AIX-LES-BAINS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2017, 11 June 1885, Page 4

AIX-LES-BAINS.

Al\ lks Bains, in Savoy, .it which beautiful Continental ictif.it the Queen of England hns been spending :i few dajs, nny be reaohe 1 within a di) fioin Pans, tlio't^h' nunj tiawllers piefer to make a plta-mio ot ti is filing, and pau«e on then way at Dijon l<oid Leamington Allots ashoit time sure a poetic description of tlic beauties of Aix-les-Bains, of Hie sin rounding country, and of the pictuit"-(|iie Annecy. He dwells on tlie lmtoncil associations connected witli Chamheiy, which is within an attainable distance. To quote his words, " Chambe"ry is the birthplace and capital of the moat ancient so\ ereign family in Europe The greatness of the House of Savoy was established not less than 800 years since, and, timing the last eight centuries, through every vicissitude of fortune — such as brought it at times to the veigo of ruin — it has gone on steadily, gaining power and influence, until Victor Amadous became King of Sardinia in 1720 ; and now that the destinies of the house have culminated in the sovereignty of Italy, the Savoy family are remai liable for two circumstances — for the number of treaties they have made, always to their advantage and aggrandisement, and also fbr the number of the sovereigns who have abdicated." Three classes of visitors are to be found at the Aix hotels. It is practically the Btarting point for the journey through tho tunnel into Italy. One express from Paris arm es at Aix at night, another at 9 a.m. The hotels aie full of tiavellers, who arrive in the evenini;. and start refreshed in the morning. Then, too, Aix is fashion able— fashionable and very exclusive. There is a well known Fiench Baroness w ith an Italian title who owns a beautifnl villa there, and twice a year makes the place wonderfully gay and brilliant. These seasons arc very short. The possibilities of the place would not stand a long siege. The gaiety is condensed. The little Establissement is very full, the card tables are crowded, and gambling brisk and heavy. There are a few bills and concerts, a /( tc, and then the season is over. It is needless to say that this is not Her Majesty's attraction to Aix. And then theie are the baths. Aix is a hot place. Most mineral baths have their season in July and August, when the sun is hottest, and when Parliaments have ceased to sit ; but Aix is so hot that its season is eaily — the beginning of April to the end of September Bulling is no ioke at Aix les-Bains. It is a vtiy different story to the pleasant strolling under the lindens at Homburg, while the band plays and the French and English newspapers are hawked about It «a very serious work The doctoi, appointed by the Govern nient, certifies what force and heat of water you can stand. One of the vooins is not inappropriately .styled lionche d'Jiif'i, and you go down and submit to some very rough rubbing, which leaves >ou so puiiUhetl that you aic carried home in a sedan chair, packed in blankets, and spend a good part of the daj in bod, till you recover your strength and attack your rVjnnm . But Him Maj°sly's doctors decided that this tieit muit ib not neee.-sary for their patient, and cci tainly if it is not neeess.uy it is not (U «ii able. Aix les Bains has vet} beautiful set ncr}'. Theie are association* with Rousseau, Lanuntine and Bal/.ic. Ihe litt'e town ii uglj —dusty, the climate disagreeably w.nm and muggy.

Countf<sS : "I told you expressly to paint the chamber blood colour, and you have made it blue ' I'aintir : "I hcg your pinion I thought the gracious couutcss had blue blood." A Hh,ic oh Oui RifHMONn.— A building of some little historical interest has 1 itely passed away. The old theatre at the corner of Richmond Green, the bonds of which wne so often tiodden by Edmund Kean, Mis .lonian, MrsSiddons, and Chailes Miithiws the elder, and where George 111 and Queen Charlotte so often occupied the Royal box while they were In ing in theii fa\onnte palace at Kew, has been levelled with the ground, a lai ge poi tion of its old materials being used to widen the roadway, which was dangerously nairow at this spot The theatre, as we leain from "Greater London," was built in 1706, under the Btipciintendence of Garrick, for his relati\e, James Dance, the " Falstaff ' of his day. In this theatre Charles Mathews made his (hbut, and it was in a room adjoining the theatie that Edmund Kean breathed his last. The building was closed some years ago, and foi a long time before its demolition it was the picture of desolation, its windows being broken, and its old porch blocked and boarded up A part of the site is to be utilized for building put poses. The removal of the theatre has brought to light a si ill more ancient relic— namely, a part of the outer wall of the old l'alace of Sheen, with an octagonal tower, of early Tudor date, corie3ponding in size and appearance with another octngonal tower at the opposite or southern end of the palace, wliuli was ienio\cd within the „,, ..,« rv of t, MiC o f the older inhabitants of Richmond. A Turui-iNd Lh:\cy — A foitiinc of £4,000,000 in England awaits settlement. John Taylor died at Birmingham in J B/57. havinc his propel ty to tw o nieces, the Misses la'iciwood, of Hpaimgdtn, and Ina nephew, r ohn Seddon, of Black Lane, Claience-street, Bolton, and his niece. According to the terms ot the will, the testator desired his estate should be put in the administration of the Court of Chancery until ISSI, the rents during that peiiod to be applied to paying off mortgages, so that the property might pass unencumbered into the hands of the heirs, .lobn Seddon died a year after the large fortune had been bequeathed to him in the Bolton Workhouse in the mo-t abject poveity, leaving no IS3UC. The two nieces arc still alive, and they, to>jethei with the nephews and nieces of John Seddon, are endcuvouiing to bring about a division of the money, As John Seddon had nine bi others and sisters, six of whom named and had families, it mn\ be imagined that the next of kin ai«' |>i<tfy tiiime.ioiia, but the «dnre— £'2,ooo,ooo -which would go to this branch would be a windfall even though it be divided up in many poition«. They aie nil m humble ciiciim'-taiices in life some being in fnrtoiu 8 The estate vill probably be m ttlcd in a few months, Abri-astofthk Tnirs —The ti nth of the saying that a demand always follows the supply hasiecoivcd its bteial demonstiation in the inventian of a clever Fienchman. Knowing the weakness of a certain cla^R of his conntiy women for vitriol as a means of attack or defence, as the case may be, this chemist has in Aented a pomade whuh is adveitised as a "collodion ointment, of which a thin coating will cover will cover the skin of the face with a Him glazing, on which titriol has no effect. In our age of statues and monuments the man who has thus snatched her most formidable weapon out of the hands of the vindictive Fspnchwoman ought surely to be numbered among the elect whose memory is preserved in marble, bion/e, or stonp. But before the statue is erected the Pall Mall Gazette suggests that the efficacy of his nostrum should be put to the proof upon the inventor's own peison. Yes ! It is certainly true. A*k any of your friend* who have purchased there. Gnrlick and Cranwell have numerous unnsked for and very favourablu commendations from country customer* on their ex< ellent packing of Furniture, Crockery, and Glass, &c. Ladies any gentlemen about to furnish should remember that Garlick and Cranwcll's is Tin Cheap Furnishing Warehouse of Auckland. Furniture to suit all classes ; also Carpets, Floor Cloths and all House Necessaries. If your new house is nearly finished, or, you are going to get married, visit Garlick and Cr^iiwelJ, Qui'cn-street and Lome-street, Auckland. Intending purchasers can have a catalogue ten free. Morat I URPiTiinp — Hlnme attaches to a jurj of intelligent men when they condemn .» man for ( rune whose mor.il nature hn* been liervcrled by indigestion, diseased liver anil ;idnejs A thoughtful judge may well consider whether society would not be better served hy ordering a bottle of American Co's Hop Bitters for the unfortunate in the dock instead Of j ears of penal Mrrltudt. Read..