William Cullen Bryant, publisher of the Brooklyn _Times_, dies at the age of 56. February 16.—Jay Cooke, once famous as a financier, dies at the age of 83. February 20.—Norton P. Otis, Member of Congress from New York, dies at the age of 65, at his home in Yonkers, N. Y. February 21.—Jacob Worth, well-known Brooklyn politician and race-track man, dies at Hot Springs, Ark.; age, 67. February 23.—W. F. G. Shanks, a well-known New York newspaper and magazine editor, dies in Bermuda, aged 68. February 24.—Sidney Dillon Ripley, Treasurer of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, dies from the effects of an operation for appendicitis, at New York. February 25.—Edward Cooper, ex-Mayor of New York and only son of Peter Cooper, dies at New York City, aged 81. February 27.—Honorable George S. Boutwell, former Governor of Massachusetts, United States Senator and Secretary of the Treasury, dies at his home at Groton, Mass., aged 87. Harry Morris, well-known American comedian, dies at New York, aged 49. Henry C. Whitney, formerly one of Chicago’s leading lawyers, dies at Salem, Mass., aged 74. Richard A. Donnelly, Quartermaster-General of New Jersey since 1890, dies at his home in Trenton, aged 64. March 1.—Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford, widow of Leland Stanford and famous for her gifts to education, dies suddenly in Honolulu. Subsequent investigation shows she was poisoned. Edward O. Wolcott, former United States Senator from Colorado, dies at Monte Carlo, Monaco, aged 56. March 4.—H. L. Muldrow, Assistant Secretary of the Interior under President Cleveland, dies at Starkville, Miss. _Gobbled It All_ SMITH—Some of our rich men claim it isn’t right to leave anything behind them. SMYTHE—That’s their way exactly. Wherever they have been they have left mighty little behind them. * * * * * _The Legal Acrobat_ JUDSON—How did that expert come to contradict himself on the second trial? BLUDSON—The other side hired him. Extract from a three-column review in the _San Francisco Examiner_: “Mr. Hastings has touched the very core of the matter respecting the proclivities of our doddering plutocracy. Throughout his book he has revealed that plutocracy in its true light and shown it to be something utterly conscienceless and debased. No more scathing review of the situation, as it is seen at present, could possibly be given in a work of fiction.” [Illustration] =SHALL WE HAVE A KING?=