NEW HOSTESSES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18013, 4 March 1924, Page 8

NEW HOSTESSES.

» —— MISS MACDONALD AT NO. 10

(rBOM oca own cobresfokdekto LONDON, January 26. No. 10 Dawning street has Had in succession hostesses of many ages and of different types and varied attainments, but Miss Ishbel Mac Donald surely must be accorded tho distinction of being the youngest —she is a girl of twenty and a college student. Miss Mac Donald is studying in the department of- Household Science at King's College, London, and in looks she is a typical college girl—healthy, smiling, and happy. Even if.unable to attend the classes in the near future she hopes to keep up her studies privately. She entered King's College in the autumn of 1922, choosing this particular course because she thought it an excellent one, being xiseful and educative. The work includes cookery, laundry, and housekeeping on broad lines, but science and physics are her pet subjects. Her maternal grandfather was Dr. J. Hall Gladstone, Professor of Chemistry at tho ltoyal Institution, and another maternal relative was the famous scientist. Lord Kelvin. Miss Mac Donald has serious tastes in literature. "I am not a great reader,'' she said, "but I read old-fashioned novels sometimes. I like a really thriling tragedy, such as ''The Mill on the Floss." I do not know much about politics. I meet many of the Labour women, but I have never discussed politics with them." She is fond oT music, and plays golf and hockey. She does not like dancing. "I've never been centred in a whirlpool of jazz," she said, "and I do not intend to be." On the staircase at ''No. 10'' there are framed sketches of each of tho successive Prime Ministers, and tne "Evening News" remarks: "One thinks of a few of the various hostesses who "acted for them; —of Mrs Gladstone, the typical Victorian helpmeet, whisking an egg-flip with which she used to send forth her husband to war with the supporters of Disraeli and Salisbury; of Mrs Asquith, brilliant, tireless, with a da\ighter steeped in philosophies and literature. The new hostess is completely distinctive, a sharp contrast to all her predecessors—for she is just a quiet young English student who, incidentally, left her suburban home for college classes this morning at the energetic hour of half-past eight." Possibly the qnly hostess near Miss Mac Donald in age -was Lady Sykes. daughter of Mr Bonar Law. Tho name of Ishbel, by the way, may puzzle many people who do not know its origin. It is by no means uncommon in North-East Scotland as a version of Elizabeth—a name which has surely more variants than any other Christian name.

Other Leading Ladles. Of tho other ladies connected with the Cabinet who will bo entertaining for the Government, Lady Chelmsford is (says "Corisande," of th o "Even ing Standard"), of course, a hostess with wide experience both at homo and in India, where Lord Chelmsford was at one time Viceroy. Slender and graceful, with a particularly charming manner, she will make an ideal misttress for Admiralty House. "Most of the new political ladies have serious interests. There is Lady Parmoor, for example, who before her marriage in 1919 had been associated with Lord Parmoor in much religious and philanthropic public work, and Mrs Philip Snowden, ,who has devoted her life to the cause of the Labour Party, but who will, one supposes, find some time to spare for more frivolous things when she takes over her duties as mistress of 11 Downing street, the official home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "Then there is Mrs Sidney Webb, who has spent most of her time studying social and industrial problems. She has always, however, found time for social duties, which she will no doubt extend further now that her husband is President of the Board of Trade. Mrs Noel Buxton was, before her marriage, Miss Pelham Burn, the daughter of a well-known Unionist, and it is amusing to recall how at one time, as a platform speaker, she did her best to defeat her husband in an election. She and her husband met while helping to look after the wounded in the Balkan war, and were married in April, 1914. "Miss Haldane has often acted as hostess for hs: brother, and, no doubt, will officiate again in the same capacity. She, too, has many serious interests in life, and has served for many years on public bodies."