Fair of Smilh Carolina was in progress City of Columbia, and, in addition to the usual " side - shows," the wide awake executive committee secured the services of a professional diver, who was to dive from a pole 75ft. high into 3ft. of water. After erecting this pole, the diver procured a lank, measuring i6ft. lung by Sfi. wide and jft. deep. This he placed about 4oft. from the bnse of the mast. Then he climbed to his eyrie, tested the wind, and in less time than it takes to write it was climbing out of the shallow tank none the worse for his flight. The crowd around the pole was so dense, that Mr. II. J. Simmons, of Columbia, S.C., who look the snap-shots, ha I to retire some considerable distance before he could use his camera.

in the

THE PIGEONS' CURIOUS NEST. There are eccentrics among birds as there are amon^ human l>cings, and ihe pair of pigeons who built this strangely-situated nest were surely splendid specimens of the type. We will let Mr. G. H. Rose, of 5, Courtenay Terrace, Portslade-by-Sea, who sent in (he photo., tell the story. " My brother and I," he says, "occupy the same room, and one morning we were aroused by the 'cooing* of two pigeons which had flown into the bedroom through the open window. The birds soon collected mateiials for building, and in a couple of days had made a nest on the dressing-table. On the third day an egg was laid and ihe birds began to sit, the cock by day and the hen by night. The solitary egg was hatched, and ihe fledgling pigeon is getting on famously." Not the least remarkable fact is, that the dressing-table was in constant use during the time of building and silling.

PICTURE GALLERY ON THE WALLS OF AN INN. These sketches—strangely suggestive of some of Cruikshank's caricatures—arc to l>e found on the walls of a lillle inn, much frequented hy artisls, in the village of St. Marlin L'Eglise, near Dieppe. They are ihe work of many hands, and some of them represent all that the landlord received in payment of his little bill. This photo, was sent in by Mr. E. II. Elgee, of Deane House, Winchester.

AN AUTOMATIC
WORLD.

Three young men of Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.A., whose portraits we reproduce, have just completed, with no other tools than ordinary pocketknives, the remarknble automaton shown in accompanying photo. This represents the progress of our little planet from the earliest ages. There are more than five thousand pieces in this stupendous piece of work, and every detail is carried out with an ingenuity truly surprising. All the figures are made to move by the aid of ingenious devices, which are as clever in their way as the carving. At the bottom of the automaton is a tableau representing the procession of the animals into the ark. There are sixty animals and forty birds in the pro

WALTLIl ]i; M I i: JAMK3 M. KDU1NUTUN. AXHIIEW J. COCK1

cession, and they move with a stately stride which is very amusing. Next co.nes a scene representing the progress of the world. The Vikings are followed by Columbus, Cabot, Ponce de Leon, and other great explorers, win ling up with a p resent-day picture. Aliove this are twenty-six compaitments showing various branches of modern industry. There isaflourmill, a stone-crusher, a knitting-mill, an engineroom, a cooper's shop, a smithy, .1 saw-mill, and many others, each equipped with miniature working machineiy and moving figures. A

practicable railway and a dramatic scene representing the destruction of the battleship Maine are in preparation, and will be added when complete. The industrious trio have aheady spent two years in the construction of their microcosm. We are indebted for the photos, to Mr. B. E. Stevenson.

"ENGLISH AS SHE IS WROTE." Time and again have we waxed merry over the desperate attempts of the poor foreigner to wrestle with the intricacies of our language, and here we have a veritable gem, from the pen probably of some Bengali liabu. The warning at the foot of this queer play-bill, presumably addressed to the Hooligans of India, is particularly worthy of notice. As Mr. G. L. Johnstone, of Aha House, Alvn, N.B., who sends us the piay-bill, remarks : " It S|>eaks for itself."

To-night '

A TRACTION ENGINE OF WOOD. The w o n d e r f u 11 y complete model of a trnclion engine shown in this photograph is the handiwork of Mr. Charles I'ope, of Ternbirland, Lincolnshire, whose achievement is rendered all the more remarkable from the fact that his entire tool outfit consisted of a pocket knife, a half-inch saw, and an ol.l file. The entire model is practically made out of old boxes, the boiler being covered with tin from disused sweet canisters. The fly and steerage wheels are cut out of one piece of wood from a soda box, which was first "of all boiled and then

given herewith. Although eightytwo years of age, he accompanieil the liattalion to its annual camp this year at St. Anne's, and during the year he made 48 in his classfiring, a score which many lads of

TESTING THE POSTAL OFFICIALS.

Some people seem to find pleasure in taxing the ingenuity of our hard-worked postal authorities to the utmost. The person who posted the annexed envelope, wilh its curious address, must surely have l>een of the number, for the scanty direction on the missive is well calculated to make the average sorter throw up his hands in despair. The design on the left is a photograph of the knocker on the door of the village blacksmith at Thornhill, Dumfriesshire. The hammer, it will be seen, is a horseshoe, and it strikes upon a miniature anvil. The print was gummed on the envelope, and the word " Thornhill " added. The letter was duly delivered. Photo, sent in by Mr. G. Pattinson, 2, Park Terrace, Dumfries, N.B.

THE "PUFFING HOLE" OF KILKEE. At various places around the coast there are to be found curious holes, which,- connected with the sea by passages in the rock, spout out columns of water and spray high into the air when a wave breaks on the shore. Our photo, shows the " puffing hole" at Kilkee, so called from its habit of " puffing" out a cloud of milk-v\hite spume when a heavy roller crashes on to the rocks below. Photo, sent in by Mrs. J. Marks, 91, Randolph Gardens, N.W.

A PRIMITIVE THRASHING MACHINE. The poor horse seen in this photo, is having a l>ad time of ii, and he is expressing his feelings hy indignantly flourishing his tail. He is tied fast by the head to a post, and stands on a kind of wheeled platform, which his own weight causes to revolve. He is thus forced to constantly walk up the moving incline, setting in motion the thrashing machinery. This unique equine treadmill is to l>e found in the village of Crecy, and until quite recently isolated specimens were to l>c met with in the remoter districts of Ireland. Photo, sent in by Miss Alice H. Walker, The Gordon Boys' Home, Woking. PLACES IN " HAMLET."

The set of photos, we reproduce on this page should lie of the deepest interest to all lovers of Shakespeare. The first represents " Ophelia's Well," at Helsingfurs, Denmark. Here Hamlet's sorrowful love came to weep and to bind up her flnwers, according to tradition. The clear, col;! stream issuing from the rock falls with a musical splash into the basin below, which, walled in with rough stones,'and backed by the cross with its simple insciiption, stands out prominently against the background of sombre woods.

Next we have a photo, of " Hamlet's (jrave," where the famous Prince of Denmark is supposed to rest, his soliloquies hushed for ever beneath the rugged cairn. Visitors to this tomb--and there are many —have to pay a fee of twenty-five ore (about jd.) for the privilege.

Our third photograph has also a close connection with the melancholy Prince, since it was on the rain|Kirts of this great Fortress of Kronborg that he met his father's ghost.

The photo, also appeals to English readers for another reason, because it was in this frowning fortress that Princess Matilda, the unhappy English wife of Christian VII., King of Denmark, was imprisoned. These photographs, taken at the end of the nineteenth century, seem to bring us curiously close to the period of the tragedy, and it is no wonder that tourists visit Helsingfors in their hundreds, going away to read their " Hamlet" with an interest heightened by the local associations they have just left. Photos, sent in by Mr. A. Mundy, 163, Wallow Street, Dayton, Ohio.