ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10347, 23 January 1897, Page 3 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[FROM THE SOCIETY PAPERS. ]

all, says the AYostminster Gazotte, Lord Leighton's house, including the priceless Arab hall, is to bo preserved for tho nation. Some months ngo a movemont was set on foob for the purchaso of the house, bub, unfortunately, was not attonded by

success. In spite of tho failure of tho movement publicly, a small body of friends have never ceased their labours un behalf of the project, ami, thanks to thorn and to tho generosity of the late P.R.A.'s sisters— Mrs. Sutherland Orr and Mrs. Mathows— the beautiful house in Holland Park Road is to be offered as a gift to the nation, subject only to an assurance that tho house will be suitably maintained and that tho Arab hall is to be permanently preserved as it was at the time of Lord Leighton's death last January.

A curious story of tho recovory of a lost treasure comes from Leatherhoad. Some seven years ago Mrs. Palmer, tho wifo of a jeweller in that town, was ono day in tho act of throwing some crumbs to the swans in the lake at Fetcham, when a valuable gold ring which sho was wearing slipped from her finger and went into shallow water with the crumbs. All attempts to recover , the article wore fruitless at tho time, bnb a.'■•' day or two since a lad who wns walking by • j the lake, amusing himself with testing thedepth of the water with his walking-stick,

suddenly observed that some glittering substance was fastened on to the end of tho stick. On examination it turned out to be a ring. He thereupon took it to tho shop of Mr. Palmer to ascertain the value of it. Mr, Palmer ab once recognised it ao the lost ring of his wife, little injured by its seven years' immersiou. It was duly restored to tho lady, tho finder being suitably rewarded.

We do not usually look to Afghanistan for fashions, bub the "cycle carriage" ordered by tho Ameer, who, having been seized with the prevalent taste, wants to indulgo it in true Oriental, lazy style, may possibly (writes " Miranda" in tho Ladies' Pictorial) set a now fashion in biking for luxurious Londoners. The machine consists of a kind of a miniature victoria, with steering bar and treadles; but the occupant has only to 101 l at his ease with his feet on the latter, while the work of pedalling is done by two riders who occupy tho saddles at the rear of the machine. This extra-

ordinary vohiclo is, in short, a kind of horseless carriagecumbike, jusb the kind of thing in which a modern John Gilpiu wight take his " loving spouse" and family out for the day without fear of blowing them up witli petroloum. By tho way, the Queen Regent of Spain, still rnoro up to date, has had a motor carriage, in the shape of a victoria, builb for her in London.

A delieiously funny narrative is that of tho drunken hens which, according to the Daily Mail, has jusb been told in the Sheriffs Court ab Oban. The waste products of a distillery were, it appears, allowed to flow into a stream from which tho fowls

drank, with the result thab they were always intoxicated. They would neither eat n< r lay eggs; but, after drinking, lay down and slept, and woke, only to fight, and then to sleep again. Such fowl humanity ot, conduct reminds us of tho poultry thab stole the old lady' 3 grapes, according to her gardener's story. "Fowls, indeed I" said the old lady Indignantly ; " two-legged fowls, I expect they were 1" But, if the Oban hens' behaviour was quite shockingly human under the circumstance (says the Globe) what will the thrifty Scotch say of the shockingly inhuman waste of the waste products of thafi distillery ? i-aggan Burn, as the whiskeyed stream is called, will surely now become a popular objective for country walks. Jueti a tree and full drink from the purling stream, and then to lie down and sleep, and wake only to fight and then to sleep again 1"

The rehabilitation of the opal proceeds apace. Sir Walter Scott, in " Anne o{ Geierstein," dealt this stone a blow thati was weighted with euperstition, and from , which, says a fashion gossip in the Daily Nows, it is only beginning to recover. Ita exquisite beauty is a strong factor ini restoring it to favour, and many a Christmas present this year will have the opal for its centre. Experts declare that it should always be combined with the emerald it* order to be seen at its be3t. The show o£ jewels in the West End shop windows is' suggestive of the gift season. The ruby U still the most costly stone of all. The sapphire and emerald Btand on an equal plane. Pearls are always in demand, and play the part of moon to tho diamond's role of sun. Five-row dog collars of pearls are clasped with bars of diamonds. " Kopes" of pearls hang loosely from a diamond; brightened fastening. Pearl girdlea have again appeared, tho tasselled ends caught with jewels in a manner that would have enchanted Disraeli.

It will be interesting news to tho world in general, and to temperance people in particular (says the Daily Mail), that the Queen is a total abstainer from alcoholic liquors, and has been such for at least three years. Her Majesty's reasons for ceasing to take the small quantity of alcoholic drink to which she had been accustomed were not unconnected with the intense paia in the legs and knees from which she suffers. Whether the result has been beneficial 01 otherwise will probably remain a matter of opinion. It is entirely certain, however, that the Queen is satisfied with the experiment—a fact which temperance lecturers will undoubtedly make full use of.

It is nob surprising (says Truth) that Prince Bismarck's revelations of ecorel history aro exciting both annoyance and apprehension at our own Court. The Queen and I'rinco Albert corresponded for many years very confidentially, respecting all political and family affairs, with the late Emperor William; and it is understood that most of their letters, either original or copies, are in the possession of Prince Bismarck, who was allowed to deal as ho pleased with all the lato Sovereign's papere, both durinc hie lifetime and for more than a year after his death.

The fan in woman's hands has always been associated with feminine blandishments and grace. The size is becoming smallor, but the value is rather increased than otherwise ; for, as well as paintings, the most beautiful embroideries and appliques of laca find a place on the more artistic raake3 of fans. Hitherto tho frames have boen made of ordinary mother-of-pearlj ivory, ebony, and the like, in dark tortoisesholl. Now the most novel introduction is the pure black mother-of-pearl, and all these several fabrics are highly ornamented with gold, work. The most fashionable mount 3 are transparent, made in mousseline de soie, into which at the top silk is introduced in shapes to suit the painting, which generally tell tho old, old tale which is over new, bul repeats itself from generation to generation, idealised by the poet and the painter, Mischievous Cupids light the torch o( Hymen or whisper tender suggestions in the ears of Corydon and Phyllis, depicted after the happiest methods of Watteau and hia fellows. Sepia paintings are a marked feature in the beet styles of more costly fans, while some are painted in grey tone 3, enclosed in a handsome Renaissance scrollwork of sequins and embroidery. They are certainly 'smaller, some of the reproductions from the Empire days being not inrger than some eight inches, and are stowed away in small satin fanbags hung at the side and painted with lyres and flambeaux. . Bub few of the beet artists have bestowed their paintings on quite euch a small size. . ■ . . •