I have somewhere seen the name of Thread-the-Needle-Gate. Where is, or was, it? and whence was the London street so named?
R. S. H.
Morwenstow.
8. Proof of a Sword.
—Is the following statement correct and true (I mean, as to the trial of the sword blade, not the anecdote)?
"A troop of horse are riding along under the command of 'Duke William' of Cumberland, in the '45. A little old Highlander joins the march; a strong lusty soldier laughs at, and insults him. He is allowed to demand satisfaction, and fight it out at once: he craves the loan of a sword; one is handed to him. But Donald had seen too many snows to trust his life to the blade of untried metal: he minutely examined the handle, the edge, the point, and the spring, and finally turning aside to a pool of water, and applying the flat side of the blade to its surface, with one smart stroke broke it in two."
Is this a good test of a sword blade? Would any sword stand it?
Would the Toledo blade, at the Crystal Palace, that rolls up into the form of a serpent, bear it?
What is the usual test of a good blade?
ENSIS.