HALF LIFE IN LONDON. SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 201, 19 May 1908, Page 5

HALF LIFE IN LONDON.

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

, >A. lively, article-by. a Frenchwoman appears in the.-,"-Chroniclo":on Where to Live" in , (says. the.Queen Jt 13' well to call-attention; to, it, since -so much .has-lately -been..said as to ,the increased cost of. living .111. Paris, some writers, in . factj-: having as-sorted-that living; there is. decidedly dearer i ln London.- ltent, it would seem; however,; is'a more, seriousiitem in 'London: ■/. The writer asks -where will .you 'find ■ congenial, siirroundkgs' . in':Londori(if you, are not willing'.to -pay" rent,:,than ; , you. can "afford ■••To' which., the',; plain-; answer is, ."nowhere. Wp either live in .uncongenial' surroundings,' or . ' we- pay . more -rent than' we--can Afford;.;, What she looked; for; "arid found .as easily -attainablo- / as - the; proverbial - roc's egg,".was a flat" for' , about £70; a", year, su'ch' as: she' had had fin Auteuil five..minutes: from; the B'oisi andcoi 1 !- : . tainingAtwo,,;sittingrr6oms,";:-thrco' ; bedroojns dressing-room,'...'.'bathrppm,:.',kitchen,-, maid's room, arid ', a'. very spacious, entrance •' hall, : ;teleph'one, electric .light;''-- - .Such .a-flat in' "London, was' offered her,, but for. .£250, and' then-.itwas'ovor'a'Shop in'South',-Ken-sington,., v '-.The'ladjr '',thns?'sums':.up-. her v 'di& i»iisi£d. ; experience -' of- flat-hunting ;ih.''Lbn''iCarpetlo'ss' rtoirSj jdaifk-'ToPiris,-hall's,"with dirty; ■ ' distempered •'walls,': sooty -.backyairds,slummy. streets, f ahd,decaying-'districts,:- that is alb 3 011 are entitled to for your paltrj ( ;£7o a_'year. : V' In' o'ne rcspcct 'only. does -the;larid- ' lord' or flats rise - y eipecta.tions-^--that : is in 'the ,christoriiifg ; of 'his bkrrack;like''prpperty. '■• Nothing ■ coujd- sbund KiAtpr;' and'.'lopk . Wpi-se.'tlian>the London [flat/ ' .*f-Xpndoriers'".will'. ; pr6bably dispute' this,-',biit other. people, ;not fjondonors; but knowing; a' gooddcal-about "London/ will admit' that it lsVtrue. '" Nowhere','! the-writer .."ahj \ the middle'and working'classes moro grudge ; irigly 'and meanly catered for ", than in'Lon-' \ don,' and aiiy -London suburb she-considers the acme of dulnsss—uninhabitable,'in short.

A very interesting proposal is. that mado in - connection, with , the Franco-British Exhibtion,: to send of ■ French school children, in charge.of their teachers, to stay in England for about a .week Mor ten days, iricot English-school .children, and, of course, go about 'as much:,as possible.'- The-idea 'is 1 to sond'the children in groups of thirty, fifteen boys and:fifteen girls; but howj many ' reaily/.are-sent will depend upon the amount' of the grant from the. French Government.

and the Misses Chase-Morns (3). .of Wellington; from a trip to England by tho Athenic yesterday. ■ Mrs. (Dr.) Gerald Russell (neo Miss Chartens, of London) . arrived .by tho Athenic, from London, yesterday, on routo to Christchurch. i ■: • Tho announcement of tho marriage of Miss Violet Bod-dington, youngest- daughter of .Mr. J. C. Boddington, of "Nowcotnbe," Masterton,, to Mr-Albert Edward, eldqst son-.of-Sir-Edward' . Stone, Lieutenant-Governor of Western/Australia, has just' recently; been cabled over from Australia. The ceremony was performed' by Archdeacon! Brooking at Corunna Downs Station, at Marble Bar, the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Howden DrakeBrockmann; . her-.brother-in-law -arid ' .sister with whom sho lived. > " 1 i - •: Miss Rouse, who is-shortly to visit, Now Zealand in the interests of the Women' Students' Christian Union, will bo the guest Of Mrs. Gibbs, of Brougham Street, during her stay-in' Wellington. ; j; • • . Tho . marriage of' the-'Hon. •J. Rigfi, M.L.C., to Miss Anketel, of Wellington, late of tho Wairarapa, is to take place shortly.