A Lady's Letter. (Home Paper.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2185, 10 July 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Lady's Letter. (Home Paper.)

Friday, April3oth, was the privite view at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burling-ton-house. No vi-itors are admitted but by invitntion, the rtile in this pnvticular boing rigidly enfoiced. The handsome staircase lcadirifr to tho lobby above i* bauked with lovely flowers and palms, and the offioialu in their Ntmrlet robes of office btanding at tho head of tho stairs to receive the guests aud provide them with catalogues are an imposing feature of the fcene. The lines of carnages drawn up in tho large courtyard are significant of the influential folk admitted. Outsiders — that i", the uninvited public —look with euvious eyes ou the favoured few, who, ticket in naud. and conoious of their privilege, advance (straight to tho galleries to viow the works of art opened to general inspection on May 3rd. I spoke above of a "favoured few," but numbers are calculated by comparison ; 2,000 persons, 1 believe, visited the academy on Saturday, a much smaller number than usually attend the private view, and there was an absence, also, of many persons nearly always to be seen on this important occasion. Neither Mtsa Ellen Terry nor Mr Irving put in an appearance. Owing to his recent bereavement Lord Tennyson was absent. It was said that Madame Sarah Bernhardt was in the room, and I heard Sir Frederick Leighton inquiring for her, and saying he was going in search of her. Liter on I saw the President return alone, aud concluded that, in spite of the report, the lady must have changed her mind about coming. Nothing pew.that, so the erratic actress' friends and enemies would say. Indeed, it is' a point they are entirely agreed upon. But if one popular actress was prominent by her absence, another was decidedly conspicuous by her presence. There were many ladies of the dramatic profession in the galleries, iucludiujr Miss Fortescue, Mrs Bernard Beere, Mrs John Wood, Miss Marion Terry, and Mrs Lewis (late Kate Terry), said to have been possessed of histrionic talents certainly not surpassed, and by many it is averred not equalled, even by her sister, the famous Ellen. But the cynosure of all eyes, before whose claim to notice tho^e of divines, author*), lawyers, noblemen, poets, painters, journalists, and fellow-artists severally paled, was Mrs Langtry. I suppose it is the fashion to run after that lady, for there were dozens of prettier women in the room. Mi&s Fortescue, for mstau.ee. Her personal} attractions are now greatly in excess of those of her older rival. Indeed, if Mrs Langtry had not former history and prestige to support her *he certainly would not excite the flutter her presence creates. Still, Mrs Langtry's taste in dress used to be remarkable for its neatuess and elegance. Now ! ! ! I hope my readers observe these notes of exclamation ; were there twice as many they wuuld fail to express the amazement most people felfc when Mrs Lantry's apparition — rather a substantial one, by the way — bur-t upon our astonished vision. I will endpavour to describe tho hideous costume nhe wore, like a faithful chronicler, •' nothing extenuating nor setting 1 down aught in malice." A short full undraped skirt of bright red t silk, vandyked'at the edge and showing below a narrow balayeuse of green satin. Reaching to tho knee? was au overskirt^'of emerald greenj velvet, above which Mrs Langtry wore a tijrhtfitting: jacket of the Mnine coloured velvet, flecked, or more correctly described as barred, with red velvet. Th' 1 bars were about the width of a fine straw, and were arranged in groups of] graduated lonsrth 4*4 * ou certain pares of the jacket. I noticed them on the sleeves, extending from .>houlders to wrists, and, at regular di*ttnees, placed lengthwise on the jacket basque, which basque w.is exceedingly lonur, only showing a bit of the upperskirt of srreen velvet. The ba>que was also rather full. The bonnet wliL.h crowned the whole w.is worthy the rest of the attire. It was a shaded green straw, each plait outlined with shaded green beads. The rest of the trimming consisted of three scarlet feathers in the immediate front, supported hy a bi^ bow of green ribbon. As usual, Mrs Langtry wore her hair in a catosjan, that is hangiug down her back. It was, I noticed, tied with a watered bhacU ribbon. I wonder it had not been red or green instead. Though not by any means unattended, I noticed a falling oft' in the number of the masculine admirers who were wont to crowd about Mrs Langtry. More than once I saw her crossing some of the rooms alone. Once I observed her talking with a son-in-law of Sir Everett Millais ; afterwards she was joined by the editor of the Era, the well-known organ of the dramatic world. I heard that Mrs Langtry's costume came direct from Paris. It may have done so, it may have emanted from the ntehcrs of M. Worth himself, but it was ugly and outre in the fxtreme, and a dress atrocity of the moft daring kind. It was not even becoming to Mrs Langtry. The fact that, a j style or colonr is becoming to the wearer j often iv uense justifies what would otherwise bfafligrint offence agiiuat goud taste and propriety. Mrs Bernard B a ere, who, by thp w»y, this week has had a favourable opportunity of impioviug her oopy of Sarah Bernhardt, wore a self-looking costume of mouse-c >loured cord de la reine, a kind of corduroy, hut of softer and more pliable texture. The front of the hkirt was draped with silk, an 1 there wa« a long, loosr waistcoat of the Mine falhn.r iv very full folds under the op n, loose fronts of the dress-jacket. This waistcoat did not reach below the wai*t, utter rhe'f afhion so long patronised by Mrs Bernard Beere. A wide sc-trf of silk was fold d round the waint, just as th^ native^ of Ar i bia arrange their waist belts, and wli^re they stow away purt-e, dagger, and other small belongings. The well- known actress might have used her waist belt for a similar purpose, and itoccurredlto me Mrs. Bernard Beere must have been attending the lectures given by the Rational Dresp Association, for no ono could say her waist was injuriously compressed. A large hat of irregular shape, shaded by plumes of soft in ou>p -coloured feathers, was a suitable head-dres-. In lieu of other neck trimming, IV T rs. Bernard Beere wore a Liberty »«ilk mouse-coloured handkerchief, twisted in aitisMc fashion round the throat aud fastened with a metal clasp just below one ear. Compared with Mrs Langtry, I thought her dramatic H.stor looked in every way more ladylike, and certainly better dressed, but both the ladies are decidedly rotmd-shouldered.

New Torpedo IJovts for Russia.— A corresponded writes :— " Four new torpedo boats, constructed by Schichau, of Elbing } have just been delivered to the Russian Government. These boats are stated to be remarkable for their speed and the saving of fuel effected. During their recent trials the speed contracted for was considerably exceeded. The first boat, during six hours' steaming averaged 22"24 knots an hour. The results of the the speed triais of tho seeoari and third boats have not been published, but the performance of the fourth boat is stated to have been very remarkable. The boat had on board a crew of 18 men, coals for a run ot 1200 miles, and 145 tons of ballast, and yet she attained, during a three hours' run, an average speed of 21 G knots, the maximum speed reached during an hour's steaming being 23 knots, the highest ever recorded. It will be seen that at present Russia possesses the fastest torpedo boat afloat ; but there is every probability that she will not be in that exceptional position for very long. The Spanish Government have just contracted with Yarraw and Co. for the construction of two torpedo boats of the Falke (Austrian) type, the speed of which in fighting trim, carrying" 17 tons on Kutird, is Kiiarant'-vd it -3 Lnjfcs, and when, rupujn^ liglit fctyOte."