SOCIETY IN ROME.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 284, 25 August 1908, Page 3

SOCIETY IN ROME.

llome is. one of the great meeting places of society • (says an English paper). According, to Kipling, if one wants to meet a longlost. friend,.sooner or later one would como across him at Port Said or Charing Cross Station.. To these places, one might add tho Pincian .Hill or the steps of the Piazza di Spagna. Social life, apart from tho foreign element, is divided into two great parties, known as'tho Black (Vatican) and the White (Quirinal); -indeed, -the "spirit of antagonism between Church and Stato is supposed to influence all things social, in the Eternal City. But in'point: of fact < this stem rule has of late.been relaxed in a marked manner. It ' must be admitted, however, that tho old aristocratic families of Rome seem even now averso to hospitality. They hold themselves aloof in their gloomy palazzi,' rcccivo their friends once 'a week in the afternoon; and give', dreary evening parties, with a supper of biscuits, sandwiches, and lemonade, in their vast and stately but dull and ill-lighted apartments:, Tho 'White society—gay, modern, and composed of Court adherents, and attracts around it the lively foreign element—English, French, Russian, and American. It', is significant .that black gowns aro forbidden at Court functions.

Rome is\ rich in sporting resources and in means of amusement. Music seems much appreciated. l Fox-hunting is a feature of the winter season, and there is also staghunting on the Campagna. Then; even now bicycling takes place on : this same' classic plain, and motoring is carried on under ideal conditions in Rome and its vicinity. Motorists are now 'beginning to - realise how many places of interest are to be found within 'an easy run of the'ltalian capital. Rome has also a fairly good golf club.