if it had suited his purpose, for he was Yorkshire.' Having held it up to the light, and held it away from the light, and held it in all sorts of positions, and done all sorts of cruelties to it, as though it had been his most deadly enemy, and he was feeling quite vindictive, he placed a handful or two in his pocket, and walked calmly away, evidently intending to put the stuff to some excruciating private tortures at home. What particular experiments he tried with his fibrous substance I am not exactly in a position to relate, nor does it much signify; but the sequel was, that the same quiet, business-looking man was seen to enter the office of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., and asked for the head of the firm. When he asked that portion of the house if he would accept eighteenpence per pound for the entire contents of three hundred and odd frowsy, dirty old rags of nondescript wool, the authority interrogated felt so confounded that he could not have told if he were the head or tail of the firm. At first he fancied our friend had come with the express purpose of quizzing him, and then that he was an escaped lunatic, and thought seriously of calling for the police; but eventually it ended in his making it over in consideration of the price offered. It was quite an event in the little dark office of C. W. and F. Foozle and Co., which had its supply of light (of a very inferior quality) from the grim old churchyard. All the establishment stole a look at the buyer of the South American stuff.' The chief clerk had the curiosity to speak to him, and hear him reply. The cashier touched his coattails. The book-keeper, a thin man in spectacles, examined his hat and gloves. The porter openly grinned at him. When the quiet purchaser had departed, C. W. and F. Foozle and Co. shut themselves up, and gave all their clerks & holiday."

CABLE CONTROLLERS.

We feel it to be our duty, as well as a pleasure, at all times to bring before our readers, and especially our seafaring friends, any sound suggestions submitted to us, which may have for their object the mitigation of disasters at sea, and especially such as transpire upon our shores too often in the darkness of winter nights.

It has been admitted for years with regret by sailors and others, competent to offer their views on the subject, that far too many ships leave port with defective cables; notwithstanding the vigilance used, flaws are only discovered when too late; one link in the whole cable, rendered weaker than the rest by testing or some severe shock in using, fails at the critical moment, and renders the whole cable worthless.

Even the best of such important tackle is frequently inadequate to sustain the ever-deteriorating forces of repeated concussions.

The woodcut here shown represents a machine invented by an old sailor of great experience in the use of cables, who has devoted many years to the question of how to apply buffers so as to counteract impactive forces thrown upon cables during heavy riding, combining also a ready means for veering cable under the yielding process.

Our friends who take a deep interest in this question, "How can we minimise the loss of life and property on our shores?" may truly ask, "Has every effort been made to curtail disasters by shipowners, and by the various Institutions of our country which should have a more practical interest in this oft-repeated question, Is there not some better or additional security required than certificated anchors and cables?" It may appear quite consistent to the general public that such proven tackle should be a guarantee of safety, and so it may be until the elements combine to exert forces exceeding the tensile strength of the weaker link, impaired very possibly by previous shocks, if not weakened before by the hydraulic ordeal they are subjected to in testing them when quite new.

It is not usually in summer weather that our sailors are cast upon the strand, but in the storms of winter, during long cold nights, when our brave fellows on shore are conscious that some perishing crew is on yonder sand, but dare not go to the rescue; the elements combine to deter the bravest amongst them, and when daylight comes, alas! no vestige of ship or crew can be traced. Other vessels in the neighbourhood may have broken away too, but not all; possibly the majority of them have held on, and are riding safely by their cables, as yet more enduring, though reduced in strength at the weakest link, unknown to the crew, whose habit it is to believe all is well till in a moment that confidence is dispelled, and the ship is found to be drifting on to another ship or on to the strand.

From a daily contemporary we quote the following: "The alarming mortality among merchant seamen is a matter of grave concern. For a considerable time great difficulty has been experienced in procuring the needful supply of men for our naval service, while shipowners have been necessitated to employ mixed crews, to their manifest detriment: it is alleged that a large proportion of the crews employed in British trading vessels are of different nationalities, a circumstance which too often gives rise to tragic results, and is attended with serious disadvantages. We cannot close our eyes to the stern fact that British seamen are fast disappearing. And can this be a matter of surprise when, apart from other causes, the calling to which they belong is rendered so precarious? According to the recent published returns of the Board of Trade, no fewer than 5,393 deaths of sailors are registered for the year 1875, considerably more than half this number being attributable to drowning, viz. 3,263. Still it is to be feared that this excessive mortality would be far higher had the Board of Trade the means of obtaining a correct list of the casualties that occur. The official announcements at Lloyd's respecting missing vessels is matter of almost daily occurrence-so repeated are they, in fact, that people have grown callous about them, and it remains to be seen how the new Mercantile Shipping Act will work towards diminishing an evil that in reality amounts to a National disgrace. But even this minimum of good would not have been secured had it not been for Mr. Plimsoll's single-handed efforts."

It can scarcely be doubted that if the terrible mortality thus described is not speedily arrested, in a little time British commerce will be brought to a standstill for lack of hands. That splendid fleet which has so long navigated every commercial inlet on the coasts of the world will no longer hold its own. We feel, however, it is our duty as a Society responsible fo affording relief to shipwrecked sailors and their families in the hour of need, to do all in our power also to advocate the adoption of every consistent and available appliance which merits recognition for the preservation of life at sea. We have carefully perused the testimonials of many captains and port authorities who have experienced the advantages of adopting this system for buffing ship's cables, and the improvements which the inventor has now succeeded in bringing forward are entitled to that support by the shipping interests which its merits command. To add to the efficiency of ships' cables must, as a matter of course, contribute to the owner's advantage as well as to the safety of all on board. We are informed on no less authority than Lloyd's returns, that in five days last November no fewer than 206 cables, and as many anchors, were known to be lost upon our coasts, and at Deal in one day over £6,000 was the bill for anchors and cables supplied to ships in the Downs, whilst many collisions and wrecks occurred from the same cause. Improved appliances in great variety have lately been brought forward, and some officially recognised and made imperative for saving life in the exigencies of calamities at sea; but

what has been done to avert danger? High-class ships, broadside loadlines, and tested ground tackle, &c., in conformity with Acts of Parliament, will not avail when lashing waves and other elementary forces prevail.

Again we say, the danger at such times has been under-estimated, when we consider that at the mouth of the Thames alone, from 100 to 300 sail of windbound ships may be seen riding for weeks, some breaking away and fouling one another, others stranding or taken in tow, and into port of safety, without anchors or cable.

We understand the Board of Trade have given instructions to their surveyors not to object to the "Controller" being fitted to vessels that come under their survey, and the captain of H.M.S. 'Hector,' as well as his predecessor, have reported most favourably, after eleven months' trial, of this "most valuable invention."

Testimonials and commendatory letters, with every information upon this subject, bearing date from 1867 to 1875, can be seen or obtained at the Cable Controller Company's office, 9, Great Winchester Street, London, E.C.

PERSONATING JACK.

It is hard enough on poor Jack to be answerable for all his faults and his follies, but it is a great hardship indeed to be held responsible for the crimes of other people; and no greater offence could be committed than that of imposing on the public in the garb of a shipwrecked sailor.

A notable instance of this occurred, a short time since, in the quiet town of Haddington, where the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society is represented by the Rev. T. N. Wannop. One evening, while our esteemed fellow-labourer was quietly engaged in his usual avocations, the servant announced the arrival of a poor shipwrecked seaman soliciting alms. No " pampered menial drove him from the door," nor did the worthy clergyman act by deputy, but sought himself the object of charity.

There was the weather-beaten tar, with all the signs and tokens of a shipwrecked mariner in distress. After narrating the sufferings he had endured, the gallant tar produced a list containing many local names for various amounts, all of which bore the appearance of being genuine, but, to the clergyman's extreme surprise, he noticed the list was headed: "Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, £2 103. Od." Mr. Wannop wondered how the amount, or any sum, could be paid except through him as honorary agent, and felt for the moment that he might have been superseded in his honorary work of charity. Knowing such could not be the case, he questioned the man, and announced to him that he was the representative of the Shipwrecked

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Mariners' Society, upon which the wretched impostor confessed his guilt, trembling from head to foot.

Mr. Wannop's kind heart would not allow him to have recourse to extreme measures, and after exacting a solemn promise from the man that he would leave the town within an hour, and never attempt to renew the imposition, he suffered him to depart.

We may add, that such an attempted case of imposture as the above is now happily very rare, as the Society has rid the country of "turnpike sailors" by its admirable organization of providing relief to all genuine cases arising from shipwreck, so that it is no breach of charity to turn such beggars from the doors, as they must necessarily be impostors. Whereas, formerly, the clergyman at his rectory, the squire at his hall, and even the poor widow at her cottage, were all liable to be taken in by their plausible tales, for it was no easy matter to detect them.

THE LOG OF A PRAIRIE SCHOONER.

A FEW weeks ago a small and singular cavalcade passed through our city (says a valued contributor, who resides at present in the picturesque port of Whitby, on the shores of Lake Ontario). It consisted of a waggon on wheels, with a covered top. (This kind of vehicle is commonly called a "prairie schooner.") It had come a long way, had a crew all told of seven souls-father, mother, two boys, and three girls. It was drawn by two tugs-on the starboard bow was a bony horse, on the port bow a skinny ass. It had been at sea over two lunar months, and if it had not sailed in a green sea all the time, it had all the time sailed through a sea of green.

As the party tarried for luncheon, they excited great interest and curiosity; and our contributor has gathered up more about this curious craft than some members of the curious craft imagine, and we have pleasure in setting before our readers some extracts from the log of this modern specimen of nautical architecture and propulsion.

Our schooner illustrates the power of brotherly love, for the voyage was undertaken with a view of bringing two brothers together once more. A brother of the captain of the schooner lives and thrives about one or two degrees N.N.E. of Whitby, and the voyage was undertaken in far-off South Carolina; and having come so far when we gave the schooner the benefit of a general survey, we confidently hope that ere this the brothers have met to their hearts' content. As we lay alongside the schooner we gathered a fact or two, and offered as many observations.

"Why did you adopt this mode of travel, when the railway cars bring you with so much greater speed and time?”