ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10079, 14 March 1896, Page 3 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[FROM THE SOCIETY PAPERS.]

General Joubert, the Boer Commander* in-Chief, is accompanied on all his expeditions by his wife, a thing which may sound very strange to Europeans ; but it is not so at all to the Boers. For during the long decades of treckking, in the course of which the people, chased from place to place by British wiles and violence, through the hostile Kaffir tribes, the Boer women have taken part in the hob fighting as well as Che men. Every encampment was at once arranged as a waggon fort. If an attack took place the men stood on the top of the waggons and fired at the enem.,. Behind each Booi stood hit wife and loaded the second rifle or disabled with an axe the Kaffir whe tried to creep under the waggon. Othe) women cast bullets, bandaged tha wounded, or protected the children, who were in the middle of the fort. General Joubert'? wife, too, underwent this training in tho struggle for life, so that she understands somewhat more of the art ol war than rcany a Dutch Schutter. When General Joubmt and his wife visited the Transvaal Exhibition in the Park of the Palace of Industry, in Amsterdam, some years ago, the lady exclaimed, on seeing a lump of tin, " What beautiful bullets could be cast out of that 1"

The White House, President Cleveland's official residence, covers about one-third of an acre. It is a long, low two-storey building, with a basement;, which, at the front, i! almost flush with tho sidewalk, and which at the back is level with the lawn, and forms almost a third storey to the mansion, It is of a dazzling, ghastly white, but it has not the rich mellow tint of white marble, and its colour is produced by white lead, The building is made of sandstone, and it has been painted again and again, until in some places, it is said, that the white lead upon it is actually a quarter of an inch thick. Tho building was modelled after a castle in Dublin, and when it was first built it cost £00,000, and since then about £340,000 has been spent upon it, so that the total cost of it to-day is something like £400,000

The Queen's grandchildren at Christmas at Osborne ire allowed to play with the elaborate toys that amused their fathers and mothers in their youth, and extreme care is taken that nothing is broken. These include a fortress and guns built and equipped by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh in their boyhood, and wheelbarrows, rakes, spader, and hoes, and mechanical animals that belonged to the Empress Frederick, the late Princess Alice, and their sisters. The younger genera', may play with these, but the nurses are held responsible for their safe keeping.

Quite a number of clerical advertisements are being given free and gratis to Mr. Wilson Barrett's new lyric play, "The Sign of the Cross." We noticed Canon Shuttleworth and Father Stanton there upon the first night, and both clergymen mentioned the drama in laudatory term! from their pulpits on the ensuing Sunday-, And now I'ean Hole has written in praise of the piny, commending the contrast shown therein " between purity and lust, love and cruelty, self-sacrifice and sensuality," and advising support of the piece.

Mr. Gladstone is leading an extremely quiet life at Biarritz. He takes daily rives and walks nut occasionally with Mr. Armitstead or alongside Mrs. Gladstone, who may frequently bo seen in a Bath chair, and does not now seem so robust a« her husband. If proof were wanted of the ephemeral nature of human admiration it is afforded by the different estimation generally evinced for the personality of Mr. Gladstone during this visit to that shown on former occasions. Then one ran against professional .reporters and interviewers at every turn, and anybody likely to afford the slightest information was besot by inquiries of all sorts. Now he is hardly noticed ; not a soul appears to be in any way anxious to see him, and the only thing that has aroused a little interest in his person is the news Horn South Africa, and the recollection that he was the chief retrocessionist of the Transvaal, and tha modifier of the suzerainty clauses after wards.

The Ninth Correctional Tribunal at Paris has given judgment in the libel case brought by Mdtle. Lucie Clan?, of Fribourg, in Switzerland, against the journal, l,e Diable au l)ix-Neiiviemc iiiocle, for publishing an article in v.liich plaintiff was described as a devii-worshippor, who procured consecrated Hosts from the Catholic churches for the purposes of desecration at the " black masses," celebrated by the votaries of Satan. The court pave judgment in favour of .Mdlle. Claraz. The journal was sentenced to a tine of 100 francs, with the same amount for costs, and was ordered to insert the decision of the court in its next issue.

The other day the Countess of Dudley called personally at the Colonial Office to inquire for news concerning her friends in the Transvaal. It is interesting (writes a correspondent) to recall the fact that tha beautiful Countess owns the famous Star oi South Africa stone, a great brilliant which was obtained about thirty years ago in the diamond fields of a part of Griqualand, now incorporated in the Orange Free State. This glorious stone, which was sold for £10,000, sent a rush of diggers to the mines. Originally it was purchased by exchange from a Griqua native for £-100 worth of goods. It was recently, I believe, valued at £'25,000.

The Senate of the Roman Catholic Uni versity of Lille, France, have decided, likf the authorities of the American universities, to introduce " Modern Journalism'' into the curriculum of their academic studies. M. Taremier, the well-known editor of the Univers, has been appointed to deliver a course of lectures on the theory and practice of the journalist's art in France, England, and the United States. Other lecturers have also been appointed to conduct classes in political and social sciences, industrial legislation, and especially legislation relating to the press.

We are apt to forget, when reading of American sympathy with the Boers, that there is in parts of tho States a very considerable old Dutch element. lis Men York, in particular, almost all the great old families are of Dutch descent, as their names show. Just now a party of the descendants of tho Puritans are arranging a pilgrimage to the haunts and homes oi their ancestors in Holland and England. The pilgrimage, which is to take place next July, will be conducted by Dr. Barrows, and is exciting some attention across th* Atlantic.

Mr. Louis Wain, as may be supposed, fig very fond of oats, and keeps a number iu his house at Bondigo Lodge, Westgate. The chief favourite is " Peter," and itf was the portrayal of the antics of this cab that first brought its master public success and favour. Mr. Wain has some original ideas about cats, which he has been giving to the Idler. " 1 have myself, *' he says, " found, as the result of many years of inquiry and study, that all people who keep cats anil are in the habit of nursing them do not suffer from these petty little ailments which all flesh is heir to, namely, nervous complaints of a minor sort." Not everyone, we are afraid, will endoro this opinion, la Mr. Wain's opinion, English cats are slowly but surely developing into stronger types, which hare very little affinity with the uncertain and unstable creature of the tiles and chimney-pots. " With careful breeding the lank body and the long nos>i disappar, the face becomes condensed, as it were, into a series of circles, the expression develops artlessness, and the general temperament of the animal is one of loving conceit." A marvellous change has also, ft sooms, come about in the quality of varieties since the National Cat Club b® taken such a strong hold upon the puWla fancy. The rage for starting new sixpenny papers has ceased, or rather be«l diverted into a different 1 channel-tin launching of sixpenny magazines. The sixpenny paper will receive another blow in the shape of a penny rival. A quarter the size of the ordinary illustrated weekly, the Minute will aim at giving "similar far< at one-sixth the price." Mr. C. N. Williameon, who founded Black and White, ia responsible for the now venture. He hope*, to issue au edition of 100,000 of tho firs* number.