ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8508, 7 March 1891, Page 3 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[from thk society* PAPERS.] "How to keep your head" is a subject upon which Dr. 'Robert Felkin, the distinguished African traveller, could discourse with considerable authority, if we may believe a story which Prince Bismarck is said > to have lately told to a newspaper corres- ' pondenfc. Dr. Felkin a good many years ago was on a little visit to that gentle, kindly Soul King Mtesa of Uganda. The King fell ill, and the doctor attended him professionally. When he got well, Mtesa proposed to pay the doctorV ; fee by cutting off his head— kingly attention which he thought was beyond his humble deserts. Dr. 1 elkin casually remarked that if his head were cut off he should be reluctantly obliged to blow up the King's hidden store of powder by a flash of lightning. Mtesa put his tongue into his cheek. " You don't know where it is," he chuckled. " Oh, yes I do," Feikin replied, " it's under your harem." The King turned as pale as any man of his colour very well can, and was forced to admit the wisdom of leaving the doctor's head on his shoulders.

"Madge" (of the Pictorial World) has had the account of a Chicago wedding sent to her, at which there were 2500 guests. Tlje marriage took place in the Central Music Hall, the large stage of which was decorated to represent a cathedral choir. Pillars were formed of solid masses of white chrysanthemums, and the large organ was thickly draped with sinilax and other greenery. The stage was covered with flowers, palms, and ferns, and in the centre a temporary altar was erected. The wedding march from " Lohengrin" was the signal for the entrance of six ushers (Anglici, groomsmen), then six bridesmaids, then the bride, walking quite alone in her snow-white bridal array, followed by six more bridesmaids, the same number of ushers bringing up the rear. After the episcopal service had been read the twelve bridesmaids chanted the Lord's Prayer very softly to a harp accompaniment. This was at 4 o'clock. From 8 to 11 a reception was held at the bride's home. In the room where the immediate bridal party had refreshments on their return from the service, the ceiling was entirely covered with real roses, fully blown, among which were electric lights veiled in glasses of various colours. In the centre of the, tab! "3 was a large mirror, on which was erected a tower of roses with a belfry at the top enclosing fourteen silver bells. A gold cord was attached to each of these, the other end of the cords being placed by the side of each lady. Between the courses the wedding bells were rung. The reception was held in the ballroom at the top of the house, and in order to prevent a crush on the stairs, a covered way was erected from the street to the second floor, this being used for exit only by the 2500 guests. y

The Queen's distributions of New Year gifts to the poor of Windsor and certain other districts near the royal borough consisted of beef and coals, the size of the joints varying from 3lb to 71b, according to the number of persons in each family, the total weight being more than a ton and ahalf. The coai, weighing over GO tons, was delivered at the homes of he recipients in quantities of Ito 3cwt. The total value of Her Majesty's bounty amounted to £300. o The distress among the poor dnring'this very abnormal weather is exceedingly terrible. Response quickly follows urgent appeal, but with all that is given the supply falls dreadfully short of the demand. One is'helpless to deal to the full extent with misery and sickness due to lack of fuel, food, and raiment. Dreadful cases of suffering are brought to light, and the severity of many of these appears to bo under rather than over-stated.

The London gossip of the Sheffield Independent met the other day a young gentleman whose claim to immortal fame, so far as it has been established, is that he has given one of the most expensive dinners of modern times. Of course he comes from America. He is on his bridal tour, and the extravagance in question was displayed in the way of a farewell dinner to his bachelor acquaintances. There were ten of them present, including the host, and the dinner cost £300. £30 a head for a meal is not bad. The thing seems incredible, and so far as it can be true one is glad to learn that a principal item in the expense was the flowers.

Mr. Shorter, who succeeds Mr. Latey as editor of the Illustrated London News, was a clerk in Somerset House who has dabbled in literature. He edited " Wilhelm Meister:' for David Stotts, and wrote a mono- •

graph on " Charlotte Bront6" for Walter Scott's series. He is now editing a special edition of " Wordsworth."

Mr. and Mrs. Cornwallis West, who have taken up their residence at Newlands, gave a dance a few days ago to celebrate the " coming out" of their eldest daughter. It i 3 difficult to realise that the beautiful Mrs. Cornwallis West, the reigning beauty of so many seasons, should already be the mother of a grown-up daughter. But time flies apace.

Catholic France will this year celebrate the seventh centenary of the birth of the great St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, " the last of the Fathers." Of him Milmah wrote:—"Everywhere Bernard was called in as the great pacificator of religious and even of civil dissensions. It was a free and open court, to which all might appeal without cost, from which all retired, even if without success, without dissatisfaction."

Sir Hercules Robinson, if he lives long 1 enough, will probably reach the throne— that is, given time. So far, he has enjoyed almost all the best posts at the disposal of the Colonial Office, and is now commencing a new career up the ladder of more substantial distinctions than those alphabetical.

Professor Henry Sidgwick wants to know Eeople who will help in collecting details of allucinations. It is a curious inquiry. He wants fifty thousand answers, and he has got between six and seven thousand only. Here is the question, "Have you ever, when believing yourself to be completely awake, had a vivid impression of seeing or being touched by a living being or inanimate object, or of hearing a voice, which impression, so far as you could discover, was not due to any external physical cause?" The purpose of the statistics is to discover whether there are visions which cannot be accounted for on the theory that they are merely coincidences, or purely and wholly subjective. Professor Sidgwick wants collectors to help him in finding out people's experiences.

Mr. Christie Murray informed an interviewer at Adelaide the other day that, having now determined to follow the profession of a dramatic author and actor, he proposed to write no more novels, with the exception of one, the scheme of which he has had in his mind for the last fifteen years. This novel of the future will be called " Paul Armstrong," and it will be, according to Mr. Murray, simply "The Autobiography of an Ass." In the person of the hero the author intends to pourfcray " a real live man, a clever fool, just exactly as he is, with all his faults and merits." He has entered into a touring partnership with Mr. Harry St. Maur, and they are about to take ;j company through India and China.

Marion Crawford, the novelist, is said to have a firm faith in astrology, of the truth of which ho had some practical proofs while living in India. Now he does not begin a book or sell a manuscript without consulting the stars. In England belief in this old world science is rapidly gaining ground, and there are numbers of professional men, barristers, doctors, and military officers, who, without ever mentioning the subject to any but their most intimate friends, believe their fates can be foretold by the stars, and consult astrologers regarding their future.

It is said that Mr. William Black is the most popular English novelist in the United States. Judging from the sale of his numerous works of fiction, he is read much more than Dickens or Thackeray or Scott. Mr. Thomas Hardy is now exceedingly popular with American readers. Mr. Besant is also coming very much to the front, and Mr. Louis Stevenson has been making great forward strides of late, and bo has Mr Hall Caine. ■■'■i-*