ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11544, 1 December 1900, Page 6 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

• A; [FBOM THE SOCIETY PAPERS.] fIVK bookings on Australian steamers are bven more forward than usual this season, tod the arrival of the Governor-General, together with the Boyal tour, are, no doubt, largely responsible for this. At any rate, all the best berths are already bespoken ton the the crack P. and 0. lines during November, and even one or two of the December boats are half full. The period of itho Royal Visit—February— the very best for seeing the colonies. Lord Hopefcoun will, leaving England in November, arrive there in the hottest weathe,, for in {Australia, of course, you eat your Christmas pudding in your shirt-sleeves.—London Free Lance* ._ i Lady Gwendolen Cecil, Lord Salisbury's tomarried daughter, who recently attained her fortieth birthday, fills, as far as a daughter can, the place of the late marchioness. She is her father's right hand, and upon her shoulders has devolved the duty of managing the Hatfield estate, which used to be looked after by Lady Salisbury. Lady Gwendolen is a splendid business woman, and very clever in many ways. She is a capable art critic, and takes an interest in the Hertfordshire Arts and Crafts Society second only to that displayed by her mother, and she is a Versatile writer. f If the Duke of Newcastle is insignificant in appearance, he has a brain of considerable strength, and is a man of much charm of manner and conversation. A physical defect prevents his entering into arduous sport of any kind, but he takes the greatest interest in photography, and is, of course, one of the chief men of the Ritualistic party. IThe church at Clumber, the duke's beautiful home, is one of the most ornate in England, and cost over £40.000. The services are Of the " highest" possible order, and the ceremonial is the most gorgeous in England outside of the Roman Catholic Church; while there is also a confessional, and no end of pictures are hung on the walls. Many of the most notable Ritualist preachers of the day have occupied the pulpit, and the Duke of" Newcastle is so devoted to the church that he will spend almosVany sum required foi its improvement or adornment. The Duchess of Newcastle, who, as all the ■world knows, was a Miss " Sugar" Candy, is a very smart, pretty woman, who has become quite famous for her wonderful " Borzois" or Russian wolfhounds. She is never without a couple of these dogs, and the /.prizes that she has taken are almost innumerable. She is a very keen sportswoman all round, and in the winter is nearly always out with the hounds, while in summer time she drives a very smart phaeton. The duke, however, often travels about the countryside in a different, chariot. Some time ago he had a gipsy caravan built, and he is never happier than when he is taking long rambles, which sometimes last for .weeks," in his "moving house." The delightful unconventionally of the life charms him. On such trips he is usually accompanied by Mr. Gambiei Bolton, or some other love, of the camera. The duke' is still youthful, being, only in his thirtyseventh year. His heir is his brother. Lord Francis Hope, who married Mis.-; May Yohe. ►-The King.

*• There are two classes of British officers. The first is composed ot elder pons -who join the Army because it provides reputable and not too exacting occupation, and who generally resign shortly after they succeed to their estates or marry. In the second are the younger sons who serve until they have secured an heiress or a pension. Allied .-with these are all the men and women in the country who have place, power, or position.—Graphic.

I have learnt with some amazement that a complete set of Orange Free State stamps, surcharged by the British Government **V.K.1.," including all the varietieseven although they were only issued a few months ago—is now -worth anything between three and five hundred pounds, the face value being hardly as many shillings. Not unnaturally, perhaps, dozens of officers at the front have became feverish stamp collectors. But even Lord Floberts himself has found time to develop in enthusiasm for this curiously fascinating hobby. One of the returned -war artists— Mortimer Menpesboasts of an absolutely complete set of Orange Free State surcharged stamps, which are now being arranged and catalogued for him by a professional expert in such matters. — .M.A.P.

Slatin Pasha is on his way back to the Soudan, where he will hold the post ot Governor of Khartoum, under the new Sirdar, Sir Reginald Wingate. They have a saying in Egypt that he who once drinks of the Nile will long to come back and drink it again. So Rudolph Slatin, aftei bidding what he thought to be a final farewell to the Nile is returning to spend some more busy years on its banks. " I remember," writes a correspondent. " in the days of the Dongola Expedition, when we were camped together on the borders of the great desert of the Nile, telling Slatin that I expected to see him Governor of Khartoum when the Khalifa was disposed of. ' God forbid,' he replied, ' I have had seventeen (years of the Nile. That is more than enough. I want to go back as soon as I can and have a quiet time on the Danube.'" . Two years ago Slatin left the Egyptian service and settled down in Vienna, but he has " heard the East a-callin'," and his sojourn on the Danube has not lasted long.

Mr. Chamberlain is as different from Mr. Bright as one man could be from another, and yet in one respect they are like each other. Mr. Chamberlain always preserves his superb calm and even when he is saying his most violent and bitter things, there is no rise in the voice; the only indication is that the note seems deeper and more 'intense. I don't know how he fares at election times, but I should judge, from the number of times he has been able to speak, that his voice holds up well. Mr. Gladstone, also, could always preserve his voice. It was not assuredly that he was not a man of hot temper and vehement nature ; but long years 01 practice had so trained him that he was able to separate the man and the artist completely; so that in the most vehement of his speeches, in the hottest of times, and to the wildest of audiences, you could observe that at his heart's core he preserved {he perfect serenity of the artist who has to. economise his voice and study his effects. lam too much of a Celt to be able to follow the example of these great masters.M.A.P.

Lord Salisbury has been greatly benefited by his sojourn on the Continent, and looks wonderfully well. Ever since / his return Hatfield House has been the Mecca J;>r a stream of Foreign Office messengers, .word balisbury, under medical advice, has been taking carriage exercise with Lady Gwendolen Cecil every day, and messengers who have arrived while his lordship has been, out hav£ had te wait until his return, no matter how important the despatches. The other baturday he might be seen trying to kill a considerable portion of time by watching the progress of the cricket match played »y the local club in the park.

I wondei (writes a Northern correspondent) if Sir Henry Irving remembers what he at the time considered a very palpable snub delivered him by a Highlander some years ago? While touring in. Scotland a few summers since, the acto • visited some of the notable traditionary scenes associated with Shakesperean drama. As a matter of course, one of his first pilgrimages was to the blasted heath where Macbeth met the witches. ' In an agreeable mood Sir Henry, as they drove along, turned smilinelv to his driver: "Are there any witches about now?" he asked. The driver whipped up his horses. "None since the flood," he replied in his curt Scots way. If Sir Henry remembers the incident, will he allow me, for the credit of my country, to explain away the man's unintended rudeness through M.A.P. ? The driver came from a certain district upland reach ot the Findhorri—where all dates , circle round a calamitous flood- which happened in 1829. It was to this flood, where in all witches are relieved uy the country < people to have perished, the driver referred, and not to the earlier deluge in which Noah figured so conspicuously. ...■-■■""'•