Imagine for a moment

a dizzily ridiculous tower, over looking Paris like a gigantic black factory [chimney, overpowering with its barbarous mass Notre Dame, La Sainte Chapelle, the tower of St Jacques, the Louvre, the Invalides Dome, and the Arc da Triompe—all our monuments humiliated, all our architecture dwarfed, and fated to disappear in this stupefying dream. For twenty years we shall see tapering like a spot of ink over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheetiron.” Mr Eiffel, the originator of the scheme, defends himself on the plea that “ the Colossal has a charm to which ordinary theories of art do not apply.”

Everything is “Jubilee” nowadays, during this year of grace, 1887, at least, and we notice that the loyal Fijians, not to be bohind-hand in loyalty with tho rest of the British Empire, have determined to name the new lighthouse just commenced on tho Solo Reef, after the universal fashion. Tho death is announced at Berlin of General Samuel Alexeviteh Greig, formerly Russian Minister of Finance. His father and grandfather were well-known Russian Admirals of Scotch extraction. He himself was brought up for the army, and served in the Guards, but then took a civil post in the Ministry of Marine, had for seven years the second place in the Ministry of Finance, was next, for four years, Controller-General, and in 1878 succeeded his old chief, Reutern, as Minister of Finance. He had consequently to settle the expenses of the Turkish war, and concluded two internal loans of 300 million roubles each. In 1880 he contracted a metallic loan without resorting to foreign syndicates. He devised five new taxes yield ing 31 millions annually, and was actively pursuing fiscal reform and retrenchment when a court intrigue deprived him of office. If it is really true that a Durham engineer has discovered a method of raising steam which will effect a saving of 70 per cent of coal, the greatest reform over known in the history of our naval and mercantile marine is at hand, (writes the St. James' Budget). Tho Etruria, of the Cunard line, consumes 280 tons of coal per day, and if 70 per cent, of this can bo saved tho gain in valuable freight space will be very groat. 