"Here is the photo. of a piece of wire rope taken from a coal-mine in Wales. The mine referred to had not been worked for some ten years, and when the water was pumped out the rope was discovered as shown, encased in a formation of hard stone. I may add that when the stone was broken the wire was found to be in a perfect state of preservation."—Mr. B. H. Wadsworth, Oriel College, Helensburgh, N.B.
"This is not a snap-shot of Satan, nor of Pluto, or any demon of the heathen mythology. Neither is it the picture of a water-logged member of the 'tramp' profession after a shower of rain. It is simply the photograph of the curious form which a splash of lead took when it dropped from a crucible on the floor."—Mr. Joseph W. Hammond, 12, Stafford Street, Dublin.
"I took this snap-shot in Spain, at La Zubia, a small town about two miles from Granada. The 'soldier' is a most surprising object to come upon suddenly. He is cut out of a single tree, and is therefore all in one piece. Branches have been neatly adapted to make his fingers, which, it will be observed, have a somewhat knotted and gouty appearance. A flower-pot forms the head, while a plant of aloes makes a very fine plumed head-dress. His uniform is painted in the most realistic way, so that altogether he has a most ferocious appearance and his expression does not invite confidence, as may be seen from the photograph. The garden in which he lives is rather an historic one, for it was here that the great Queen Isabella the Catholic was saved from falling into the hands of the Moors by hiding in a laurel bush. A monument marks the spot."—Miss A. Milne Home, Caldra, Duns, N.B.
"A gamekeeper in this neighbourhood had shot a fine carrion crow, and hung up his prize, as usual, on a nail near his cottage. A wren finding it built her nest between the wings, and in the body of her greatest enemy actually reared her family. By the kindness of the owner of the nest I have been able to photograph it."—Miss Mary Sharp, Riding Mill, Northumberland.
"The Rev. W. H. Jenoure, rector of Barwick, Yeovil, describes a novel sight which may be seen in his parish. A farmer had been feeding his sheep on oats, and some of the grain fell on the back of one of the animals. It has taken root in the wool and sprouted, and the young shoots may be seen growing on the animal's back."—Mr. S. G. Witcomb, Middle Street, Yeovil, Somerset.
Transcriber Notes:Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate.Copyright notices at the bottom of the first pages of articles were moved to under the author.Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.On page 525, "menu was formed the shape" was replaced with "menu was formed in the shape".On page 548, "slouches of" was replaced with "slouches off".On page 563, "A D 1901. make a grave" was replaced with "A D 1901 make a grave".On page 563, the single quotation mark after "FUST" was replaced with a double quotation mark.On page 563, a period was placed after "is a mournful corpse".On page 563, "ex amination" was replaced with "examination".On page 563, "honoable" was replaced with "honorable".On page 573, "onn" was replaced with "on".On page 584, "plain of campaign" was replaced with "plan of campaign".
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate.
Copyright notices at the bottom of the first pages of articles were moved to under the author.
Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected unless otherwise noted.
On page 525, "menu was formed the shape" was replaced with "menu was formed in the shape".
On page 548, "slouches of" was replaced with "slouches off".
On page 563, "A D 1901. make a grave" was replaced with "A D 1901 make a grave".
On page 563, the single quotation mark after "FUST" was replaced with a double quotation mark.
On page 563, a period was placed after "is a mournful corpse".
On page 563, "ex amination" was replaced with "examination".
On page 563, "honoable" was replaced with "honorable".
On page 573, "onn" was replaced with "on".
On page 584, "plain of campaign" was replaced with "plan of campaign".