A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON. FEMIMINE FACTS, FANCIES AND FRIVOLITIES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 310, 24 October 1888, Page 3

A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON. FEMIMINE FACTS, FANCIES AND FRIVOLITIES.

(ByEmsk.)

PRECIS. A Holiday in devon-Exmook-Thu Louna DOONR COUNTRY- THE DOONK OUTLAWS A KEAI ITV — SILLY SBASSON SIJU.MSCTS — I'lIE UIGAKKTTR SCABS- BKAUTY K\'KIBITION AT Sr v— Pkikks, *ec— Uuath ok Lobo Con'vers — "Mvtinu With a Clown "— A Quaixt Etoi-isMnxT — Tub Story op a Cukious Lauiui-Bxtoskd ai- Last-My Hoklubkt's Book ov Tuulakd-Mesmkki»ji and Ckuik -ExrKKIMIWTOATNAXCY-BXTRAORDINAKY SCKNK— OOMT'KKSSKO RKLATIVKS— COMPBK&StON Y. CRKM VTIOX - A lIOKIUD iDKAMusicat. Notks— Poor Blanche Colk- UmMISOHAM FESTIVAL ■ - AMKBIC VX L VDY NOViiMSTS— AMISLIJS RIYKS'S 1 IIiST WojiKWehu) iai-ks — A Goon Selk«'TlOX — 4% A FkVUKUL RKVENGE" — NK\V VOTA'aiE Ob' " Vt\i.vxta"-Tiie Bi:stGiui,s Magazine -New Novels Fokthcoming, &c.

London, September 7. Dkak Mk Editor,— We have been spending a delightful fortnight ab Lynton, a pictuvcsquo village in Devonshire overlooking what Major 'Why to Melville calls " the Severn Sea,"'andon the immediate confines of Bxmoor. It is an ideal place feu- a holiday or a lioneymoon, as lovely walks, nob too far from home, abound and one can make v\ ell-nigh endless intciesbing excursions on horseback or in carriages. To Ut'o'ttlcun, and novel readers Lynfcon is interesting as being the scene of R. D. Blackmoro's enthralling romance "Loina Doone/' in fact the entire district is known as the "Doone Country."' The Doone valley and the Doone outlaw? were nob, as 1 (and I daresay many others) imagined when reading the book, mere figments of imagination. The inaccessible fastnesses of bheiormer are sought out constantly by curious tourists and descendant* of John Ridd,ar>dtheDoonesresideatOaretothisdny. Mr Blackmore dimply clothed a well-known portion of south country history with the garment.- of romance. ' I was told it took generations for the wild outlaw blood of the Doones to cool down, and that till quite recently it was uc uncommon thing for members of "the family to bieak away from civilisation for a time and herd together carousing in some lonely barn or cottage. Exmoor is now, of course, very different to what it used to be even 20 years ago. Vast tracts have been reclaimed and con\erted into flourishing farms. There are capital roads to all the' principal centres, and in summer tourists flock to the various villages in swaims. Still Lynton and Lyn mouth are practically unspoilt, andlikely to remain so till the railway fiend blights them. At present Ilfracombe, -which is twenty miles, and Banstaple, which is eighteen miles away, are the nearest stations.

"Silly" Season Subjects. The " silly season " has been sillier than usual this autumn. Anything more tri\ ial than the absurd correspondence on "Is Marriage a Failure ?" in the " Telegraph " it has seldom been my lot to read. lam not going to refer further to it, t>o don't be afraid, neither shall I touch at any length on the cigarette scare. The latter is not a lady's subject, besides Tom says men who expect to buy first-class Egyptian cigarettes for six or seven shillings a hundred deserve to be poisoned. The recognised brands — Melachunos, Yafiadirf, Gianaclis, and Spillers and Kyriazis— are perfectly safe. No medical man has been able to trace bad throats, etc., to them so far. A more interesting: " sensation '' than this is the surprising discovery of the 178 leading medical men who for the last three years have been testing the temperance question amongst their own patients. They were instructed, I may mention, to be specially careful and to include no person in their returns about whose habits they had a doubt. Altogether 4,000 odd patients died under their united hands in the three years. Of these 122 were total abstainers, 3,400 were habitually temperate, and about 600 were intemperate men. The average age of death was 51 for total abstainers ; 62, 59 and 57 for the 3 classes of moderate consumers, and 52 for intemperate consumers. If therefore there is anything in statistics, total abstinence is neaily as unhealthy for average folks as intemperance.

The Beauty Exhibition at Spa. The Beauty Exhibition to be held at Spa next week promises to be a bona Jiik success. Already the little town is iuller ot visitors than it has ever been since the suppression of the gaming tables, and lovely competitors are putting in an appeal anee from all parts of Europe, even Russia. The Grand Prix for the funniest and lovehe&t woman of all will be £800, but there are numerous lesser competitions, confined some to blondes and others to brunette?, as well as prizes for the most beautiful stout and the* most beautiful thin belle and the most fascinating conversationalist. The beauty of ladies competing is to be moral as well as physical, for as the promotcio of the show "remark with a flourish, " without virtue beauty is a flower torn from its stem."' The first competitor* will he lodged in oxurious apartments "with the National olours of each displayed in the furniture. " The show will last some days, and end with a gorgeous fete, at which the Committee's decisions will be announced. I will let you know how it all comes off. Talking of beauties reminds me that by the sudden death of Lord Conyers without male issue the barony lapses, and the deceased peer's daughters, Lady Yarborough and Miss Violet Lane Fox, become enormously wealthy. The latter, you may remember, is the young lady who has for years been so relentlessly persecuted by the amorous maniac, Rowsell. She will now be able to obtain herself adequate protection if she chooses. Rowsell is at present in durance vile. When he emerges an attempt will probably be made to prove that he is insane.

Mating With a Clown. The daughter of a well-known country banker has caused a tine to do in the North by eloping with a circus clown. The pair were pursued by paterfamilias, who, however; was too late to stop the marriage. As the young" lady is barely 17, and of an excitable, not to say changeable temperament, the future prospects of the queerlyasssorted couple scarcely seem roseate. The husband, I hear, means to abjure sawdust and settle down as a country squire. It will nob be the first time a similar transformation has taken place. Some years ago a wealthy stranger, vaguely supposed to have been a merchant, settled down in Essex, and became so popular that he and his children mixed with the country families. The old fellow was ordinarily of a solemn and pompous demeanour, but now and then, without any apparent reason, he broke out into the queerest, quaintest chuckle. People said. " Where have we heard a laugh like that?" but they never could remember. For live and twenty years this peculiar laugh puzzled the county, and then the old man's grandson innocently let the cat out of the bag, "Granpa," he said, after a visit to a travelling circus, "laughs just like the clown."

"Ireland Under Coercion." All who honestly care to fathom the truth about Ireland should read "Ireland Under Coercion/ by Mr W. 11. Hurlberb, a dispassionate American, who visited the

country recently with a view to satisfying his mind on the landlord and tenant question. As a supplement to Foster's life ope should also read Mr Gladstone's description of the circumstances leading up to the Treaty of Kilmainham in the can en t (September) number of the " Nineteen tli Century."

Mesmerism and Crime. French medical men fcako far greator in" terest than our own "doctors do in mesmerism (or hypnotism, so it is now usually called), and are gradually making more and more use of it, in general piactice. At Nancy this last month some extraordinary experiments (which I particularly commend to the attention of sensational novelists) w ere attempted. M. Jules Li e"geois, Professor of the Faculty of Law, w<\s the initiator of the proceedings, and a large number of doctors! and lawyers interested m medical jurisprudence were present during their execution. It is, I should explain, already well-known that a person who has been thrown into a hypnotic trance will upon awaking immediately execute any suggestion, howevor criminal, that has been made during sleep by a person wno possesses the dangerous power of absolutely directing the wll**of another. The object of M. Lingo's experiments was to ascertain if it would be possible when a crime had been committed by a hypnotic subject, to discover the author of the criminal suggestion, who in such a case would obviously be the guilty party. The " St. James's Gazette " gives the following particulars of one experiment out of many: — " A lady who was well known to be a hypnotic subject was thrown into an artificial sleep : and M. Liegeois then suggested to her that upon awaking: she should shoot with a revolver a certain Monsieur 0., who was supposed to havo insulted her. She was enjoined to say, if she was questioned, that M. Liogoois had held no communication with her upon the subject, and that she had not been under the intluenee of anyone, but had acted entirely of her own volition. A rcvoher, loaded with a blank charge, having been placed upon a table close ai hand, the lady was awakened. The instant she perceived Monsieur 0., who was in the room, she seized the revolver and fired at him. She was then again put to sleep, this time by Dr. Liebault,who played the part of medico - legal expel t and proceeded to interrogate hex. The lady at once admitted the supposed crime, and in obedience to th.3 injunction she had received, stoutly denied all suggestion. So far it seemed that here was a certain means of escape for the ical criminal who had suggested the supposed murder; but an ingenious te«t was then resorted to which "proved that the suggester was never very tafe after all. M. Liebault m-ulc these three suggestions : "'l. When you see the instigator ot your crime enter the room you must go to sleep for the space of two minutes. '2. When you awaken you must look fixedly at him. and not take j r our eyes fiom hi-» until 1 say ' That will do.' 3. You must then stand in front of him and endeavour, by extending your skirts, to conceal him irom view." The lady was awakened, and in a short time M. Liegeois, who had suggested the shooting, came into the room, in which about a do^en persons were as&cmbled. Almost at once &he went to sleep. In about two minutes she awoke, tixsd her gaze steadfastly upon M. Leigeois, and followed him, step by step, louud the room. M. Liegeois went into another apartment, the lady following him. He sat down, and she at once extended her dress in front of him as though to conceal him. When she regained her norm.il condition &he remembered nothing of what had happened. M. Liegeoiss experiments do not stand alone. Piofessor Bernheim applied almost identical tests to a soldier who had teturned from Tong-king. He compelled him, by suggestion, to steal a 5-franc piece, and enjoined hitr not to admit that he had been hypnotised. When interrogated as to why he had committed the theft he replied that he did it " because the idea occiured to him," and took an oath thai; theacthad notbeen suggested to him.Thereupon the soldier was again operated upon, and while he was in the hypnotic bleep he was told, "When you seethe peison who suggested to you to steal, you must go up to him and say, ' I am very glad to see you. Please sing me the Marseillaise.'" The subject obeyed these injunctions to the letter. He was then again put to sleep and asked to reveal the name of the instigator of the theft ; but he once more denied that there had been any suggestion. Nevertheless Professor Bernheim said to him, " When you see the instigatoi ot the robbai-y you must say ' I remember you perfectly ; it was you who told me to steal. 5 " The moment he was awakened he went up to the Profes.-or and repeated the suggested phrase. It avouM thus seem to be tolerably clear that although a hypnotised peison will not reveal in a direct way the name of a person under whose influence he has been, he will reveal it in an indirect way. He will do nothing that he has been categoiically forbidden to do ; and that is all. This being so, it is clear that in certain circumstances the author of a ciiminal suggestion would assuredly be discovered. ButTthese experiments take no account of a very important contingency — the possible, and indeed probable, absence from the scene of the suggestcr of a crime. The whole subject ot hypnotism is very curious and important from the point of view of medical jurisprudence ; since it is obvious that under co"\er of "suggestions" the most atiocious crimes could be committed. Happily, there is good leason to believe that the number of persons capable of being hypnotised is comparatively small : and it is doubtful whether after all a hypnotic suggestion would be of much use to the bolde&t and most adroit \il'ain — except, of course, in a " shilling shocker."

Compressed Relatives. A horrid man in Pittsburg, a Dr. Cooper, has invented a ghastly embalming process which he appears (quite seriously) to expect will supersede either burial or cremation. He calls it " compression." What the modus opcrandi is. I am thankful to &ay we are not told, but Dr. Cooper claims to be able by some patent iorm of pressure to reduce a dead corpse to a small block ot veined marble." The body of a full-grown man, he avers, can be compressed to a " cube of 12 inches." and the wretch -absolutely exhibits a small cross which he declares is " the body of a child converted into a handsome ornament." Ghastly though this whole idea sounds, there is certainly something gruesomely humorous in the notiou of converting one's deceased relatives into bric-a-brac and chimney ornaments. You would,l suppose, have to take the corpse's tastes into consideration when modelling his cube. A 1 cross was undoubtedly a fitting emblem for a child, jusb as a erickobbat would be for a ' dead and gone cricketer, a betfcing-book j for a turfite, and a jawbone for one's 1 I mother-in-law.

; I Sir Morell Mackenzie's Justification. i I The Queen and the Empress oil (Jevmany , Fliavo both insisted on Sir Morell Mackenzie al once answering; his Teutonic enomiCß.and his pamphlet "The Last Illness i of "Frederick the Noble " will- be published I by Sampson Low and Co. at the end ot this month. It contains a succinct account ! of each "day's work at the Emperor's bed-

side, together with Jac-Sitiiiles of notes from His ISlajosty to the doctor ; roplios to the attacks made on the latter, and statistics showing the nutnbov of poisons who liave succumbed to the operation undergone by the Emperor. The American rights o£ this little brochure of barely 150 pagos fetched, according to the " Star," £300.

Musical Notes. "Popita," the now comic opovu b> Lecocq, which oar mutual friend, Horace Linjjard, has boon running in fclio provinces, this last year in conjunction with the evergreen "Falka,' was produced in London this last weok at Toole's Theatre. JMibS Wadman is the prima donna, Mr Marnoek Walker the tenor, and Lingard himself the funnyman. The opera will not compai c for a moment with ''GiroHo Girolla," much loss with the immortal " Madame Angot," but it contains .some pretty airs and is well supplied with " gag," and doubtless docs well enoutrh for touting; purposes. Londoners who looked coldly upon " Fallen," aio not, however, likely lo take cordially to " Pepita,'' especially at Toole't, w hich is quite unfitted for this c aas of entertainment. Miss Lingard has just commenced her autumn tour at Hull, her company's repertoire consisting: of "Cymboline," "Romeo and Juliet," and " Adrienne Leeouxiena. ' Poor Blanche Cole died rather suddenly lasfc week. She held a good position at one time on the English opeiatio stage and was a uroat favourite at" the Crystal Palace. Miss Cole married .Sydney Naylor, the pianist, and leaves a family. A now English opera called " Carina," the v. ords by the veto an E. L. Blanchard and the bcore by Julia Woolf (whoever the may bo), is in preparati -n at the Opera Comique. By the bj'c I hear everywhere that the sjreat success of Birmingham Festival was Dr. Parry's oratorio " .)udith,or the Kegencitition of Mana->eh." Even the now popular *' Golden Legend did not excite ab much enthusiasm, though it apfieaifi to have been splendidly conducted by llerr Kichtei. Dooiak's " Stabat Mater'" fell Hat, but large audiences aj)proved both the " Elijah " und " Me&.-iah."

American lindy Novelists. I am glad to find the good opinion I recently expressed of that rematkablo book '""John Waul, Preacher," backed up by no less an authority than Archdeacon Fiirtar. In ihe cunenb number of " LongnianS " the rev. gentleman devotes a long article to describing and analysing the woikj which he agiees A\ith me in considering at least as powciiul 'ib the much, vaunted " Robert Elsmere." Older ..Miss Deland's stoiy atoncefrom your bookseller, and meanwhilo prepare your mind for it by reading thoaichdcacon's article. There must be something radically wrong with the education of Ameiican girlo ot the present day, when a young creature barely lb can write a disagieeable — I was almost soing to say nasty — story like " The Quick and the Dead." !Miss Amelie Rives, who has become notorious as the author of this " icalisttc ' novel and oi anothei tale (even worse they say) called "Heiod and Marianne," is little more than sw-eet sixteen and ''possessed of gieat personal attiactions/' She is well-known in Now York society, and hci nittee into the Held oi letteis in the character of a disciple of M. Zola has naturally caused an immense sensation. The heioine of " The Quick and the Dead " is a jouns* widow, who, whilst mourning the death of herlovei'-hu&band, mcetsti cousin of hi?, ■who (in the matcor ot personal appearance) is his exaot double. Atter the fiist ! «hock, madamefindsherselfattracted by the strange likeness, and by-and-bye falls imperceptibly in love with the young man. The discoveiy of the iact, however, houih'es her. She teais heiself in tatters be- | tueen affection for the living and fidelity to the dead, eventually sacrificing the former to the latter. This doe* not sound very impioper, does it ? Nevertheless, the story is nut a nice once.

Weird Tales. The five little volumes of " Weird Tales " (English, ricotch, Irish, American, and Ueiman) neatly bound in cloth and clcaily printed for a shilling a piece, show a\ hab can bo done nowadays in the way of producing cheap hteratuio. The compiler's name is nob given, but the selections are really admit able. I read the American series yesterday and can confidently recommend them. One blood-curdling story called " A Fearful Revenge " would alone sell the little volume. It describes the vengeance of an Indian chief -whose wife has been foicibly seduced and dm en mad by a Mexican trader in whose care he left her. The fiantic man liist plunges a knife into his beloved'b heart. Then seeking the biadcis. hut. ut dead of night, he gags, binds, and eventually carries him off to the depths of the tores c. Thither also ho biings his wife's corpse and an untamed mustang. The living man and the dead girl aie bound together limb to limb, and then strapped on to tho back of the all righted hor^e, which flees across trackless prairies hunted uight and day by thu implacable Indian, who floats ovei the torments of his victim tied to a mass of corruption, and mad with hunger and thirst. The dreadful chase is of com se kept up till ll.e Mexican dies a gibbering idiot, when the Indian calmly congratulates himself on a righteous ie\engc. The greater part of the Scotch sene&ls taken up with Sir Thomas Lander's c> Vision of Campbell of Inverawe," and the English resuri ectfc one or two capital tales fiom the earlier numbers of "Household Word?." The serial story in the new volume of the " English Illustrated," which commences next month, will be by Mr Marion Crawford and will bo entitled " Sant "Ilario." The popular girl's magazine " Atalanta" also commences another volume with the October number. All colonial girls between cle\en and seventeen should certainly bake it. Amongst other features the forthcoming issues will contain serial etorie.s by W. E. Norri.s (" Miss Shafto ") and Mis Walford ("A Sage of Seventeen ") and shorter tales, by Julian Corbet, Jean Ingelow, Grant Allen, Baring Could, J. S. Winter, Christina Ropsetti, etc., etc. The "Atalanta Scholarships," Reading Union and Prize Competitions are unique, and the names of the girls entering for them show that the magazine is taken and appreciated by the smartest as well as the nicest people in England. I see, by the way, that Grant Allens capital story "A White Man' 1 * Foot," which ran through "Atlanta" last year, is coming out in one volume at ss. Other new novels advertised for immediate publication include "Countess Eve," by the author of "John lnglesant ; ' "The Weaker Vessel," by Christio Murray ; "Ayatha 3'age," by I&aac Henderson; "From Moor lslep," by Jessie Fothorgill, and " The Youngest Miss Gieen," by F. W. Robin son.

MR PARNELL AS HAMLET. The " Times "is out of joint, Oh ! cursed spile That ever L was forced with it to light ! In a school— Teacher : "Supposing that eight of you should together have 48 apples, 32 peaches, 56 pluma and 16 melons, whar would each of you have ?" Pupils (in chorus) : " The stomach ache." The Sultan of Turkey lms» ordered several typewriters for the- ladies of his harem,.