THE KAISER AND THE MILLINERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 11

THE KAISER AND THE MILLINERS.

Nothing in all thc.jworlil makes a man moro conceited,t-han ..lijsi.wifo allowing him : to choose her hats. 1 I." do not know why j this should lie, hut- certain;it is .that a man 1 likes to' licliovo that- hohas mastered ; the j mysteries of millinery, arid that ho can' (lis- i criminate .between the ..charms of various I fashionable modes. Tho, Kaiser, after pur- 1 suing many devious paths, has been Jed;into 1 this last weakficss, and .English" papers record with much impressiveness his adventures in tho way of selecting , bats. ..for , his Empress. Ho ordered a .selection of . hats to ho sent to him from: a famous milliner's, and. it is interesting to.Jearn that ho rejected all tboso which - -were -adorned with | osprey feathers. In doijlg-this,.ho was- fol-r, lowing the examplo set Jjy Queen .'Alexandra. An English paper quotes., a letter sent, in, March of last- year by Her Majesty to-tho Royal Society for tho-.Protection of Birds,, and follows it ' with .telegrams .from its., "own correspondents?; in Europe, and America. Tho .letter-sent; by .the /.Queen's oVder ran thus The Queen gives full permission to uso her name ,in ,any,, way you. (the SocietyV think best,, to. conduce to tho protection "of birds. Her Majesty ._ never wears osprey feathers herself, and will'certainly do . all sho' can to, discourage the. cruelty practised on these beautiful birds.?' Tho newspaper's correspondent from, Paris telegraphs" liirds in hats are ..not, so much, in fashion as formerly,-and-osprey feathers aro now very littlo used in French mil-' linorv." New York states that , ospreys are'a prominent featuro of fashionable American headgear, and -the representatives'of some of the best and -most'"expensive houses:expeefcstho plumes will bo used in-still greater profusion in the spring., Mr. Bowdish; secretary: of tho "National Society for the Protection of Wild-Birds and 1 Animals, when acquainted - with tho fiat, against osprevs issued by tho-British and German Royal Families, expressed tho opiu- ■ ion that tho example thfls set,would not be without its humanising-;influence in "this country. " Tho present use, of osprey;" lie said,--.'.'is- only possible through a loophole irr tho law which prohibits the wearing; of - 'tho i feathers •of birds that:-arc protected; and'this loophole tho - National •.Society' is. ;• sanguine'of- stopping in -the -near"future."- • Austrian'ladies credited with exquisite tasto in dress. In Vienna,'.although ospfoy ' is freely worn in Court-circles, .there has for 1 some timo. been a quiet but steady'movement- ' against- tlie practice among the majority.ibf 1 tho ladies of tho Imperial -Family, who wear

jewellery and (lowers in ' place :of'the plumes. The Archduchesses have, not--,;- so 'far as -is known, ever mentioned! their, reason for not wearing ospreys. . :

The-use of osprey-sprays; savs the - corres-' jioudenfc from Ropic, .is- still, in - fashion": at Court, and there 'is 110 .'tondeney to abolish it. Home follows blindly'the'Paris fashions,