LONDON GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 10034, 17 June 1896, Page 1

LONDON GOSSIP.

[Fbqm Our 8p«oial Correspondent.]

t London, May 1. The vindictive sentenpes passed on the *' opera bouffe " conspirators of Johannesburg last Monday have oaused a tremendous sensation, and would undoubtedly, as even the strictly moderate • Times' observes, " inflame "public opinion to an Uncontrollable pitch!': were there the slightest possibility of the penalties being carried out. But, of course,, there is no danger of that. The view of the majority of the London papers appears to be that Colonel Rhodes and his comrades are as safe in Pretoria as they would be in Pall Mall, whilst the notion of locking up sixty of the richest and most influential men on the Rand for two years, and then banishing them for three, makes one smile. What no doubt the senteuces do signify is that the Transvaal Government mean to plupge their hands pretty deeply into the wealthy revolutionists' pockets. The sentences will be in due course commuted—but for a - consideration, and that consideration won't be a small one. Before they've done with the sequela to the Jameson raid President Kruger and his thrifty burghers promise to bo rioher men.

THE NEW DIPLOMACY. The end of the Kruger invitation episode is somewhat humiliating for Great Britain, and suggests that the extreme frankness of Mr Chamberlain's method may have its drawbacks. Lord Rosebery, indeed, speaking in the provinces on Wednesday, chaffed the Colonial Secretary severely on the outcome of the "new diplomacy." "Let us,"said he, when touching on South African topics, " briefly review the courss of events relating to President Kruger and the Transvaal. You will remember that after the unfortunate raid that took place at the end of December many cordial telegrams were exchanged between this Government and President Kruger, and as he had sustained damage by the enterprise carried on by British subjects we were anxious to conciliate him and settle the questions that were outstanding between us. Well, the first step that was taken after this was to invite President Kruger to this country to consider the policy which we recommended to him. This is not a very diificult method to conceive, but the method in which it was done was certainly unusual. President Kruger was asked through the newspapers, and he saw the policy that was recommended to him through the newspapers, because a despatch which ought to have reached him or the High Commissioner in the ordinary way was sent to the newspapers instead. The result was that the policy was instantly repudiated by the Transvaal Government, and we were told that it was a matter of no consequence that the policy prepared by Her Majesty's Government and put forward by the Secretary of Slate in a deliberate despatch was a thing of no consequence. It may have got into the waste-piper basket or not, and as to the invitation President Kruger might consider it. This went on for some weeks, and then our Colonial Secretary, in the vigorous practice of the new diplomacy, went to a public dinner and said that the administration of President Kruger, the gentleman he had invited to England, and who he was anxious to conciliate, was eminently corrupt. if thak.is_ihemelhod by which the new diplomacy conciliates the person with whom it is negotiating, it is a very new diplomacy, indeed. Then came the refusal of President Kruger to accept the invitation, and now we are told as a last act in this melodrama that Her Majesty's Government have withdrawn the invitation to President Kruger—it is, I think, an unusual proceeding with regard to invitations, but it is evidently part of the new diplomacy—and sent it to Sir HeroulesjJßobinson instead. Now, gentlemen, I say a greater comedy of j errors than that I have briefly depicted to you | was never achieved by any diplomacy, either j new or old. At any rate, if that be the new j diplomacy I must at once express my unhesitating preference for the old. . But, .gentlemen, I do not despair of the course of negotiations. Mr Chamberlain is a very clever man, and he is a very adaptable man, and I feel quite certain that he will take a lesson from this somewhat bittor-experience, and that with patience and vigilance, and forbearance and discretion, and a 6ivil tongue, the negotiations may yet be brought, as we all sincerely hope they may 1)3, to ft satisfactory conclusion." MOTHER DYER.

The grim baby-farming story from Reading has been confirmed by ample evidence and the confession of the woman Dyer herself. She appears to be a curious, half-mad creature, yet. possessed of considerable character. Her household feared her, and she starved them- "Mother," said one witness, "cared for her cats mUre than for U3. When we had nothing to eat but bread and dripping, the pussies had tit-bits of meat and saucers of milk." Mother often made mysterious journeys. She usually brought back money, and sometimes there was a brown paper parcel. The latter lay locked up till night in her room, when she stole out with it intothe darkness, wearing her long black cloak. None of them ever ?aw the parcel again. Other witnesses deposed to meeting Mrs Dyer late at night coming from the riverside. An old woman called " Grannie," who had lived a long time with her, gave damning evidence against Mother Dyer. She hated children, but was devoted to her cats, —[Mrs Dyer paid the penalty of her crimes last week.] THE -SEAL OF CONFESSION. The discussion with regard to the sacrosanct charaoter of individual confidences to a medical man raised by the Kitson case is

still simmering in the organs of the profession, and some uncommonly hard cases have been propounded. There is one in the current ' British Medical Journal' which exemplifies forcibly the appalling cleft stick in which a doctor may, and often does, find himself. The writer says :—" I was consulted by a servant girl privately and unknown to her mistress, and found her suffering from a ,dreaded contagious complaint. She slept in the same bed as another servant girl, and, although a housemaid helped the nurse to wash and dress the children in the house, I warned her of the danger of infection, aud strongly urged her to leave her situation, and to go where there would be less chance of conveying the disease to innocent persons. She, however, refused to do so, and remains at the present time in her situation. I have warned her repeatedly of the danger, and have also endeavored to minimise the risk by the adoption of precautionary measures. As this woman came to me trusting to my honor not to divulge her Becret, I have not warned her mistress, nor do I propose to do so." At the first gasp the horrified layman—especially should be be a paterfamilias— inclines to cry out that if this unprincipled girl blood-poisons all or any of the threatened family Dr Z. will be parliceps criminis. Yet the more one thinks the matter out the less possible does it seem for the doctor to betray his patient. Dozens of arguments occur to oneiu favor of that course, but they are not convincing. It appears to me Dr Z. was bound to bring every possible pressure to bear on his wretched patient to get her out of the house. But if she remained obdurate he had to hold his tongue, even though' the entire household were contaminated. For if you once admit that the seal of confession may be broken under any] conceivable circumstances whatever where will it lead you, or rather where ; won't it lead you? Numbers of men 'marry every year who (as their thjofcors

know) ought nob to do so. A has consumption, and will be dead directly after propagating offspring with tuberoular disease. His fiancii and her family have no suspicion of the • terrible truth {ought not the doctor of the bride groom to stop the tragedy ? And if you say "yes" to that should not the doctor who oau prevent a lad going to the dogs by betraying him to his father, or who can deter a wife taking to drink by confiding her secret to her unsuspecting husband, do so ? If you answer in the affirmative, then Dr Pi ay fair was, in giving away Mrs Kitson, only going a short step further, and not such a oulprib after all. The truth is, of course, inviolable secrecy does undoubtedly involve many possible dangers aud evils, but without it the public oould and would feel

no confidence in tho medical profession. BARON HIRSCH. There is not a scintilla of justification for the hints of the Continental press to the effect that Baron Hirsch met with foul play. As a matter of fact, it was to the interest of everybody to keep the millionaire Moses alive. He took care of that. "The poor are my heirs, so you better make the most of me while you have me," he used to say to the mob of sycophants and hangers on who surrounded him abroad. Lord Marcus' Beresford introduced Hiraoh to the Prince of Wales, who, to the scandal of the Austrian aristocracy, went to stop with him at E ! ch Horn, in Hungary. The Baron could never persuade the Magyar nobles to treat him a 8 an equal, or recognise him in any way. The Rothschilds also declined to work with him—another very sore point. But he bought up more than one member of our royal family with substantial loans negotiated through Sir George Lewis, and the impecunious members of the Marlborough House set were all under greater or less obligations to him. The Baron's view of the fair sex was cynical yet indulgent. Amongst other peculiarities he liked to lose money to women at cards or on the racecourse. This became so well known that self-respecting ladies would not at last sit down to ecarte or bezique with him. He cheated himself ecindalously till he had dropped fifty or sixty pounds, and then, breaking off the game, insisted on handing over a neat little roll of bank notes. Where theßaron trusted atallhetrusted thoroughly, but his suspicions, once aroused, were not easily allayed. He never could believe La Fleche lost the Derby fairly, and certainly Sir Hugo's victory over her was one of the most incomprehensible mysteries ever known, even in the sport of kings. The Baron's extraordinary luck with this splendid mare in 1891-92 93 was followed in 1894 and 1895 with a aeries of equally amazing reverses. He took these very badly, quarrelling with Lord M. Beresford, whom he accused of sacrificing his interests to those of an august personage. This was really most unreasonable, the luck of H R.H. up to last year having been simply unspeakable.

THE FIRST OK THE PRIVATE VIEWS. The private view at the new gallery on Saturday afternoon was, owing to the ficeness of the weather, a tremendous fashionable crush, and some of the dresses were days. I cannot say I like the current craze worthy the Grosvenor in its most eccentric for shot silks, even when they are confined to a modest blend. The effect when they are the other thing is simply appalling. There was a fearsome damsel, said to be Miss Aubrey Beardsley, costumed from head to foot in a shot silk and every variety of yellows and greens. The dress was intended to suggest " the plumage of the golden plover in its changing tints." What it did suggest was—a bilious attack. Lord Lome was present, but without Princess Louise. He ohatted pleasantly with Mr Lecky, the historian (whose mincing manners are marvellous to. witness), but did not seem to! see his sister-in-law, Lady Colin Campbell, ' resplendent in a Parisian oostume of mauve and a toque of shaded mauve flowers, worn well over the brow as Paris decrees this year. Andrew Lang and George Meredith were to bo observed foregathering in the big gallery, where the editor of the new daily (Mr Earl Hodgson), Mr Louis Hind, Mr E. T. Cook, and other journalists pervaded the throng and took notes. Lidy Carew, in green silk, brocaded with large pink pines, and wearing a butter-colored

straw hat, was accompanied, by her sister (Mrs Clifford Cory) in black velvet with a bodice of ermine. Both ladies were conspicuous from their tall stature and fine figures as well as their handsome faces. The collar and long medieval sleeves were turned back with green velvet edged with inihivei\ Her large and shady black hat was. trimmed with pink roses. Mrs Alfred Morrison, in voluminous gown and cape of soft grey blue, relieved with a cloud of pale olive net at the neck and cuffs, was one of the most animated persons present. Her white hair was picturesque under a many-colored rose-trimmed bonnet. Aline Wentworth Beaumont looked at the pictures with Lady Arran. Both ladies were quietly dressed—the Countess in black, Lady Aline in striped green and grey. Mrs Arthur Weguelin was in black. Another lady also in black wore a marvellous opal more than an inch long, and glimmering with splendor it made the diamonds round it look faint and dull. Mr Oswald Crawfurd, from the heights of his own imposing stature, remarked upon the great number of tall girls present. They had mustered in a surprising manner, and their height was emphasised by the tall dimensions of

their hats. Mrs Holman Hunt in her characteristic flat bonnet was a good recommendation of moderation in this particular. Lady Loch in a myrtle green grenadine gown, black velvet coat, and green lisse bonnet with black plumes, brought Miss Loch, who wore a navy blue cloth skirt, with shot silk sash and black velvet zouave. Mrs H. M. Stanley wore a black lace hat appliqued in white and trimmed with black ostrich plumes and pink roses, and a sapphire blue mohair gown striped with yellow and trimmed with spangled blue satin. Lady Granby was quietly dressed .in black, with ermine cape bordered with sable. Mrs Bcerbohm Tree, who came in the morning with Mr Tree, was smartly attired in bright green cloth, with a loose-backed jacket edged with fur. Mrs Alma Tadema in green, her drapery composed with a loose coolness of effect that was almost Greek, was another exemplar of the artistic versus the ultramodist. The picturesque little daughter of Mr David Carr was a study in browns and neutral kindred tints, her brown hair being coiffed with a Juliet cap in brown velvet embroidered in gold, and her dress being silk in a lighter tone, half brown, half grey, Signor Garcia moved nimbly amid the throng conversing with many friends. Mrs Labouchere in black and jet, with a bonnet of green velvet, found a haven of rest on one of the couches near the fountain, protected from unwary walkers this year by a hedge of rosea and pink hydrangeas. There were

many startling costumes, but, as ever, the best effect was made by those in which simplicity—probably secured by complex means —had been made the keynote. A LONDON CLUB. Some idea of the cost of running a big London caravanserai can be gathered from the balance-sheet, now lying before me, of that majestic pothouse the National Liberal Club. Members' subscriptions amount to £20,489, but of this £13,500 goes in rent and taxes. Servants' wages come to £9,634, the annual gas bill to nearly £I,OOO, and even the writing paper, etc., used to £499. The cost of provisions, wines, etc., in 1895 was £24,076, and the receipts £29,056, charges, of course, being much cheaper than those of a West End restaurant. The bedrooms yielded an income of £6,686, and the billiard tables £855. Breakages in glass and'earthen ware were to the value of £2BO.

SPORTING NOTES. Seldom, indeed, has it been my lot to visit Epsom under such absolutely perfect weather conditions as prevailed on Wednesday last, and never have I seen so big a crowd on the Downs on City and Suburban Day. It was a Derby crowd, and the scenes on the road down from town might easily have persuaded the non-sporting element that it was Derby Day. , And it was very evident that though, from the ante-post betting point of view, the second of the big spring handicaps has lost caste, it has lost none of its popularity with the public. For the race, which is worth £2,000, sixteen animals faced the starter, including Mr Barney Barnato’s smart son of Saraband, Worcester (6 yrs, 8.12), Leopold De Rothschild’s Amandier (aged, 8 8), Colonel North’s Hebron (5 yrs, 8.1), Sir Blundell Maple’s Kirkconnell (4 yrs, 8.10), Red Heart (4 yrs, 8.8), Wise Virgin (4 yrs, 8.7), La Sagesse (4 yrs, 8.1), Dormeuse {5 yrs, 7.6), Indian Queen (5 yrs, 7 10), Tambour (3 yrs, 6.11), and Funny Boat (3 yrs, 6.9). The betting immediately preceding the race was of a very heavy description. The money was piled on Barnato’s horse until 9 to 2 was the best offer, but all the time La Sagesse, Tambour, and Kirkconnell were being well supported at from 7to 9 to 1. Funny Boat and Indian Queen were also in strong demand at 100 to 7, but Amandier and Dormeuse wore always on offer at twenties. The outsider of the party was Wise Virgin, against which 50 to 1 was offered well-nigh in vain. There were several breaks away at the post, but half an hour after the proper time the flag fell to an even start. Indian Queen was quickest into her stride, and she led the field along at a merry pace, with Tambour, Worcester, and Amandier well placed in the van of the main body. So they ran to the mile post, but at the top of the hill Tambour joined the leader, and the pair made the descent head and head. As they came into the straight Indian Queen began to falter, and Tambour came on hotly pursued by Worcester, Amandier, and La Sagesse. A quarter of a mile from home Indian Queen dropped right away, and Worcester, with Amandier at his girths, collared Tambour. In the run home the favorite had all the best of the struggle, and finally won in a canter by three lengths. Hebon was third on sufferance, Tambour being eased up, The time of the race was 2min llsec.

The Hyde Park Plate, of £SOO, for two-year-olds, decided on the same afternoon, Drought out a field of nine. A favorite was quickly found in Mr Leopold De Rothschild's Jest —an unbeaten youngster which had to give weight to all opponents. But the " talent" hit the wrong horse, for Lord Ellesmere's Fortalice (Fitzsimou—Zariba) ran away from the field, and won in a walk by three lengths from the favorite, which beat the rest by a still greater distance. AT SAN DOWN. The two days' racing at Sand'own Park last Meek consisted principally of "illegitimate" sport—i.e., hurdle races and steeplechases. Of the events deci4ed on the fkt it is only necessary to mention here the Esher Stakes, and the Stud Produce Stakes, of £2,133, for two-year-olds. The former event proved the certainty it was voted for Lord Rosebery's Quarrel (5 yrs, 7-5), which romped home three lengths ahead of Medicis (6 yrs, 8 0) and M'Neil (4 yrs, 7.10). Only seven youngsterß sported silk for the rich Produce Stakes, the field including Mr Leopold De Rothschild's Brigg, a smart son of Bragg, which in the hands of Tommy Loates got home by half a length from Cokefield and Virginian Rose. The winner

started at 6 to 4 against. The Great Sandown Hurdle Race, value £412, and decided over two miles, produced a field of a dozen, and was won by the City and Suburban candidate Ampidamas in a very hollow fashion. The Graud International Steeplechase attracted eightrunners, including the Grand National failures Barcalwhey (10.3), Ardcarn (11.5), Waterforrt (11.2), and De Beers (10.6). Ardcarn piloted the field for the greater part of the three and a-half mile journey, but, coming to grief at the open ditch, left Barcalwhey with the lead. This Captain Whittaker's horse easily held to the finish, winning by ten lengths. Manaon, the rider of Ardcarn, had his noae broken for the second time during the week. MINING NOTES. There has been a fair amount of business done in New Zealand mining shares during the week, Preece's Point Proprietary shares

having been the most active feature of the section. For the most part prices remain much about last week's level, but Haurakis and Kapangas are a shilling lower, and Scotty'?, Hauraki, andPiuenix have relapsed a trifle.

On Saturday last Melville's New Zealand Corporation, Limited, issued the prospectus of the Kuranui-Caledonian Gold Mining Company. The capital of the venture, which is formed to work a thirty-acre patch comprising the Caledonian, Hazilbank, and Kuranui No. 2 claims, is £175,000 in £1 shares. The issuing corporation has guaranteed an immediate cash working capital of £25,000, and 25,000 shares are reserved for future issue if required. If the remarks of an old mining expert concerning the property are approximately true, the company is likely to require all this money before dividends will be earned. The purchase price has been fixed by the vendora at £125,000, payable as to £15,000 cash, £70,000 iu fullypaid shares, and the balance as the directors may find expedient. The corporation issued

10,000 shares at par, but I understand these were not all taken up by the public. One cannot wonder at investors beiug shy when it is shown that £732,000 in dividends has been taken out of the Kuranui and Caledonian blocks. We like " proved mines, 1 ' but this concern seems to have been proved to the point of exhaustion. The directors are Messrs Thomas Melville, William Lunan (Waihi SiK-erton Extended), Edward Walmsley (Hampton Lands and Railway), George Cowie, C. H,.Davis (Waihi Silverton Extended), and T. E. Harman, M.I.M. and M. (Rhodesia Gold Reefs). A local committee consisting of Messrs J. A. Pond, John R. Gray, and J. M. Lennox " will be invited to act." The cost price per acre to the company based on the capital approxi-

mates £5,850. The prospectus of the Waitekauri United Gold Mining Company has also been issued this week. This is a venture with a capital of £150,000 in £1 shares, formed to acquire the licensed holdings Waitekauri Nos. 4, 5, and 6, the Globe licensed holding, certain water rights on the Mangakari Creek, and a mining property or machine site of five acres extent at Waitekauri. The price to be paid for the whole is £IOO,OOO, payable wholly in shares. Fifty thousand of these are offered for public subscription for the purposes of providing working capital, and £25,000 of the amount required has been guaranteed. The directors of the concern are Messrs Robert Smith (African Gold Recovery), E. A. Preston (Austin Gold Recovery), R. B. Tetley (Lake View South G.M.C.), and W. H. Roberts. There is also an " Advisory Local Board," consisting of Messrs Thomas Morrin, Alfred Kidd, and James Macfarlane. The properties have been favorably reported on by Messrs E. M. Corbett, James Black, E. F. Adams, and W. H. Argall, the two latter being called in because Mr Daw, of Karangahake, who was instructed by the directors to report, cabled that he could not confirm Mr Corbett's report. The directors, by the way, get £2OO a year apiece and the chairman £3OO and one other is yet to be appointed. The Board in London will therefore cost £I,OOO per annum, to say nothing of the local Board's fees, secretaries, remuneration, etc. " The laborer is worthy of his hire," but methinka £IOO a year is ample remuneration

for any SMmeg director. And I do no* think any mining concern with a capital of £150,000 requires more than three men on its Board.

The "Earl of Glaßgow Gold Mine, Limited " is the title of a company regtatered last week with a capital of £152,000, divided into 133,000 A and 19,000 B shares of £1 apiece. The primary object of the company is to adopt and carry into effect an agreement expressed to be made between the New Zealand Exploring Company, Limited, of the one part, and this company of the other part, for the acquisition of certain mining rights, licenses, and authorities situate in the Hauraki mining district, Auckland, granted by mining licenses numbered 373, 80, 87, and the water race license No. 8,210, and the machine site license No. 1,757, and the benefit of an application for a further water race and machine site license, and for aspecial claim of 100 acres, and to develop and turn to account the said or such other properties as may from time to time be acquired by the company. A company called the " New Zealand Corporation " has been registered, with a capital of £IOO,OOO. The objects of this concern are to adopt and carry into effect an agreement made between Heasman and Co., Limited, of the one part, and H. F. Manley of the other part, to seek for and secure openings for the employment of capital in New Zealand and elsewhere; to proßpect, explore, test, and develop any mining, landed, agricultural, or other properties. The first directors—of whom there shall not be less than three or more than seven—are to be elected by the signatories. Qualification, £200; remuneration, £l5O per annum each, with a percentage of the profits, divisible; chairman, £2OO.

The "New Zealand Pioneers" .has been registered with a capital of £IO,OOO, in £l. shares. Objects: To acquire any mines, mining, water, and other rights, grants, leases, claims, etc., in New Zealand or elsewhere, and to develop, work, and tarn to account the same.