Our Weekly Budget

Lave reached Midsummer Day , but as yet we seem hardly to have had any spring . Of course , these eccentricities of tho meteorological department are not to be explained by any known law of p hilosophy , nor is it our special province to concern ourselves about them . Our

business is to record facts , and we have stated a fact , namely , that this Whitsuntide , the Clerk of the Weather was far from being gracious towai'ds our holiday folk . Saturday last , for instance , was a magnificent day for ducks , but as a wag once remarked , it is necessary to be a

duck to appreciate such weather . Sunday was delightfully cold and chilly , though there was nothing to speak of in tho way of rain . Monday was dry over head , if not under foot , and thousands of pleasure-seekers went abroad for the purpose of enjoying themselves . Whether they

found the pleasure they were in search of is a question not easily solved . We have no great faith in an hour ' s " squeedge" at a railway station , followed by an hour ' s journey in stuffy and overcrowded railway carriages as a corrective for peoplo who

are supposed to have been working hard since Eastertide . This " squeedge" and travel are of course repeated towards the end of the day ' s excursion , and , as a rule , we have found that people who thus spend their holidays are unfitted for business for several days , owing to the fatigues they have

undergone in their quest for enjoyment . We are churlish enough to think that these public holidays are a great nuisance . They are a serious interruption to business , for nine out of every ten persons abuse instead of using them . No one appreciates a rest from labour more than we do .

" All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy , ' but the play in which English folk indulge is more fatiguing than the hardest work . However , every man to his taste . Londoners made the best of their Bank Holiday under trying circumstances . Nearly sixty thousand people visited the

Crystal Palace , where , as usual , a special programme was provided . There were nine military bands engaged , and these , it is almost needless to say , proved a great attraction . Then Mr . Coward performed on the great organ , and therewasa children's pantomime , familiar enough to habihws

of the Adelphi , but not so to frequenters of the Palace at Sydenham . Among the vocalists engaged were Mesdames Pattiand Lemmens-Sherrington , andMessrs . Edward Lloyd , Patey and Hollins , while Mr . Manns was conductor of the combined military bands . At the Alexandra Palace , now

re-opened to the public , some 50 , 000 people had entered up to 3 p . m ., and this number was largely increased later in the day . Every variety of entertainment was provided . There were organ performances , a ballet , the inimitable Maekney , Mr . Howard Paul and his company , a Grand Concert in

the large Concert Hall , which was crowded to overflowing , and in addition there were out-door sports for those who prefer witnessing athletic displays . The Zoological Gardens proved a great attraction , now that the new outdoor cages for lions and tigers , & c , have been erected and are in

use , the visitors to these grounds being in excess of forty thousand . Among other places of amusement and instruction , the British and South Kensington Museums were crowded during the whole day , and so , too , was the Royal Aquarium , Westminster . Indeed , every place in London

had its share of visitors , while the suburban attractions were equally well attended . We believe there are a good many people who have not yet recovered from their recent surfeit of pleasure . A fatal fire occurred on Monday morning , in the

neighbourhood of Charing Cross . About a quarter to four in the morning , a cabman noticed flames in the Charing Cross Restaurant , Yilliers-streefc , Strand , a building four stories in height , and occupied at the time of the outbreak by a M . Calangue , who had staying- with him some five and twenty

persons , servants and others . Ihe fire-escape men rescued M . Calangue aud his wife . Some seventeen otliers got on to the roof , and thence to that of the next house , the Princess of Wales public-house , and were thus rescued . At the rear of the premises , which extended into

Buckinghamstreet , two men jumped from one of the second floor windows , ancl were so terribly injured that thoy were conveyed to Charing Cross Hospital , where they lie iu a critical state . The others , however , were saved , all bnt a- cook , whose bodv was found by the firemen so terribly burnt that

identification was well nigh impossible . The cause of the fire has not been ascertained , but the premises are said to have been insured . Only the front and back walls remain . News was received at Bristol on Sunday that a terrible explosion occurred iu mid Atlantic on board tho Anchor

Our Weekly Budget

Line Steamer Sidoman , by which seven men lost their lives . An accident had occurred to her engines , and they had been stopped in order that a pin might be repaired , when the boilers burst , and the captain , who was superintending the repairs , three engineers , two firemen , and a trimmer

were so seriously injured that they all died in the course of twenty-four hours , the cook being also seriously hurt . Fortunately , no material damage was done to the sides or bottom of the vessel , and the chief officer decided to make

for his port under sail , though assistance was offered by the Cunard Steamer China . The Sidonian reached King ' s Road on Sunday morning , and went up the river to Bristol , a day or two later .

The Wagner Festival came to an end on Saturday last , but there will be further opportunities for the British public to hear and judge of the music of the future , as two concerts have been arranged for next week , one on Monday afternoon at 3 p . m ., and the other the clay following afc

8 p . m . They will be given in the Royal Albert Hall , and the prices of admission will be reduced . Several other concerts have been given , while among those that have yefc to come , must be mentioned one for the benefit of the Royal Cambridge Asylum for Soldiers' Widows , to be held

this afternoon , at the Royal Albert Hall , under tho patronage of the Prince and Princess of Wales , the Princesses Christian and Louise , the Duchesses of Edinburgh and Cambridge , the Princess Mary Duchess of Teck , and several members of the nobility and

gentry . Nine military bands and 80 drummers of the Guards will take part in ifc . The same day in St . James ' s Hall will be held the third concert of the Royal Albert Hall Amateur Orchestral Society , of which the Duke of

Edinburgh is President , in aid of the funds of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society . A series of three grand Opera Concerts has also been arranged afc the Royal Aquarium , Westminster , to come off to-day , next Saturday , aud the Saturday following .

The excitement in Paris over the dismissal of M . Jules Simon is very great . The event is now described as a coup d ' etat , and people are naturally speculating as to what will be the upshot of it all . The Due de Brogli is the new minister , and the chamber has been prorogued for a mouth ,

but in spite of changes of prefects and the customary arrangements for securing a majority for the conservative party , there is reason to fear that some unpleasant consequences may follow . No doubt the President , with the army at his back , is strong enough to repress any outbreak ,

but so he would have been , it is argued , had there been no dismissal at all . Some consider he has made a great mistake in acting as he has done , and that ifc would have been better to have given the party of M . Simon , M . Gambefcta , and others as much rope as they needed . The idea spread

abroad that France contemplates a change in her foreign policy is not held to be worth much , especially as the Duke Decazes still retains his portfolio as Foreign Minister . There need be no alarm of France attacking Germany or Italy , though ifc may suit some folk to say so .

The news from the two seats of war hardly keeps pace with the impatience of the public , who , many say , are sadly disappointed because there have not been already some half-dozen sanguinary battles . However , the Russians have gained an important success by the capture

of Ardahan , for this will open for them another road by which they may approach and complete the investment of Kars . More , it is believed , has been made of this victory than the case warrants , for Ardahan was nofc in a position to offer any serious or protracted defence , as its walls and

earthworks were out of repair , and the force stationed there was greatly outnumbered by the Russians . This does not , however , alter the fact that the Czar ' s troops have gained possession of an important place . There is no doubt either thafc the Turks , by the capture of

Soukoumkaleh , are seriously disturbing the communications of their enemy , and ;! nt the Circassians are likely to rise and cause some trouble . On the Danube there have been no military movements of importance . The Russians are still concentrating their forces , but the weather is very unfavourable .

The river has risen , and the distance to be traversed is considerable . But if there is nothing in the way of war news , the political events of the last few days aro of some importance . Roumania lias thrown off her

alleg iance to the Porte , and declared herself independent , and Servia is believed to be contemplating a renewal of the war . What effect these events will have ifc is premature to determine j but an opinion very widely prevails that Austro-