A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 174, 16 October 1886, Page 3 (Supplement)

A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON.

Pomlnlno Jfocts, Fanciest wad Frivfpli^ieisj Lal)lKB' Y AOHTiNG DttllCSSES— DttSOlilP't'lON OF 'Somk— TnE Colonists on'Tour'— Kot'.'th^.' FFIOIAL IIIBT— WHEKE TBK 'COMISBI6i»ERs' are— a' N,kw Fjc/ore ifEAD'— Mr Phara^tn' Rkplirs fob, tub VikiTofts— UlW Moon n this Facilities fob Modern Travel—Canadians Jealous of Australians— An tralian" Ykar- Demoralisation of the Australian Cricketers— a New Mystery —Tub: Vanishing Lady— How is it Done? — Naw Musio— New #ooks— Etc., Etc.

LONDONj August. * DeXr Mr Editor, — We aro in town for a few daye on our way from the Isle of Wight, to Scotland. The "fashionable" part of the yachting season closed a fortnight ago with the departure from Cowea of the Prince of Wales and hia family ; but We' are not fashionable people, so we stayed on and had a very' jolly time. The dresses worn by the nautical or would-be nautical girls at Co,wes struck me as charmingly fresh and becoming, as well as uaeful, and likely to last. They are moatly made by Redfern, the ladies' tailor. My aieter scribe, " Madge," visited the latter's shop the other day to select a yachtiog dre. a s ior a frienu, and declares she saw so many it whs almost impossible to come to ,a decision. " One," she says, "was in navy blue serge, the front oi the skirt being arranged in broad pleats that fell from the waist to the feet At oach side was a broad panel of white nerge, with a white band of gold military braid up the middle of the panel, and rows of narrow god braid at each side. The blue t-erge bodice was made with revere, lined with white, and opening over a white waistcoat trimmed with braid to match the panels on the skitt. A brown belt completed this , very imval looking costume. Another, made also of navy- blue perge, fastened across the lower part of the bo'Jice with two rows of flat gilt buttons. The upper part was turned back en revere, showing a vest of blue and white striped flannel. Tae revers showed their white lining, and on each was embroidered a email blue anchor. The front and sides of the skirt consisted of two breadths of navy-blue serge, which, from the knee downwards, turned back in revers over a skirt of striped flannel. Like those on the bodice, the revers showed their white lining, and were embioidered with anchors, A drapery of the blue was folded round the hips, and fell in grateful tolds at the back." I met some of the " colonists " who have been twuring in the Provinces yesterday. The ladies seemed quite worn out, and were talking of going ro the seaside to recuperate, They said they had enjoyed themselves immensely, but that it was all terribly tiring, either sight-seeing or travelling during tho day, and balls or banquets at night. The " colonists " making these tours belong, I hear, to quite a different classto those invited to the great f unctions of the London seat?on. Then the guests were confined to the " official list " only. Now almost any colonist who cares to apply for tho necessary vouchers gets them. I am glad of it, because numbers of the visitors veill return home in better tempers with themselves and us than they would otherwise have done. Most of the leaders of Anglo-Colonial society broke away from the peregrinating colonists some time, ago and are holiday-making or recuperating 1 on their own accounts. Sir Charles Tupper has gone to Canada to collect funds for the permanent colonial museum : Sir George Bowen andSir Arthur Hodgson are undergoing much-needed " cures " at German baths ; Sir P. D. Bell in still nursing his invalid wife in Scotland ; Dr. and Mrs Butler and family are at Heidelberg ; and Sir Arthur Blyth obtains whiffs of sea air by travelling backwards and forwards daily between London and Brighton. At Crewe, the other day, the colonists on tour were so hard up for a figure-head they had to put up Mr Pharazyn, of the New Zealand Legislature, to reply to the toast of •' The Visitors." I need scarcely tell those who know this dear old gentleman that he proved fully equal to the occasion, and made a charming speech. Mr Moon, Chairman of the North Western Railway, who was the host of the moment had been referring to the extraordinary facilities for travel nowadays, and astonishinghis guests|by telling them that during the Russian war scare, Mr Ismay, of the VV hite Star Company, had guaranteed the Government to deliver troops in Adelaide in twenty days. Mr Pharazyn prettily said that such facilities- f travel practically madeEn^liBbmen and Australians one people. Science brought them into this close fellowship and it only 'needed proper political machinery, to bring their feelings into as close a fellowship in order to thoroughly unite and consolidate the Empire. Great cheering, of course followed this sentiment. Do you know the Canadian visitors are horribly jealous of Australians. They say —and I'm afraid it's true - that all through the season Australasians have been petted and complimented and made much of, whilst (with the exception of Sir (j. Tupper) their representatives have hardly been noticed. The West Indians and Indians, too, utter similar complaints, but less bitterly than the Canadians. There can, indeed, be no doubt that this has been an *' Australian year," and that the dear Prince intended it should be an Australian year. Royalty has throughout treated all the Antipodean Commissioners with marked empresseaient, — Sir Julius Yon Haast, as an old friend of the late Prince Albert, coming in for special favour. t > ■ Tom took me to the Oval on Friday week to see part of the match between Engjand and Australia. I thought it, very dull, and so, apparently, did everyone else. The Australians did not seem to care how they played after lunch, and 1 the wiokets went down one after another in a most lamentable manner. The prevailing opinion on the ground' appeared to be that the team were *.* utterly- demoralised;" but whether through eating too much lunch, or because of the almost certain prospect of defeat, I cou Id n ot ' quite make out. Anglo-Colonists are hoping that Beach, will recover some of the lost Australian laurels on. the Thfemes next week, ' . ■ ■ j ,■ ( • , „ We were' going to the Exhibition ' last Wednesday evening for an hour, but' the weather turned chilly, f»o Tom took me instead to the Egyptian',. Hall, where Ma&kelyne and Cook aro displaying a new 11 mystery 'J in the shape of a. '.'. vanishing lady." This conjuring trick is the invention of a -Frenchman, , and? created a considerable sensation in Paris. , The performer first of all asks a member of; the audience to hand, jap on tp the, stage any one of the I 'ordinary earuTchait's in the body^of the,, hall,. j s T~his,,. of < course -is, j|to „( apparently), j preplude^the* ,pQaei,bihtyi of,,*/ prepared chair.; s JL^then .borrows]. a*, mofn^g^, paper," laya,, it down* ion any. part r of ithe-^agQ^tN, , audience like to select, and places, the chair upon it. The lady (a girl in acrobatic costume), is

i .Xl. Xli >' :> * *-« : V.—^r;ndw ' Ifctroducedy and aeaip ' herself b'ri kU chWr.^bi I ' conjuror' "promptly 5 'a' thick gauze' veil over her.' 'Thfdugh 5 thte* th'er-.oxtriemiiieg' (head, shoulders^ elbows,' and kfrees)' ais ' gfcill ' observable. He says; • l 'Hl#h' l< Preato; paSs^'and'- whips 'off the' veil. -" TKe chair i's edapty, 'the wom&n gon6. ! She can't 1 einfc 1 through the floor because of the n/ewspaper/ahd dan'i slip' 1 off ' isf fly away in ("ftall 'height ;of ' the'V audience • How a ia /J it 'done?' Well, the night ( w© Were there an accident' 1 occurred which gave" an inklirig 'of the* \ni&dus ope'randi. ' Bertram, the performer; 1 - I did the trick twice 'successfully,- but on the' third pccasi6n, when he whipped off the veil a number of iron Supports were 1 visible,' , protruding from the back, top, and sides of tho' chair. In an instant' the M juror touched an invisible' spring, •' and they disappeared, but not before we had time to realise that 'these supports were the apparent head, elbows, and knees of the', woman, vvhich protruded through the veil. Clearly, she herself disappears at the moment 'the conjuror raises the veil to his full height to throw over her. At the name moment,' of' course^ a spring is touched; which- shoots out the supports. The rest is Way. ' The waltz of the winter will' be 1 " Little Sailors," played every night now at the Pro- J menade Concerts! It is of ! the " See-Saw " c!ass--a jingling, catchy melody. "' > Coming up in the train' from Portsmouth on Tuesday/I read the new novel Misa Braddon wrote for Tillotsone," of Boltori, and which has been appearing serially in so many newspapers ' lately. The three volumes really contain two short tales — " One Thing Needful--' and «• Cut by the County.'' They are both wretchedly poor stuff, and quite unworthy the authoress of •• Henry Dunbar." " One Thing Needful " tells the story of a Radical demagogue's daughter, who is saved from a fiery death when quite a child by a deformed noble, man, and subsequently adopted by himThis philanthropic Earl brings up the child on a romantic plan of his own for a few years, and than breaks his neck, leaving his protege to the tender mercies of his selfish younger brother and of his mother, who has from the first hated her. The girl plays the part of Cinderella for several chapters, when two men fall in love with her. One of them, a great statesman, is everything that is kind and considerate ; the other (the aforesaid younger brother) grossly insults the girl. Naturally she loves the latter. He drives her from the house with contumely, then repents ; and seeking her out, declares his passion. She falls promptly into his arms, and they both live happily ever afterwards— at least one hopes co. If you care to read a crude but powerful romance of the "Monte Christo" type, ask at your^ library for " Vendetta," by Marie Corelli, The scene is laid at Naplea during the cholera plague of 1884, and the catastrophe of the story arises through the hero, a young Italian Count named Fabio Romany catching the disease, and being \ accidentally buried alive. Several chapters are devoted to a blood-curdling description of the miserable roan's awakening in hia coffin, and", of hia subsequent experiences whilst immured in the Romani family vault. How he escapes, it would be unfair to tell— suffice it to say he does at length escape, though his hair has " turned white in a single night, and he^ookB 20 years older for the awful experience. Creeping home, Romani discovers hia dearest friend and his wife are lovers. They have for months past played him false, and now rejoice over his death. The Italian's first inclination is to finish the worthy pair off with a dagger there and then ; but this seems too kindly a punishment. His changed appearance suggepta to the Count a subtler aod more terrible vendetta. I will not, however, spoil the story by indicating it Those who wish to know more must read for themselves. A lady friend writes from abroad asking me to name the "beat sensation novel of modern days." This is rather a puzzling question to answer, as there are so many sorts of " sensation novels." Personally, I incline to think the best all-round story I know, involving an exciting mystery, iB Wilkie Collins's "Moonstone." In the essentials of plot, construction, and method of narration this novel has (of ita kind, remember) always seemed to me almost per- j feet. Second to " The Moonstone" I should place Miss Braddon's '* Henry Dunbar,"