' ACHES'S^joyf1: TO THE EDITOIt. Slit, —In your report of the interprovincial chess match in to-day's issue; Mr Mouat's third move—P to Q 3 —is described as " a defence to the 'Ruy Lopez' nttack introdnced by ■i Steinitz in his late match with Tschigorin." c This is hardly correct; for, though ,' Mr. Steinitz did adopt the defence in question—and 1 lost accordingly—it is not by any means his in s vention or introduction. On the contrary it is very oloYand though t not found in the synopses of either Ooofe or s Mortimer, yet appears as the first defence to 1 the " Ruy Lopez" attack in the analysis of the. "German Handbuch"; vide p. 242 of latest \ edition. , ! The note appended may bo of interest (o 1. chess players, ami roughly translated is as fol '. i lows: —"This move.is certainly safe, but we ' ' ourselves particularly recommend 3 Xt to B 3.— • I am, &c,. !. : • Dtmedin, August 5. Novice. 'j ■ GAS. , ' ■ TO THE KDITOE. '. ! Sin, —The Melbourne Gas Company at its ' twenty-third half-yearly meeting, held on the 26th ult., carried £20,000 to their reserve fund and paid a dividend of 19 per cent., and their I charge for gas is 5s per 1000. ! The lowest cost here is 50 per cent, higher, and i you have to take it to the gas office on or before the 20th of the month; Bs. 4d per 1000 if paid ' before the end of month, and 9s 2d if left over that time. I think the reduction of the present price of gas is a subject that might well be con sidered by the Corporation Gas Committee to the general advantage of. all gas consumers; it would simply mean double the consumption.— I am, &c, August 0. Cabbon. TTEADING THE POLL BY 212 VOTES. (Prom Modern Truth.) The great success and popularity of an article has now been confirmed by a Post Card Competition inaugurated by The Che mist and Druggist, a copy of which reaches nearly every dealer in medicine in the United Kingdom, the colonies, the Continent, and in the United States. 