ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11650, 11 May 1901, Page 7 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[from the society PAPERS.]

It is said that when the changes at Winsor are completed and the castle is again ready for occupation the King intends to give up Sandringham to the Duke of Cornwall. It is a curious fact, but there is no country seat appropriated to the use of the heir to the Crown, and there never has been. Frederick, Prince of Wales, resided at Cliveden at one time. George IV., when heir to the Crown, divided his time mainly between Carlton House and the Pavilion at Brighton. Sandringham, however, was bought with the savings which the careful management of the Prince Consort contrived to accumulate out of the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall during the minority of his eldest son. then Prince of Wales. It may therefore be said with truth to belong to the Duchy of Cornnail, and under those circumstances it would be most appropriate if the estate were rot inly made over to the Duke of Cornwall, but settled on the duchy, so as to descend with the dukedom and form a permanent country residence for the heir to the Throne. The convenience of such an arrangement cannot he over-rated. Moreover, as the King, unlike his predecessors of the last century, happens to be on excellent terms with his son, Sandringham would still be open to the Kin.' and Queen whenever they wanted to rest a little from the cares of State.

It is at the express wish of His Majesty that Karl Cadogan has consented to retain his office as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for mother year, which will cover the time of the proposed Royal visit to Ireland, as it is naturally of importance that at such a time there should be so experienced a Lord Lieutenant. Countess Cadogan. who during her reign at Dublin has been popularly known as " The Queen." has great social tact and a genius for entertaining which, unfortunate!v. during the iate melancholy times of war slid' Court mourning, site has'scarcely had much opportunity to show. During the lime thai she has been in Ireland the magnificent smarl parties she gave at Chelsea House have been immensely missed, and her absence from ; London for yet another year will be a source ! of much regret.

Princess Beatrice's farewell to Windsor was pathetic in the extreme. Fur very many years she had been practically the' ehate- , laine at the cattle, and indeed of all the Royal palaces. She it was who not onlv decided which rooms were to be oeciuiied by exalted Royal guests, but personally supervised the arrangements for their comfort. Again, it was' Princess Beatrice who unearthed the rare old porcelain, which had lain for years care'ully housed in the china Closet, seen only by a* few. At her suggestion cabinets lined with white were placed along the walls of the East Corridor, and the priceless pieces were arranged therein. The plates containing the portraits of King Charles "Beauties" are among the number" In fact, no improvement nor change was affected without her approval, and she bitterly felt the uprooting from the onlv home life she had ever known. Of course, the Princess will be frequently at the castle, but it will henceforth be only as a guest and she will now have no right to a voice as chatelaine. But she will often be consulted by- the King, who has often remarked, when knotty questions as to pre edence were being discussed, that his youngest sister had better be aske,d to advise, as her intimate connection with all Court functions and close attendance on his mother had rendered her opinion invaluable.

It would be interesting to know how King Edward filled in his census p/aper. Not even kings can be left out of the great counting. The German Emperor was at Letzlingen when the last census was taken in Germany, five months ago. and his census paper is one of the treasures of the municipal offices there. It has been framed, a certified copy of it hhving been made for counting purposes. It is filled up in the Emperor's own hand, and under the head of "profession" the Kaiser wrote: "German Emperor, King of Prussia."

The King, it seems, in his younger days was passionately fond of the' London Fire Brigade work and everything pertaining to it. A writer in the Captain has been interviewing some of the old firemen on the subject, and one of them told him that there wlas a little band, the Prince and his friends, who made it their business never to miss a big fire. The Duke of Sutherland. Lord Arthur Somerset, the Hon. Mr. Dashwood and his brother, Sir George Chetwynd. and Lord Richard Grosvenor used to go with His Royal Highness either to Chandos-street or Watling-street, and sometimes wouldn't miss a night for a week right off. And the Prince, it seems, was net only a looker-on —he lent at times an efficient hand. " I saw that Myself -said one fireman) at the biff blaze at the King and Queen Granaries some thirty veers ago. for in the height of the fire His" Royal Highness shared the smoke and water with us all, and gave a hand here and there just like one of us. The walls of the place were very high, and as the water soaked the grain it bulged them out till they fell with a terrific crash on to the tenements opposite and crushed them in. Through it all the then Prince of Wales, who seemed to bear a charmed life, worked with a zed that would have done credit to any trained fireman, unrecognised by the onlookers, a'nd unnoticed by the rank and file." These, of course, were in the days of Captain Shaw.

The Rev. Cosmo Gordon Lang, the Bishop elect of Stepney, is a Scot of the Scots. Shrewd, tactful", and far-seeing, he is certain to make his mark in the East End, for he has always been a favourite with working men. arid knows how to attract what is sometimes called " the submerged tenth" to him. As a Churchman he strikes the happy mean—he is neither too High nor too Low," though he does not conceal his admiration of Pnsev and the Tractarians. In politics he holds advanced views on social questions, and is fond of Sunday afternoon talks on these subjects with working men. There is a considerable facial resemblance between the new Canon of St. Paul's and Mr. Anthonv Hope. He is a strict teetotaler, and" would like to see everybody else the same. Further,-**: is a bachelor.

All the loval addresses to the King from municipal bodies are sent to the Home Office, and the officials of that Department have quite a task to deal with them, so numerous have they become of late. Several clerks are now wholly occupied each day in receiving and acknowledging these addresses on ' behalf of the King. If they continue to pour in at the same rate there will be some difficulty in accommodating :hem all, for already they are piled up in half a dozen different rooms. They are forwarded to the Home Office in all manner of wayssome in cylinders, and others in boxes. Many have been enclosed in elaborate frames, 'and others are presented in album form. Expense has not been spared to secure artistic finish in most cases, but how many of them His Majesty will find time to inspect is quite another matter.