WHY OUR CHEMISTS ARE SO BRIGHT AND HEALTHY. "Folle.--How charming to have a manicure set presented to you! When filling it with the necessary manicure preparations, include the ---- Nail Polish, which all chemists keep; it keeps them so bright and healthy." _Lady's Pictorial._ * * * * * [Illustration: _Harassed Shopman._ "Ah, Mrs. Judkins, I am having an awful time just now. My right hand is away with a swollen foot."] * * * * * BILLIARDS A LA GOLF. "I want a billiard cue," I said; "one I can travel with comfortably--that folds up, or telescopes, or does something of that kind, you know." "Yes, Sir," said the salesman. "This style of cue with a secret joint would probably suit you. It unscrews in the middle, is handy to carry, and absolutely reliable when fitted together." "And now about a case?" "Yes, Sir. Do you want a case for the secret-jointed cue only, or a case for your whole kit?" "My whole kit?" "Your complete set of cues, Sir." "Never heard of such a thing." "I assure you, Sir, that all the best people go in for sets--just as with golf, Sir. This is a complete set; the whole, including the case, for ten guineas." And he showed me a long green-lined mahogany box containing foreign-looking cues (in addition to a secret-jointed one) packed as carefully as a set of drawing instruments. "Would you mind explaining this mystery box to me?" I asked. "Certainly, Sir," said the obliging young man. "This set of cues has been designed for the billiard player who spends his summer on the golf links and comes back in the autumn to billiards with the golf-habit highly developed. That is, the habit acquired on the links of using different clubs for the various shots. Now this cue--" "Oh, that, of course, is an ordinary cue," I interrupted. "Never mind that one; introduce me to the others." "Pardon me, Sir, it only _looks_ like an ordinary cue. A steel tube has been inserted down its interior--" "Do I understand that billiard cues have also taken to hunger-striking?" The shopman forced a polite but cheerless smile and continued, "This makes the cue perfectly rigid and inflexible--" "It has the same effect on the hunger-strikers, I am told." "--and eminently suitable for its special purpose. We call it the 'Driver' cue--for driving off from baulk and for follow-throughs, forcing strokes and all-round cannons." "Ah, and what is the hammer-headed instrument for? It looks more like a club than a cue." "Yes, Sir. There is nothing in the rules to prevent the use of a club. If I may point it out to you, Sir, there is here a special appeal to the ladies, who are now coming into the game in ever increasing numbers. Up to the present time most lady players have failed completely to bring off a successful masse shot; but with the 'Hammer' cue used as a club--over the shoulder (_so_)--"