Rhodes Scholarship, 1911.

Our readers are all, no doubt, satisfied with the candidate selected as our representative for next year's Rhodes Scholarship. The fitness and worthiness of D. S. Smith for the honour are too well recognized to require any comment on our part, and so we shall content ourselves with offering his our heartiest congratulations and wishing him every good fortune in the final ordeal.

Congratulations.

We are pleased to be able to record the appointment of J. L. Stout, LL.B., to the editorship of the New Zealand Law Reports, and offer him our sincere congratulations.

Women Students' Hostel.

There is an atmosphere of examinations in and around the Hostel, which accounts for the absence of frivolity which has marked the second term. "Swat" is the common occupation, and all who do not swat are quite out of fashion. This serene calm, however, was preceded by a storm, at the beginning of term, when we entertained friends at a social evening and dance. The first part of the evening was occupied by brain-racking competitions the principal being the representation of a local topographical feature. The prize for the most original was won by Mr. Carroll, who gave a very realistic interpretation of "North-lands." The evening ended with an impromptu dance in the Common Room.

Afternoon tea parties apparently flourish, in spite of the studious air surrounding us, perhaps on account of it; and walking picnics are popular among the more leisured of lighter-minded. We hope to see this form of diversion culminate, of course after the exams., in a general picnic, when the magnificent views of the harbor and the streets, to be gained by a little exertion, may be enjoyed by all.

Meanwhile, we wish the best of luck to those on whom The fauces Averni are just closing.

Capping Music.

We have to thank Mr. Maughan Barnett as being largely responsible for the success of our Capping Day festivities. For some weeks our authors had been seeking a suitable air for a fun-through chorus—naturally a very important matter. In the composition of an extravaganza such as the Bended Bow, we look to the chorus to sum up and generalise the particular impressions left by each tableau. The music must be suitable, and the air must be one that will bear constant repetition. While the composers were still at a loss. Mr. Barnett most kindly offered to write the music. Barnett also supplied the music for the Peace Society song, perhaps the greatest success of the whole evening.

Battle of the Bays.

Capping Day means College song, and College songs imply the expression of a College spirit. By their works ye shall know them, and we are very pleased to note this year that the number of aspirants has increased and the production shows a great improvement on last year's work. The songs were good, and the extravaganza excellent. J. F. Thompson's songs gained the first and second prizes offered by the Students' Association. S. Eichelbaum's "Smoking," written after the entries had closed, was, probably, however, the most popular. The lecture, which has been given this term F. A. de la Mare, and greeted with enthusiasm by lager audiences of students, ought to do something towards increasing the interest of the students in this form of literature

Annual Ball.

This function had its origin in a very laudable desire on the part of the students to meet and entertain the citizens of Wellington. The idea seemed a good one, and the motives were excellent. Has the institution realized its founders' hopes? We think not. Three annual balls have been held in the Town Hall; two have resulted in large deficits, all have met with singularly little response on the part of both students and the citizens. It now behoves us to consider the advisability of discontinuing the function. Can any serious reason be adduced for page 39 its retention ? There are more the enough dances to promote social life and intercourse among the students; and the Students' Association is burdened with enough necessary and legitimate calls on its funds without this annual incubus. Every consideration seems to demand its discontinuance.

Men's Common Room.

The men's Common Room is gradually taking on a more habited and habitable aspect. Among its recent additions is a set of neatly framed and lettered photographs representing a band of volunteers excavating on the old clay patch. The Club owes its thanks to R. St. J. Beere for this gift, which will remain as a record of our pioneer days, when no Gymnasium then proudly reared its head; nor Common Room beguiled the students into leisure. The Library is but scant as yet, but leaves room for improvement, and with the addition of a few easy chairs, the Common Room ought to become a comfortable haven for the weary and the leisured few.

Women's Common Room.

An enlarged photograph of Mrs. Picken has been hung in the Common Room. It is a fitting and graceful gift from the Ladies' Hockey Clun, of which Mrs. Picken was President.

The common Room is now much improved in comfort, and the nucleus of a small library has been formed, but the committee of management desires to call the attention of every girl leaving College to the fact that there is still room of improvement. It would be a graceful act on the part of any such student, who feels that the Women's Common Room is of use or comfort, to offer a gift, book, cushion, picture, however inconsiderable, which yet which yet might he of value to future students.

College Reform.

It is related of a certain Dumfries dame, who was a student not only of the art of (hen) culture, but of human nature, that she named her hens after the individuals whose character they most closely resembled. One she called Lord Roseberry, and when asked to explain, page 40 said "it cackles a great deal, and gaes tae its nest an' stops there, and then comes awa' oot and cackles again, but when ye gang tae its nest ye winna fin' ony eggs." We haven't heard of the University Reform Association since our last issue.

Student Wit.

The audience which had come to hear the oratorical contest for the Plunket medal was evidently determined to have a pleasant time and ready to seize the slightest opportunity for a laugh. The chairman quite inadvertently provided the firs opening by stating that that the Society trained speakers for the bar and the Pulpit. The appetent antithesis caused an amused murmur, which increased at every reference to the "bar," and such references were numerous. R. S. Watson, the first speaker, had unfortunately, to depict his hero at the "Bar," and his attainments thereat. Thereafter, however, that excellent institution was absent, Cardinal Richelieu, John Nicholson, John Bright, and others having apparently had but a nodding acquaintance with it. The students were not content, however, to let the matter drop, and two excellent conundrums were devised. The first was, "What did Abe Lincoln have when he was called to the Bar ?" "Watson's!" the second was, 'Why was William the Silent never called to the bar?" "Because he wouldn't shout!" Even Thomas and the aide-de-camp smiled.

College Greens.

Our grounds are gradually losing their neglected appearance, and taking on a more cultivated aspect. Outraged Nature has taken upon herself to clothe with golden gorse the erstwhile barren (naked) cliffs that rise sheer on the south. A soft carpet of green borders a neat drive, and is fringed by a garden that promises bright flowers; and the sturdy taupata hedge that borders the wind-swept tennis courts raises a gnarled growth of bright leaves. The turf springs green on the terraces, and altogether we promise to look much less out-at-the-elbows than we have ever previously done. We shall he beautiful in the future—the distant future.