30 APRIL 1898, Page 13

Whitby : Past and Present. By Robert B. Holt. (Copas

and Co.)—This is a pleasant little book which tells us what we want to know about Whitby as it is and as it was. Mr. Holt goes back to days before Whitby became fashionable, when a fat goose could be bought for half-a-crown and butter fell sometimes to 6d. per pound. Herrings were ten a penny, and cod and ling from 2d. to 4d. the pound. Whitby, indeed, was not behind the march of progress. The Whitby and Pickering line was one of the earliest made in England. It was 24 miles long, and, though nine bridges had to be built, cost only .680,000. (The average price of English railways per mile is more than half.) There is an interesting chapter on "Curious Customs," and a short account of the great Abbey.