Ladies' Column. ARISTOCRATIC LADIES GOING JNTO TRADE. FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7928, 17 December 1887, Page 6

Ladies' Column. ARISTOCRATIC LADIES GOING JNTO TRADE.

FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY.

The London correspondent of tbe New York Herald, writing on October 11, says : — A PECDLUU BIGN OP THE TIMES. One of the most curious signs of the timoa is tbe number of ladies in society who are taking to trade. In some instances those ladies are wives of landlords who no longer get their rents and are consequently reduced topoverty. Cases of this clasa abound, capeoially in Ireland, where most landowners not possessing income elsewhere are now practically ruined. < Their wives and

daughters seek to earn a living aa seamstresses or in shopg. How long will it be before a similar state of things prevails among English landlords? Fire spreads, and nothing seems capable of quenching this one. IKSTANCES CITED. Mm. Wheeler has opened a shop in Davies street, Berkeley Square, for the sale of decorative house work. She was one of the fashionable beauties of the Langtry type. Another lady of the , same school, Mrs. Gurney, an exceedingly attractive woman, has opened a dressmaker's business. Why ladies have so long left tliia very profitable trade to ordinary shopkeepers is wonderful, considering the opportunities it gives them to indalga in the love of dross while filling their pockets at the same time. HOW BUSINESS CAN BE DONE. Well-known ladies entering this field who have a large connectlou can easily obtain capital, and if they have a good education and taste, there Is no reason I why they should not make money. I One of my friends, formerly a recognised leader of fashion, now sells cloaks and mantles, all designed by herself, whioh are pronounced by good judges to be far superior to Prenoh productions. Her husland keeps the books tpstairs — surely a more dignified employment than old Mantallni's turning tho mangle in ihe cellar. One of the Lennoxes — the Duke of Richmond's family — has a shop for robes and dresses, and is doing well. lord dunea.ven'B sister-in-la.'w. Mrg. Kerr, Lord Dunraven's sister-in-law, makes and sells bonnets and hats. She has exquisite skill and taste, and is so successful as to be able to maintain a large family, the rent from her husband's estates having almost entirely ceased. Mrs. Kerr has not yet opened a shop, but lells her gooda to friends. People used to have a prejudice against bonnets and dresses of amateur make, but in the case mentioned the articles challenge comparison with the best professional work. Tbat, of course, is the secret of her success, for ladies will not dress badly for ihe sake of helping friends. OTHEE ARISTOCRATIC TRADESPEOPLE. The idea used to be that the stage was the only resouroa for distressed ladies. The immense proportion of the failures to the sucoesses cured this. Two sisters, daughters of a well-known general in the army, recently opened a shop for children's clothing, and made n profit of £300 in the first four months. Unfortunately there are hundreds of ladies now almost penniless in this city for whom no door of employment opens. Every West End stationer is asked to sell their drawings or cards. There is little hope for these. So many rloh families have been brought low in the last "few years that applicants for employment crowd around every likely door. No change for (ha belter oan be looked for till trade and politics both improve.

A Great Party Triumph. Some years ago, says the Parliamentary writer of tie G-lobe, the wife of a Liberal Unionist member -was' in her frequent place in the ladies' gallery. She had with her a bevy of blooming daughters, including, unluokily, an enfante terrible. A Radios! representative happened to be in possession. He had addressed the House in his fashion; he had fallen foul of the followers of Lord Bar ting ton. He roused the lady's anger ; she turned to her daughters on the tier behind and observed what a horrid vulgar creature that was, and how strange it was that such persons were allowed in the House, and that an Act of Parliament was not passed to prevent them. Raah woman. She did not notice how the auditor beside her—a lady of a certain age, unattached appearance, and hard, almost legal visage —bridled up at her words, frowned, bit her lips, and shook herself with a movement which set all her draperies fluttering as when a fowl shakes its plumage. This lady Bat and simmered through the next speech, longiug for a chance of a retort. The Fates granted her an unexpected revenge, for who ahould contrive to catch the Speaker's eye but the liberal Unionist belonging to the authoress of the sally. Is was the said enfante tervible who conveyed the glad tidings, by directing in her childish way mamma's attention to papa standing up and making a speech. The speech began, and all went well until the complacenoy of the orator's wife was ruffled by this request from her neighbour : — " Can you tell me who is that ridiculous old man who is making such an exhibition of himself ? He seems idiotic." The shock was severe, but what was there to do P Nothing but to east a haughty and scornful glance at the perpetrator of the outrage, nothing but to draw dress and person from immediate contact with the perpetrator, and to do so with thai elegance of gesture whioh suggests withdrawal from the contiguity of sin and death, famine and pestilence. Thereupon the Badical in petticoats executed one of those artistio sniffs which are arranged to sound the full gamut of the passions. She affected to be absorbed by the orator on the floor, occasionally laughing low laughs of exquisite merriment, or emitting a little shriek' which she stifled with her liapdkerohlef, as though the display was juite too overpoweringly ludiorous. I'he climax arrived when the relentlesß Radical, addressing herself this time to ■ >ne of tho young ladies begged for in- ' brmation respecting the absurd animal

who was saying such extraordinary < things, and without waiting a reply went ' on to ask whether it did not seem as if i he' had been drinking P This was the ■ last straw. The wife and mother spoke i from a full heart — "The. gentleman speaking is my husband, madam. Woman, how dare you—" But feeling choked the stream of speech. As it *as, the announcement should have been a crusher, but an eye witness said it was nothing of the kind. It merely produoed the return— "I'm very sorry for you, I'm Bure. But we all have our afflictions and we must bear them." And with this orowning stroke of vengeance the female with the legal visage left the gallery, leaving a panting mass of crushed and speechless drapery behind.