Messrs. Grindley and Co. forward to the Times a telegram
received by them from India, "Decor lack° appointy to finlo come out this season if possible," which the constituent to whom it was addressed asked them to interpret. It is necessary to remember that in India the telegraphing clerk has usually only a scrap of paper before him, and we must make some allowance for bad writing. By rewriting the message in a shaking, over rapid hand, we arrive at this, which we venture to submit to Messrs. Grindlay as a pos- sible solution :—" Dear Lucy. Appointed to Dehra. Come out this season if possible,"—clearly a husband's messsage to his wife, announcing his appointment to a healthy station. Why Debra should have been mistaken for "flab," seems in print unintelli- gible, but it is not so in rapid manuscript.
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