WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 103, 9 August 1910, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

THE QUEEN'S LADIES. Just now a good deal of interest is being evoked in the future entourage of Queen Mary (says .a London writer), and various names have been brought forward as likely to represent those who will hold office. The Queen-Mother, until the death of Queen Victoria, as Princess of Wales, had a very small household. She had three Ladies of the Bedchamber, three Women of the Bedchamber, and a private secretary. In addition, an extra 'Lady of the Bedchamber and Woman of the Bedchamber held appointments and were ready to attend whenever their services were required. Although several changes had to be made in order to arrange a dual establishment for the King and Queen, those who had attended the Princess of Wales at Marlborough House were re-iappoirited to similar posts, in addition to the new officials who belonged to her new status as Consort.

The Queen .has an entirely separate establishment to the King. In the last reign those who held office consisted of a Lord Chamberlain, Vice - Chamberlain, Treasurer, (Private Secretary and Equerry. In addition, Queen Alexandra appointed four Ladies of the Bedchamber, in addition to four Maids of Honor. Other official positions are those of Clerk, Groom, and' Clerk of the Robes. One of the first appointments was that of Lord Gosford as Vice-Chamberlain to the Queen's Household. The duties of this office are in some ways familiar to that of her Lord Chamberlain, whom he is expected to relieve and assist on aJI State occasions. The regulation of the Queen's Household comes a great deal under M 9 jurisdiction, while on the occasion of any great function, he is. actually in attendance on the Queen herself.

The post of Mistress of the Robes, which has been held for so many years by the Duchess of Buccleuch, is another appointment of great importance. On State occasions she is in close attendance on the Queen, while at the Coronation much ceremonial falls to her share. It used to be imagined that the Mistress of the Robes was in reality entitled to claim various prerogatives at the Coronation. The robes themselves were popularly supposed to be hers by right, to be kept as a memento'of the occasion, although it is extremely doubtful whether any holder of the office would have urged her claim. Several of Queen Victoria's suite held office again under Queen -Alexandra, Among these were Lady Antrim and Edith Lady Lytton, While Lady Suffield, who became another of the Queen's ladies, had held 'Royal appointmex ts since 1873. The Dowager Countess of (Morton and the Countess of Macclesfield, who were extra Ladies of the Bedchamber, dated their appointment at Court from as long ago as the marriage ot •their Royal mistress. A queen regent is always provided with eight maids of honor, and a queen consort wjth four, who undertake their duties for three months at a time.

(According to old custom, the ladies of the Queen's 'Household have always *wom a distinguishing badge of office. That this was the case in the days of Queen Anne we know from the fact that Sarah , Jennings took care to anange that her Royal mistress should provide her with some particular marked distinction. She wore a key as insignia, the symbol denoting the importance and dignity of her position. In later years the.wearing of the gold key of office is a privilege only granted to the Lord Chamberlain when on official duty. Queen Victoria provided her' ladies with badges containing portraits of herself. In the case of the Ladies of the Bedchamber, a cameo ,was .presented. to each on her appointment. These badges were suspended from a bow of white ribbon, and were worn on all; great occasions. Maids of Honor received a small medaWiom containing the Queen's likeness, while, they wore on the shoulder a ■bow of bright red ribbon. , , , Court appointments bear with them special rank when women are concerned, although those Maids of Honor who are invited to take official posts are usually already of importance. Maids of Honor, moreover, often possess rank on tkeir own account, and by their birth are entitled to a higher position than they acquire by l - ight of office. They rant, according to tables of precedence, after the daughters of barons, and before wives of Knights of the Garter. In addition, they receive the courtesy title of "Hon- | orable" which they are privileged ,to ;bear for life. f Queen Mary has had her own house; ' hold since her marriage, although as • Duchess of Cornwall and York, and later ; as Princess of Wales, considerable addi- ! tions were made to her original suite at the time of her marriage. Her personnel consisted of a chamberlain—a jiost filled by Lord Shaftesbury—a private secretary, an equerry, and a physician, in addition to 'the ladies of. her household. These were represented by Lady Airlie, Lady Shaftesbury, and Lady Lamington, who held positions of Ladies of the Bedchamber, while Lady Bradford represented an extra lady whose service could be called upon if required. Lady Eva Dugdaie and Lady Mary ftorbes-Trefusis were her Women of the Bedchamber, in addition to Lady Katherine Coke and Lady Bertha Dawkins. A HOSE FESTIVAL. Twenty miles of streets were stravn with rose petals in Portland, Ore., last month. A carnival procession marched along those twenty miles. There were girls wearing wreaths of roses in place of bats; horses almost completely hidden beneath 'blankets of roses; and floats on which roses were displayed in masses. The fronts of the buildings along the route were decorated in the same way. Portland seems to offer the queen of flowers a more congenial climate than any other city am the world. Roses grow high andl bloom abundantly and long. Instead' of being! coddled garden pets, as I in the neighborhood of New York, they flourish in every dooryard, and are thei

•faithful family shrubbery, the hedge that never fails, the climber that does its. full duty by ugly architecture. Portland celebrates its good fortune every year with a festival.

There was a big rose show in the armory, and a bigger one on the streets. To assemble the flowers, the help of the street companies was enlisted. People having roses to contribute were requested to tie thorn in bundles and lay them by the car tracks. Trolley cars bound towards the centre of the city collected millions of roses in this manner from all the outlying districts. Blossoms which were not fresh enough for exhibition or decoration purposes were used to strew the streets.

The festival committee ran a special rose train of five cars, visited all parts of the city with it, and collected tons of blossoms.

The formal exhibit in the armory was a magnificent sight; but the most interesting awards were made for bushes growing in people's yards. A man who got a first prize in one district had a hedge of 110 Frau Karl Druschkis. The Drusohki ia a snow-white rose which averages five inches in diameter. As the bushes cannot be planted closer than four feet apart, the man's hedge must have been nearly 500 feet long. Growing as high as his head and covered with snowy blossoms, it captured the award without any denials. In February, in response to a request from the people of Portland, many foreign countries sent rose bushes from abroad and planted •them outside the consulates in Portland. 'Mos 1 . of these were in bloom for last month's festival. REFORMED DRESS. dreats is) on its way, •ladies. According to the latest advices, it is not to conform exactly to those lines which made by-gone reforms incriminating to their adopters. You will remember that there was a time when the lady of untrammelled figure and free gait, whose gown hung from the shoulders, cleared the ground, and was cut in one piece, was supposed to be a late survivor from Brook Farm and addicted to a fruitarian diet. There are to be no more mistakes of that kind, even though the reformed costume is to be essentially different from the ordinary one. That is to say, it "must hang from the shoulders and 'be wholly unstiffened by whalebone, buckram or steel." Simplicity is to be the aim, "and the softly falling material from neck to hem is unrelieved." Further particulars are vouchsafed, telling dark secrets as to other details which are not to meet the eye; but to pry into what shall be "beneath this free and amtrammelling won" were too daring an adventure. But to the male eye the female form divine will look sweet in any gown. The male mind, however, is not above learning what it is in the Frenchwoman, or; the lady of iSpain, or the feminine Slav which is the secret of each one's distinc- \ tive charm. All the laws, it appears, for American women as for others, are laid down in Paris by four «r five almighty courturieris who wield the sceptre of fashion. All that the Viennese dame, or| the Russian belle, or the member of the "Four Hundred" can do is to interpret those laws in the terms of her own individuality. The Frenchwoman, for example, is an adept ia contriving that the colors she wears shall match her complexion and hair; and the women of other lands have each their own trick for heightening their charms. The Spanish women wear a mantilla not because it is a concession to national custom, but because they hold their hair and eyes to be their most valuable assets, and hence do . not intend to hide them ■under a lat. On the ofter hand, the Slav charm consists, in,."a certain slo,w. languid and sinuous motion suddenly followed by nervous starts." In fact, a snakelike fascination, which Mme. Nazimova always trys to project over the footlights no matter what role she is playing. No one seems able to dejjine the charm of the German woman, which wpuld seem to imply that she has not yet got out of the stage of resembling a sack of potatoes loosely tied round the middle. INDUSTRIES OPEN TO GIRLS. A glance at the industries open to girls who are compelled by their circumstances to leave school at the average age of 14, does not reveal a very cheerful prospect, notes a writer in the London DaMy Telegraph. In choosing a career it is natural for the boy, if possible, to select a trade or business in which he hopes to make progress, so that by the time he reaches middle-age he may have secured some improvement in his position, even may have risen to something very much better than ever he could hope to attain in early days. For a girl, with rare exceptions, there exist no such possibilities. The fact must be taken into account that, the girl, as she stands before us to-day, declines to enter into domestic service until legislation improves matters. Even if she does marry, she professes a contempt for the cares of a household, so that domestic work need mot be studied. ¥et this is the only sphere of life into which a girl of 14 or 15 may enter and where even without capital and with very I modest education she has fair chances of I making a satisfactory career. A giri| taking service va a good house under am upper miaid may specialise, so that by l the time she has reached the age of 25! or 30, she is fitted to fill a first-class position in any household. Apart from this domestic specialisation, there does not appear to be much change for thej girls defined as lacking capital and education. With fewi exceptions, a pound a week is the maximum wage for other girl workers, ottering do possibilities of self-teaching, of gaining special knowledge or training, or indulging any ambitions, so that by the time a woman is 50 she is abut fulfilling the same duties as she did at 15, with no prospects of advance. The 'domestic servant of 50, who has made a success of her occupation as nursemaid, of her cooking, her laundry work, or whatever it may be, ig upper maid, she has saved something, or she may be confidential maid, prized in a large household of young people who would never permit any misfortune

to come to "Nurse" or "Cook," or to the special attendant of some beloved parent. SMUGGLED FINERY. Pandemonium reigned at the Customs House, saya the New York correspondent of the Daily Mail, when several thousand pounds' worth of confiscated; Parisian gowns which wealthy New York ladies had vainly endeavored to smuggle into the United States, were sold (by auction. While the smugglers were weeping tears of mortification, a turbulent crowd of fashionable women, dressmakers' agents, and girl clerks, surged in the Customs House.intent on securing bargains. Through the hubbub and wrangling the auctioneer, Mr. Henkel, roared. Ladies—ladies! Please remember you are ladies!" but could not diminish the uproar. Very few bargains were secured. , Two ladies,- disgusted at their failure to obtain at a reasonable price some Princess gowns and goats of grey pongee, pushed their way past me to the door, saying,, better than any bargain sale!"' The moment they left a third lady triumphantly secured a charming) lace blouse, slightly soiled, for four shillings. 'Several gowns brought as much as £3O apiece, nearly half their cost in Paris. It is worthy of note that the country mansion at Featherson, Wairarapa, which (Lord Islington has secured for his week-end residence, was completed only about four years ago. The contract took about twelve months to complete, the building containing thirty rooms, elaborately finished, and electric lighting service is fitted throughout. The grounds, with well-grown avenues of trees, lengthy drives and walks beneath their shade, give quite an Old Country air aboii'!; this fine habitation.