LORD STAMFORD'S WIVES

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1347, 7 April 1883, Page 3

LORD STAMFORD'S WIVES

The recent death of Lord Stamford recalls the romances of.his. marriages.. His first wiiswitlv'the'pretty: daughter of i(n inn-keeper near Cambridge, criicted whilehe'was'auniversity man, ; One of his college mates,' who stood up with hiiii; saidi' ,( i for thejbar, and iny'groonHvasa candidate fori the-,,,bar-maid.^,,The v fivefc Lady; .was sensible enough to livoretiredly.at-their, country seat' Not so, Kitty'(Jocks' of London, who,' on i tho death of number,,one, that' eix ; ,'altor her matrimonial prize, became' Lady, Stamford number' two," She was 'bold, dashing and clever, but unablo to meet'the requirements necessary for presentation at Court. She however, became tho rage with the club men, who -always," treated : her as she demanded to be treated, with, courtesy, rather easily and informally, perhaps, at limes,. but with a courtesy'that walked, the line of respect. ; Indeed, in time, she'won upon the dames so that Lord and Lady Stamford, within the i past twenty years, never;wanted for I' the ''best of guests at their home in town or city. ' Soon after their marriage, Kitty,' Lady Stamford, rented a i box-attheoper'a.from Mitchell, the great Bond street agent in opera privileges, With characteristic pluck sho insisted .on,.having; and for a round sum ob--taihed, the" box adjoining the royal box. For some time Queen Victoria did not attend,, and meanwhile, as indeed always, Lady Sfcamford'sbox was thronged with noblemen and "swells." lliis,- and* my lady's stylish beauty, attracted tho attention of the Queen when she-did attend, aha'df course the womanly, question soon arose," Who is my fair'neighbor?" It was then learned that Lady Stamford had never been presented, and, of course, it was not on the'palace cards that the Queen could attend with my lady next door. An equerry tried to arrange the dilemma with Mitchell, who was' dumbstricken, forhe had all the best boxes and seats on his hands, and if Her Majesty withdrew herself, how could it be-"Her Majesty's Opera House 1" Mitchell 'went to my Lord, who laughed at him. So did.my Lady, who assured ■him that sho-went to hear 'the opera and see her friends, and cared not a rose diamond worth whether the Queen came or not. And come that winter the .Queen would not, and Mitchell was nearly ruined. But the story got about, and my Lady became in her set more popular than ever. And now, as dowager (and, indeed, as the only Lady Stamford), for the heir is a widower, she becomes more popular than ever.— Boston Advertiser.

_ Shocking cases of the unhealthy precocity in Australian children are reported by tho Sydnoy Eyoning News. Firstly, two sisters, of thirtee'n.and fifteen yoara respectively, have* beon committed for trial-at.Eockliamptpn for murdering.the .new-born iiifunt of tho eldest girl, under peculiarly lovolfing and cold-blooded bireonißtances. Again; two other sisters, whoso ayes were reported to be only eleven and sixteen, had to be " sent up" from the Sydney Police Court for uttering base coin, with all the cunning and cool effrontery of practical counterfeiters. And, Inst, but not least, a Pamimatla boy of three summers, who acquired a tas'o for spiritouous liquoi'i owing lo the encouragement and tuition of an indulgent 'father, unearthed a bottle of rum in his parents' house, and in order to saiisfy an artificial craving for the fire water, drank three ounces of alcohol, aud died.

"A new comet" is announced by the Lyttleton Times in a recent issue. It seems .that one evening lately just after dark' several little' knots' of Ashburton citizens vere liweand there observable fixedly gazing skyward. Away up in the sky was to be scon a luminons body which a section of the citizens stoutly asseverated was a comet. Ithad no tail, and it oxhibited a characteristic: no comet ever showed before by moving, from side to stlie with a gentle oscillatory motion, and could not be kept steadily in focus by the telescope. It .displayed itself for iialf-an-hour, when Johnny Smith's father ordered the boy home and took the comet with him, It was a Chinese lantern at the tail of the boy's kite. Once more a child's ingenuity has been too much for the elders' perceptive faculties,