POINTS FROM LETTERS JOSEPH CONRAD.

With regard to the letters in last week's and this week's Spectator, about Conrad and his voyage in the ' Torrens,' Ford Madox Hueffer in his book Joseph Conrad, A Personal Remembrance, states that on the outward voyage of the Torrens ' Conrad had as a passenger, Mr. John Galsworthy, going to the Cape. "They had confided in each other shyly —each of them was writing ! . . . From that sprang up a friendship that was lifelong." (Page 109.)—GRACE L. MORROW, Pine Lodge, Strandtown, Belfast.

A IlionEa Thum RATE.

In a note on the annual report of the Chief Medical'Officer of the Ministry of Health, you raise the question as to what would have happened if the birth-rate of England and Wales had continued at the old rat f thirty-five per thousand a year; and yet the death-rate had, nevertheless, had its decline from twenty-one to twelve. The answer to your speculative question should be that there would have been a uniquely rapid spreading and multiplication of factory towns and corresponding disappearance of our fields.--B. DUNLOP, M.B., 94 Alexander Court. 171 Queen's Gate. S.W.7. Doc BURIED ALIVE.

A few days ago there appeared in a daily paper the following : "William Boyd, an auctioneer, of Garden Close House, Winlaton, Durham, was charged at Gateshead yesterday with killing his spaniel in an improper manner." It was stated that he hanged the dog by the neck from a tree in the view of passers-by, who saw it choking and kicking, and cut it down and buried it alive. We think it a very abominable case of cruelty," said the chairman of the Bench in imposing a fine of £5. Why should this man only be fmed £5? Surely this is a case, if ever there was one, for imprisonment. Five pounds fine is no punishment to him.—MRS. PHILIP NELSON-WARD, Stoke Dorothy, Westburton, nr. Pulborough.

[We agree. Cruelty is a human vice which it is difficult to feel clement about. We think that the perpetrator of this outrage escaped far too lightly.—En. Spectator.] WILD ANIMAL "SHOWS."

The descriptions of a recent fight between wild animals—at Blackpool Tower Circus—in which the trainer broke two whips and the hose-pipe had to be used to separate the combatants and save the man's life, leads one to wonder whether some of our present-day " amusements " greatly differ from those of bear-baiting days, or even remoter and more barbarous times. What purpose do these wild animal shows fulfil ? The sight of snarling, unwilling carnivorous mounting pedestals is neither amusing nor educative. Can it be that the dullness of the performance is balanced by the " thrill " of watching a man in danger of severe injury or death ? It would seem to be so ; the spectators on this occasion are described as being "half anxious, half entranced " ; some of them are said to have "thought they were witnessing an unusually thrilling act." Surely the time has come for sane public opinion to make itself heard in a demand for entertainments that shall be free of dubious elements and unwholesome "thrills."—B.A.

Ma. JOHN DENNIS.

There is a slight inaccuracy in Mr. C. L. Graves' article on p. 16 of your Centenary number, which you may perhaps think it worth while to correct. My father, Mr. John Dennis, was the brother, not the son, of Mr. George Dennis, author of Cities and Cemeteries .1f Etruria—ALFRED N. DENNIS, 10 Eaton Mansions, Eaton Square, S.W. 1.

BUY BRITISH GOODS.

From time to time I receive letters from London with a long postmark containing the words, "Buy British Goods." This advice, as far as possible, I try to carry out, but I must say I do not get a good lead from our Government. These letters are carried from our General Post Office to the various stations in London and in our great cities, in American cars. Surely their advice is somewhat inconsistent ? We have perfectly good British motor vans at a price which, I am certain, could compete with the American car in this country. KENNETH BARGE, Armadale, Rhu, Dumbartonshire.

IRON CHESSMEN.

The chess editor of the Otago Witness informs me that during the war period the chess playing members of the Expeditionary Forces took away with them practically all the available sets of chessmen to be obtained in New Zealand ; consequently there was a great shortage of new sets, and some enterprising enthusiast in Christchurch started manufacturing sets of chessmen of east iron.—ROBERT Camino-, Portobello, Dunedin, New Zealand.

ENGLAND IS NOT "BRITAIN."

I regret to find on the renewal of my acquaintance with the Spectator—which I "loved long since and lost awhile "- that even so essentially an English paper should be marred by the virus of the Scotch influence on the Celtic-controlled sYndicated Press, and use in its columns the bastard word " Britain" for England. Like most Englishmen, I resent the insidious attempt to efface the grand and glorious name of England.—R. F. LACP N, 18 Circular Road, Birkenhead.

YELLOW SCENTED MUSK.

I think it is a fact that the old Yellow Scented Musk lost its scent all over the country during the War years. I heard a nunour that the scent was returning in places. It would be interesting to many to know if this is the case.-

. I. DARBYSHIRE, The Vicarage, Sheffield. MRS MARY DREW.

As literary executor of Mrs. Mary Drew, daughter of Mr. Gladstone, I shall. be grateful to those of her many friends . who may have preserved her letters if they will very kindly lend them. to me for possible use in connexion with a volume of extracts from her diaries and correspondence which is in contemplation. Any letters which may be sent to me will be copied and returned with the least possible delay and in no case will publication be made without the consent of the owners.---A. TILN EY Bsssurr, 5 Mulberry Walk, Chelsea, S.W. 3.

PHOSPHORUS.

Walking across the fields one evening in my old parish, I noticed a faint phosphorescence beside the path. I stooped down to examine, and poked at the light with my stick, when, to my astonishment, several small insects scuttled away, each emitting a phosphorescent light ! I made a grab at what remained, and found that I had picked up a small lump of clay covered with a luminous substance which stuck to my fingers, and was, I suppose, phosphorus-paste. I concluded. that the insects (a species of coleoptera) had eaten some of this, with the result that their bodies had become temporarily luminous.—WALTER CRICK, Eastbourne.

BRIGHTER SC II OOLS.

When I was elected chairman of managers of my old Board school, after consulting the head teachers, I decided to pur- chase three pictures, one for each department. Two of the pictures represent Peter Pan and the third a Policeman on Duty. These characters are universal favourites with the children.—W. MARGRIE, Old Boy and Manager of Gloucester Road School, Camberwell, 165 Trafalgar Road, Peckham, S.E. 15.

VIEW FRONT A HILLTOP.

Mr. Harnish Maclarcn's delightful little article, in your Centenary issue, "Views From a Hill-top Window," will be quite spoilt for many of your readers by his closing paragraph, "Venus rises." If it is Venus he means, then that planet is on the point of setting at nightfall. If he sees a rising planet he secs Jupiter.—W. PAINE, Lieut. R.N.R., R.M.S.Y. 'Arcadian,' Southampton.