The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-07-03 00:00:00

ILLUSION v. COMMON SENSE.
To tAe Editor.

Sir,—An illusory exhibition, of the wanderiog
caravan type," haa lately visited Portland, and it is to
be feared that many of its worshippers, now that Um
barrel organ has ceased to beguile them with ite
"Come, fool, come," and the clown has ceasA to
charm "soft places," will find that after .11 there is
some reality about the affair, though, not rtun..t.dy,
the reality may not be a pleasurable one, for, as •
rule, empty purses bring the reverse of pleasure, and
it is to be hoped that our youths will for the future
foil w "not illusion" hut the dictates of common
sense, and seek to store their minds with useful know-
ledge. There is the institution for young men holding
eut no mean advantages. It was noted that the clown,
when acting as town crier on the evening of S tturday,
said his show was opposite the lostituti,n. I would
that he could have told of the intellectual troats "in
the shape of lectures from well-known men" provided
lin years past, which dererved a full house. (Yong
men of Portland, if you wish to win in the race of life,
get knowledge; not merely the three R's, but a know.
ledge of the scissors. It will expand your minis, and
make you better and more capable men.) But. Mr.
Editor, by far the largest number of youths It .ve yet
to learn the eleinentite7 branches, and many cannot
',Tea write their names, which I hold to be a discrsee.
I bear of one who spent in swing.boat
and &tog at bottles—ln one evening, the sum of 7s. 61.
This would have paid the modest fees of the Institute
named for two yeast, and, with a moderate amount of
application, he could have mastered the elementary
Isullohes, if nothing more, and the money would have
brought not illusion but lasting plosettre.—Moping you
will insert this in your next Wok I arc, yours,
Haws).
Portland, June 261 h, 188$.

WHAT STAPTORD„

C.B.T.S.—At tide village on Tuesday there was a
tea in connection with the Stafford branch of the
Church of ENlel,' Temperance Society. About SO,
besides ohihiren of Vv. lie ti of Hope. eat down to Um
meal in a I .rge barn, whieh bad been abundantly
I decorated for the occaei di. Al tor tea and games. meet-
ing was hell, with a much I inter attendance, presided
over by the Use. K. F. Noel Smith in the absence of
the rector. A.blreemee were given by Captain Frith,
advocating the n 'a-abstaining section, and by the
Chairman advocating the total abstinence section of the
society. Mr. Smith mentioned two of th Urged la di.
don breweries wet, ending outeach 1.000 barrel, of beer
less than they did one year ago. The entertainment
Included a violin duet by Mews. Goldring and Cross;
duet by Mill Blanche Smith and Mies Hulett ; songs
by Miss Wynyard, Mr. Hardy, and Mr. Walden; an
excellent recitation by Mr. Stevens, "Toe Life Boat:"
and an amusing dialague by Miss Bra and Mies
Blanche Smith he the Doralt dialect, and a reading by
Captain Frith, were not the low pleasing features in
this enjoyable entertainment. The arrangement, for
the tea, Ac., were a imirably carried ont by Mr. Pipe,
Mime Reynold, Mies Goldriniz, and other willing
helpers t to numerotte to mention.