ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8082, 24 September 1887, Page 3 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

'y [IM THE SOCIETY PAPERS.] A. certain colonial bishop has evidently,, been ana gOn« and done it. He wrote i letter to a rich resident intimating that a donation for a proposed Itigjioan cathedral would bo welcomed, A cheque lot £500 was forwarded by the millionaire to his.lordship. Instead of - a letter of thanks, the donor received a note in reply, hinting that £2000 wouM have been more acceptable. At this t&» millionaire asked his lordship to return tho £500, which his lordship cheerfully did, thinking that the cheque for £2000 would bo forthcoming instead. When he got his cheque back the moneyed- penned a note thanking the bishop for his promptness in returning it, and stating that he intended to fully con sider the hint. He hasn't finished considering yet.

A Continental contemporary has a new story to tell about Queen Margaret of Italy, who is supposed to be troubled with > a complaint very rarely to be found among women. She is " anxious not to appear too youthful, and it is related that at the beginning of the summer she asked her husband, King Humbert, whether she was not growing too old to wear her favourite style of dress—white muslin. " That point needs consideration." replied the King. Nothing more was said on the subject for several weeks, bat one morning the King's chamberlain entered the Queen's apartment, announcing that he brought the Royal answer to Queen Margaret's inquiry. The answer consisted of a huge trunk, containing six elaborate white muslin dresses from Paris.

To the shame of our womankind, it was left for the Roman Catholic nuns of England to present to the Queen the best Jubilee offering. These devoted women worked as many as eight thousand four hundred articles of clothing for distribution by Her Majesty among the poor. The offering was accompanied by a beautifully illuminated address breathing loyalty in gentle womanly terms. The Queen was, as she ought to have been, delighted with the nuns' idea, and the liberal way in which they had carried it out. Unfortunately, the larger part of the clothing has fallen into the hands of the Bishop o£ London for distribution.

How few of the characteristics of old ag are possessed by the Queen ! What elderly lady except. Her Majesty, could face th« early morning air upon an empty stomach, and take a walk or a smart drive as an appetiser before breakfast? Many of us, thirty years Her Majesty's junior, sicken at the thought of venturing upon outdoor exercise before eating something as a " stay." Yet our sovereign lady, with the weight of sixty-eight years upon her, actually drives and walksand that frequentlybefore she breaks her all-night fast, and returns to her morning meal "as hungry as a hunter," and in abundant good spirits. The cocks and hens in the Royal poultry run can testify to what we say about Her Majesty's very early walks abroad.

A romantic ease will shortly bo tried in Vienna. The flower girl of the Jockey Club, or rather, the bouquetiere known under the name of the "Turf Caroline," lays claim to some money from an English nobleman, she having, ten years ago, gone through a regular romancing life with him. It seems that this rich English nobleman entirely forgot her, and she has now entered a case against him. There must be some truth in it, as thei noble* man's lawyer is already in Vienna.

The Queen's time at Osborne is growing short, and we have reason to believe that Her Majesty has not been altogether satisfied with the results of her flight to the Isle of Wight. The duties she sought tar escape from pursued her to her retreat, and Jubilee worries have been as many as they were in town. In short, the Jubilee has attained to the proportions of a nightmare for Bier Majesty, just as it has for the loyalest of Iter subjects, and if the spectre follows to haunt her in the Highlands, goodness only knows what she will do. She may even be ex* asperated into abdicating.

A short time ago Mr. Btindley, an eminent contractor for the marble work of some of our most important buildings, was at a loss for a certain kind of porphyry. Having bought up all in tho market, he could not obtain more. Being a well-read man, he found that mention was made by Strabo (temp, circa B.C. 24) of a mountain of this peculiar porphyry in a desert near the Hed Sea. Like one of Mr. Haggard's heroes, ha set off to Cairo to endeavour to find out the whereabouts of this treasure mountain. By good fortune he fell in with Mr. ifloyer, an Englishman, addicted to desert, who de« scribed the identical mountain of which ht was in quest. Straightway he took camel, and eventually arrived at the object of his search. Here he found a grand store of the coveted purple variety, left unquarried apparently since the time of Trajan ; the ancient temple, the well, the cart tracks, and the watering places of Hydruma being all in statu quo.

Lady Colin Campbell has got the credit ol the " Men and Women of the Day" papers in the Saturday Review. They are obviously' the handiwork of a woman or a fashionable moralist who is an amateur of the pen. But, though curious in their way, these articles have failed to acquire the notoriety obtained for the journal by its "Girl of the Period" essaya work attributed to the pen of Mrs. Lynn-Linton, the novelist. This is not surprising, inasmuch as for many years now the social muck-rake has been deftly handled by tho society papers which have taken up the role of the Saturday. In the article on " Men of the Day," the writer draws no distinction to speak of in the quality of the youug English gentlemen of the day. We are told that they come up fresh, goodlooking, ardent, and 'spirited. Fail' women pet them. The petted lose their heads or retain them only lor the purpose of cultivating and maturing the baser arts. As the same writer has shown that half the marriages made in London are marriages de convcnance, and that the bride of to-day becomes the divorcee of to morrow, it will be seen that English morality is being put very low indeed.

Truth Hays: — I uoto with pain (as a melancholy instance of human depravity) that the papers are beginning to swarm with the usual lists of " seasideand holiday books." Now, the truth is, the only book a- man ongh!; take with him on a holiday is a cheque book. I have no patience with the prigs who would make a labour of every pleasure, and "improve each shining hour." No sensible man wants to improve it. When I see a man reading on the seashore, or walking along a country lane with a book sticking out of bis pocket, or going out boating with literature for ballast, 1 think that man a fool, and whenever I get an opportunity of breaking to him my opinion without an unseemly altercation, I seize the occasion.

General Boulanger, as is well-known, is only half a Frenchman. His mother was an English lady, and he speaks both languages with equal fluency. Since his exile to Clermont he has lived very quietly. Clermont itself is a watering place of some Importance, and possesses a hotel, a casino, and some mineral springs. Mme. Boulanger is with her husband at Clermont. Only the General's intimate friends are received there. Miss Boulanger, the General's daughter, is also with him. She is now in her sixteenth year, and is a tall, gracefal girl, with her father's blue eyes and noble bearing.

It is announced that Mr. Gladstone, who is to fill the presidental chair at the opening of the Welsh National Eistisddfod in the Royal Albert Hall, has for some time been studying the Welsh language, and will make his, opening address in the tongue of Llewellyn. . The Welsh delegates are prepared to giro, him a grand reception. > j

Red Shirt, the most noble savage of tile Buffalo Billeries, was present at a dinner 1 given the other evening by a well-known lion huntress. Some shrimps were passed' around,' whereupon Red Shirt's face assumed an expression of most pronounced repugnance. 'At last his feelings overpowered his native impassibility, and he said, And not In a'stage whisper, Me Indian ma savage maybe : but me no eat worms."

Daring Her Majesty's journey from Windsor to Gosport the royal saloon ,was made cool by means of wooden frame work® on each side, coveted with felt and canvas, which were kept saturated with iced water, so that the temperature was exceedingly pleasant, al- ' * though it was one of the hottest days of fchia ' ical summer. .