Canada does to-morrow—­

    “The Canadian Government has issued a proclamation calling up ...
    childless widows between the ages of 20 and 34 comprised in Class
    1 of the Military Service Act.”—­Yorkshire Evening Paper

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[Illustration:  Mike (in bath-chair).  “DID YE SAY WE’LL BE TURNING BACK, DENNIS?  SURE THE EXERCISE WILL BE DOING US GOOD IF WE GO A BIT FURTHER.”]

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OUR BOOKING-OFFICE.

(BY MR. PUNCH’S STAFF OF LEARNED CLERKS.)

The numerous members of the public who like to take their printer’s ink with something more than a grain of sea-salt will welcome Sea-Spray and Spindrift (PEARSON), by their tried and trusted friend, TAFFRAIL, the creator of Pincher Martin, O.D. TAFFRAIL, it must be admitted, has a dashing briny way with him.  He doesn’t wait to describe sunsets and storm-clouds, but plunges at once into the thick of things.  Consequently his stories go with a swing and a rush, for which the reader is duly grateful—­that is, if he is a discerning reader.  Of the present collection most were written some time ago and have no reference to the War.  Such, for instance, is “The Escape of the Speedwell,” a capital story of the year 1805, which may serve to remind us that even in the glorious days of NELSON the English Channel was not always a healthy place for British shipping.  “The Channel,” says TAFFRAIL, “swarmed with the enemy’s privateers....  Even the merchant-ships in the home-coming convoys, protected though they were by men-of-war, were not safe from capture, while the hostile luggers would often approach the English coast in broad daylight and harry the hapless fishing craft within a mile or two of the shore.”  Yet there does not appear to have been a panic, nor was anyone’s blood demanded. Autres temps autres moeurs.  In “The Gun-Runners” the author describes a shady enterprise undertaken successfully by a British crew; but nothing comes amiss to TAFFRAIL, and he does it with equal zest.  “The Inner Patrol” and “The Luck of the Tavy” more than redress the balance to the side of virtue and sound warfare.  Both stories are excellent.

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Among the minor results following the entry of America into the War has been the release from bondage of several diplomatic pens, whose owners would, under less happy circumstances, have been prevented from telling the world many stories of great interest.  Here, for example, is the late Special Agent and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, Mr. LEWIS EINSTEIN, writing of his experiences Inside Constantinople, April-September, 1915 (MURRAY).  This is a diary kept by the Minister during the period covered by the Dardanelles Expedition.  As such you will hardly expect it to be agreeable reading, but its tragic interest is undeniable.  Mr. EINSTEIN, as