Tho person who can least spare it is often most willing to give others a piece oi her mind. do ■*.

It is not the lot of many to leave such a gap as the late Mrs. T. W. Hislop has done. Quito apart from the enormous amount of work she carried out in connection with her position as Mayoress, and, with the many societies in which she took a keen and practical part, she exerted a great influence among her friends, who to-day are mourning the loss of hor sympathy, kindness, and ever-ready help. Visitors to her home will ever remember how Mrs Hislop would guide the talk —in place of idle chatter —into deeper channels of women's work and aims, of politics and of the uplifting of humanity, which she had co keenly at heart. They went away better for the bright, shrewd, kindly words of their hostess. The last remembrance most of us saw of her was on the occasion of the presentation, and there her indomitable pluck and determination triumphed over her physical weakness. She spoke strong words, and to-day they are being recalled by many. The club she longed to see established & an accomplished fact, though it will never welcome her, who, in her last public utterance, committed it as a charge to the women of Wellington. The city has lost a very noble woman, and in a very large circle there is a gap it will bo impossible to fill. Mrs. Grace and Mrs. Dalziel Eire visiting Masterton. Mrs. Kelling, from Nelson, arrived on Saturday, and is staying with her daughter, Mrs. F. R. Mabm, at Creswick. Mrs. Blandford, from Wanganui, is staying at Miss Malcolm's, on the Terrace. Mrs. Walter Nathan and the Misses Nathan are expected back from Sydney to-morrow. Miss Bertha Miles leaves on Friday week for Australia. She will stay with friends near Fremantle. Miss Attkin, sister of Mrs. Stephens, has left for Waipiro, Gisborne m?s Talbot, who is general secretary •2 Victoria League, is on her way irom London to Australia, where to be the guest of the Governor- 1 Gcural. She will visit Dunedin beforo coming to Wellington, which she reaches on the 3rd of January. She is most interested in our branch of the Victoria League, and is keen to meet its members. Mrs. Speedy, Mrs. Fenwick, and Mrs. Jutt, of Featherston, and Mrs. and Miss Sellar, from Masterton, are in town. The Rev. Mr. Fancourt and his bride have been at Waikanae, and leave next Saturday to stay with Mrs. Nevins, at Tenui. A delightful dance was given by the Wellington Physical Training School Ladies Hockey Glub on Wednesday evening at the New Century Hall, which was charmingly decorated with soft draperies of blue and white, and baskets of cerise flowers. Cerise shaded lights lent a brilliant effect to a very pretty scene. The sleeves made to the latest evening gowns are transparent, short, and fall half-way between the shoulder and the elbow. They are either of tulle, embroidered in silver in a heavy design, or of finest lace. Jet evening frocks are justly still in favour, and a touch of colour is often seen in a scarf or a flower. Some jetted gowns are made with a high waistband, one long end at the back of a vivid-tinted satin. In some of the new art jewellery the gold and silver is blackened and set with extraordinary and unusual stones in cabochon form. The latest Parisian bodice for evening wear is at one side swathed with the material of the gown, the other consisting of pink satin veiled in pink tulle, fiving tho effect of a very low corsage. To sleeves are worn with this style, nothing but a roll of black and pink tulle on the shoulder. "The engagement of Miss Nona Telford, youpgest daughter of Mtb. Telford, of "Waimarino," Carterton, to Marryat Dugald Hornsby, only son of Mr. J. T. M. Hornsby, late M.P. for Wairarapa", is formally announced." The naming of twins was the subject of an amusing story told by Lady Balf our of Burleigh at the annual meeting of the Association for Promoting the Training and Supply of Midwives. "A friend of mine," she said, "had the good fortune —or misfortune —to have three sets of twins, and as each pair came the parents puzzled their brains to discover suitable names for them. The first pair, being girls, were called Kate and Duplicate; the second, a brace of boys, were named Peter and Bepeater; and the third, also boys, Max and Climax. But the question then arose : What if there should be a fourth, and even a fifth pair? A young lady solved the difficulty respecting the fourth by suggesting Ann and Another; while in the case of the fifth a well-known authoress came to the rescue by suggesting Hugh and Cry." A writer in an exchange advises that if you would preserve a fresh complexion be free, in your use of green vegetables, and especially at this time of the year eat plenty of salad. If you preserve your face from disfiguring lines avoid yielding to irritable moods and peevish tempers. These, if frequently indulged in, leave permanent traces of their handiwork. A favourite prescription of the fair dames of olden days for use upon the face was made as follows : —With an ounce of sheep's fat mingle an ounce of sweet oil and add to it a drop of the best attar of roses. Heat the two, ingiedients first mentioned well together and add the attar of roses when the mixture is very nearly cold. The gloves of the portly woman should De the colour of the parasol handle. A dark sunshade stick and dark handle and the long dark gloves make the arms look long.

" American society is a very badly ordered system; indeed, it has ended in being no system at all (an American millionairess told the New York correspondent of the Daily Mail). .Every one in it has an axe to grind, and is trying to get ahead of every one else. In England, on the other hand, social order is not questioned. This gives those living there a most restful feeling. At the same time, I am bound to Bay that a certain restlessness is creeping into English society also. This is the result of the influx, not of American millionaires, but of your own parvenus of enormous wealth. " It is most natural that the wealthy class of Americans should wish, to be'in England and should find in England their proper habitat, because they have been trained by English teachers and governesses from early youth. English training is the best in the world. Your English governesses are to be found in all parts df the world. They are, indeed, the greatest propagandists of English civilisation. Everybody likes to have an Englishwoman with their children. They are better disciplinarians than the women of any other nationality, and more successful in inculcating good manners. Their voices, too, are so charming. The vogue of the English governess has led to the children of the wealthiest Americans having English tendencies and sympathies. "As a mother with daughters to be launched, I would infinitely prefer to live in England. Presentation at Court is such an excellent send-off for one's daughters and opens up such delightful vistas to them. In this respect London appeals to me far more than Paris. As a nation the English are infinitely better maDnered than Americans. I would describe England as the place for young and old people, and Paris as the place for the middle-aged. The deference paid to older women in England is most charming." The reporter enquired why, if all this were felt to be true by great American ladies, more had not made their homes in England. "Even a millionaire," wa3 the reply, "has duties to perform at home."' Mme. Ada Crossley (writes the Daily Chronicle) has returned to London, and is full of her delightful experiences in Australia and New Zealand. The Maoris she found to be exceedingly kind, intelligent, and interesting, and the iuquisitiveness of their children much amused her. "Anything I wore that sparkled seemed to take their fancy, and though I travelled with little jewellery, I had to produce all I had to satisfy their curiosity. Some of these youngsters had remarkable voices, and one night I sat for two hours listening to them." Great gratification was created by the consent of Mme. Crossley, her husband, and the members of her concert party to be photographed in native costume, the faces of the gentlemen being decorated with imitation tattoomarks- Another notable reminiscence of the tour is the reception at the Sydney Town Hall, when the gifted finger shook hands with no fewer than four thousand persons. "I had a stiff arm afterwards," she said. Lyme Regis Church, which, like many another building in that quaint old Dorset seaport, is in danger of slipping into tho waves, has comparatively little of interest for tourist or townsman to loiter over. Its most remarakble memorial is the stained glass window to Mary Arming. This was the schoolgirl who, in 1811, disturbed tho long rest of tho saurian monster—lcthyosarus Platydon. — whose remains now lie in the natural History Museum at South Kensington. As curious a find as any that evtr came to tho net of a child on the beach.. But Mary Arming ,(tho Daily Chronicle suggests) possibly had that sort of thing in her blood, for her father was tho proprietor of a curiosity shop. Overwhelmed with grief at the success of her action for divorce, Mrs. Delamontanya, of San Francisco, recently committed suicide. She obtained a final decree of divorce from her husband, _ whose second wifo she was, Sho was dining a day or two after \\ith Mm. Margaret Patton, an intimate friend, when a huge bunch of lilies arrived from her divorced husband, with a note wishing her good luck and happiness. "He's not such a bad follow after all," sho murmured, and a few moments later went into an adjoining room and shot herself. A number of New York women, headed by Miss Anne Morgan, havo established a restaurant at the Brooklyn na\y yard, which it is designed-to mako self-support-ing, where the mechanics and other labourers, as distinguished from tho sailors and marines of the navy, can go for their noonday meal. It is to furnish good and well cooked food at moderate prices to some thousands of working men, too many of whom have hitherto found themselves compelled to frequent the saloons that cluster about the Government premises. A feature of the inauguration was a stirring speech by John Mitchell, second vicepresident of the American federation of labour, who bespoke his earnest wish for the-project's success because of the impelling force it would give to other schemes for tho welfare of the working men. riot only in government employ, but in outside industrial enterprises. The Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen, established at 90. Harley-street fifty-six years ago by Viscountess Canning and Miss Florence Nightingale, is closed owing to the expiration of the lease. A new hospital for thirty-two patients is in course of construction at 19, Lisson-grove, and will be opened for the reception of patients towards the end of the year. Five thousand pounds are still needed to complete the building and equipment. July the fourth is remembered by a Londoner as the birthday of Lady Sarah Wilson, youngest and not least remarkable 6f the seventh Duke of Marlborough's six daughters, who include the Dowager Duchess of Roxburgh, Lady Wimborne, and Lady de Ramsey. It was while staying with another sister, tho late Lady Howe, that Lady Sarah Churchill became engaged to Mr. Gordon Wilson, a young officer of the Royal Horse Guards. A groat traveller, she was in South Africa during tho Boer War. was shut up in Mafeking during the siege, has acted as war correspondent to a daily paper, and has visited the remotest parts of Rhodesia. She wears the Royal Rod Cross and is a Lady of Grace of St. John of Jerusalem. Colonel and Lady Sarah Wilson (who have one son) visited New Zealand not very long ago.

FEATHERSTON-TER-