* * * * *

Presumably the eleven stories in The Loosing of the Lion’s Whelps (MILLS AND BOON) are published for the first time, as we are not given any notice to the contrary, and I can imagine that Mr. JOHN OXENHAM’S many admirers will derive considerable pleasure from them.  Mr. OXENHAM’S weak points are that sometimes he fails to distinguish between real pathos and sticky sentimentality, and that when he tries his hand at telling a practical joke he does not know when to stop.  There are, however, stories in this volume which deserve unqualified praise.  The shortest, “How Half a Man Died,” is the best; indeed, it is a real gem.  But “The Missing K.C.’s” has a genuine thrill in it; and, in a very different manner, “A By-Product” is proof enough that the author can get his effects all the more readily when he keeps his own feelings under the strictest control.  Mr. OXENHAM’S XI. has weak points in it, but on the whole it is a good side.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  The Farmer. “DON’T YOU KNOW, YOU LITTLE THIEF, I COULD GET YOU TEN YEARS IN JAIL FUR STEALIN’ MY APPLES?”

The Boy. “EXCUSE ME, SIR, BUT YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY MISINFORMED. I SHOULD COME UNDER THE FIRST OFFENDERS ACT.”]

* * * * *

Another Impending Apology.

“John Kelly, Aughanduff, while going to Dernaseer was attacked on the road by a bull belonging to Thomas Kelly, and knocked down and had three ribs broken.  He was attended by Dr. ——­, and we think such dangerous animals should not be allowed to wander at large.”—­Irish Paper.

* * * * *

    “J.A.M. required for St. Mark’s Girls’ School, Dublin.”—­Irish
    Times.

A case for the FOOD CONTROLLER.

* * * * *

From a letter on “How we are to be Governed":—­

    “Are we in future to see the party whips put on to decide
    whether a 16 in. gun is to be 50 or 60 calibres?  The think is
    unthinkable.”—­The Times.

We don’t think.