Dr. Goldsmith took the plot of She Stoops to Conquer from a joke played by a Lincolnshire gentleman named Grummit. Late one night a commercial traveller met Grummit on the road, and asked him where he might find the nearest inn. Grummit said he would gladly "show him the way to a quiet respectable house of public entertainment for man and horse." The stranger was thereupon conducted to Grummit's private residence. Everything he ordered was promptly brought him, and in the morning he asked for his bill, and was very pleasantly surprised to find he had been a private guest. Other odd deeds of kindness are related of Grummit.
Hamlet is taken from the Danish history of Amleth, by Saxo Germanicus. It may be but a coincidence that the word "Hamlet" may be formed from "Amleth" by placing the last letter of the latter word before the former one. The story of Amleth is said to be very improbable, and that only a genius like Shakespeare would have founded a play on it. The famous "ghost" of the Shakespearian version is the bard's own invention. Amleth, having made the nobility drunk, sets fire to the palace, kills the usurping king, and is himself proclaimed ruler.
STARVED TO DEATH
in midst of plenty. Unfortunate, yet we hear of it. The Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk is undoubtedly the safest and best infant food. Infant Health is a valuable pamphlet for mothers. Send your address to N. Y. Condensed Milk Co., N. Y.—[Adv.]
HIGH-GRADE PRESS NOVELTIES.
Bewildering display of elegance at Arnold, Constable & Co.'s store. A show of elegant and artistic articles in dress goods and materials as must surely bewilder the most hardened of shoppers is now to be seen at Arnold, Constable & Co.'s, at the corner of Broadway and Nineteenth Street. In the silk department there is so much worthy of notice that it seems almost impossible to select special samples of the wealth of beauty which has been imported recently. Satin duchesse, with gold or silver tinsel, in graceful and elegant patterns, specially adapted for dinner and reception dresses, while for street costumes the peau-de-soie material, with colorings of the new blue, new green, and lavender, will be much admired. There are some particularly striking moire antiques in water silks, handsomely brocaded in all the new tints, while a striking exhibit is the white moire antique with flower designs in satin effects, suitable for bridal costumes. This magnificent material is in grades from $2.50 to $10 a yard. A full line of moire velours in tints with gold and silver threads for evening wear is sure to command attention, while some very pretty designs in white grounds with small colored pompadour figures, very well adapted for bridesmaids' dresses, are likely to be popular. Among the velvet materials there are many novelties, most noticeable of which is perhaps the frieze velvet on chameleon ground of taffeta silk. This is an absolute innovation. White velvet figures on a light-colored brocaded groundwork is also new. A very pretty thing is the brocaded velvet with mottled spots on a colored ground, and the velvet on a glacé taffeta in all colors. Plain velvets are likely to be very popular for waists and sleeves or trimmings. In dress goods the drap d'été, in all colors, both dark and light, is an important and attractive novelty.—[Adv.]