last visited the locality. Every year more and more peuple seem to follow the Royal example and fly off to one of the most patronized Spas immediately the London season ends and before they are due for a round of visits in Scotland or elsewhere. Colonel Newnham-Davis in a recent number of the Onlooker" asks, Why leave England? He points out that there is no reason for the superstition that from a medicinal point of view the waters of Homburg or Aix-les-Bains are curatively more effective than the springs of Har-togate or Bath. He says that if only the majority of English people could make up their minds to give the baths of their own country a really fair trial they would in all probability find that they had derived ite as much benefit as they would do from any foreign Spa. That may be, if baths the and waters were the only requisites to the restoration to health but one also needs change of surroundings, a liberal allowance of sunshine and a certain amount of amusement. Harrogate is undoubtedly bracing, but it often lacks sunshine and it is always dull. Bath is to me always most depressing, Homburg is always bright with an infinite variety of amusements to suit all tastes. If Colonel Davis wants his England for the English" I think he should induce a deputation from the Bath and Harrogate Urban Councils (or whatever thuse gentlemen style themselves) to take trip to all the foreign Spas in the height of their seasons. They might find out a few things which our health resorts lack.
Clerks as Harvesters.
We really have made a new departure this year. Some weeks ayo it was suggested that farmers often lost a considerable
sfabourers in the district were needed at proportion of their crops because all the the same time and these were not sufficient to go round. Some one—through the medium of the press—su-gested that it vould be a good idea if clerks employed in city warehouses, who generally are somewhat insufficiently paid and must find a difficulty in saving an amount suffi cient for a good summer's holiday, hired elves out as farm labourers for a fortnight as the case might be, and so saved money and gained health at the some time. Tt seems that quite a number of young fellows have acted on the hint and the plan has worked excellently, Several farmers who have employed clerks say that they were quite willing te accept free board and lodging in return for thei work and that they proved most useful, Of course there have been exceptions where weakly youths collapsed at once, but usually after 8 couple of days they could do almost as much as well-trained hands and it is expected that next year the chanced to be in Australia when he was out there for his health and well remember his work on the "Sydney Bulletin "—which Best work has been done for Punch," but tactically made the paper. Lately his his "Annual" is, I suppose, known all over the world. A story which has gone the round of all the papers exactly indicates the character of the man. Some two or three years ago a supper party was being given at the Savoy Hotel in honour of the birth of Miss Amy Sherwin, a noted Australian soprano. Mr. May picked up her menu card and on it made an exquisite little drawing. This was seen by a wealthy lady guest and she admired it So much that she wished to possess a similar souvenir of the occasion so she sent a waiter round to Mr. May with 'a request to that effect—and a ten-pound note in payment. The artist was naturally disgusted with what he rightly. considered her impertinence, so he looked steadily at her and then with a few bold lines made a sketch of her on the back of the note as true as it was appalling. With that and his compliments he returned it. One wonders where that note is now and did it teach the lesson it was intended to convey
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.