Miss Colonia in London.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 107, 5 May 1894, Page 4 (Supplement)

Miss Colonia in London.

Confidences to Hek Cousins Across

the Sea

By Dorothy,

London, March 16. Dbar Cousin, —It has been loft for a woman to discover tbat Lord Rosebery is much the best looking of tho Queen's twelve Prime Ministers. Sir Robert Peel was from alt accounte, and judging by his portraits, a handsome man, and Lord Salisbury has a massive, leonine countenance, that is sufficiently improssive. But I don't think any woman would call either Lord Derby, Lord John Russell, or Lord Beaconstieid handsome men, though their personalites wore no doubt striking. Walking from the Army and Navy Stores by way of Buckingham Palace Road and the Mall to St. James'sbreet in the afternoon wo have twice latoly come upon Mr Gladstone out driving with his favourite daughter, Mrs Drew, and bis pet grandchild Dorothy, the latter a golden-haired damsel of three quaintly dressed up as a wee Puritan. Cousin Jane, who has a friend who knows a lady whose second cousin twice removed lives near Hawarden Castle (pronounced ' Harden,' my dear,) tell, me little Miss Dorothy rules the entire household. She has already enough of grandpapa in her to possess strong likes and dislikes. Dorothy declares she loves soldiers, but hates crowds. She was very sympathetic the other day about the fall of a little child of two. who had cut her lip. ' But,' she said with the dignity of advanced age, 'I am free (three).' Grandmama, whose business it has been through life to shield grandpapa from intrusive and troublesome folk of all sorts has already enlisted Miss Dorothy in the good cause. Outdriving Mr Gladstone is under his little grandchild's'pertection.' Whon a block occurs in Piccadilly or Regentstreet and Mr Gladstone being recognised, a ready-made crowd suddenly seems to starb oub of the ground and begin cheering and waving its hats, 'tis little Miss Drew who insists on being stood up between grandpapa and mamma and kisses her hands vigorously to King Demos. Mr Gladstone has to hold her so he cannot bow and lift his hat, in fact, he is ' pertected.' Naturally, Miss Dorothy can do anything with the old gentleman. The other afbernoon outdriving she induced him to promise to dance with her Mike what uncle Herbert does.' Mrs Drew devoutly hoped the child would forgeb the matter and did her best to distract her thoughts to something else. No sooner, however, were they inside 10, Downing-street again, than Misg Dorothy observed : ' Now, gran'pa. let ma put away your umbrelly, and then give me my dance.' Consequently, ten minutes later, when Lord Rosebery was announced, he found Mrs Drew at] the piano strumming through a quadrille, and the late Prime Minister, aetab 84, aod a child of bhree, solemnly treading a courtly measure together.

An Historic Meal.

Windsor Castle, which is a much duller place to stay at than you would suppose, and by no means remarkable either for comfort or cooking, was quite excited over Mr Gladstone's farewell ' command' bo dine and Bleep. Ib was, of course, the lasb time he would sit at Her Majesty's tablo as Prime Minister of England. One who was presenb says the G.O.M. simply astounded every one. He was in the best of spirits, comparing notes with the Queen on bygone events, not hesitating to correct ber if wrong, and generally enthralling the company with his wit and badinage. His stories were new, and Mb facial expression inimitable. Her Majesty bas never cordially liked either Mr Gladstone or his policy, but her respect and admiration for him are boundless. She has said not once, but many times, that the only two men who flatly contradicted her and never toadied were thelate John Brown and Mr Gladstone.

His Darling Gooseberry,

• My darling gooseberry, I bave become a teebotaller.' Wibh bhis affecting announcement did the hero of a recent breach of promise case commence a letter full of ardent emobion, which was read in court Possibly bhe beetotaller knows—possibly his darling gooseberry knows— why ho called ber* gooseberry. Unless some occulb reference bo bhe stimulating influence' of that simple and succulent fruib on bhe beverage known as • our 3s 6d champagne' was intended I confess I don'b either. 'Sitting in our chair in front of tho fire,' he wrote in another letter, * I only want you and then I should be in Paradise.' * Surely,' an irreverent critic observos, • ib is nob in Paradise that one sits in fronb of fire.' Ultimately the teetotaller proved unstable as his favourite drink. 'He said,' deposed the deserted and disbracted gooseberry, •he loved another. I-asked him why, and the wretch replied, " Oh, it's nature. Quito so. The blind, merciless forces of nature had given him the gooseberry in ibs season, and now bade him transfer his affections. It was all the fault of nature, but a prosaic jury could nob see this, and solaced the gooseberry with £300 damages.

The Premier Collar

The Gladstone collar with its well-known stand-up points has long been familiar and always appeared in every drawing and caricature. Bub bhis collar remained bhe peculiar possession of Mr Gladstone, and his followers in bhis fashion were restricted to a few ver* old gentlemen with whom the stand-up points had been fashionable in their youthful prime. Very different has been the fate of his aucceesor, who also indulges in a peculiar collar. If imitation is thesincerest flattery surely the shop windows bristling with collars marked « lhe Rosebery'havo borne their tribute to the new Premier's popularity. Mr Whitoly, the Universal Provider, declares he has had some difficulty in executing bhe large demand, for he says 'lb is rather a difficult collar to turn out neatly.' The points, which aro turned down,have to be carefully rounded. Ib is bo bhis peculiarity that the popularity of Lord Rosebery's collars is largely due. The fact was the high y starched, sharply pointed edges quickly tore bhe silk lining of his coat collar, so bhe new Premier hib on bhe plan of having bhe points defblv rounded, and so preserved it from such rapid destruction. Such an ingenious and practical arrangement was quickly appreciated by the public, and the demand for the ' Roßebery has rißen steadily, though ib is undoubtedly true that the demand for his invention has increased enormously now it has the sanction of being the distinguishing feature of dress of one of bbc mosb popular and prominent men of the day. When we remember how all the fops and dandies of a past generation imitated Byron's huge collars, we shall see it is no new form of admiration. A Lady Journalist—Mrs Crawford. « No woman ought to think of writing for. a livelihood unless, in addition to special aptitude, she possesses dauntless courage, exceptional health, and powers of physical endurance and a considerable amount of roserve force.' No ono better illustrates the truth of bhese words bhan their authoress, Mrs Crawford, herself. Ib can be no light task to be the daily Paris correspondent of the 'Daily News' and the 'Pall Mall Gazette' besides tbe regular wriber of Paris gossip in 'Truth' and the 'Mew York Tribune.' When still quite young, Mrs Crawford wenb with her mother to live in Paris, and was introduced to the society ac the Tuileriee. ' Naturally,' she says, 'I as a young girl waa much impressed and amused, may I add, shocked by much that wenb on in the •Imperial circle.' A letter writben bo a private friend was shown to a London editor, who, amused and struck by her fresh style, wrote asking her to send him ah occasional article—'To begin my journalistic career," writes Mrs Crawford. When sho was hardly twenty-three she married Mr George Crawford, a member of the English Bar, and also a newspaper correspondent, and was able to render immense service to her husband such as was only possible to one of hor sex; for owing to her friendship with M. Thiers sho was able to attend many of bho historical seances hold in the French Parliament at Versailles immediately aftor tbe Franco - Prussian war. Hard work Mrs Crawford pronounces to be the best antidofco for sorrow, and her belief in her words she strikingly exemplified by sitting up all night when her much loved husband died very suddenly, and writing beside bis dead body an account of his lifo to send off at onco to tho paper he had so faithfully served. ' I determined,' sho says, ' for my children's sake to try and eet a continuance of the work.' Mrs Crawford is the only lady foreigner who was ever offered the Legion d' Honneur, bub she refused bhia distinction, begging it might be given to her son instead. Even in her short holidays.which she spends in a country cottage, Mrs Crawford returns every night to Paris to work from 8 p.m. to midnight telegraphing the latest news to the Loudon papers.

Hairdressino in Paris,

In bhab quarter of Paris which the English ladies chiefly frequent, the following strange notice is to be seen in nearly every hairdresser's shop :—'Ladies Ondulated.' Thiß iB then the reigning fashion in coiffeur. The hair is waved or ' ondulated ' by the hairdresser, in deep heavy waves, not only on the surface, bub bhroughoub its thickness, so that a comparatively small quantity of hair makes a most respectable bush. The hair is then swept back loosely from the face, raised over small cushions which completely encircle the hoad, and the ends are thon gathered into a very small knot at the back midway between the nape and the crown. All idea of a fringe has disappeared, and to those whose foreheads can stand such a revelation there is no denying that the now fashion is most becoming. Tho expanse above the eye gives an expression of openness and frankness which is absent .where fche fringe reaches nearly to the eyebrow. Ondulating must be done by a professional once a week, but during the rest of the week the hair may almost be said bo dress itself, nothing being needed but a quick upward twist round the ball of tbe thumb, an upstanding loop round which the rest is coiled, and bhen bhe whole is fixed in place with three tortoise shell pins, and the hairdressing is complete.

A Visit to Rosa Bonheur,

I have seen a mosb interesting account by M. Jules Claretie of his recent visit to the famous animal painter, Rosa Bonheur, who lives, buried from the world, in the little wooded village of By, devoting herself entirely to her life work. By he describes as a village of one long street lined with small houses, among which, distinguished by a greater degree of elegance than the rest, rises the mansion of brick and stone, substantial bub unpretending.of bhe artist. Here it is she works and meditates. The gateway passed, bwo beautiful dogs come to greeb bhe guesbs whom their sagacity tells tbem aro nob unexpected As we enber, a clear, joyous voico bids us welcome from bbc top of the oak stairway, and a litble hand is extended with a smile of charming greeting. Mdlle. Bonheur wears the masculine costume, ordinarily a blue blouse, which she has adopted, since, aa a young girl, she wenb bo bhe Ababoirs of Paris to sbudy bhe animals there. This toilet of a laborious painter is not unbecoming to ber, and her fine face stands out in sculptured lines, thoughtful, delicate, yet stolid, framed in the beautiful white hair. Rosa Bonheur is quite free from any kind of affectation and showed her visitors the atelier, as if the pictures were not her own ab all, bringing armful ef studies, beeideß

ber chief masterpiei .os. 'In ordor to make oneself loved by animals one must love them,' and it is bl lis love and. a cerbain. courageous kindlii aess which makes her dominate even wU d beasts. When a big lioness died ii _ ber *arms ab bhe foob of bhe a baircase at By, bhe creature's tongue, , rough as a rasp, feebly licked, and the huge claws closely held through the deatl i agony the kind hands of her she loved, tl lose lasb caresses seeming to say, 'Do nob abandon me.'

Tb ,r Fashions.

This is certaii dy the great season for tbe London shop windows. The milliners'are like flower gard ens in which violets, copper and yellow i wallflowers, and beautiful purple and gob 1 auriculas, mosb delicately executed in d owny velvets, are crowded together in bei mtiful profusion. In Paris I hear of all tl ie flowers the cowslip, with it 3 delicate gre .en calyx and bright yellow petals, is the . avourite. A French milliner assured me, however, thab you may trim your bonnet tl lis year any way you like. No flower or color ir will be out of fashion. Variety is the ordi ar of the day. It is the shape which this sei ison ide-tifies the new fashion. You must ha ye your bonneb wide across, loops of ribb on like wings should stand oub like a spread eagle, and all bhe brimmings, of whatever kind, must be at the back. Then, whefc! her you trim your spring or summer bon net with flowers or with gold and white lace sparkling with spangles, which, whet her they be of gold, silver, jeb or steel, or f he new irridescont colours, now so much us- «I, you will still be wearing a bonnet pel feebly la mode. Hardly less bright in cc .louring to the milliners', is the display of spring aud summer fabrics. Crdpons ai re to be the material for the coming sei son horo and abroad for evening as well as c lav dresses, a fashion some of us who are ha rd up know well how to appreciate. A very pretty and inexpensive summer c otfcon material is tho bop-sack imitated f rom fche woollen hop-sack fabric so much i vorn this winter. I noticed, also in several shops beautiful new shades ot the sateen drill which, in tho form of the ever-favou) rite coat and waistcoat costume, obtained c o great a popularity during tbo great heal; of last summer. These cornflower blut) or delicate fawn costumes have certainly 1 ;hp merit of being delightfully cool and cc >mfortable. A very tasteful and new cummer garden party dress seemed to mo-quite possible by adapting the costume worn by a young lady who has gone to be mar ried to an officer in Bombay, as her act ;ual wedding dress, as she wished to reserve the white satin proper for the re« options ab Governmenb House. This gown is made of the very finest white alpaca witl i a soft front of crepe de chine and lace jabot. The newest material of bhe season loob s at first eight like a very rich and gloss; y black silk, but directly it is drapod ane 1 the lighb falls upon ib, a complete brant formation takes place. Where the lighb falls mosb strongly one sees a beautiful i ulvery haze, and deep amongst the folds glows a lovely petunia shade. Happy, ii ideed, the owner of an afbernoon reception dress of this mosb eleganb material. I thought some of the summer costumes worn in 'The Gaiety Girl' extremely pretty and quite suitable for real life, espei :ially one ot fawn-coloured crfepon with a -very pretty chemisette of some white so fb Btuff. Where this joins the bodice across fche chest, folds of white moire are introduced, pulled straight across in most becoming fashion and drawn throughi a big paste buckle at the left eic'ie, from which the end ef tbe white moire droops downward, in a point. The skirt is edged with white moire .and the sleeves are made of it as far as the fulness. Miss Phyllis Broughton's dress is almost as pretty. Ib is of the palest) silver grey, the collar and rovers trimmed with a line of gold and opening away, in front to chow a gold satin waistcoat covered with cream tinted lace through wbic] i the satin gleams like gold.