A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 276, 20 November 1926, Page 26

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. A ROYAL LOVE MATCH. (From Our Lady Correspondent). LONDON, September 30. It 13 not surprising that the Belgian and Swedish peoples are wildly enthusiastic about the marriage of Prince Leopold, Crown Prince of Belgium, and Princese Astrid, niece of the Kings of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, whom rumour has affiance.l so often and bo misguidedly since ?!ie loft the school room behind her. The identity of the real Prince (harming is now disclosed, and everyone is delighted, for they are a bonny pair, and this is as pretty a romance of Royal lovere as ever brightened affairs of State. Xo one is more appreciative of tie fact than the Queen of Belgium, who herself has worn the aura of a romantic union as unmistakably as will the young couple who can look to her for special sympathy and understanding. Her Majesty ia frankly overjoyed at the prospect of welcoming "the Scandinavian rose" ac a daughter-in-law. In the Melting Pot. Was there ever an age when society, with a capital "S," was cast 30 continuously into the literary melting pot? If the rumour now drifting round in certain knowledgeable circles should nltimately materialise, we may look forward to a very out-of-the-ordinary book at memories from the Countess of Oxford's racy pen. But the work would not be autobiographical. M. Reville, the Queen's dresemaker, has long coquetted with the idea of publishing his reminiscences. And he thinks no one could do better justice to the wealth of anecdotal gossip at his command than the illustrious '".Margot." Lady Oxford, I am told, is not wholly averse from ticting as the great drees-artist's literary sponsor. The matter remains in abeyance, however, until M. Kevilla makes up his mind whether he shail postpone the publication of such a book until he has definitely retired from business. Mean-! while, 1 fancy there must !io somewhat of a flutter in Mayfair dovecote.*! ; Lady Secretaries. Many so-called lady secretaries would , be more accurately described a3 shorthand typists, but there are rare birds who really merit the title of secretary.. I suppose the first Prime Minister to j include a lady in his secretariat was Mr. : Lloyd George, and many of his official secrets must have been shared by Miss Stevenson. Then Mr. Bonar Law, as Coloninl Minister, found a treasure in ', Miss Watson, who was one of his secre- ; tarics throughout all his subsequent ■ official career. Miss Watson is possessed of tact, resource and initiative, 60 Mr. Baldwin availed himself of her assistance when he became Prime Minister. Being a civil servant, Miss Watson remained at No. ' - 10 - ' with Mr. Ramsay MacdonaUl. In these days her responsibilities include Mr. Baldwin's disbursements, and the collation of the material upon which the Prime Minister bases his replies to questions in Parliament. Two Others. To Miss Kosa Rosenberg fell the distinction of being the liret lady to act as personal private secretary to a Prime Minister. She is a bright, alert, young woman, who possesses Mr. P.amsay Macdonald's complete confidence. As she proudly asserts "I'm always Kosa to Ramsay." She has an uncanny gift for getting things done, and is no believer in trying to do everything herself. Another notable lady secretary is Miss Felicity Taylor, secretary to the Attor-ney-General; and Sir Douglas Hogg would be the first to admit that her Christian name is an appropriate one. She acted for Sir Douglas during his first term of oflice, transferring to Mr. Baldwin's secretariat in 11)24, but returning to the Attorney-General after the election of that year. Miss Taylor has decided views on what she will and will not allow, and has a genius for preventing unwanted callers bothering her chief. ( i j^as P-aid to Gossip. One of the oddest jobs yet thought out for women has been brought into bein»this week by one of the largest indus° trial iirms selling a household commodity used by every housewife. This firm has engaged six "tactful women" at a salary of £300 a year each, and has given each of them a email two-seater. These women are to travel round the country calling at the small shops where the firm's goods are sold, and are to "get friendly" with the proprietors of the shops without disclosing at first who they .are. The idea is to discover exactly what, complaints, if any, these shopkeepers have, and to make a study of their psychology. Bach day a report will be sent direct to headquarters which will be analysed with a view to making any desirable changes in salee methods or manufacture. The only qualifications required for the job are an ability to "mix" with other people, and a capacity to observe. Women's Many Inventions. The arrangements for the eecond International Exhibition of Inventions,'at the Central Hall, Westminster, are now almost completed. A striking feature of it will be the many devices thought out by women, who are exhibiting in a year nUmb n cr tMs ?™ tha * last year. Captain Drury Coleman, eecretary of the Institute of Patentees, says that some women who showed their inventione i ast year are exhibiting theTr goods this year in the class devftedl to goods which are now on the mar ket They received so many ordere and S" quiriee last year that they decided manufacture and sell thei inventions Lady Strachie, wife of Lord Strachie the agricultural expert, shows a≤ type of curtain hook which, unlike Z> many others, does not become unhooked! at the wrong moment. Many visitors be inflated to provide an air for the wearer. There are other novel feminine ideas skilfully worked out such as an improved type of scissors, a new pastry and cake safe and a device enabling a kettle to be boiled by the J rOm a.- an electric radiator, which will be exhibited by a girl all the way from Canada,