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AN AUSTRALIAN SALON.

Tlie promise of a "political salon" in Melbourne raises, at ih'st mention (s'ays the Australasian), a vision of Paris gowns and -brilliant chandeliers: soft music in o;ic room; in another, the pretty sister of »i diplomat learning military secrets from a major-general sufliciently advanced in the service to have attained seniority and avoirdupois'; while the hostess, with a pair of level eyebrows ami a cup of colfee, is mesmerising the Prime Minister into an exposition, for her ears alone, of his iuture .policy. We perceive that the Melbourne salon cannot be like that of the ancient French noblesse, but more like those which gaily sprang up aft'e* the fall of Robespierre; wit, wealth, and beauty being more necessary qualifications for leadership than Merovingian ancestry. The salons Eecamier, Tallian, and de Stael gave Paris a sub- ■ stitute for the guillotine; the persiflage of witty tongues did more serious harm to the .Revolution than the axes of the. Reign of Terror to the arrogant ruling classes. The fiercest Jacobins could be chastened and tamed. Lady Best, who 19 about to form a political salon "in a Email way," is not prepared as yet to dispute the palm with Recamicr'or de Stael; we are told that her salon will lie for women only, and that it will provide "a musical programme interspersed with the discussion of current polities" 1 —a statement of agenda which has a decided Uavor of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. A s'alon for women only, with even the worthy Senator Sir Robert Best interdicted in his mvn home, has not a very piquant sound. One would rather sec Lady Dest and her salon-sisters more ambitious: behold '•bein at the work of lion and tiger laming; repealing the debounair gaiety bidden in Sir William Lyne, or bringing the Scotch joke to Mr. Andrew Fisher's stern lips. However, as Rockefeller remarked when he saved his lirst fifty dollars, small things grow. The Czar and the Kaiser may yet have cause to remember the foundation of Melbourne salons.

•Thc_ marriage of Lord Dalnieny has ® practii-ally n'duced tlie list of ''matri- r monial catches" of noteworthy rank anil 0 wealth to four—namely, Lord Howard 4 de Walden, the Marquess of Anglesey, c the Duke of L'einster, and Earl Percy. S The first-named is perliaps tlie biggest S "catch," his reputed income being i £200,000 a year, although had the C Druee ease gone against him it might S not have been two thousand. The liar- C qucss of Anglesey's income is said to be V XMO.OOO a year, while the youngest ? peer on the list of eligiibles, the' Duke of < Leinster, although not so rieh, has a S tylcndid position anil a magnificent title. 5 A pretty little story of the baby ? Princess of Holland etimes from The S Hague. A sergeant doing sentry-duty r at the gate leading from the palace gur- s den saw tile approach of a, white .pcram- ) bulator pushed by a nurse. Suddenly r ■ realising that it was the little Pri-ces's S ' Juliana taking he r first airing, lu came 5 to attention and presented anus, al- C though the Princess slumbered on un- J conscious of the honor. In tho after- 5 i:oon tlie sergeant was summoned by $ Prince Henry, who told him that lie 5 had seen tlie salute from his window, c that he had noticed tile soldier's mo- < ment of hesitation and his subsequent 5 salute, and presented him with a bank- 4 note to provide hims'clf with some < souvenir of liis liist salute of ller Koval Highness, According to a Home paper, a good many men are now wearing gold bangles, but above I lie elbow instead of at the wrist, and this fashion is in favor specially among engaged couples. The King, though very quiet in his tast'j lor jewellery, lias since his' marriage worn a gold -bangle on his wrist. His wedding ring has his consort's name engraved inside it. All the sons of Queen Victoria followed the fashion, more usual abroad than in England among men, of wearing wedding rings. The Queen does not care much for rings, but she had a fancy for the lockets' and pendants which were in vogue in her girlhood. liy tlie way, it is interesting lo remember ller presents lo Irer bridesmaids look the form of ioekels in crystal, set with pink pearls and diamonds', and made from a design ly the King's sister, the late Princess s Alice. Kvcn walking round the world (says the Waivarapa Times) loses its charm under certain circumstances. A professional tourist of the pedestrian type who recently pass'cd through -Mastcilon, i, the hero of many a stirring episode and ), a stalwart specimen of humanity, has found his most vulnerable part lo be iiis heart, and, 'powerless to fend off 5, I. lipid's darts, is said to have abandoned s his world-jaunt and all thoughts of the big wager and the fame that might have Lccn his. lie had not got far from Has'tcrton. before he was seized with an d irresistible desire to turn back, for it was in this (own that the mysterious force that sways mankind upset all his | reconceived plans. The remainder of ct the walking tour is now in the air, as it were, and the expectant public must wait with patience for s'onie other pedestrian 'enthusiast to put up a record for circuiuambulation. As to the special circumstances attending the sudden abandonment of Ihc •walking lour, it is not for us to say just now, but must I leave it to the, future to develop, which [ ,t promises to do in a somewhat ronuin-' tic fashion, a wedding ring probably' " playing a prominent and pleasing part therein.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19090719.2.3

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 147, 19 July 1909, Page 1

Word count
Tapeke kupu
956

AN AUSTRALIAN SALON. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 147, 19 July 1909, Page 1

AN AUSTRALIAN SALON. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 147, 19 July 1909, Page 1

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