Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-05-15

and the fishmonger calling out his wares
through the street. There are old and
young, rich and poor, grave and gay, to
be seen, not including the babies, which
| here, as elsewhere in England, are nu-
| merous and rosy checked.
The little ones are wheeled about in
their little carriages or carts, which, by
| the way, are always made to accommo-
| date two, and the older children trot in
squadrons presided over by their nurses.
/ must say word, too, about the Bath
| chair men. They are a class by them
selves and to my mind not class to be
envied. They usually rent the chairs,
paving, perhaps, not more than 4 or
| shillings week for the use of it. Then
they take up their stand in the street
and wait patiently fer a customer. If the
weather is fine they are usually kept
busy walking up and down the length
of the parade, dragging behind them
their heavy loads-for the chair itself is
no light weight, and the occupant seems
usually to be very stout person. The
| men are generally old, always round
backed and red faced, and have very
suggestive odor of rum about them.
| They are very loquatlous, too, and one
| old codger, whom we often employ, and
| who wears mustard yellow coat and a
surly black silk hat, has told us many
anecdotes connected with Hastings and
| st. Leonards. He pointed out the win
| dow where Adelaide Proctor sat as she
| tried in vain to recall the "Lost Cord"
'and it was the band in that very stand,
| Miss, that had played the music she
| couldn't remember" added he, in a
voice full of pride at his townsmen's his
| torical importance.
One rather enjoys their quaint gossip,
however, and it is with feeling of
money well spent that one hands them
the trifing sum of IS pence, the price of
an hours ride in a chair, and a few ex-
ira pennies for their comforting rum.
The country about Hastings is very
pretty and rural, and there are a num-
Der of picturesque old ruins and quaint
villages in the neighborhood. The near
est of them is the old castle Of Hastings,
now mere ruin. 1t stands on q high
cliff overlooking the ancient fishing town
and commands fine views of sea and
land.
There is little left of the castle but
few crumbling walls and tumbling tow
ers, oyergrown with clinging ivy, where
the rocks build their nests and the bats
hold their nightly gatherings. But
there is enough history interviewer with
the old stones to give it tinge of ro-
nance and to call up visions of plumed
knights, fair maidens and tonsured
| works. 1t is claimed that the castle
was built in Saxon times, before the
Norman's famous battle, and that of
| William, the Conqueror, added to its
dimensions and strength, making it one
of the strOngholds of England.
On the other side of the old town rises
another rocky cliff, known as the East
Hill. 1t is wild, bleak place, covered
with furze bushes and short grass,
where the fisherboys play football and
where the fashionable game of golf is
followed by the elite. But from this
wild, windy height are grand views of
the surrounding country. On one side
enc looks down upon the red moss
grown roofs of old Hastings nestled i'm
der the protecting walls of the ruined
castle; and on the other, into a green |
wooded valley, where little brook |
comes dancing down over the stones. |
Behind lie the green sloping hills and
meadow land, and before one stretches |
ling in the sunshine.
Some six miles from the town of Hast
ings is the old Battle Abbey, said to
stand on the very ground where the |
great battle was fought, and erected by |
William, in fulillment Of VOW made |
before the engagement. A few miles
further on is the palatial home of Lord |
Brassey, whose first wife made herself a |
name as the author of Voyage in |
the Sunbeam"
There are many other places of inter- |
est in the neighborhood too numerous
to mention, not to speak of the pretty |
walks through winding English lanes |
and over sloping meadows to the old |
country villages, whose very names are |
associated with the times long past, and |
few weeks can be very pleasantly |
spent in and about this much frequented |
winter resort. ANNIE NJ. BRAINARD.
The eminent English statistician, Mr.. |
Giffen, comparing the imports of several |
countries during the years 1890 to 1892 |
with the period of 1884 and 1885, finds |
the United States and Germany each |
gained 33 per cent, England ID per cent. |
and France per cent In exports, the |
United States gained 20 per cent, Ger
many 8 per cent, England 10 pei, cent.
and France IA per cent These figures |
show how rapidly we were forging ahead
of our foreign competitors under the |
Mckinley law before the blight of Dem
ocratic tariff smashing fell upon the |
country.
If Grover Cleveland could have his |
way he would treat Senator Morgan of |
Alabama in the same way, figuratively |
speaking, that Mr.. Cloveland's Great and |
Good Friend, Mrs. Lilluokalani Deminis |
of Hawaii proposed to treat President |
Dole of the Provisional Government.