WEEKLY WHISPERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 6 February 1909, Page 2

WEEKLY WHISPERS.

// Urn's a hole in a' your coatt I rede ye tent it ; ' A c/iiets among ye taiin' notes. And, faith, lu'llprent it. — Burns. "Mofussilite" cannot allow the retire, merit of Airs Houlker from the staff of the Nelson School of Music to pass without paying & tribute to her long, honourable and distinguished connection with the institution, from its inception. Mrs Houlker's name is field in affectionate, esteem and remembrance by many of New Zealand's 'best singers. She has seen the School pf Music grow from its day of small things to its present assured position, in the establishment of which she has had a large and distinguished share that can never be forgotten or ignored. Nelson music students, past and present, in Nelson or out of it, will not bo true to themselves or td their cult, if they permit tho occasion ,of Mrs Houlker's retirement from the School pass without fome recognition of her (services ana rev merits. • • • * • jHoro is a tribute from the Sydney 'Daily Telegraph" to the magnificent yet prompt and off-hand contributor from Untie Sam towards the relief oi the sufferers by the- Italian earthquake — "The contribution of no less .thar three-quarters of a million sterling bj America to the Italian earthquake funo is a splendid tribute both to the hearl and the pocket of the great Anglo Saxon Bepublic. There is no instance of one nation making such a prompt and handsome response to tha judder cry of humanity heard from another. !All Europe, with the exceptlic(i of (the smitten country itself, has not contributed so much to the .relief oi the Italian sufferers as the" United States with its magnificent cash donation of seven hundred and tiftj thousand pounds. _ When San Fran cisco was destroyed" in the same waj as Messina, America refused the prof fereA help of the neighbour nations oi the ground that she was equal to th' (emergency herself. America is only just recovering from tho effects of i severe panic which strewed the whol country with financial wreckage, ye it hands out a three-quarter milKoi subscription to a foreign relief fun< with the nonchalance of a man throw ing a shilling into -a hat. From thii Great Biita'n gets a reminder of th< pi\a to which the colony she lest but a few generations ago* has grown such as is calculated to inspire feeling! of both pride and regret." A recent cablegram said 'that 11 « application of Hairy Thaw, the million aiic-murdbrct of [Stanford White in New York, for a fresh inquiry ink his sanity had been granted, but with out a jury. It is now a year sinc< the young Pittsburg millionaire, Harrj rliaw, wa3 adjudged to have bcei insane when he shot Stanford White and since then he has been an in mate of the Mattcawan Lunatic Asy him. An application for a re-tria was refused by the New York CouVt n October last, and Thaw was remandee back to the asylum. Then, in Septem bflr. Thaw's counsel secured befoe \i Justice Mills, of the Supreme Cou.-t sitting at White Plains, the trial lv sought to prove his sanity. Course wanted trial by jury, b.s t to this Ju.« tice Mills would not consent. The lat l«r said he could find ,10 law that gay, him power to grant the prisoner tria by jury as a constitutional right. No\ the trial without a jury has been se cured and Thaw vii f popu , ar ,£ b ■freeUm Stand * ° f U Th 0 popularity of the hairless fac ha» not extended to Prance, anct i Pans it is unusual to see a clean-share' man. President Kaliferes was enbarbed recently by his men-servant 1 equating permission to wear beard Tf a . C K eS - Xhe rule had l«ni Z7th ►•■ ? J" usi be 'lean-shaven and tney objected to this as contrary t< FreL^r ty ™V <lUalit - V * n which th. trench Constitution is based In - democracy founded by lovers' of free' don. no man thonM be forced to ~oc4i a sign of serv-ituie— for thus is ' th« shaven fac, regarded . .^M* iSriW. a/V T *&"* we «> rumours g o f t atnke ,f the President did. not gw< • • • • . . In England, on the other hand, ther-: L 7 th ° semhl ™?e °* such a movement The tenancy is Awards "flu m shaving. If tho "Daily Mail , fi to be believed, th c request of servants hall of great houses witfi indignation The idea of a footman with -a beard was staggering to the rousarvativo mind of Jeames. The but ler at a great London bouse, wEere the door is never opened by fewer than tour men, confessed that it made him feel q ui te f aint , " It > s this here Republ.c.anj.m," he. said, sadly. "First they abolishes region, and now they want then- men servant to look lik« grizzly b^ars. rt ain't in nature. If you understand me rightly, sir, it's downright flying in the face of what's proper and right." He also gav 6 it as ms opinion that this terrible proposal struck at the very root of social lffe." A I-ondon barber drew attention to the ta <* that inly one member of Mr Asnuiths Cabinet wore a beard, while eleven were cleanshaven. '-l' - act is sir, there's a prejudice against wlrske u/ : v- ards - T h"-.v't>-c-r«ider«l ald-fafhioned and behind the times. It may be «-ronpr. tir, but that's the iota American gentlemen who come in Sere, thov niitKe gre.it ?s m« of whisKers. 1 n»y don t think anyone who wears them can have all his wits' about "him Curious change from forty years ago, sir; very curious, indeed." • • • • « Tho Cullinan diamond has made such a st:r in the world that diamonds (a very different word from "a diamond") says a writer of Fashion Notes, have come mto fashion again. Not for an instant is it to be supposed that th«e ev]er-favourite stones became cut of fashion, but all kinds of diamond stories are now told until they are becoming the) "snake 6bori.es" of the jeweller's world. "Myself," 6a id a lady recently in explanation of the distinction between the stones according to the size, "I have diamonds but not a diamond." That these precious .things are not always imperishable is now an accepted fact. Experts will sometimes detect, in an apparently flawless diamond an infinitesimal white specie, 'which is the little rift within the lute; this crack spreads, and in a short time the stone is Teduced to powder. Diamonds sometimes change colour, and turn into rose brilliants. * » > • * The setting of diamonds is now receiving much attention from those whose business it is to look after these stones. Owners of historical jewels spend hundreds in having their tiaras altered. A fancy of the moment is to have the stones reset as a long chain; which can be worn in many different ways, while the "tarara." ie so invariable as to inspire a feeling of mo- T notony m the beholder. Sydney sofciety women who possess diamonds always dress well on the occasions v/Ison they wear jewels, not following in tfu the bad example of some English mms' esses who wear a shabby bljck even m "Sown with their diamond-, Jfever adv^es an authority, "im-ag-ne that a shabby gown is 'Carried off 1 by- diamonds.' With.wg*d to the prices of these stones, £10,000 was recently paid to a Sydney firm for a parure (a whole set), whioh they had", manufactured for a custom-.- It was exceeding- beautiful, and" when en view was n uch admired by a!I who saw it. Our Coloured 'Australian ?tone? are just now much in favour; ami fetch good prices, but there is Ins advantage about buying diamonds, they never go ont'of fasnion, and are always saleable. * • * • • • The swing of the pendumm has s«t in regarding bridge, and moralists -are jiov declaring that the gsairf is a ureat jirMentive of malicious p.ssip. Whether the credit be put to bridge altogether it is hard to ray, but tittle-tat-tle about Mrs A. and Miss B. or Mr K. is now little sought after. Women's, parties, it is contended in the larger, ivorld, are not scandal manufactories now at all. Should a theme of alariderons interest be started by one or other

The great women artists ahdmori dames who wear tho P.D. Cprset'kno'w why The P.D., giving healthful snp-\ port, prevents lassitude and prostration The P.D., being modelled on th«i -finest and sanest principles, enhances -the na^ tnraU^raee and --balancef-of'"'"the )figii*e t and ;shom those graceivp^fertirfe;;!^

it is listened to without that.iecn and absorbing attention with which such a subject was wont to be treated. Bridge begins and ends the enjoyment, and ■ should bridge not be the object of the party, it flags and languishes, and is voted by departing guests as "frightfully slow." After all, bridge may bo a blessing in disguise. A Labour politician in platform tears must be a sight for gods and men. Hence tho appended telegram from Melbourne in connecion with the Victorian Ministerial elections is of interest: — "Speaking at the Newport workshops on behalf of Mr Fenton, Labour candidate for Essendon, against Mr W. A. Watt, the Treasurer, Mr F. Anstey, M.L.A., remarked that it had come to the ears of- the .Labour party that large numbers of railways men and civil servants residing in Essendon intended to vote for Mr Watt. As a result, several mc-mbers of the party, himself among tha number, had decided^ x to make a personal canvass of publjc. servants in the electorate. He had -not-' -- se!>ii many of the man, but in cqnye"r-~ ?atbn with their wives ho had been shoi<k«d and grieved to find that the „ rumours were ail too true. At this stage, Mr Anstey utterly broke down. Placing Ins hanls over his eyes" he sobbed biterly for some, moments, and tears were seen coursing down his cheeks.-* The outburst, so unexpsctcd evoked rounds uf sympathetic cheers, and while these! were ringing, Mtr Ar.«tey resumed control of his feelings md proceeded wi'.h a vigorous address on politic,!" matters." motossilite