Many of the "marvels" dealt with in this book are known to the elders but will be as refreshing as ever to the young. It would seem to be the obvious thing to recommend "Would You Believe It?" as an ideal Christmas gift for all existing sons and daughters above the age of twelve, but there is a catch which should be explained to all those who have any choice in the matter: if they get the book as a present it will promptly be purloined by father and all the uncles not to mention mother and the New Fiction A year or two ago when visiting a friend, I had to wait about half-an-hour in his library. I picked up a bock which he had been reading. I enjoyed the few chapters I read while awaiting him so much that when I left I begged him to lend me the book. I promised to return it the next day. Unfortunately I had not leisure enough to &nish the book. My poignant grief at having to return it with several chapters unread is still a vivid memory. This book was "The Happy Return," by C. S. Forester, It described a period in the life of one Captain Hornblower, a gallant and very shy naval hero of the Napoleonic Wars era. This book was the first of the Hornblower trilogy, of which "Flying Colours" (Michael Joseph, London. 7/6) is the third, and, I note with regret, the last. In Captain Hornblower Mr. Forester has introduced a fictional character of an entirely new type who, I am sure, will endear himself to a wide public. This essentially human hero seems to be composed of two entities. He imagines he possesses many weaknesses and is conscious of these to the point of exaggeration. He considers himself a very poor type of man. Spurred on by fear of revelation of his self-thought feebleness to his subord-mates, he wraps himself in a cloak of imperturbability, setting himself an impossibly high standard of discipline. Little does he realize that he is regarded with loyal affection by all who serve under him, In moments of duress he imagines he cuts a very poor figure in the eyes of his staff. In actual fact his suppression of all emotions when in danger sets such a fine example to all under him that they would follow him right into the jaws of death at his © command. Another aspect of his character is his bewilderment by the fact that three women fall in love with him, two of whom fail to excite in him emotions deeper than friendliness. "Flying Colorrs" tells the story of his adventures while a captive of Napoleon's men, his eventual escape and triumphal return to England with two of his devoted followers. This book, I am sure, will be enjoyed by gil who read it whatever their taste in literature mag be. My interest has been so much stirred that shall not rest content until I have read the second of the Hornblower trilogy, "A Ship, of the Line."—wv&c. present I go by bus from Jessfield Park to Honan Road and return, two or four times daily. At 7 am. each morning the buses at Jessfield Park are so full of thick blue smoke one has to lower several windows in order to breathe; and the first bus in the line seldom leaves first. An efficient system would have a few windows open to get rid of the smoke inside and they would have the doors closed of all the buses except the next one io be despatched.
On last Thursday morning the bus I boarded was evidently late, for the driver passed three stops on Vu Yuen Road between the Park and Edinburgh Road, despite the fact from three to eight persons were waving to him to stop for them. Between} Edinburgh Road and St. George's he made no stops, although at two places there were passengers waving and calling to him. The upper deck of the bus had three passengers, and the lower perhaps five until we reached St. Georg: I see such deliberate refusals to stop at tivo, places in particular, both coming West—at Fokien Road and at Ferry Road—several times a week, but never such wholesale passing as Bus 36 about 7.20 am. on December 8. D A last word about Coxracr's letter. Did the Municipal Council not pay for the evacuating of inmates of Ward Road Jail; did the hundreds of thousands of people carried by bus from the war-areas not pay for their transportation Carve Coeur Shanghai, Dec. 12.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.