London, Aug. 11.
Tt is dimoult to believe, so late everything has been this year and the first blooming of the roses not yet nished, that grouse will be on sale to-morrow. The season should be a good one, in spite of the late cold spring, and the heather every where is wonderful. The question which is the best game bird is a common cause of argument in our family, as in most. We agree in ranking the Pheasant lowest in spite of his romantic ancestry, brought to England as a pet by the Romans, left behind when they fled, and, as the Saxons advanced among the' deserted villas, fluttering out in alarm to fend for himself and bequeath a numerous progeny to the future. Teal are delicious, if eaten within not more than six hours of being shot, after which they become fishy. Woodcock, 00, are excellent but hard to come by. Like the Mayay trout, they depend, or rather you depend on a friend who has his own Woodcock coverts and a generous heart. Between the claims of grouse and partridge the controversy seems unending. Then some one boldly asserts first place among all feathered eatables for a good Aylesbury duck; or for "a fat stubble goose with potatoes done brown." But a duck is really almost too rich, and everyone knows that a goose is an unsociable bird, French Club on Thursday evening. Following dinner the parly enjoyed dancing on the root.
'Mr. and Mrs, Wadsworth are leaving' to-morrow for Japan, They expect to be gone a month and will go first to Kamikoch! in the Japanese Aing'and from there to Lake Char Mr, and Mrs, W. G. Crokam who have Just moved into a very attractive house at 212 Hunglao Road will be home toa number of their friends this evening at a cocktail party and buffet supper which will be in the nature of a housewarming.
A Feted Chinese Lady One of the most feted of the departing visitors this week was Mrs. Florence Wen who was tified and dined continuously for the two weeks preceding her departure on the s. Empress of Japan on Tuesday. Mrs. Wen was entertained by Chinese and foreign friends and scores accompanied her to the ship following farewell party given Monday night by Mr. Phil Carpenter, Mr. Gerald Tyrell and General Linson Dzau. Mr. Denzil Ezra, Mr. V. St J. Killery, Mr. and Mrs. ¥, C, Wen, and Mr. and Mrs. Russell Sun were among others who entertained for this charming Chinese lady.
'Young friends of Miss Jacqueline Ball, daughter of Mr. and Mrs, Wil-iam Ball and the holder of Sharghai swimming records for fifty yard tree style, hundred yards and back-stroke, will return home on Tuesday from a two months' holiday spent in Nojiri, Japan where she has been visiting Mr. ind Mrs, E. M. Hayes. too much for one and not enough for two. It is a gluttonous conversation. Yet! is there any topic on which everyone can talk with so much animation as food?
Summer Moves Along The only possible objection to the grouse is that he marks the beginning of the end. You remember the busy housewife routing out her maids at six am, "Come, come, you gi not up yel? Why here's to-day's Monday "and to-morrow's Tuesday, and next day's Wednesday, and there half the week gone and not a stroke of work done yet." So from the arrival of grouse the imagination caps on to partridge, pheasant, the Christmas turkey itself. Indeed summer is moving along, the grass in Hyde Park is burnt yellow-brown, under, the trees is @ thick carpet of fallen leaves, and even out in the country, with no wall of houses 50 ft. away to block out the sunset, the lights must be switched on before dinner is half over, In many ways of course, autumn' is the loveliest season of the year. De Quincey in tone of his most famous passages claimed first place for "winter in his sternest shape.... candles at four o'clock, warm hearth-rugs, tea, a fait tea-maker." There is much' to be said for it:
And when December fogs begin to all And darkling sight the wandering Well draw' the curtains of the ancestral hall, And stoke the Are with logs, ourselves with ware.
But how that grouse is eating up ume, in revenge for being eaten himself!' Here is a glorious summer night with increditable moon, and I rushing along to Christmas, The fa fs, it is a great mistake to Inve a favourite season, Childhood's days are long simply because a child is incapable of anticipating the future. The Epicureans tried to defy age and perpetuate childhood, or at any rate youth, by "the making our own each highest thrill of joy that the moment offers us." Yet I suppose the most eyed-in-the-wool Epicurean could not always shut out the skeleton at his feast. T wish those grouse were not coming in to-morrow—especially us Tean never afford as many of them as T should like, A Village Visitor A schoolboy nephew coming to stay with us for a few days caused me to pay my frst visit yesterday for many years to the Zoo. I dislike seeing animals, and particularly the larger birds, in cages, but the Zoo was the one sight on which the nephew had set his heart. He had never been in London, or indeed very far from his village home before, so I had an active afternoon. He began by asking me to explain the hieroglyphics on the bus tickets, wanted to kkitow how many buses there were in London and whether they zan to a regular time-table or just went out on a sort of go-as-you-Dlease foray, Remembering how often one waits ton or fifteen minutes for a particular bus and then sees three of them arrive together, Tcealized that in that innocent question the nephew had found a great truth. He gazed with awe at the Belisha beacons and wanted to know what use they were. Again I mur mured to myself "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings." We got front seats on the bus and he marvelled at the closeness with which it drew up to any vehicle ahead. That there was no collision rather damped the joy of the journey.
The Entrancing Zoo Arrived at the Z00 he said at once that he had no' use for the monkey: house," Neither had 1, but it enabled tne to strike rather a mean bargalh, fu rule out the. birds house, which fg) or used to be, abominably noisy dihd"amelly. We also agreed to omit the insect house, which reminded him of tedious lectures by some unpopular Shatter st his school. There sul remained a. very. largo collection of fauna, and we sav them every one {The genus homo. was even mors tu the ground. At any time inthe siternoon there "must have been several thousand men, women and children in the gardens, In the cen {te's lawn some 40 yas, square fas Deen turned" into an apes playground, with only a tow raling round Te and two or three keepers to. Keep watch, The crowd was. gathered. ai deep About it My nephew, who Is'a very fait for nie 18 years, peered among the heads: Catthing' Sight. apes he hurriedly withdrew. 'We cin' aay "weve aeon It vat any fe, he observed sith a wisdom be Yond his years. We moved off to th Zquarlum' which Ys supremely. worth feeing. he umber and variety fis, vel strange and. often. many-coloured shapes, andthe perfection the manner' in -whleh they" are Shown make this part of the 200 fbsorbingly incresting. My nephew alnly tried to make the fs follow his tger along the. glass. Probably very other schoolboy lits done the Same, "Incidentally is particularly forbidden.
There is no doubt that the 200 Enimals the lawns and. flower beds rHecty ran, white, apart from
make ah angulate picture of sowing Colour trid nealness, In bygone days P°belleve the Zoo. war rather hard tp." Now owing 10 it enormous WMknowe "what. todo. with Next pule, it hae more money than
Week it it opening -a playground where children" trid" the' most {rustwortly animate wil play together. 'And every week it announces some few and tare arrival. esterday, for instance, "Iky received "a. pair' Manatees (Kipling story "of the White Seal describes them) "which probably gave rise 4 the legend of Mermaids, "Ail the creatures "look extremely well cared for, In beaulful Condition, and. sx contented. as one ould wish, pactiewarly the Wons and Hlonewes, which move breed 30 Teeely captivity that tion eus-are be coming rather aim cut to depose of.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.