remaining contents of the report do not call for special notice. There are the usual weather statistics which are, we suppose, scientifically valuable; when a sufficiently large number of them is amassed, will it be possible to base a science of weather-prediction on them, and instead of recording last year's rainfall, to foretell next year's fine and rainy days with mathematical precision ? The Report closes with tables of Weights and Measurements which are always amusing to look at, and especially fascinating this time, because they exhibit the increase made by a large number of the school during the last two years in weight, height, and breadth.

Correspondence.

To the Editor of the Marlburian.

SIR, I think I am correct in stating that it was not until the middle of 1865 that Marlborough was able successfully to start a school paper. In that year, however the first of the present series of Marlburians was printed, and ever since all who take an interest in the school have been able on payment of a modest sum to keep themselves "au fait" with the doings of the many hundred boys who have selected it as their "Alma Mater," and to peruse the compositions of such of them as aspire to early literary fame. Now nearly every school has a school paper of some sort or other, and all school papers are necessarily more or less alike and they have their respective titles printed on the top of the front page, usually in plain Roman characters. I cannot speak as to the "Hesketh Park School Chronicle," "The Wulfranian," or "The Bloxhamist," because I have never been lucky enough to see them, but I venture to assert that the titles of the greater number of school papers, the receipt of which is regu. larly acknowledged in the Marlburian, are printed in the ordinary way. The first number of our school paper had its title The Marlburian printed on the top of the front page in plain Roman characters, and beyond the simple title it could boast of no further embellishment. Three or four years later the editors added the College arms (undoubtedly a great improvement), and for reasons best known to themselves, they thought fit to abolish the plain title and substitute Old English letters for the ordinary Roman—the result being the production of the mysterious hieroglyphic which now disfigures our school newspaper, and is a subject of ridicule to all who see it. Will you allow me as an Old Marlburian to suggest to you that this hieroglyphic is not an ornament. The Roman letters may be common, but they are at least legible, and so long as they are good enough to be used by Eton, Winchester, or Rugby, I do not think Marlborough need be ashamed of them. The Old English characters have had a good long career now, for nearly a decade of years they have made their

Dear Sir,-When I was at Marlborough I always noticed with regret the scanty attendance of spectators at our Sportsas for ladies they were only conspicuous by their absence. This evil I feel certain would be greatly lessened by the introduction of a Stranger's Race into the programme of events, which if properly carried out would tend, not only to attract more spectators, but also to raise the standard of the sports generally. I cannot quite agree with the first suggestion of "RE.F." viz., that it should be confined to O M.'s SO as to exclude professionals, etc. Now, Sir, in the first place I think the term Stranger's race would be a misnomer if it were to be confined to O.M.'s, for I hope no-one in the School would look upon us as strangers. It ought in that case to be called the O.M.'s. Race; but why not have a bona fide Stranger's Race, confined to all O.M.'s,the Universities, Public Schools, Army, Navy, Civil Service and members of all recognized Athletic Clubs; this would effectually shut out all professionals and would at the same time throw the race open to all the best Amateurs of the day. The prize ought of course to be good enough to entice men to come from a distance if the Race Committee found it too expensive, I have no doubt O.M.'s would come to their aid; or perhaps the better plan would be to have an entrance fee of say 2s. or 28 6d. The suggestion of "R.E F." that the length of the race should be changed every year, is I think, a very good one, as by this means both sprinters and long-distance men would have a fair chance each in their turn. "Elad" in his letter proposes Pole-Jumping as a novelty. Pole-jumping may be very good exercise and I have no doubt if Marlborough fellows took it up they would soon excel in it, as they do in everything else they attempt; but, still I would venture to suggest putting the weight in pre. ference-it is to be found in almost every College Programme at Oxford and Cambridge, and is also one of the events in the Inter-'Varsity Sports, whereas Pole-jumping is very rare even if it exists at all, therefore I think those who are intending to come up to the Universities would find putting the weight eventually much more useful than Pole-Jumping-for the one they might get their Blue, the other they would have to drop altogether. I have only one more suggestion to make, in case putting the weight is adopted, viz., that the Ball should weigh 16lbs and not 14lbs, as the former is the standard at all the principal race-meetings.

I am, my dear Sir, yours truly,

CANTAB. O.M.

To the Editor of the Marlburian.

I

DEAR SIR,-If I may be allowed to trespass on your valua ble columns, I should like to reply to a letter which appeared in your last number but one; I mean A.K.B.'s proposal to play foreign matches, "weather permitting," on the Eleven. object to this proposal: first because, as the Eleven is an artificial ground and not like most grounds, it would suffer far more damage from playing football on it than it would if it was natural. A.K.B. says "weather permitting: " what can be more indefinite than such an expression? Who is to decide what exact degree of moisture should prevent the game being played on it on such and such a day? Of course the Captain of the XX, unless he himself was an interested party; and even under such circumstances he would probably think the weather fit for playing football on the Eleven, whereas the Captain of cricket would be most likely to object on nearly all occasions. This then would lead to a series of discussions every time there was a proposal to play on it. Secondly, my objection is one which A K.B. has foreseen, and has tried to answer, but not to my satisfaction. Our present "Big Game" is 115 yards long, while the Eleven is not much more than 100 from bank to bank, and besides we should require the goals to be placed at least 12 yards from the bank at either end, and consequently we should have a ridiculously small ground. This, I believe, is what is objected to even by some who would otherwise support the scheme. Also by playing on so small a ground the character of the game would be so very much altered, that in order to get into it, the Eleven would have to be so constantly used that in a short time it would become a regular Big Game, and owing to the reason stated above, about its being an artificial ground, it would be quite spoiled as a cricket ground. Again, A.K.B. thinks that the slope on the present big game has caused most of our accidents for the last three or four years. To the best of my knowledge there has only been one accident to a fellow running down the hill, for the last three years, but most of the accidents that have happened, have occurred to small fellows and others who have not been playing on Big Game.

Hoping you will find space to insert this in your next number,

I remain, dear Sir, yours truly,

Hockey.

J. R. NAPIER.

COMMON ROOM v. SCHOOL.

Saturday, Feb. 23rd.

The School began up the hill, and for the first 20 minutes were no-where, being apparently quite overpowered by the extremely rapid play of their opponents, who in quick succession scored 2 goals and just missed 2 others, and penned the school com

pletely, whose efforts to drive the ball back were met by the most brilliant rushes on the part of Mr. Way, Mr. Horner, and Mr. Hewson. After this they recovered themselves, and by some good passing on the part of Arkle attacked the Common Room goal, which was relieved from immediate danger by an excellent run by Mr. Masterman. After change the Masters following up a grand run of Mr. Way's endangered for a moment their adversaries' goal, though up-hill, but Jacson, Cakley, and Leach, were not to be denied ; and now came the turn of the School, who, after a corner hit, claimed their first goal from a clever stroke of Arkle's. With 15 minutes left, they penned the Common Room hard, whose backs on whom the severity of the work was beginning to tell were at last overpowered, and after a run by Vassall of nearly the whole length of the ground, Peake drove the ball between the posts for the second time. With only 5 minutes to play it looked like a draw, but a determined rush of forwards and wings together, which ended in a goal from the stick of Vassall, won a close and exciting match for the School by 3 goals to 2. There was plenty of good play all round, and some wonderfully quick hitting by Leach, but the feature of the match was the singularly clever dribbling of Mr. Leaf.

The Choir led off with carrying the ball down to the School goal and for 20 minutes they kept the play mainly in that part of the ground, but only scored one goal, which was hit by Vassall, the ball passing so near the post as to strike the flag. Mr. Alford towards the end of the first half-hour added another, and Arkle one more just before time to change.

During the second half-hour, though playing up the hill, the School made a much better fight of it: this was mainly owing to the mistakes made by the Choir backs who did not play with any certainty, and in consequence brought their goal into jeopardy several times. Williams and Prichard tried hard to force their way through, but without result, while Carter alone was successful. Vassall however added another to the Choir score, and directly after Peake hit the ball through the School goals, but the stroke was disallowed on the ground of 'off side.' When time was called the Choir won by 4 goals to one.

With regard to individual play, Vassall and Williams for their respective sides were far the most conspicuous. It would be hard to say how many brilliant runs the former made, and if the School backs had not been very much on the spot, the number of goals he scored would have been very different. Williams gave the backs of the other side plenty of occupation, and it was only bad luck that kept him from scoring. For the Choir, Arkle on the wing was very brilliant, and Mr. Alford and Mr. Way as forwards, hardly less so: while for the School, Mr. Ford and Jacson were of great use behind, Prichard and Carter indefatigable forward, and Robertson, Hardy, and Whitaker dangerous on the wings.

The sides were as follows:

Choristers-Messrs. Horner, Way, and Alford: Vassall, Arkle, Peake, Furneaux, Leach, Peacock, Firminger, Ellis, and Dawson.

School-Mr. Ford: Williams, Jacson, Fowler, Sanders, Whitaker, Prichard, Carter, Pigott, Robertson, Hardy, and Leverton.

MR. HORNER'S v. A HOUSE.

Won by Mr. Horner's by 4 goals, 2 up the hill hit by Glennie and Duncan, and 2 down by Evans, a result mainly due to the forward play of Vassall and good passing of Arkle, and the weight of the forwards; against whom the smaller side did what they could especially Sutton and Hordern, who

scored a remarkably good goal, which was disallowed being hit from outside the 15 yards. For Mr. Horner, Prichard was always on the ball and never alone; while for A House, Ellis hit remarkably well, and Mr. Alford and Mr. Way turned what would otherwise have been a very one-sided game into a good match.

Football.

SCRATCH-TEAM OF SIX PREFECTS

V.

TWENTY-SEVEN OF HORNER'S HOUSE. This match was played on the woλλoi and resulted in a victory for the VI by a goal and eight touchdowns to one touch-down. The VI played down hill first, when the men were placed as follows :— Fowler, Furneaux, Chandler (forward), Arkle (halfback), Griffith (back), Vassall (back).

In spite of the overwhelming majority of Horner's, six touchdowns in succession were gained by their opponents, (principally by Arkle), and tried by all "the six" in succession. All, however, miscarried, and at change no goal had been obtained. After this point the prefects were rather hard pressed, Duncan and Jones playing particularly well for Horner's. Soon, however, Arkle ran well round and secured a touchdown between the posts; and Chandler proving equal to the occasion kicked a goal.

Horner's, however, succeeded in gaining two touchdowns, one of which was unsuccessfully tried, and the other forfeited through the ball being brought out between the posts.

At this period the VI lost the services of Griffith, who after a brilliant burst up the hill, resulting in a touchdown, was so overcome that he had to retire to a remote corner and give vent to his overcharged feelings. Shortly afterwards however he returned with renewed vigour. No further advantage was gained by either side when no game was called.

ART SOCIETY.

Meeting held February 14th.

Proceedings commenced by the bringing in and handing round of the various sketches made by the honorary and school members in illustration of the words "War" and "Spring." The former of these proved the more attractive and was illustrated by the President, Hitchcock, Cox, Peacock, and seve I

others, while the second word was treated by Mrs. Bell, Mr. Macdonald, Burne-Jones and the Secretary, amongst others. The drawings were then collected, and Mr. Hulme made some few comments upon them and notified some donations to the Library. Taylor lus then gave a lecture on expression and the proportions of the human figure, illustrating his remarks by sketches on the black-board of the various features, the Greek nose, the Roman, the "inverted Roman," the form of the mouth under varying emotions, disgust, laughter, astonishment, and so forth; the Greek and negro types of mouth, the correct drawing of the ear, and many other interesting details. Suggestions were then invited from those present for subjects for the sketching class, and several were given from these two were chosen-"Evening" and "any one of Esop's fables." These drawings will be brought up on March 21st. In addition to the honorary members, 28 school members and visitors. were present. The next meeting was held on Feb. 28th, when the Secretary gave a lecture on the art of illumination, with numerous illustrations from Byzantine, Celtic and Medieval MSS.

a

The

NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. GENERAL MEETING, Thursday, Feb. 21st. The proceedings commenced with some remarks on elephants' teeth by the President, who exhibited. a whole tooth and some pieces. The President then Echini; " read a paper on "Sea Urchins " or subject of special interest as fossil Urchins are found in the chalk-pits in the neighbourhood of Marlborough; these, however, are not the actual shells, but the hard substance formed inside the shells, and on which they have left their impression. species now found at the bottom of the sea are very curiously formed; from each of the numerous spots, seen on the bare shell, protrude spines of an exceedingly delicate and beautiful structure; and outside these spines is stretched a thin layer of transparent jelly, corresponding to the flesh in the human body. The Sea Urchin is quite different to any other known animal; at first, it swims about as a little egg covered with hairs; at a later stage only the stomach remains, while all the rest perishes. The strangest fact about this curious animal is that it lives outside its shell. Closely allied to the Sea Urchin is the Star Fish, which has no teeth, and yet lives on Shellfish, especially Oysters.

The Eton Chronicle opens with an article headed Desiderata." The numbers of the School are so arge that it is impossible to provide amusement for ll-even in the summer term, when boating and ricket are in force, there is a residue of 250 for whom there is no regular amusement provided.

In the mile race, only the first three were allowed o come in, for the crowd of spectators closed up, nd only allowed the other competitors to advance at walk.

The debate upon the Government was concluded on Monday, Feb. 25th. There was a majority of 8 in avour of the Government.

A paper was read Feb. 23rd, on Patriotism; which defined as "National Selfishness," a definition to which various gentlemen took exception.

A field day was held Feb. 23rd, and a most lively ombat ensued between the companies of the rifle corps. In some cases the struggle became a hand hand one, and the combatants were seen "rolling

PRICE 3d.

in the furrows of a ploughed field," while the prisoners refused to be taken. A correspondent has written, with perhaps not unnatural indignation, to free himself from the imputation of having stated "that Italy was surrounded on all sides by water."

The Glenalmond Chronicle contains a long and exhaustive article upon the relative merits of a classical and modern education; and after reviewing their merits and demerits, decides in favour of a Classical Education. A lecture was recently delivered there upon the Caffrarian Mission. As an example of the hardihood and patience of the natives, the following is the manner in which an adult native proves himself "a man." He first fasts three days, he is then clothed in opossum skin and hunted like a wild beast; and as a climax he has his two front teeth knocked out by the sorcerer of his tribe.

A correspondent urges that the Cricket Ground should be in parts returfed.

We see with pleasure that the Glenalmond Chronicle has given up the insertion of advertisements.

The Meteor explains the causes which prevent fellows joining the School in January, and shows