Round And About.

—gets somewhat stale , so that at an age when most men begin to detect bad wine from good , " Mack" has determined ( by the force of circumstances ) to settle down into a newspaper proprietor , and he ought to do well at the game . He is acquainted with the ins and outs of life

from A . to Z ., and there are dozens of men now in affluent circumstances who owe their success in life to the kindly tuition of Macculloch . It was , perhaps , greatly owing to his careful and prompt exertions on behalf of Mrs . Maybrick , that induced the reprieve of that unfortunate creature .

With the exception of a couple of the cleverest automatic patents— "Put a penny in the slot and get your boots cleaned , " and "Put a penny in the hole and have a Neapolitan ice " —the speculative side of existence will know him no more , and as if to strengthen his determination to " cut" the whole

crowd of backsliders who have filled their pockets at the expense of his brains , Macculloch is up for election as a fit and proper person to become a Mason . As shrewd a man as ever lived , " Mack " undoubtedly missed his vocation when he refused preparation at the Bar , but very few men indeed

can show a record of so many successes and so many failures during the twenty-seven years he has been able to gaze upon the "Lights of the Metropolis . " He has a heart as sympathetic as a child ' s , and has shed tears over Sims ' Lights of London . O cruel lamps of London ,

If tears your light could drown , Your victim's eyes would weep then , O lights of London town . One of the most extraordinary magazines ever printed will appear in a few weeks , in the shajie of the Author

The aim of the Author will be to voice the wrongs and woes of the men who write in general , and the Society of Authors in particular . Its editor will ( of course ) be Bro . Walter Besant , a leading light of the Quatuor Coronati , who has made this particular subject his own . In addition to his editorial

duties Mr . Besant contributes a story all about a pirate publishing company , started by two wicked young men ( of the Orton type ) , with brains and without capital , for the fleecing of authors . Mr . Besant further appears as the author of a tremendous tirade against Dr . Jessopp ' s " Plea

for Publishers , " which appeared in a recent number of the Nineteenth Century , and was promply sent round in circular form by an enterprising member of the new sainthood . Anyhow , there seems plenty of promise of form in the opening number of the Author ; its ultimate fate it would be tempting Providence to disclose .

Tell it not in Gath , but I have been shaved by a lady barber . With your head thrown majestically backward on the greasy rest , a white sepulchral cloth enshrouding your person , and the lower members ot your countenance

artistically besmeared with a rich , creamy , soapy , evilsmelling lather , you have time and opportunity for deciding what a noble creature man is , after all . But women ! how delicate rather than noble they are . They , or rather she , gently tickled my chin with a badly kept razor , and

eventually reduced the trifling stubble which grows on me like a field of cricketers , eleven on each side . Then she lathered again , and tickled again , stood over my prostrate features , and dug gallantly at the roots ; how she smiledwhat pretty teeth she had—and tried to look unconcerned ,

flatly resented my intention of drying my own face , brushed my coat and hat , accepted her fee , and sent me away never to be shaved by a barberess again . It is barberous . * # # Sir Albert Woods ( Grand Director of Ceremonies ) , the

Garter Principal King-at-Arms , a post which he has occupied for over twenty years , has been admitted into the fold of the Colonial Michael and George Order . Sir Albert is seventy-four years of age , and may be said to wear his blushing honours thick upon him . For over half a century

he has been mixed up with the College of Arms , having entered that interesting institution as Pursuivant in 18 3 8 , and in the previous year had been appointed Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary . Sir Albert , who is exceedingly well-liked wherever he is known , has an eagle eye for arms

and crests , gules and griffins , leopards passant guardant , and so forth . His connection with Freemasonry has been a long and sincere one , and the ceremonies of great occasions are not perfect without the attendance of the Garter Principal King-of-Arms . He has only been absent from Grand Lodge Festivals twice in thirty-nine years .

$ < W w I was recently entertained at a Lodge meeting in Sheffield to witness a presentation to a member who had fallen by the wayside . They do these things quietly and well in Sheffield , and the Lodge room and banquetting hall were

crowded . The pickle fork degree not forming a very great feature with our brethren of the North , the seating arrangements at dinner were left to the tender mercies of Bro . Scramble . I had to find my way to the telegraph office at the bottom of the town , and when a rollicking , ricketty

hansom clambered up the hills and deposited me at the Masonic Hall , my chair had been confiscated . Everybody was busily discussing mock turtle and consomme , and cutlery

and china were at a terrible premium . However , the grand piano served the purposes of a dining-table for half-a-dozen of us until some of the " foreigners " caught an early train , and I captured a seat between the Worshipful Master and a distinguished visitor . And now for two things am I thankful

to the brethren of Sheffield . They " speech" not , neither do they sing , at least the speeches were very short and the two songs were very well sung . The only thing worthy of note in the speeches , perhaps , was a visiting brother mistaking me for the son of Bro . W . W . Morgan , of the Freemasons' Chronicle

and the Pentonville Printing Works , an honour I took the liberty of denying . Bro . Morgan is a very estimable man I know , but I question if he would own up to being the parent of a " worthless chap like me , " as Dick Phenyll says .

# * * I left as the bells were chiming eight , and just as the fragrance of the cigar and cigarette began to be apparent . Several local men carried me bodily off to the Press Club , where they washed me , and from there another batch took

me to " The" Club to sample Yorkshire cigars and Yorkshire whisky . Then I looked in at the theatre , and , just as I was endeavouring to make tracks for my hotel , up comes Bro . Allen , twice P . M . of the Ivanhoe Lodge , and insists upon me driving out to " Endcliffe , " promising me

wonderful sights at the Bessemer Steel Works in the morning . Mr . Harry Allen ' s father , the head of " Henry Bessemef & Co ., " and brother-in-law of Sir Henry of that ilk , the