WELCOME HOME!
It is with great satisfaction that we read, in the columns of the South Wales Daily News, of a citizens' meeting in the Cardiff Town Hall, for the purpose of discussing and arranging plans the object of which is to give a suitable and cordial "Welcome-home Reception" to the noble owner of Valkyrie III., upon his return from the United States. That "gallant little Wales" should take the initiative in such a project is only natural, and John Bull congratulates Taffy, and sincerely hopes that his happily-proposed demonstration to the Glamorganshire peer will be carried out with all the success it deserves. Lord Dunraven has done much for yachting, and his recent sportsman-like conduct under the trying circumstances he encountered in the "trans-pond-tine drama," The America Cup, fully merits recognition, not only from Wales, but also from the rest of the United Kingdom. Slightly parodying Byron, we might address the following: lines to Miss Columbia:—
Laugh while thou canst—another race
May make thee Cup-less, pretty Yankee!
But let the ships have "elbow" space
Or else we'll have to say, "No, thank'ee."
Gil Blas-é.—Charles Lamb declared the human species to be divided into two distinct races, the men who borrow and the men who lend, of which he considered the former to be infinitely superior to the latter, and consequently designated them the "Great Race." Now, undoubtedly the great race in Paris at present is the female race, the race of lady bicyclists who, not content with borrowing men's hearts, have appropriated the masculine garment as well. The enterprising Gil Blas newspaper recently "brought off" a novelty in the way of Courses à bicyclettes for opera dancers, which took place with great éclat in the Bois de Boulogne. The fair terpsichoreans, from "prima ballerina assoluta, who is famous from St. Petersburg to Utah," to the humblest rat, or ballet-girl, assembled in force, and, with "light fantastic toe" and "twinkling foot" pressing the treadles of their willing machines, keenly contested the various events, to the huge delight of a concourse of frivolous boulevardiers. After the morning's sport the chic Bicycli-ennes were entertained at an elegant déjeuner, the menu of which, compiled by an Anglo-Parisian gourmet, comprised among its appetising items a new dish, to wit, Œufs Cocottes à "l' Wheel."