80 



OUR COLUMNS. 



April, 1892. 



She : "Well, my dear, what have you been doing while I have been away ? 

 He : Reading Dante's Inferno. 



She : And I suppose it is Purgatory now I have come back ? 



He : On the contrary, I propose to skip that part, if you do not object to the third. 



The cost of producing the new Catalogue has naturally been considerable, and it should 

 be borne in mind by hesitating purchasers that, unless the greater part of the outlay can 

 be recovered by sales of the work, the power of the Committee to buy new books and 

 other additions to the Library this year will be proportionately curtailed. 



Complaints were recently made to the Committee about the ventilation of the News 

 Room. So a carpenter was ordered to carry out a simple and effective method of 

 introducing a supply of fresh air without causing a draught. The lower sash of a 

 window was raised an inch or two upon a long slip of wood. But this little device 

 was detected by an Anti-ventilationist and — frustrated. So the Committee must 

 try again. 



An excellent suggestion, founded upon a very successful rule adopted in the Public 

 Library at Leeds, is this : — When a member is anxious to obtain a given book at the 

 Library and finds that it is out and the date of its return doubtful, let him leave a 

 Post-card with the Librarian addressed to himself and containing on the inner side the 

 words " Tadpoles, or Tales out of my own head" (or whatever the name may be) " came 

 in to-day." Then Mr. Davis would have the card posted to the member, who comes and 

 gets his book and avoids endless disappointments, by this simple and polite method of 

 " leaving his card." 



" Rambles Abroad " was the title of a Lime-Light Lecture given in the Modern 

 School Hall, by arrangement with Dr. Poole, on January 27, that is during the last month 

 of his presidency of this Institution. Mr. W. J. P. Benson was the lecturer, and he 

 illustrated a most agreeable tour he had carried out through the Netherlands and the 

 Ardennes. From Harwich, the imaginary journey was made to Antwerp, and thence by 

 Malines, Brussels, Liege, Namur, Dinant into the Ardennes. This latter district is not 

 so Avell known as it should be, and such a lecture as this is well calculated to incite the 

 average traveller to pay it a visit. It has the three advantages of being easily reached, 

 unhackneyed, and requiring only a moderate outlay. Several scenes illustrated the field 

 and battle of Waterloo, and others the Moselle district, including Treves and its Holy 

 Coat, and a peep at the Rhine. As all members of the Library were admitted to the 

 lecture, their thanks should be here recorded to Mr. Benson for his interesting lecture 

 and admirable pictures. 



Answer to a correspondent : Yes, the most influential thing (lately) in the world has 

 probably been the influenza. 



Communications for the Editors (Mr. Elger and Mr. Dymock) may he addressed to 

 the care of the Librarian, Bedford Rooms. 



