ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10014, 28 December 1895, Page 3 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[FROM TIIK SOCIKTY PAl'EItS.]

Another American heiress has secured an English title. l ord Bennet, son and heir of the Earl of Tankerville, has just married Miss Vanmartar, reported to bo very wealthy.

The Queon, who has a. cup of tea in bed, never rises bofore eight o'clock. The Kaiser is astir at five, and the King of Italy six. The Queen Regent of Spain is dressed for the day at sevon. The Kaiser, tho Tzar, and tho Kings of Belgium and Portugal have taken to cycling.

The statement is frequently made that) the I'rinco smokes ono brand only, and that! this brand follows him wherever he goes. This is not true. Tho taste of tho HoirApparent is eclectic, but it is alsi varied, and ho has an excellent memory for the brands favoured by his relatives and his personal following. Thus, when he visits the Duke of Teck ho smokes a particular brand reserved lor him, as that used by tha Duko does not suit his palate. His proference is for a choice, somewhat mild weed, and is diametrically opposed to the largo, full flavoured cigars enjoyed by the Duko of Cambridge or Prince Christian, while ho would never dream of choosing a smoke from tho caso of I'rinco Henry of Battenburtf, whose preferences are distinctly Teutonic in this respect.

Jonathan lias actually for once in a way broken his rule, and given ono of his great! heiresses to a mere English commoner. Mrs. (Jara Rogers l)u(T and Mr. Urban if. Brnugliton will shortly bo married. • Mrs. Dull was a Miss Rogers, daughter of tig Henry IT. Rogortt who hud made untold wealth as president of the Standard Oil Company, Sho has a million sterling in her own right, and on her father's death will, ib is said, come into three or four millions in addition, She is pretty, *20 years oIJ, and a great favourite it) American society.

In London, ample proofs of revived comtnerical prosperity tiro to bo found in three remarkable social symptoms—the rush of young people to get married, the demand for small but coinfortablo houses in tho suburbs of the Metropolis, and the almost unoxainpled activity in the furniture trades. On tho second point (says tha Daily Telegraph) it maybe stated that in some quarters houses cannot be built quick enough for the tenants, sumo of whom ara content to ontor on occupation before licit* habitations are finished or even in a perfect sanitary state. but in the honeymoon newly-marriod and loving couples a:o not susceptible to colds and catarrhs, and pay little attention to discomforts which would madden older men and women, to whom the first charms of wodlock are only rejections of a long past. Rut now and undried houses, oven though the tenants are glad to inhabit them, may impair matrimonial happiness after tho first enthusiasm has worn off, and therefore a landlord at Crouch End has been fined 'JOs and costs for allowing buildings belonging to him to bo occupied before they were quito finished. lie pleaded that it was not his fault, as the tenants insisted on going into them as they were. The simpler kinds of furnituro aro in greas, request. There is also a considerable demand for largo and expensive articles, owing to the " boom"on tho "took exchange, and manufacturers aro putting forth every effort to finish their orders as speedily as possible. \\ lion the present excitement i! over a good many of theso things will probably find their way to tho sale rooms.

The Princoss Maud of Walos is pro» minently paragraphed in Clio Realm. Shs has always had a passion for travelling incognita, and getting rid of royal stuto. She spent two or three weeks once in a country house, introduced as a newcomer by a chaperon whose position was sufficient) guarantee. Despito the fact that she was manifestly rather among the guests than of them, she had all the men of the panty a; her faot. With great. good humour, yoi with gentlo dignity, she discouraged their advances, and it was not until after she was eafo home again that tho identity of the truant Prince 4 was disclosed. A natna frequently adopted by her under such circumstance is Miss Mills, an het| govorness, now an elderly lady residing in. the west of England, still occasionally receives from her a brief, unceremonious visit. Tho Princess is an enthusiast on tho wheel. Her first machine was a rearsteering tricycle, with a clutch action, and her coat of arms was put on the soat rail. But that was in the old days, when she was still in Iter teens; a,id, nowadays, the Princess uses a " bike" of t.lio smartest and newest pattern. Tho Princess is also aclever photographer, She has sometimes used a half plate camera on a tripod stand, but she is as fond of tho snap shot camera as hor eldest sister.

Triumphant democracy in "North America lias long been known for its weakness fo( diamonds. During the hundred and something years that the United Slates liavo existed («ays the Globe) a great change has come over the spirit of the people} titles wero eschewed by tho founders of the Republic, bub nowadays evcry« body who can do so tacks on Hon. oe Excelloncy to his namo, while, of course, colonels and judge 3 grow on every bush, "The wives of pork, railway, and silver kings, for their part, aim higher than mero titles, though they will marry one, even a Continental ono, they get a chance. Their chief desiro in lifo is to obtain a royal or princely diadem, and somo of them have not shrunk from going so far as to copy the tiaras of English princesses Ono millionairess has a crown of turquoiseand diamonds, with three largo floii' d? tyi of turquoise standing in the front of it; another has a diamond tiara which cost. 15,000.lols.; and a third has a royal crown of yellow diamonds, with one lingo white diamond to show up tho hue of the others. A coronet is ono of tho first things the wife of a millionaire longs for when hor good man has entered the charmed ciiclo of successful money makers. A story is told of a millionaire who, when ho had made his pile, offered to make his wife a present, and was asked for the largest emerald tiara that could be bought within the limit of 20,000 lols. The poor nun duly bought tho coronet, bub as his hopo had been that his wife would ask for a fine family mansion, he was proportionately disappointed. It is curious to notice that at a time when in Europe the tendency is all towards simplicity in such matters, thero should bo such a desiro in the United States for ornaments that will distinguish tho wearer from the ordinary run of humanity. In England such ostentation would bo looked upo 1 as the height of bad taste; in the States in appears to bo the height of fashionable magnificonco."

Lady Pauncefoto, wife of tho British Minister at Washington, finds that placj orerwholmingly sociably. On a recent afternoon she had calls from fourteon hundred visitors whom she had never seer or heard of, and most of them shook hands with her effusively, as a consequonce of an *>• informal announcement that she would b( " at homo" from four to six o'clock.