LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 73

LADIES' GOSSIP.

Hei M.ijesty the Queen has lately i taken a sji e.it hknit; fur fern my. nnd is | now t.ikinsi le'-on-- limn one ot ihe hestknovwi teiicmm master-. in England. ' The nnster m question vwis loimerly instructoi ti> oiie of the legiments of Household C-i\a!iy. and bois-ts oi having trained iiioie hist ulj>s- MVordMiitn th m any other man in Europe. He describes hui Majesty ' as being a '"bom fencer." and as one who, j had she taken up the ait earlier in life. v ould have achieved great prominence at it I — There would appeal to have n ro n some method in the madness of the tilth Duke of Portland, who. it is being endeavoured to prove, was none other than Mr Thomas Druce, of the Baker Street Baz.i.u. His j Giate. aS is Well known lud a fane* for tuimelling;. he having liid o\er two miles ot subterranean possages corstructed, in addition to a splendid r ding-school and Ivilhoom, the loof only being abo^e ground. The Duke's lubby was not. howe\er. quite useless : indeed, it teived a good pu: pose, and a\ei ted what might have been a serious state of aftans among the labouring people erf that part of the county of Nottingham near Welbeck. For many yeirs the majority of the people of the distiict had earned their livelihood by ] making stockings at their homes. Then , machinery came into vogue, and the woikmen had to seek other occupations, which they found in the employ of tlie Duke. — The fact that the German Empress allows her august consoil to purchase her headgear for her should give pause to the wise who aesert that a woman's happiest hours are those spent in choosing hats. It is certainly not eveiy woman who would j allow even the most autocratic and ver- I satile of husbands to decide what looks j best on her bead. Kaiser William, how- j ever, is apparently as astute m that as in other respects, and if his taste was responsible for the picturesque "creation" which the Empress wore during her recent progress through London her confidence is abundantly justified. The Emperor is very fmrtial to the present fa&hion of quantities of ostrich feathers, and it was noticed that even when the Kaiserin went out to lunch with the shooters in Windsor Great Park she wore a large plumed hat. Wie has one point in common with Queen Alexandra in this matter of hats : nothing will persuade her to wear ospreys. — There seems to be some ground for believing that Mr Nicholas Longworth, the son-in-law of President Roosevelt, will be offered the position of United Htates Ambassador at Berlin. He has political, but no diplomatic experience, but that will be less of a disqualification m America- than it is with us (says a Home paper). It must be remembered, too, that we sent Mr Bryce to America, aud so mac's a bold departure from the custom of giving the big positions in the Diplomatic beivice to men who had worked themselves up from the position of third secretaries. Mr Longworth is cultured, sin-cere, and suave, and his tact has been manifest in his graceful filling of the position of husband to Miss Alice Roosevelt. Moreover, he is a rich man, and the man who is successfully to replace Mr Charlemange Tower in Berlin will regime to be plentifully supplied with this world's goods. Of Mrs Longworth's ability to play the part of Ambassadress there" can be' little doubt, and America ■would dearly enjoy seeing its "Princess 'Alice" in a situation worthy of her powers. — The Czarina, regarding -whose health disquieting rumours are afloat, has been described as '" the Cz-ir's nurse." Nothing lia-s been more touching, in connection with the delicate health of the " Empeiov of All the Ku6sias " than the devotion of the Czarina to her husband. The pomp and ciicnnistance of the Russian Court have made no change in the simple, unaffected Princess Alix wham Nicholas II wooed and won on the banks of the Thames. Her happiest houis are when she can lay aside her crown and play with ber childien. Much of her manied life. Dn fact, has been spent in homely domestic duties, or in studying the lot of the Russian poor. She has read all the best works on the English Poor Law. and has placed herself at the head of the bodycharged with the arrangements for Poor Law relief. Her Majesty c-ui speak in five languages, and can paint, sketch, row. and swim. As a cartoonist she would fcave made the- fortune of any newspaper. Free from all fear of the censor, she has drawn terrible pictures of the CVar — drawn him as a solemn, bearded infant in long clothes, surrounded by a host of pompous officials armed with feedingbottles. — Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, betrothed so many times by rumour, has formally engaged himself to Princess Eleonora of Reuss. The bride-elect belongs to the younser and wealthier branch of her famous and ancient family, and is said to have brains and charms, but nothing is really known of hoi ont-,ioV the borders of her own little country of ihill and foiest Prinre Feidlnai'd has been a widow-er for nine years/ f<ncl his first wife, the eldest of the 21 children of the recently deceased Duke of Pnrmi. left him a family of two sons and two daughters. She "was a devout Catholic, and never reconciled herself to the admission of her oldest son into the Orthodox: Greek Church, a step taken by Prince •Ferdinand to win the goodwill of the Czar. Ferdinand's mother, the redoubtable Prinoees Clementine, found it hardly a lesa bitfcer pill to swallow, but she was a woman who put ambition first, and till fcer d«atn she helped her son with wisdom and money. The ruler of Bulgaria has no sinecure, but hitherto he has managed hi& restive subjects with an admirable Jblend of firmness and tact, and his approaching marriage will do something to strengthen his position. A handsome, cultured man of the world, with easy, courteous manners, Ferdinand enjoys to a <x>nsideTable extent the frien/teliiD of Kins

Edward, whom he usually contrives to meet at Marienbad.

— "When you hear a girl boasting of : the attention she receives," said a shrewd woman, "you can geneially conclude she leceivcs little. The wise gnl keeps \ery quiet on this subject. She does not bonst oi every gilt and compliment she leceivcs, and the result is that she gains a great deal of very pleasant general attention. A man feels he can be in her society without the entire circle of his iriends being made immediately aware of the fact." These girls are never popular The egotistical girl, who finds no conversation interesting unless it be of herself, and who is never shown anything without telling you that she has something similar, only e\ er so much nicci : the girl who has ' no kindly feeling, and looks down on all who aie lets fortunate in aiw wav than hfxsolf Efi SO 111171 II dll t benoath her feet: the gnl who is always trying to make miscluet between friends and lovers. —It is cm ions and interesting when you get a chance to trace the life history of the disagieeable men and women you know. A\ ith most of them you find that they are the wi etched \ictims of parents who coddled them. The woman who makes herself and everybody else miserable by uncontrollable selfishness is the daughter of a good, kind mother, who ne\er let her want anything. If you , would have your children of any use to anybody do not be too kind. Ihe man who is never in a good temper is the son of a devoted father, who always bore with him. Of course, there is one con- ' solation. These things always come right ' in the next genei'ation. The children of a spoilt child are not spoilt ; quite otherwise. — The age at which people think of going in "double harness" is different to what it was when some of us were younger. The idea used to be that the young man of four-and-twenty ought to marry the young lady of 18, and if a ' woman had not changed her estate by ' the time she was five-and-twenty it was predicted that she would live and die an ' old maid. For that good reason many alarmed spinsters remained at that age for several years before making any further advance. This is quite pardonable when one remembers that even married ladies are occasionally tempted to prevaricate when their ages are delicately ' demanded, as illustrated by the case of a well-preserved wife whose age in the wit- j ness-box was found to be only five years in front of the next witness, her grown-up i son! Nowadays, brides whose hair has I. "silver hairs amongst the gold" are led to the altar in white satin and orange ! blossoms as if they were 18. Some people ) j say that the greater disparity in years the more successfully does the alliance turn out, and that as often as not the marriage of a widow to a man younger than herself proves more congenial than that of the love-smitten young fellow of . 21 to the giddy young thing of 18. Possibly because by then love has considerately made way 'for a little sober sense. | Ungenerous Behaviour. | More women have died through the ' mending of cocks and endless washing of | dishes and daily striving to made ends meet, which meet but seldom, than of broken heaits Xobody writes a story in which the heroine dies gracefully over a heap of ironing; but Nature has written them again and again, and we have not always had sight to read them. The way to keep the flies out of the ointment is simple, and easily discovered We must keep great, big. loving hearts. Brains do not always help us to avoid ungenerous behaviour. Intellectual wealth cannot si'pply the place of a thoughtful tenderness "by constant watching wi&e '' The daughter who interprets Chopin in the pailour while her mother strugg'es in I the kitchen may be clever, a product of [ this euliglitened age. but she is not a I true daughter, and the mother's life is being repressed ard nipped by the too ' constant burden. Want of Tkonplit, IVot Heart. (" Yettu," in the Liveipool Mercury.) It is not claiming any consideration ' beyond mere justice when we say that to the majority of women cruelt3- to dumb animals, whether big or little, is revolt- j ing. When purchasing articles for per- i sonal adornment a woman naturally ■ chooses that which appears to be the , most beautiful. The softest and glossiest fur, and the richest and most becoming feathers, are chosen because they appeal | to her taste, and the thought of how they were procuied does not 6cour to her, and has no part in the transaction whatever. Do either men or women when choosing gloves, for instance, think of the animal I fiom whom the skin was obtained, and whether that animal was humanely | treated? If, when buying fur, a woman 1 were told by the salesman that to obtain ' fur with this exquisite lustre it was necessary to flay the animal alive, or I hit the demand for such and such birds or > I feathers caused a "wholesale slaughter ] , among beautiful feathered tribes, she ! [ would turn from such articles with loath- I ing. Not being so warned, she will, in ' ignorance oi thoughtlessness select a charming hat composed perhaps of the soft silver-grey feathers of the sea-gull i with one or more heads as ornaments, and this she does, not because she is cruel. ' but simply because 6he likes- the hat, and knows of no reason why she should not wear it. Whether such ignorance is ex- | cusable after so much has been said and written upon the subject is another matter, but I say, without fear of contradiction, that 6he only wants to realise that the most horrible atrocities are perpetrated upon defenceless dumb animals to make her foreswear wearing the produce of so much cruelty. ( We may be very certain that the great , majority of " birds " that are sold for . millinery purposes are purely manu-factur-ed articles that never drew the

breath of life, but of course there are some that are the "real thing." For instance, so beautiful and undeniably becoming is the plumage of the sea-gull when treated by an aitistic milliner that it is not suiprising to find that such headgear is gieatly in demand. The late Lady Florence Dude said that 6uch millinery disgiaced rather than adorned the heads ! of fashionable women. The man (or j woman) who ill-uses an animal or allows ] others to ill-use it is scarcely human, and certainly not humane. There are few among us who \\<\\c not at one time or another seen the sincerity of an animal's affection. They would not desert you 'A your coat grew shabby and your purse meagre so long as you have a gentle word and caress for them. We sometimrs hear a lot of nonsense talked about people being kind to animals, ancl n-ecflect m£ tlie \vant6 of the poor and sufferina: of little children As a rule, the merciful man is not only mciciful to his b*>ist. but is meiciful to pyn-liodv. apd the nun who is cruel nnd callous where animals are •concerned is usual U just as mur-h po to his fellow -beings, be they well or ill, great or small, weak women or tender child. I would rnlhor be at the mercy of a man who lo\ed and wns kind to animals thin to the greatest philanthropist who hp-aded chaiitv lists with his thousands and was cruel to a dog. Society Authoresses. Authorship seem to be "catching" in the Duke of Sutherland's family. The literary accomplishments of the Duchess of Sutherland, the Countess of Warwick, and the Earl of Rossi} n ate well known, and this, seasop we had the Duke's niece, the beautiful and talented Countess of Cromartie, seeking her fortunes as a dramatist. Her play, "The Finding of the Sword," which was produced at Mr Maude's dainty theatre. The Playhouse, was not Lady Cromaa'tie's fiist attempt at authorship. The young peeress in hei own right has published in the magazines and periodicals many poeias, stones, and articles, mainly dealing with matters occult or descriptive of Highland life. Her ladyship is, of course, imbued with the Highland spirit, for is she not a descendant of the Lord 1 of the Isles and of two essentially Scottish clans? She has also produced a volume of pretty, fanciful tales, entitled, " The End of the Song." I Lady Cromartie writes, of course, purely for pleasure. Neoessity does not drive j hempen, for s.He is one of the largest landowners in the kingdom, and has, besides, a considerable fortune from other sources. She is pretty and fairly athletic, as well 'as rich and cultured. Petite, with dark hair, dainty features, and pale, clear complexion, and still in the sunny thirty, Lady Cromartie is the embodiment of all that is attractive and charming. She married Major Edward Walter Blunt in 1899. and last December her happiness ■was crowned by the birth of a son, who bears the eurmane of Mackenzie. Lady Cromartie's sister is the divinely tall and handsome Lady Constance Mackenzie, who is devoted to athletics, and is the finest 1 swimmer in Society. I Lady Cromartie's aunt, the Duchess of Sutherland, has also written a play — the poetical costume drama, " The Conqueror," which Mr Forbes Robeitson 6taged so magnificently at the Scala. The duchess is also the author of "How I Spent my Twentieth Year,'-' " One Hour and the Next," "The Winds of the World," and " Ssv^a Love Stories." Her journalistic work, too, is very considerable. As a child she wrote for "Little Folks," and for many years 6he contributed to leading magazines under the norn de plume of " Er&kine Gower." No doubt the duchess inherits her literary talent from her father, the fourth Earl of Rosslyn, who was a graceful poet and a scholar. , The Duchess's half-sister, Lady Wari wick, has a very versatile pen. She writes a good deal for periodicals on social and Socialistic subjects, but 6,he has not yet attempted fiction, although she " devours " every impoitant new novel. I Her most considerable works are a big. ! two-volume history of "Warwick Castle and its Earls." and "Joseph Arch's Reminiscences." Three other ladies high up in the peerage who have dabbled in authorship are the Duchesses of Devoni shire, Somerset, and Leeds The Duchess of Devonshire has edited some lively letters of one of hei predecessors. t The Duchess of Leeds, who has a discriminating literary taste, has published ! many short stories and verses, besides two * volumes which the critics received with much favour — " A Lover of the Beautiful" and " Capriccios. " The Duchess of Somerset is the author of a charming book of travel, the result of her wanderings through little-known America, entitled " Impressions of a Tenderfoot." I Lady Henry Somerset, of course, is widely known as the editor of " The Woman's Signal " and the writer of numerous books of stories. | Celebrating 1 Lea]> Year. ! The traditional matrimonial privilege enjoyed in leap year is said to have been bestowed upon women by St. Patrick. Walking one day on the shores of Lough Neagh. after having driven the frogs out of the bogs. St. Patrick, says tradition, was accosted by a weeping woman, destined one day to be known as St. Bridget. St. Patrick asked hei what was the matter, and obtained the reply that a mutiny had broken out because women claimed the right of proposing, and she wa6 not able to give them that right. _ After gravely considering the question, St. Patrick pronounced judgment in these terms — that the right to propose should . revert to the feminine sex every seventh i year. i * But his interlocutor was not satisfied with this. Would not St. Patrick make it one year in. every four? The saint agreed,

and with liish generosity declared that he would make the ladies' year leap year, beciuse it \v)s the longest of the lot. The legend proceeds to narrate that the lady, emboldened by success, and anxious, p°i chance, to go down to history as the fiist woman to avail heiseH of the accoided puvilege, proposed to St. Patrick on the spot, and, as it was impossible for the saint to accept the offer, he made eveiything as smooth as could be by presenting tlie lady with a silk gown. — The Leap Year Balls. — That is how the legend arose that women may propo&e to men during leap j year, and that if they are refused they may claim a silk dress. It is safe, however, to assert that bachelors run lisks no more acute during 1908 than during IQO7 of being »ooed .->na married against their will. A moie popular way of celebrating leap year is by leap year balls. At the leap year ball it is not the girls who sit apart waiting for the men to ask them to dance, but the men who must be Invited by the girls. Now, -for the sake of her own peace of mind, it is advisable- that the hostess should not announce befoiehand that this topsy-turvy mode of procedure is to be followed, for some shy guests have been known to stay away. Let her bid her friends to the dance -without any illuminnthe word, and then when they have arrived announce the fact that this is a leap year ball. A leap year ball usually begins in a very tame and unpromising manner. Theie is a chill in the atmosphere, a tense feeling apparent tihat seems to paralyse everyone. Girls fly to their brothers and cousins and ask them to dance, instead of inviting their hostess to introduce them to men whose cards are not yet full. But after a while the fun of the affair will overwhelm the 'disadvantages, and soon the novelty of this complete [ change of ordinary etiquette will so fas- ! cinate all concerned that general merrii ment will ensue. Lone: before supper-time arrives the men will be using oil their blandishments to secure from the partners they admire the invitation that generally oomes from their own lips, and in point of fact the turning of the tables will have done them a great deal of good, and will have taught them several lessons that were needed in devotion and humility. Hints and Suggestions. When milk has boiled over, throw a little salt at once on the stove. This, will prevent the unpleasant smell of burnt milk pervading the house. Large lumps of unslaked lime placed in dark or damp corners in the cellar will absorb the moisture and purify the air. Hot bread will cut as easily as cold if the knife used is heated. Dip a knife in cold water before using to cut warm cake. Equal parts of boiling water and strong vinegar used with a sponge to wash ealcimined walls will cut the calcimine and prepare the wall for papering. As soon as the tin containing any kind of food has been opened, the food should be immediately emptied out. Foods such as salmon, ■etc., should not even be carried from a shop in a tin after it has been opened. Paint can easily be removed fiom glass by wetting a copper or silver com with turpentine, and rubbing the paint with it. Shabby towels which have become worn in the middle will renew their usefulness if cut in two and hemmed. They make admirable bedroom cloths, and are quite large enough for that purpose. Steel knives that are to be laid b}' for a time should be wrapped m tissue pap-r. It is far bettei than either flannel oi I flannelette, either of which materials conI tain sulphur and are liable to cause rust. I When sweeping a carpet Temember to sweep the way of the nap. To brush the ■wrong way is not only bad for the caipet, but tends to brush the dust in, and not out of, the fabric, and make the woik doubly haid. A glass of hot milk should oe taken last thing at night, before retiring, by people who suffer from insomnia. To be leally effective it must be quite hot. and should be sipped very slowly. To drink milk quickly is almost sure to bring on an attack of indigestion When not in use, scrubbing brushes should be turned bristles downwaids Thus the water will run out, and they will dry, whereas if they were placed on their backs the water would soak into the wood and loosen the bristles. Chiffon and ordinary veiling is easily cleaned in methylated spirit. Put the vml in a small bowl, and cover it with 6p it. j Then gently knead till the dirt is_ie-, moved. If necessary, rinse in clean spirit. | Shake out and allow to dry. lioning is not necessary. I To clean brass excellent results may be obtained by rubbing first with a paste made of powdered bathbrick and paraffin, and then with bathbrick alone. Another plan, also very successful, is to use lemonjuice and' powdered chalk in the same | manner ns the bathbrick and paraffin. Table linen should always be placed in pure boiling water if stained with fruit, tea, or wine. S.iap sets such stains, but the hot water hikes them out. Egg stains, however, requh-e io be soaked out iix cold water, just as do stains of blood on cloths in which meat has been wrapped. Faded cotton blouses, frocks, etc ._ maybe made to look quite new again if bleached white. To do so, mix three tablespoonfuls of chloride of lime in three quarts of water — or double that quantity of each if required. In this liquid stir about the garments till all colour has disappeared. T.hten rinse thoroughly as quickly as posible, and 6tarch and iron as usual. Mauve prints and muslins should be washed in suds containing a little soda. Thia will heln to preserve their colour.

j Soda usu.illv fades coloured prints, but 1 mauve is tLe happy exception. Nothing *ls more useful to soften water thcin boirix: use it in the proportion of | a larce handful to 10 gallons of watc . | The texture ot the finest linon and < otton i Mill not be injurpd by its use. and iunt staint, etc., will quickly disappejr fiom 1 table linon if soaked in borax water. For window-cleaning use warm water and borax, and polish with ciumpled newspapeis. Inkst.uns on naahoginy, rosewood, or black w;il nut furniture may be temoved , with nitre. Put six drops of nitre in a teaspoonfnl of water, and apply it to the stains with a feather. It will remove them quickly, and should then be wiped oft at once and the place washed 1 with cold water. The nitre, if left, will ! leave a white spot that will not easily ,bp got l-id of. More than one application of nitre may be needed, but. ns it often arts instantly. it should each time be wiped off quickly. |