Gay shops, stately palaces, bustle and breeze, The whirring of wheels and the murmur of trees; By night or by day, whether noisy or stilly, Whatever my mood is—­I love Piccadilly.

  Thus carolled FRED LOCKER, just sixty years back,
  In a year (’57) when the outlook was black,
  And even to-day the war-weariest Willie
  Recovers his spirits in dear Piccadilly.

  We haven’t the belles with their Gainsborough hats,
  Or the Regency bucks with their wondrous cravats,
  But now that the weather no longer is chilly;
  There’s much to enchant us in New Piccadilly.

  As I sit in my club and partake of my “ration”
  No longer I’m vexed by the follies of fashion;
  The dandified Johnnies so precious and silly—­
  You seek them in vain in the New Piccadilly.

  The men are alert and upstanding and fit,
  They’ve most of them done or they’re doing their bit;
  With the eye of a hawk and the stride of a gillie
  They add a new lustre to Old Piccadilly.

  And the crippled but gay-hearted heroes in blue
  Are a far finer product than wicked “old Q,”
  Who ought to have lived in a prison on skilly
  Instead of a palace in mid Piccadilly.

  The women are splendid, so quiet and strong,
  As with resolute purpose they hurry along—­
  Excepting the flappers, who chatter as shrilly
  As parrots let loose to distract Piccadilly.

  Thus I muse as I watch with a reverent eye
  The New Generation sweep steadily by,
  And judge him an ass or a born Silly Billy
  Who’d barter the New for the Old Piccadilly.

* * * * *

A CLEARANCE.

    “WANTED.—­Lady shortly leaving the Colony is desirous of
    recommending her baby and wash Amahs, also Houseboy.”—­South
    China Morning Post.

* * * * *

    “Though the King’s birthday was officially celebrated
    yesterday, there were no official celebrations.”—­Daily
    Express.

It seems to have been a case of unconscious celebration.

* * * * *

    “We shall want a name for the American ‘Tommies’ when they
    come; but do not call them ‘Yankees.’  They none of them like
    it.”—­Daily News.

As a term of distinction and endearment Mr. Punch suggests “Sammies”—­after their uncle.

* * * * *

    “Petrograd.

The local Committee of the Soldiers’ and Workmen’s Delegates announces that it will take into its hands effective power at Cronstadt. and that it will not recognise the Provisional Government, and will remove all Government representatives.

    This fateful decision was adopted by 21 votes to 40, with
    eight abstentions.”—­Provincial Paper.