the lower and business part of the town, which must be palpable to every visitor—­I mean the obstructions on the pavement; and that, be it observed, in spite of laws passed for the prevention thereof, but rendered nugatory from maladministration.  In many places, you will see a man occupying the whole pavement opposite his store with leviathan boxes and bales, for apparently an indefinite period, inasmuch as I have seen the same things occupying the same place day after day, and forcing every passer-by off the pavement.  This information may console some of our own communities who are labouring under the gnawing and painful disease of a similar corrupt and inefficient administration.

Amid the variety of shops, the stranger cannot fail to be struck with the wonderful number of oyster-saloons stuck down on the basement, and daguerreotypists perched in the sky-line:  their name is legion; everybody eats oysters, and everybody seems to take everybody else’s portrait.  To such an extent is this mania for delineating the ’human face divine’ carried, that a hatter in Chatham-street has made no small profit by advertising that, in addition to supplying hats at the same price as his rivals, he will take the portrait of the purchaser, and fix it inside thereof gratis.  This was too irresistible; so off I went, and, selecting my two dollar beaver on the ground-floor, walked up to a six foot square garret room, where the sun did its work as quick as light, after which the liberal artist, with that flattering propensity which belongs to the profession, threw in the roseate hues of youth by the aid of a little brick-dust.  I handed him my dust in return, and walked away with myself on my head, where myself may still be daily seen, a travelled and travelling advertisement of Chatham-street enterprise.

Our American friends deal largely in newspaper puffs, and as some of them are amusing enough, I select the following as specimens of their “Moses and Son” style:—­

ANOTHER DREADFUL ACCIDENT.—­OH, MA!  I MET WITH A DREADFUL ACCIDENT!—­The other night, while dancing with cousin Frank, I dropped my Breastpin and Ear-Ring on the floor and broke them all to pieces—­Never mind, my dear.  Just take them to ——­ Jewellery Store.  You can get them made as good as new again!

GRATIFYING NEWS.—­We have just learned, with real pleasure, that the seedy young man who sprained his back whilst trying to “raise the wind” is fast recovering, in consequence of judiciously applying the Mustang Liniment.  It is to be hoped he will soon be entirely cured, and that the next time he undertakes it, he will take an upright position, and not adopt the stooping posture.  This precaution, we have no doubt, will ensure success.

  This Liniment can be had of ——.

Even, marriage and death are not exempt from the fantastic advertising style.