ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 6 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[from THE society PAPERS.] Ok their journeys the German Sovereigns who are now at Kadinen adhere very much to their accustomed way of living. Care is taken that the Imperial table should be provided with their favourite dishes. For this purpose a number of delicacies are sent daily from Berlin to Kadinen ; wine from the Imperial cellars and also a cask of beer, to which the Kaiser is very partial' The Imperial kitchen at Kadinen has been entrusted to the manager of the officers' mess at Elbing. He was called upon several weeks ago" to submit his menus to the Grand Marshal of the Court, and these were amended or supplemented to suit the Sovereigns' taste. While at Kadinen the Kaiser usually gets up at six o'clock in the morning. Directly after his bath he has tea and toast. The breakfast hour is fixed by the Kaiser. The meal consists of eggs and meat. When break fasting alone, he serves himself, the food being kept on a spirit lamp which he lights. He also takes tea or coffee for this meal. Dinner is served at five o'clock. It con' sists of soup, fish, cold meat, a roast with vegetables, salad, sweets, butter and cheese. Supper is also a simple repast, consisting of two dishes aud sweets. A pathetic dog story comes from Southampton. When the troops were leaving the port early in the year a dog followed an officer on to one of the transports and was twice driven off; he returned again, and had to be ejected after the vessel had left the quay. Since then he has never left the docks, and it is said the disconsolate animal meets every incoming transport and watches every man leave ship. It is further averred that the dog takes no notice of ordinary arrivals, and only ceases his wandering about the dock, where he picks up a precarious living, when a transport comes in sight. If ladies cannot vote at a political election in England, they have shown in the present campaign that they can fight their husbands' battles Captain Bagot the Press Censor at Capetown, and the member in the Unionist interest for North Westmoreland. was again a candidate, or, rather Mrs. Bagot has issued an address asking them for him. Captain Bagot wanted leave of abence, but Lord Roberts refused, although with characteristic grace, on the ground that it was not advisable to alter the censorship system with which Captain Bagot was so well acquainted. The Liberals, quite as gallant as the occasion requires, decided not to force Mrs. Bagot to go on with her canvass, having resolved not to oppose her husband, but to resist any other Ministerial candidate. Major Wyndham Quinn, the Unionist candidate for South Glamorgan, is also serving his country in South Africa, but he loses nothing by his absence, for his wife, Lady Eva Wyndham Quinn, has written and issued an address to the electors on his behalf. The Army clothing authorities have decided that no change shall be made in the present full dress uniforms. Each regiment and branch of the service is to retain its distinctive colours, badges, and facings for garrison duty and parades. But for fatigue and field duties every officer and man is to be provided with a khaki uniform of the pattern that has been worn during the war. Tunics of the loose-fitting Norfolk shape, breeches and putties all the same of design and material, are to be issued to the cavalry, line, and artillery. The garments will be made of wollen khaki serge, which is now being produced in largo quantities by the West Riding manufacturers to the orders of the War Office. At the Royal Clothing Factory in Pimlico great activity prevails at present, and the outside contractors in London and Leeds are busy making up these khaki uniforms. The authorities have not yet agreed upon the style of headgear that is to be worn with fatigue dress. At Aldershot and Strensall experiments have recently been made with the soft-frame broad-brimmed hat, of the style that is popularly known as a " BadenPowell." This hat is not made of felt, but of fine cotton khaki twill, stitched, ot " quilted," as the makers describe it After being worn for a week or two the sample hats have been returned to the headquarters at Pimlico, where their merits are to be considered and their adoption or rejection decided upon. The men who have worn the "B. P." style of headgear are not unanimous in its praises. It is comfortable enough when the sun shines, but in wet weather it is far otherwise. It absorbs the rain and becomes flabby and heavy. Evidently the ideal headcovering for fatigue duty and active service has yet to be devised.

Many sections of the community are represented in the new Parliament, the following being an analysis of the various professions and official and mercantile positions of the 669 members elected : —Army and Navy officers, 63; Bankers and Financiers, 22; Barristers, in or out of practice and Q.C.'s, 116; Brewers, Distillers, and Wine Merchants, 23; Civil and Mining Engineers, 4; Colliery Proprietors and Coal Merchants, 17; Diplomatists and Government Officials, 17; Estate Agents, Architects, and Accountants, 2; Farmers and Agriculturists, 15; Gentry and Landowners, 65; Ironmasters and Metal Merchants, 18; Labour Representatives, 13 ; Manufacturers and Spinners, 52; Medical Profession, 9; Merchants, 44; Ministers and ex-Ministers of Government, 40 ; Newspaper Proprietors and Journalists, 33 ; Peers' Sons and Brothers, 31 ; Printers and Booksellers, 4 ; Railway Contractors ar.d Engineers, 6; Steamship and Shipowners and Builders, 18; Solicitors, in or out of practice, 24; Stock and Sharebrokers, 7; Shopkeepers and Traders, 13; and University Professors and Schoolmasters, 13.

Why does a bishop wear gaiters and a shovel hat? The Bishop of Winchester, at a luncheon at Bournemouth, asked if that question suggested itself to those people who indulged in a feeling of merriment as he passed down the street. Did they think he liked the garments and thought they were becoming and comfortable? Not in the least. The reason was, he said, that he was preserving, and he alone among men, that which was common to our countrymen not so very long ago. He was trying to induce reverence for the past, and without compunction. He therefore hoped people would look with somewhat different eyes upon the garments when they considered what they were intended to convey.

The Whitehall Review says: —During the brief stay of the Duchess of York in town she has been giving several orders in view of her visit to Australia. Her Royal Highness likes to take time by the forelock, and as her stay in the great continent is likely to be. a long one, it involves considerable preparations. She is more fond of travel than any other lady of the Royal family, and has for long been anticipating this visit. The Duchess was desirous of taking a tour round the world, but the Queen, for some reason, did not think it desirable, and it had to be abandoned. The Duke and Duchess will spend the most of their time with Lord and Lady Hoptoun, who are already old friends with all the Court circle.