CHARIVARIA.

“Hull electors,” declared a Radical contemporary, “have dealt the Coalition a stinging rebuke.”  But not, as others claim, the coupon de grace.

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A propos, a Woking butcher was fined last week for being thirty-two thousand coupons short.  The report that he has since received a letter of condolence from Mr. Lloyd George is not confirmed.

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A correspondent who has a latchkey would like to hear from a gentleman who could fit a house to it.

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A food inspector at Chatham admitted that he could not tell the difference between No. 1 grade tinned beef and No. 2 grade.  The old plan of calling one grade Rover and the other Fido seems to have been abolished since the War.

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The ex-crown Prince, in a recent interview with a Danish newspaper man, called Ludendorff a liar.  Ludendorff is believed to be preparing a crushing rejoinder, in which he calls the ex-crown Prince a Hohenzollern.

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“The new Bolsheviks,” says The Philatelist, “are fetching eight shillings a pair.”  It doesn’t say where they are fetching it from, but it is clear that he loot business has declined since the days of the old Bolsheviks.

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The United States Government has purchased four million pounds of frozen chickens for the American army.  They are to be tested by inspectors before shipment to determine whether they are edible.  What is known in scientific circles as the Soho standard of resilience will probably be applied.

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Burglars have broken into an East End moneylender’s office.  It is not known definitely how much they lost.

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The five hundred pounds in notes recently lost by a London hotel guest have now been recovered.  It appears that a waiter had mistaken them for a gratuity.

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The Metropolitan police are trying to establish the identity of a man who can give no account of himself and who knows nothing about the War.  The fact that he was not wearing red tabs only adds to the mystery.

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“Some men dance the Jazz dance,” says a contemporary, “because it is stimulating.”  It is not known why the others do it.

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A squirrel having been stolen from the Zoo, it is said that the authorities are taking no further risks, and that in future all lions and tigers will be securely chained to their cages.

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It is reported that a much-advertised motor-car, after having its engine removed, ran for seven miles on its reputation alone.

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With reference to the report that a service man had received a letter from the Intelligence Department admitting that a certain mistake was due to a clerical error, it is now reported that this admission was due to another oversight.