AMONG HER OWN PEOPLE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 330, 23 January 1909, Page 3

AMONG HER OWN PEOPLE

UHE LIFE OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA AT SANDRLN'GHAM. (By Spencer Warren.) .' The Queen in London is a beautiful l»nd gracious lady, who imparts an indescribable charm U> royal and society functions; who thinks and works for the Ibinefit of the people; and who, when seed exists, grapples with that need >ith unerring tact and true womanly sympathy. ; Did not the Queen give her help when distress was rampant in the East End, and so set an example to the many iwho gladly followed? And has not her {Majesty again come forward in the hour of the people's distress and thought out gpd executed her beautiful photographic <eheine, whereby—as a result of the work jrf her own hands—multitudes of poor and afflicted persons will receive material benefit?

.' These are 'but two incidents culled from a large number spreading away over the forty odd years since Queen (Alexandra left the country of her birth ior the country of her adoption; they *re merely indicative of the lovingkindness which has dominated the .Queen's whole life and prompted deeds which have made her universally popular and beloved. LADY BOUNTIFUL. In London, the Queen thinks for the people, more or lwt collectively; at Kindringliaiu more or less individually; for as far as possible her Majesty doffs ier queenly state, dispenses with its inseparable formality, and becomes—one *ays it with all respect—the wife of a country gentleman, the lady bountiful of a handful of villages, in the houses of which she is a familiar and welcome figure, and wiiere. -her presence ever denotes the kindliest interest in the doings and 'happenings of the occupants. I That *hese are well cared for goes withoufb saying, and this is partly due to hep Majesty's womanly instinct of ;\vomanly requirements. Who does not Tememiber the prompt inquiry for cup-'■boat'-ds when the Queen .visited some iYiunty Council dwellings and found these useful fixtures altogether omitted? The necessity of detail is a strong point da her Majesty's plans for the comfort of others, and when the cottages on the Ba-ndringham estate were rebuilt she •had a large share in the suggestions •which were carried out with such happy leffect.

Be it said, moreover, that this rebuilding took place before even that of Sandringharn House, for when the Queen cams here as a young bride she was 'most earnest in her efforts and most lanxious to hurry forward the wishes of :her husband that all the old cottages {should be demolished and model dwellings take the place of thatch, bad ventilation, and general inconvenience and Idiscomfort. MODEL COTTAGES. ■! Cottages sprang up containing four or five rooms, fitted with cooking ranges and cupboards galore; surrounding them, a. quarter of an acre of. ground for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, with an outhouse for coal and wood storage, Iwhich also serves as a washhouse for jhbe women and a workshop for the men. i la nearly every cottage evidences of jormer royal visits and favors are plentiful; perhaps a tea-service which the Queen has given as a marriage present, lOr little gifts bestowed upon special occasions, either connected with* the royal (family or that of the cottager. Should Ithere be illness in any of these homes, ithe Queen is always ready with her sympathetic help and kindness. Many a Itime 'has she sat by the bedside of an invalid and quietly read or chatted brightly—in accordance with the condition of the patient—and often with jher own hands has administered little {delicacies which: she herself has provided, and generally taken with her, too. ' It is not only in the bestowal of gifts jthat the Queen has so much endeared Jierself to the people 1 surrounding her gates, for she has entered very truly into their joys and common lot of alt And the Queen's fondness for children is proverbial. Her Majesty has often taken a child upon her knee to nurse and amuse it, and has jbeea known to enter a house and take 8 crying infant from its cradle and poothe and hush it until its mother's return. i Her Majesty's birthday is a day of fcigM festival for the children, for in celebration of it she sends out invitations to tea to all of them. It is a redSetter dhy, one of the landmarks of a child's life. i

f < KOYAVPKESENCE. Time was when the Queen made it a want to be present throughout, handing round plates of cake and replenishing «ups with a business-like air. Now, however, her Majesty "looks in," taking due thought—in the midst of her pressing ttuties—of the faet that her presence ■gives an added zest to the children 3 tenioyment*- , , , , No one needs to be told that her Majesty is among the friendliest and fcomeliest ladie» in the land, and whale, waturnlly, she has not now the tune she (formerly had for visiting the cottages, srt the inhabitants are by no means lost Bight of. Many have been known from ■their ttrth up; the Queen has watehed their education in the splendid schools .which she and the King have been ra(rtvrnnental in providing - where tech-nioa-I training succeeds the elementary kind ite scholar* are turned out proper?y and equipped for the battle • ToW age* a"> Ulld Sandringham the ,j(jneen has always been a special fnend SnVmany a time has she sat and Sued to art auld wife's tales doing a bit of the old soul's knitting to occupy Ithe -time—for if there it oae thing the , Oneen cannot endure, it is i4leness. f "I rather pride myself on the way I knit," said her Majesty one day to one Mob old woman; "I have just made a hair for my husband, and"-here the ,«W was interrupted with a 'T)eary lie and do you knit his stockings? IWTeU, well, ma'am, it'» only if and y° u Mo makes the things a. knows the f«rmble 'oles the men do make m the and «ay-<rf **!&* bmong her people might be multiplied; todi her Majesty's real womanly kmdlihess expatiated upon for a limitless Ma"'joy and in sorrow she has been, and is, one with them all, and not only bt Sandringham, but throughout the (dominions, all classes of individuals will (hail her Majesty's natal day: me -(Queen! God bless her!"