A QUESTIONABLE PRACTICAL JOKE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1597, 21 June 1887, Page 4

A QUESTIONABLE PRACTICAL JOKE.

One of the London society papers prints an elaborate story concerning the unhappy adventures of the wife of an alleged Chicago pork butcher in her efforts to enter the inner set at Marlborough House.! As the story goes, this ambitious woman * was very rich and had an endless amount of diamonds and pocket money. It is said that she began operations,by making direct overtures to a titled young matron prominent at the Marlborough House entertainments and standing high on the list of divinites at the new club. This society matron was known in story as L-ady B. Lady B. received endless invitations to dinner from Mrs Chicago, but all of those invitations were declined. After a time Lady B. made a wager with a very high personage—understood to be tbe Prince of Wales—that she would put an end to the invitations and at the same time rid herself of the importunities of Mrs Chicago. The. next invitation Mrs Chicago sent to -Lady B. -to’ dinner was accepted. On the day before the dinner Mrs Chicago’s cook left her but a new one applied for the place, and as she was recommended by ;ah intimate friend of Lady B.’s, was accepted. The day of the, dinner came,; but with .it there did not come the honored guest. After waiting for over half an, hour, the moitided hostess sat down to a delicious dinner with hep i expectant #rd disappointed friends. At ; the cloee of the dinner there came thd piece of startling Dews that the cook had disappeared and had left up«n the dressingtable a -note which read as 'follows ; “Lady B. presents her compliments to Mrs Chicago, and hopes the dinner gave satisfaction.” It was then discovered that it had been part of the wager and joke of Lady B. to play tbe part of tbe cook for Mrs Chicago, and to display the culinary education received by her at the South Kensington School of Cookery. This is regarded as a very clever joke, but it would appear from the story that the vulgarity was not all on the side of the self-reeking Mrs Chicago.