LONDON TABLE TALK.

Evening Star, Issue 8769, 9 March 1892, Page 4

LONDON TABLE TALK.

[From Our Special Correspondent.]

London, January 23

A sensational case, which threatens to throws the Osborne seaudal completely into tho fhnde, is being much canvassed in feminine society just now. At one of the Qaeeu's Drawing Rooms last season the Countess of Blank lost a very valuable diamond star from tho front of her bodice. It belonged to tin exceptionally fine set of seveu, v/'iich exactly match in setting and color, and is said to be worth quite L3OO. Jewels of son get dropped or torn off at the crushes at St, James's Palaco, but the owner* ii.va;hbly receive them back next day. The star, however, did not turn up, und the palace nfli.nlH, after hParohin? high und low, came to the conclusion L tdy Blank must have lost it iu one of the seven' houses she visited .iftev leaving the Drawing Room. A reward of LaO wa° olfered for the missing jewul, but nothing came of it tave an anonymous letter jmfcaioiug the words "Wit and Watch." Detectives t r ied to truce this epistio to its source, but failed, and at last Lady Blank gave up hope. Ten days ago the peerets ami her husband were dining with the. "de.'V Tecka " when the form-r rostgnised with a ttart her mi&sing star glittering in the hair of Lady Dashtdvre, the youcg wdo of a l.'arr.ed and eminent nobleman who ia not tin well oil". To the masculine eye one dbm-md etar exactly resembles another, so that Lord Blauk was not specially impressed with her ladyship's discovery, tie warned her that beyond the coincidenca of Lady D-ishahire's having been at the Drawing Room whrre the star was lost, Bho has not a shadow of proof against her, and that, even supposing the jewel is hers (which he doubts), it would be next door to impossible to identify it. Lady Blank, however, fee's to > angry to he prudent, and goes about telling friends Lady Dashshirc stole her star. Sooner or later the slandered dame will bear what folks are saying, and then we shall have a cause cdtbre, aud a long Berics o; fashionable matinees at the law courts, MRS OSBORNE. Mrs Oaborno will, it is announced, take hr tiial after her accouchement, Friends of the family now maintain that she acted under mesmeric influence, and point out that this explains her obstiuate asseverations of innocence, even in the face of Captain Osborne's discovery of a balance of over L3OO (out of the original L 500) in notes. Mi -i Elliott wa-j, 'tis alleged, always partieulirly easy to mesmerise—in fact, at one time her health v/c; injured by too frequent indulgence in spiritualist and mesmeric sc'inrfi. and the lamily doctor vetoed all «uch doin^'.'J. miis o'suea. It turns cut that) tu.i amount of money willed Mrs O'Shea (Parneil) by her aunt, Mm Wood, and contested by the oM ii»V« other nephews and nieces, has been grossly exaggerated. According to the ' Sun,' the personal est its was sworn at L 2,795 183 7d. At tho time of the divorce one understood the amount in dispute was several thousands a year, LADY SANDHURST. Lady Sandhurst, whose sudden death last Thursday shocked a large section of friends aud acquaintances, was an old lady of immense energy and determination. She took a great interest in both municipal and Imperial politics, and spoke frequently in public. An ardent Home Ruler, Lady Sandhurst received in tho same year the freedom of the City of Dublin along with Mr Stansfeld, being the first woman to whom the honor was accorded. Her husband, who had a most distinguished military career, served at Lucknow and Cawnpore, and became Commander-in-chief in India. He was first created Sir William Mansfield, and later awarded a peerage. Whilst Lord Sandhurst w»b Commander of the Forces in Ireland her ladyship studied the country and people closely, with the result that she gave ardent support to Mr Gladstone's policy. Up t > the timo 0? her death she also took an active part in the Women's Rights movement. Lady Sandhurst was a ready speaker, blessed with a sonorous voice and extremely impressive delivery. VToung men used to tremble before her; but she had a truly kind heart, and often when her " oldsoldier " manner seemed awe-iuspiriD« waa meditating philanthropic actions, WELLS OF MONTE CARLO. The end of "Wells of Monte Carlo " (as he's uau\l!y called), who twice last year won sums exceeding 1,30,000 at trentc et qnarante, should be instructive to syatommocgers. On Thursday evening hecommencul plying with a huge pile of uole?, backing bo ft ch-uices (number and colot) for 3,000fr each, or 6,000ir a coup, From the first luck went dead against him, the cards falling in such a manner as t > knock his system into a cocked hat Runs of varying length on one color or "the other are the rule at trentc et quarante. Oa Thursday the colors ran iutermittently--in fact whatover Wells did was wrong. During tho evening he lost L' 2,000. On Friday morning Wells returned with another big pile—L3.ooo this time. The bank had every franc before lunch. Ho then left the building. This interesting system tho unhappy Wells, now limp and h'is continued daily sir.ee. He does not always tho whole of tne notes he brings, but bid luck is so bad that many of the gamblers are making money supporting black when he goes for red, and vice versa. JOUUNAI-lOTIC. The 'Star' will bo considerably enlarged next Monday, and on the following Saturday a new journal, to be called the ' Weekly Star,' makeß its appearance. The 'Speaker' is at last making some headway, and so is 'Black and White,' though not at ths expense of the 'lllustrated News,' the reading matter of which has never been better than at present. The latest absurdity in magazines bears tho title of the ' Novel Review,' and will be devoted entirely to describing and reviewing current fiction. As only about one novel in six is worth noting, this periodical should be fine stodgy, sleepy reading. CAUGHT BDT NOT KILLED. If wo may place reliance oa the German news agencies, Dr Pfieffer, a nephew of the famous savant, Professor Eooh, has got the iufluenzt bacillus well in hand. Not only has he captured it, but he has reared it, and in some sort educated it, and is generally bringing it up in tho way it should go—that is to say, into the organisms of guinea-pigs and rabbits. Dr Pfieffer, we are told, has succeeded in cultivating the bacillus grippw even unto the fourth and fifth generations; but we are not informed that the worthy medico has discovered how to sterilise the germ or deprive it of its noxious powers. Here is an apropos verslcle:— Long and vainly have you Bought us, Quoth the cynical bacillus; Now you're certain you have caught us, Are you sure that you can kill us?

After the unfortunate experience of Koch patients it is soarcely likely there will be any exodus Berlinwards this winter weather. Joking apart, no one save the intimate friends of Drs Pfieffer and Canon believe muoh in the disoovery. The truth is that the influenza sputum has been examined

again and again for this new baolllus without anybody Beeing it, and that in every malady —suoh as oholera—there are scores of these organlo germs around. The eo-oalled oholera bacillus was, for instanoe, found in many other morbid conditions, and it is bnt a few months since a certain Dr Jolles affirmed n)"'t positively that he bad oaged the influenza one. AKT CRAZES AND THEIR USES. M, Verestohagin, the oelebrated Russian painter, whose ghastly realism oreated an ephemeral furore in Europe and America, betrays in a recently-published letter the methods of the Yankee artist boomers. He says:—"l have recently learned by experience what an Amerioan pioture sale really means. I have been astonished to find that the majority of these remarkable sales are really fictitious. M. Millet's ' Aogelus' was never really bought for 550,000fr, and was never resold for 700,000fr. The report was nothing more than a ' speculative boom.' The effect of Buch booming of one remarkable pioture is immediately to enhance the price of every work, great or small, by the same painter. When it was stated that the ' Angelus' was grabbed up for 550,000fr and immediately thereafter exohanged hands for 700,000fr, a fictitious demand for the works of M. Millet was oreated, some of whose insignificant drawings were bought for 20,000fr and 30,000fr apiece. The fanoy buyers at the auction of such paintings as tho ' Angeluß' are all packed and leagued together with one common object. Overtures were made both to myself and my representative in New York to boom one of my pictures in this way, with the assurance . . . that the result would be that the collection of my works would sell at fourfold their real or normal value." This letter in many ways confirms the statements made by one of our R A.s at tho time of the reputed sale of tho • Augelus,' but which at that period were utterly discredited. THE GREAT PRINTERS 1 STRIKE. The strike which is being conducted by tho German Printers' Union in favor of a nine hours' day still obtains, despite tho resistance of the employers, aided by the Government, which has sequestrated the ordinary funds of the Union that they may not be used for strike purposes. The action of the authorities in thus aiding and abetting the masters to frustrate the emplojes has given an international aspect to the battle. Tho printers iu England, America, and elsewhere have taken a hand in the dispute, and are helping tho German confreres largely in finance, But outside sympathy and a : d notwithstanding, the men of the Fatherland have, to uso a favorite phrase of John Burns, a " very long row to hoe." Mr Drummond, tho secretary of tho London Society of Compositors, has not only mulcted his organisation to the tune of LSOO, but ho has cabled to the Australias for the printers there to send assistance. On this side, the various trade unions have all sent money to Germany in sums from LlO to L 1,500, the latter amount being sent by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers—but whether us a gift or a loan I know not, A report was current last week that the strike hud broken down, but this, it appears, was only spread abroad with a view to stopping foreign subscription?. Some men have certainly put their tails between their legs and have gone back to work, but M. Dolbin cables that 10,000 are still on strike, and adds that "Sufficient help securea success." I THE INFLUENZA PLAGUE. I The influenza continues to make terrific strides, Of our large provincial cities Birmingham aloue keep* free of the epidemic. At Brighton, the so-called " sanatorium of Loudon," the death-rate has risen from about 19 to 52 in the I,COO— unprecedented fit>ure, and here things are getting as bud. A month ago the number of deaths from tho plague was 1!), the next week it rose to 37, the next to 95, and now we have, reached the substantial figure of 271. Tb-: deaths in London last week were nearly 1,200 above the average of the same weeks iu the last tenyiars. Doctors are worried to U-traction. Nobody appears to have the fail,test comprehension cl the complaint. One medico treats it one way, another treats it another. Why Brighton and certain other places should bo specially deadly whilst Birmingham escapes scientists cannot L'Ai'iuiu. yjia roircs wiiu i—.~ —. i—- «-i of doors for weeks somehow catch it, and these cases invariably end fatally. To-day the "Deaths" announcements in 'The Times' fill four times their average space. The papers are crying out that " something must be done," but precisely what they can't suggest. Work at the Victorian, New South Wales, New Zealand Government offices is in a state of disorganisation owing to the illness of employe 1 ). Mr vVelch, a well-known Australian shipper, and head of Weloh, Ptrrin, and Co , was seized on Monday week, and died two days ago. Mr Laws, of the Shipping Federation, has been very ill with tho plague, but is now better. At one time his life was despaired of. NEW MUSIC. Judging by tho pantomimes, Albert Chevalier's 'Old Kent Road' is incomparably the moat popular comic song of the day, though Marie Lloyd's latest triumph—a wild, weird ditty, with the refrain "Tarara! boom zae ay"—will probably succeed it presently. 'Get your hair cut' seems a special favorite with 'Any, and if the words were not so vulgar you would like Fanny Leslie's 'Oh! what a difference in the morning,,' which has a particularly catchy tune. Miss Lloyd's ' Whacky, whack, whack !' and Dan Leno's ' Shopwalker' depend for success principally on tho singers. ' Never introduce your donah tu a pal' is a passable imitation of Cheva-lic-j'd songs, and 'The miner's dream of homo' a semi-'icutimental effusion.

In the programmes of provincial concerts an Irish song 'Going to Kildare' (Cocks publishers), 'Thi dear home land,' by Walter Slaughter (Cramer), ' The cry of the little ones,'by Stephen Adams (Boosey), and the 'Sioiliana,' from the ' Cavalleria Rusticana,' seem to orop up oftenest. The words and music of Mascagni'a masterpiece are now, by tho way, obtainable, price 10a a copy (less usual discount), and piano arrangement 6\ The exquisite 'lntermezzo,' which, however, loses half its obarm without strings, can be obtained separately for 2). At Covent Garden fancy dress ball last Wednesday there were no strikingly good new waltz's, but Josef Meissler'a polka 1 Ta-ra-ra-Boom-De-Ay,' on Marie Lloyd's Drury Lane success, was voted excellent to dance to.