ENGLISH SOCIETY NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 301, 21 December 1907, Page 4

ENGLISH SOCIETY NOTES

l.ondon, November 14. In theory a great sovereign is always an ideal host, but in practice that is far lloin tin! case, and cur King, in this as ill many other things, oilers a shining example tu hia brother mouarchs. When hi-. Majesty is acting as host to a number of lii.- friends and distinguished subjects he takes us luiicli personal trouble concerning the lomt'oi'i ol his guests as it lie were all ordinary, hospitably-in-t*iin"d inilividnal, eagerly desirous that those wini give liini 1 lie pleasure of their eonijiany shall he made as eiuiilortable a* possible under their roof. The King considers the health of his guests, and even their personal idiosyncrasies to au extent most unusual with Royal hosts mill hostesses. ISoth the King ami Queen, ill their capacity of private host ami hostess at SandringTiam, served a not altogether easy apprenticeship in this art of entertaining, and his Majesty has not allowed his Kingship to interfere with those duties which all his In-other monarch* usually delegate to trusted retainers.

Not long ago a noted politician, now getting well on in years, was invited to spend a few days without hits wife at Windsor Castle.' Owing to an attack of inlluen/.a his heart was weak, and his wife expressed to a friend connected with the Court world her fear lest he •should he put in a room up a steep flight of si air-. This fact came round in some way to the King's knowledge, anil he at once ordered'that a small sitting-room which was Gil the same level witk (lie living apartments of the ('untie, should he fitted up for his visitor. As Princess of Wales, the Queen always showed those of her lady visitors who were older tlnn herself the way to their private rooms when they arrived on a visit. She now delegates' this duty to one of her ladies, hut it is significant that no small act of courtesy, which in a private home would lie performed by the master or mistress, is ever delegated in any of our Roval establishments to a servant.

It iis an open secret that in most of our Royal establishments visitors—save, of course, those of the highest caste, who are almost invariably accompanied by a number of both men and maid servants —are most indifferently waited upon. Those whose business it is to attend on a great Sovereign's guests are well aware that whatever happens no complaint is likely to be made. The Royal world below stairs is an important and independent republic, the housekeeper being a lady who generally regards herself as far 100 important to consider the personal comforts, still less the personal fancies or whims, of her Royal employers' ollicial guests. Then, again, it must be admitted that her hands are generally full ill seeing that the Royalties, who invariably form part of any great gathering brought together in a foreign palace, are salistied with the accommodation provided lor them.

l'artlv, no doubt, in self-defence, for nowadays no Royal purse is bottomless, a most elaborate system has been devised by which it is-hoped that the incessant peculation which at one time went on in all palatial establishments, can be, if not wholly prevented, at least checked. 11l many a Herman palace the ordering by a guest of even as little as a cup of tea means that a leaf ill the order book has to be signed and countersigned before the tea and sugar can be produced; and, with reference to the butter and milk, the same process must he gone through in another hook, and so on ad infinitum. The story is still told at I'otsdam of how'a British Prince married to a daughter of the great House of llohciizollern, tinding it quite impossible to obtain a lemon for which his wife had a fancy, hurried out himself into the town and bought one from a grocer who lived near the palace gates.

The greatest activity and expectancy prevail in Court circles in connection with the German Emperor's forthcoming visit. A notable feature of the event will be that during the last three days of his .Majesty's sojourn, from November Kith to 18th, there will he no fewer than three kings and three queens residing together under the grand old historic roof of Windsor Castle—namely, the King and Queen of England, the German Emperor and Empress, and the King and Queen of Spain. Lesser royalties will be there by the dozen; and at the grand fiuildhall reception, the British Royal Family will be present in force, as well as a host of the most distinguished men in the I'nited Kingdom. fndeed, for pomp and circumstance the Kaiser's visit will be one of the most important items ill. the annals of Royalty.

During oiio of his visits to England t!i<' Herman Emperor had a curious experience at St. I l ,nil's. One day a distinguished stranger sought out a verger and desired admittance to tlx- ervjit, and offered his good sixpence. "You can't go down, sir, service is on." The distinguished stranger received the refusal with unconcealed surprise. Such a rebuff had seldom come his way. "I ahi the fierman Emperor." he said. ''Sorry"you can't go down," was the answer. " Service will lie over at such a time, and if you'll come then and look me up I shall bo delighted to slum- you round. As it is. it can't lie done at the present moment." That staunch old man is dead now. and the rules are not no rigidly observed. f'ertainlv there is not a man in the Cathedral "who would bar the door against Kaiser William to-day.

Will the Herman Emperor's visit popularise the Kaiser moustache—that wonderful facia] decoration with the ends turned up like the horns of an angry bully For many years every young Herman who is not an Anarchist has lias been immortalised by innumerable photographs, caricatures, oil paintings, stamps, medals, and coins. Even in England one occasionally encounters the Kaiser moustache, the upward curve of wlrch is cultivated by the wearing, all night, of a kind of silken band. In (iernianv the effect is obtained by means of "moustache, trainers," known as

" I'artbiude." which consist of line gauze attached to both ears by rubber strings and firmly fastened across the moustache while it is in a moist stale and is fixed in ihe position desired.

A word of warning should lie given, however, to those who may be induced to experiment with those " trainers " in their desire to produce a Kaiser moustache. The director of the liaetoriological Institute of !>erlin has discovered, it appears. that the "trainers." when used a lew times, form veritable nests of bacilli. Numerous "trainers" he had examined microscopically yielded astounding results. Hordes of the most virulent bacilli of tuberculosis, pneumonia. asthma, etc.. were found in them. I'ouillcin of small pieces of " trainers " were made and injected into mice and guinea pigs, wil li 'the result. Iliat all these unhappy marlvrs to-sci-once became violently'ill and died. The price to be paid for a Kaiser moustache seem*, therefore, rather out of proportion to its value!

Newspaper reader- during the Kaisers visit, will jirobiibly bo writing tu their favourite editor imploring him to in--tuict them (to decide a wager) on a point which has often been argued—the dill'dence between " Herman Emperor," -Kmperor of < ,'ermany,'' am! "Emperor of the Hermans." Which of these titles is the correct one? they will auk. The Kai-'Ts right title is, of cmirse, ''Herman Emperor," and not "Emperor of Germany.'' It was officially declared in .111 order to the Army thirty-six years ago. when the Kmperor announced to the troops that: "I take, with the consent "f tin- lini-man Prince* ami the adhesion <>f all the Herman people, in addition to my rank as King of Prussia, that of Herman Kniperor'' A few nights after, -nine ulliccr- were debating the new title. Itisniarck. wlm was present, was not interested, but during the discii-si'm he linked up and a-ked: "Does anyone kiinw the Latin word for sausage';" " l-'aivinienlinn." said one: " Karr-itnen." -aid another, and I'.i-niarck. with a significant -mile, exclaimed: "Farcinientum nr farcinien. it is all the same to me.'' San-age was -ausagc. to ltismarck. whatever its name, and he had his Empire whatever it might be called.