Amateur theatrical companies ere
proverbially courageous, and perhaps
that is the reason why the Puddle
combe Thespians selected "Iolanthe' as
the meanB by which they would aston
ish the natives. As every lover of Gil
bert and Sullivan is aware, one of the
most effective scenes in the opera is
the rising of Iolanthe from the bed of
a beautiful river, and it seemed that
this scene would go particularly well.
The queen and fairies had Bung their
welcome well, the limelight was full
on.
"Iolanthe! Come, Iolanthe!” sang
the fairies.
But Iolanthe did not appear.
The queen waved her wand fran
tically, and the fairies anxiously re
peated •
"Iolanthe! Come Iolanthe!"
It was a tense moment, and the ex
citement had communicated itself to
the audience. Again the invitation
was repeated, and tnen a petulant
voice from beneath the water's silvery
surface was heard:
"Oh, do be quiet!' It said. "Can't
you see I’m caught on a nail?”
Sea Moss.
Sea moss is a term popularly ap
plied to any of the polyzoa, which are
compound marine animals, several of
which share a common horny skele
ton, or polyzoary, which is plantlike
in form. According to the bureau of
fisheries, several hundred thousand
pounds of these skeletons have been
imported annually from Europe, chief
ly from France and Germany, for dec
orative and millinery purposes, and
the supply has now been practically
cut off by the war. It therefore seems
opportune to develop a domestic in
dustry, as sea mosses, probably equal
in quality to those heretofore im
ported. are said to be abundant on
our coasts, especially in New Eng
land. Those with large bushy fronds
are the most valuable.
Eclipses Come in Series.
