SCENE: Hotel.
Little Girl. "OH, MUMMY! THEY'VE GIVEN ME A DIRTY PLATE."
Mother. "HUSH, DARLING. THAT'S THE SOUP."
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
"MINSTREL BOY."—You are confusing TENNYSON'S "Brook" with the Tigris. Also it is the Turkish Army and not the river (which flows the other way) that is speaking in the famous lines—
"I come from haunts of Kut (return);
I make a sudden sally."
"ANXIOUS INQUIRER."—No, we are without reliable news of FERDIE. But it is rumoured that he is preparing to conform to the general movement of the Central Allied Powers, and is therefore taking a little gentle running exercise in the Vulpedrome at Vienna.
"V.T.C."—We rejoice with you that already—not more than 2½ years since the revival of the Volunteer Force—the War Office has recognised the desirability of giving the Volunteer a rifle to shoot with; and it now seems almost certain that he will receive one, free of charge, before the conclusion of peace. We welcome this wise and generous decision, for though we have never pretended to be a military authority we have always held the view that in a tight corner a man with a rifle has an appreciable advantage over an unarmed man.