LONDON NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1043, 4 February 1911, Page 10

LONDON NOTES.

PEOrLE, PASTIMES, AND EVENTS. (By "Dominica.")' Tho great musical event of .-the '.past i 'j? s ' )eon " 10 production of balomo" at Coveut Garden, and pooplo are crowding every performance. 1 have not yet been able to persundo myself to go to such a ghastly spectacle, but hail a lively account of it from one Wellington girl who went, and who was intensely interested, though she could not pretend to have enjoyed it. The part of Salome was taken that afternoon by Akte, who is said to be 0110 of tho most beautiful of European prima donnas, and who makes her part a supreme revelation of diabolical wickedness. "I didn't think her so very beautiful," said my friend, "though s!io was marvellously graceful and had the most beautiful arms. She was awful in her wickedness, uuil when she sung her song of triumph over tho blood, of John tho Baptist, in tho charger, wo wero far too much impressed by tho horror of it to see anything ridiculous in the substitution of blood for tho head, which tho Censor had forbidden them to show. When at last she ilimg herself down in a transport of passion .at the £nd, and Herod commanded his soldiers to kill her with their javelins, it was an intense relief, but wo wished they had dono it loug before. As for John the Baptist, he was an absurdly bulky German, who looked as if ho had dono himself very well indeed on his'lecusts and wild honey. The music, of course, was extraordinary, with blariiigs,' and shriekings, and sounds like cats fighting, the oddest collection of noises you could imagine; but overyonp sat very. still right through tho piece, and. if anyone dared to whisper in . the softest way somo musical person would give a distracted "hush."

Diana and Miss Lloyd-George. A. London- paper, has asked whether, after all, this general election is not really about just two people, Miss Megan Lloyd-George, and Mr. Winston Churchill's littlo daughter, Diana. Miss Megan Lloyd-George's public acts have of late been connected with : the opening of bazaars or such things, but the papers have had a good deal to say about ■Mr.. Churchill's baby, and when tho "Daily Chronicle" was showing lantern pictures and caricatures.: of various people to beguile tho tedium of the liour9 during which groat crowds waited in Trafalgar Square •to watch for election results, one pictiiro showed Mr. Churchill- accompanied by a plump, small daughter. Everyono. said, "Is that Diana?" \ andremembered the-newspaper, stories, of ,the, very special precautions that are taken for her safety whenever she takes her walks abroad, lost she should be raided by some of her father's Suffragette enemies. Pictures liavo appeared showing her with her nurse and, the plain clothes constablo .who is always in attendance during Iter morning excursion. What they think the Suffragettes would do I don't-know, but people talk of a suggested plot to kidnap her. It sounds a very mad sort of . scheme, and most improbable, but ono feels sure that if-ever tho,. small Diana were to be spirited away by the most ardent Suffragettes and held by them to ransom, she would have the time of her life and be the most spoilt baby in Great Britain before she regained the shelter of her home and the protection of 'her special constablo.

One Woman's Triumph. In spite of tho refusal to grant women's franchise here, one woman has voted at this general .election. Her namo is I'rances, but by some mistako she was registered as Francis, and was therefore allowed to record her vote. • This seems an absurdity, but more foolish still was tho ease that occurred this week when a boy. tour years 6t age was allowed to vote becauso lus name, iustfcad oi his father's, had beer, registered among the. electors. Ho was very carefully taught that 'when ho was asked whom no wished to voto for he must name tho Unionist' candidate, and then his father carried him olf to. the poll, where he fulfilled his duty as an intelligent citizen to-tho entire satisfaction of the Unionists. Lady Diill'erin, who is a sister-in-law of Lady . Piunket, mado her debut as a sin gov yestertay aijernoon at the Bechsteiu Ilall, .whtn-e she assisted at a vocal recital given by SI me. Donalda. Lady Dutt'erin was a Miss Florence Dav'is, daughter of Mr. John 11. Davis,' of Now York, and when her husband was secretary at tho British Legation in Paris she frequently sang at charity concerts given in private salon. She is said to have a charming voice, perfectly trained. Rinking in London. The rinking season has just- begun, and I went out the other day to Olympia— tho largest skating rink in the world, i where, presumably, there were the great-' est- number of skaters in tho world to match. It was u dull uninspiring sight, and tho band only played short selections at long intervals. Thero was hardly any colour on all that hugo polished floor, uearly all the women wearing black, or very dark tweeds, and tho green Cossack liveries of the assistants were too few to lighten up such a largo gathering. They have women as assistants, too, wearing what ono journalist hero considers a ravishing costume. Picturesque •it certainly is: a green cap. with whit® cockade, "a green coat beautifully fitted, coming just below tho knees, and high shiny black boots coming up to tho hem of ..tho coat, if a coat can be said to liavo a hem. The effect, individually, is too hard and severe to bejilcasing, though a whole chorus of girls in such a costume would look very well. Most of the women wore very tight skirts, all of them short and some very short, and nearly all wore small round lints right over their eyes.. The majority wore black velvet irucks'nnd heavy furs ami mulls. Olio woman had her skirt gathered into a narrow hem, and if no ono wore a real hobble skirt it was because these skirts were too tight even to be hobbled. If was marvellous they could skate so well —or tliat they could skate at all—but of course the whole charm of watching girls skate goes when, instead of flying round the rink with free,, graceful movements, tiicy trundle round, like Hardy's I lady, who danced as if she were on castors.

I don't know why there were so many tight skirts at the rink, of all places, because one does not notice so many about tlio streets—not nearly so many as the newspaper comments would make one expect.

The papers to-day record tho failure of a firm of petticoat manufacturers, who attribute their calamity entirely to theso tight skirts. Runaway Motors, Thero was a dreadful motor bus accident hero on Sunday. A motor bus in Regent Street suddenly went mad, ran down 011 to the pavement, killed two people, and smashed into two or three shop windows before coming to a standstill. The driver said a privato car ran into his and knocked the steering wheel out of his-hand, but the private car showed no sign of any collision, and its owner denied that there had been any. Apparently ho thought the car skidded on tho wet road, as they sometimes do. Now peoplo are feeling more nervous than ever about those buses, but can't make up their minds whether it is more dangerous to bo a passenger or a pedestrian, for in tho accident none of tho passengers suffered. If you could see how narrow theso streets are, and how narrow the pavements, you would understand how alarming they can bo. The least collision can rack their front steering gear, as we found tho other day when, with just tho smallest jar, our motor bus ran into another standing still at Liverpool Street station, and wrenched some mysterious bar out of position, and this afternoon two motor buses running along' Ifolborn in opposite directions clioso to embraco in' the middle of the street, and hold up tho traffic for two blocks length. Yet London half lives on or in motor buses. '