362 
THE STRAND MAGAZINE. 
FOR WARMTH OR LIGHT? 
O w ING to some tit-feet an ordinary 
street, gas-lamp in Croydon, lit and 
extinguished night and morning, was 
removed, and on close examination was 
found to contain a tom-tit 5 s nest, with six 
eggs. The hole at the right side of the 
lamp was used by the bird as an entrance, 
and the left side, showing the nest, was 
O N May 5^1 every year in Japan a. boys* holiday takes 
place, when foreign visitors will notice many gigantic 
paper or cotton carp floating in the air from poles erected by 
the side of the house. This photograph shows a specimen of 
the paper carp. The idea js that as the carp swims up the 
river against- the current so will the sturdy boy, overcoming all 
obstacles, make his way in the world and rise to fame and 
fortune. — Mr. M. Yoshida, Ichinoki-cho, Yamada, lse, Japan. 
“ ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR ” ON A TABLE. 
I “)ERIIAPS the chief merit of this model fair is that it works 
well arid is an unfailing source of pleasure to the children. 
torn away in order to show 1 he interesting 
work of the bird. — Mr. A. II. Hobbs, Gas 
Offices, Katharine Street, Croydon. 
The little hot-air engine is harnessed to the roundabouts, 
joy-wheel, and over-boats, all of which are made of odds and 
ends found about the house, such as treacle tins, long nails, and 
cotton -reels, which are especially useful as pulley -wheels. The 
cocoa - nut game cost fourpence - halfpenny', the shooting 
game a penny, and the rest, with the 
exception of the engine, about a shilling. 
My little boy calls it a “Table Fair,” 
and, indeed, it: may be looked on as an 
adaptation of Mr. IL G. Wells’s “ Floor 
Games,” for the boy was responsible 
for the conception which has made 
the engine what it should be, a means 
to an end. Small porcelain dolls pay for 
rides with pennies, sixpences, or shillings, 
and the above-mentioned young gentle- 
man of six is becoming proficient in 
giving change. The amazing variations 
of games with the fair, invented by two 
nr three little friends and himself 011 
rainy days, have been asi ouishing. The 
whole fair can be packed up and “ taken 
to the next town,” as they say.- Mr. 
Fred Hatfield, j&, Cumberland Road, 
Manor Park, E. 
A TRAIN HELD UP BY A HOUSE. 
I AM sending you a photograph of a rathef 
interesting occurrence 111 Min to. South 
Manitoba, Canada. It shows a train held 
up by a general store, which is being taken 
from one side of the town to the other by 
means of rollers and a horse-worked capstan. 
Although this is a fairly common sight in 
Canada, I think some of the readers of the 
“ Curiosities ” pages might be interested 
in the photograph. — Mr. G. L. Orrniston, 
Holly Lodge, St. Margarets-on-Tharnes. 
