LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 73

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— There may come a time, perhaps some six years hence, when newspaper paiagraphs will run in this fashion :—": — " There have not been so many cases of scarlet fever or acute suffragitis since 1907. The hospitals and prisons ure now full, yet fresh cases are daily brought for admittance, while the medical profession and the police seem utterly unable to cope with the outbreaks." Suffragitis differs from fever. At its height it is not catching. The more one sees of it, the less one is susceptible to its symptoms. — " Lady Phyllis " in the Bystander.

— There are little tricks that women practise which they would be better without. Often, indeed, they become habits. There is, for example, the girl who frowns continually, or raises her eyebrows on every occasion. By-and-bye deep wrinkles become graven on her forehead. Then there are women who are constantly playing with their mouths. They are always biting or pulling at their lips. Others will twist their mouths or pass their tongae over their teeth, or keep their jaws in constant motion. All are equally distressing habits. — Glasgow Citizen.

— Should there be truth in the rumour engaging Madame Anna Gould to the Prince de Sagan, there will be even more strenuous opposition at the Vatican than has been shown in the case of Prince George of Greece and Miss Gladys Vanderbilt. For the difficulties in their path can be overcome when they show a becoming spirit of compromise, while no compromise is possible where one of the parties to a matrimonial alliance has been freed from a first union by* the Divorce Courts. The Prince de Sagan is a dutiful Catholic, which makes the report of his intentions still less believable, but certain is it that his betrothal to the exCountess Boni de Castellane is openly discussed in Paris salons. A story told at the same time is even more curious. Prince de Sagan and Count Boni de Castellane were once close friends, and journeyed to America together on. matrimony bent. They met, and ■were charmed "with, the daughter of rich Mr Jay Gould. As only one could hope to marry her, they played a game of cards for her hand, for all the world like David Remon and Sir Brice Skene in Mr Henry Arthur Jones's play, " The Masqueraders." The Prince won the game, but the Count secured the lady. It would be only romantic justice if the illustrious suitor triumphed at last, but that divorce blocks the way, and will continue to do so, unless one" is greatly mistaken.—P. T. O.

— The unmarried woman of to-day (writes " Pearl " in the London Reader) is not an old maid. Her occupation, whatever it may be. keeps her from having any of the traditional qualities suggested by that phrase. Her nature is just as easily developed in the directions of width and. depth by her work as the nature of the wife and mother is by her domestic duties. Sweetness and gentleness now come to women along many roads. If a girl does not marry, her life is not spoilt; her energies may be used in any one of a thousand ways ; she is not soured by inactivity, and her anomalous position in the household of her nearest male relative. She has her life in Jier own hands ; she lives it independently. If one wants to find a typical old maid nowadays, one must go to the country, to small towns and villages, where the unmarried daughter is still the slave of her parents until their death, and fhen is left, usually with insufficient means, to face a life* from which all purpose and healthy stimulant have been removed. The tragedy of the unmarried daughter still exists in country places in England ; it is a ve.ry real one, and will hardly disappear until it is a matter of course that every English girl shall be taught sortie substantial occupation. Old maids have always been abused and disliked, which is not at all surprising, but we are now getting sufficiently far away from them to piby them, for one can see that their sourness arose from the conditions in which they were forced to- live, and it would take almost an angel to show no signs of incipient vinegar when one was living on the charity of a married brother, or, - still worss, a reluctant brother-in-law.

— Baroness Adolphe de Rothschild had, by her own wish, a funeral that provided tlie greatest possible contrast to her long and brilliant life. " Born a Rothschild 77 rears ago, and: married to. a Rothschild^

she had all her life ffee handling of practically unlimited wealth, and until the death of her husband in 1900 her tastes matched her means. Even during her widowhood, when she wore two black dresses a year and rode in tramcars while her horses ate their heads off in their stables, she maintained an amount of state at her chateau near Geneva that makes life at Sandringham seem simplicity itself by contrast. Though she sometimes dined alone she was always waited upon like the guest of honour at a royal banquet, and the plain food she preferred was served on solid gold. She had, in truth, a very royal spirit, and she let it be known that she condescended when corsorting with those whose seats were less than thrones. Her talent for making exalted friends amounted to genius, but was exerted mainly because she had a genuine liking for those who ruled. The last King and Queen of the Two Sicilies never had so whole-heart-ed a friend as Baroness Adolphe, and her devotion did not cense when they lost their crowns. Queen Victoria numbered the Barone=s among her reol intimates : so did the Empress Eugenic in the height of her splendour: so did th<? Empress of Austria, who went from a luncheon at the Chateau Pregnv to her death. Miss Alice de Rothschild, whf is counted among the oldest and most valued of Queen Alexandra's friends, is a sister of the late Baroness.

— Every smart lady in a Turkish harem has her day "at home," and it is her greatest delight to have her European lady friends to come and call. The Tuikish lady receives her guests most

gracefully. Each guest is met at the door by the hostess and bidden "welcome," then they salute, by touching the ground, lips, and head with the right hand, as they have not adopted the hand-fchake, except with foreign ladies. When they are seated they salute once more before they begin any conversation. Soon after the arrival of a visitor a maid enters and offers a tray, on which aie a pot of rose-leaf jam and orange-leaf jam, a vase containing spoons, and several glasses of water. The guest is given a spoontul of jam, which must be swallowed, and then a glass of water. The spoon is placed in the glass when both are empty. Then coffee is served with cigarettes, and it is a great relief to the hostess if the guests smoke, as it is not etiquette for her to do so if there is anyone in the room not smoking. The greatest interest is taken by these ladies in all that is going on in the outer world, and they contrive in every possible way to imitate European manners and customs. Before the guest leaves afternoon tea is handed round, and it is a great disappointment if this is refused.

— A new fad has just been started by Home society ladies. This is to wear jewelled trifles in the shape of dragonflies, butterflies, or other insects resting apparently on snow-white throats and shoulders. The deception is practised by means of a court plaster. It- was first tried by a very aristocratic beauty at a fashionable dinner, with most sensational results. The -hostess was alarmed to see the butler turn pale and spill the wine. Then a scream was heard from the lady sitting next to the innovator, and the guests all rose in horror when" the hand of her partner descended heavily on the bare shoulder, as the conviction suddenly burst upon him that the glittering ornament was a live tarantula. The situation was alarming, but here was notoriety. The thing caught on, and now all sorts of daring experiments are being made.

— Very often a girl has made up her mind what she will and what she will not allow jn the young man whom she njEpmiseg to marry.. She. m*jr poj; y**"*"

of it at the first few meetings — the charm of the man puts her rules into the background, and then she goes on and becomes engaged before the young man realises that he is to be cut to shape, as it were. Smoking ! Why, the maid decided long ago that she would never marry a man who smoked ; so forthwith her fiance is to shut away pipes, cigarettes, and all such things. And as for going out to cricket and football, hasn't she always disapproved of anything which gives the husband an outing apart from his wife? Whether the young man has any strong opinions on the subject, the young girl in her teens doesn't always stop to inquire, and is hurt and offended if she does not gain her own way. That she puts it all down to lack of love or recognition of her sound common-sense, it goes without saying, and it is only later that she realises that she almost, if not quite, wrecked her happiness on some little piles of stones which s-he erected herself.

—To the 11,000 magnificent gowns found in Queen Elizabeth's capacious wardrobe after the maiden monarch's death, and to the less extensive but costly masculine wardrobe amassed in more modern times by the late eccentric Earl of Anglesey, may now be added a third wonder of 'this kind — the £20,000 collection of clothing belonging to Princess Louise of Belgium, which was to have been sold last December by auction in Vienna by the State pawnshop. Tragic interest attaches to the sale, for it is a direct result of the Princess's domestic troubles as Prince Philip of Coburg's divorced wife. The clothing and jewels

to be sold were those she had when nine years ago her outraged consort, hearing of her elopement with Count Mattachich, had her shut up in a lunatic asylum. Six years after, having, with the Count's aid, escaped and forced the authorities to recognise her sanity, the Princess had her belongings restored, and, being in financial

straits, pawned her wardrobe. The ai tides were pawned by Princess Louise for but £2500, and she was not able to pay the interest even on this sum.

— 'Time was (remarks a writer in the Lady's Pictorial) when the lover could make any wild statements about his heart, and there were none to disprove them. If he declared that his heart beat faster when he saw the object of his adoration approaching, if he averred that that organ stood still at her frown, if he went so far as to declare that it was broken after she had played him false, who could contradict his assertions? It was a case of one man's word being as good as another's, and there was always just the possibility — a pleasing one to women — that it might be true. But we are more practical nowadays. We do not leave much to chance or let sentiment ■warp our common-sense. We do our love-making by telephone, and now, if we care to do so, we can, by providing ourselves with an orthodiagraph, the latest invention, actually look into the human heart.

— The young married woman would save herself much unhappiness if she would remember that the process of settling down into any new form o( routine is bound to be attended with- a certain amount of friction, and that in the case of marriage the process is necessarily harder for a man, than for .i woman. She should recognise the fact that the average man is not a domesticated creature. In marrying he has to relinquish much of his freedom, to cut himself adrift from many of his old friends, and to double his responsibilities. Remembering this, she should not presume too much on her privileges or endeavour to force her husband abruptly into close compliance with the new conditions of ,his lifej. Ba mjjst be allowed to settle

down gradually, otherwise 'Ac may find the yoke irksome and regret his loss of liberty. — How often is a fine nature warped, a really good disposition spoiled, by the omission of a few timely words of en couragement. A child receiving nothing but blame, constant scolding, becomes in time deaf to correction, sullen and defiant, and in the end one of those children who neither hears nor heeds. On the other hand, a child who is occasionally encouraged is proud of pleasing another, consequently is pleased with himself, and is urged to renewed exertions to gain a repetition of that praise so dear to the human heart, be that heart young or old.