13 AUGUST 1898, Page 17

[To THE EDITOR OP Ti H "SPECTATOR. " ] SIR,—Last year, in the

North of Ireland, the following two came under my observation. In a hotel the porter, for my information and dutifully in furtherance of the interests of his employers, remarked, " If you want a drive, Sir, you needn't go out of the hotel," meaning, of course, that carriages formed part of the establishment. The other was in a con- versation incidentally overheard between two workmen. One put the question, "Were you acquainted with So-and-So P " to which the reply was, "No ; he was dead before I knew him." This also, I suppose, had a meaning,—viz., that the

reon referred to was known by repute after his death, but of personally.—I am, Sir, &c., J. T.