The telephone has served to amuse the Queen, who always
takes a great and worthy interest in scientific discoveries. Might she not apply it to a great practical use ? She loves her retire- ment at Osborne, and does not willingly, we are sure, con- sume her Ministers' time in needless visits to the Isle of Wight. Why not have a telephone put up between the chief Departments of State and her Royal retirement, so that in a crisis like the present, for instance, she could give permission with her own voice for the requisite explanations in Parliament, without the delays consequent on either letter-writing or journeys? If she herself required a personal explanation before according her consent to any arrangement, that, too, might be given by tele- phone. It is a pity that these great discoveries should not be made to economise the time of the Cabinet and Parliament, as well as- to amuse the public.
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