incidents, fantastic adventures with elephants and such, one sometimes feels that their humour is, as the author says of _M. de Lafontaine's_ smile, a thing that seemed to be jerked out by machinery. Yet I am bound to confess that it made me laugh. So why grumble? * * * * * Illustration: THE WILHELM MISTLETOE. A CARD OF TEUTONIC ORIGIN NOT LIKELY TO HAVE A BIG SALE OVER HERE THIS SEASON. * * * * * _The Times_, describing the attempted escape of a German officer in the disguise of 'Safety Matches,' says: "There was nothing in the box to excite suspicion." Except, of course, the officer. * * * * * "Never again will one rigid form of civilisation prevail.... The world has grown too big to rest content with one standard." _Evening Standard._ Hence _The Evening Standard_. * * * * *