ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11854, 4 January 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

[FROM THE SOCIETY PAPE23.] The young Marquis of- Bute comes into his : huge ! property next year. Everybody has heard of the vast incomes raked in every year by the Westminsters and the Bedfords, but the Bute family is hardly second to any. ■ The fortune of the marquis will amount to a " capital of between £5,000,000 !; and £6,000,000 sterling.;' It is a mistake to sup-!' pose ; that most of this v money 'is derived from the Scotch property belonging to the I family. -: It comes»as a ; matter of fact, i from j rich coal mines in Wales, and the docks at the great port of Cardiff. The career of, the present marquis has been so far uneventful, I mainly owing to his health, 1 which has I always been - rather delicate. • Still," he is fond of sports, and especially of yachting-! He has also his father's religious turn of! mind, arid travelled last year through Pales'-' tine, where his father left him a few acres of "property; in the environs of Jerusalem. He is indeed a " golden" youth. !, If you were to receive a lump sum down of : four millions sterling as one year's dividends on an investment in a single company (writes a correspondent of Free Lance), what would you do with it This is the position in which Mr. J. D. Rockefeller finds himself at the present moment, and there seems to be no reason at present why he should not go on receiving a similar sum— if ' not a greater one— many -years to come. Mr. Rockefeller is the principal shareholder in the colossal Standard Oil Company, which has the monopoly of the supply of. petroleum>tc the greater part of the world. The company has just announced that its dividend for ■': the last twelve months will be paid at the rate of 48 per | cent., and as Mr. Rockefeller owns 40 per cent, of the shares he will receive four mil- j lion sterling (not Yankee) as his share of i the profits for the year. The amount of money this sum ; represents is almost unthinkable, yet it does not represent the whole . of this one man's income by a long, long way. He holds a big interest in nearly every big enterprise in the United States, so that his total income is probably at least double this sum of £4,000,000..' ''■ It is stated that the King and Queen have approved of the following verse being added to the National Anthem, in honour of Her Majesty: — In perfect peace serene. Keep Thou our gracious Queen, /With her abide; May Heaven's own sunshine fair Rest on her everywhere; Hear Thou Thy people's prayer, ' God save the Queen. The Free Lance .says : —"On the most reliable authority I am told that the rumours of the forthcoming Royal accouchement are entirely without foundation. Quite the contrary, the Princess has never been in better health, and at present there is no reason to suppose there will be an increase in the ■ number of her already moderately large family of beautiful children. Who is responsible for these unwarrantable reports, I wonder

When the Duke and Duchess visited Vancouver they found most elaborate arrangements for their reception at .the Drill Hall, which was superbly decorated. In the private dressing-room' of her Royal Highness, too, every need had been carefully forestalled. But one feature of the decoration touched the hearts of the Royal couple more than anything else. On the diningtable stood four ; little silver heart-shaped frames, enclosing each a pretty portrait of one of the four children,of the Duke and Duchess. -For a few moments the Duchess did not speak. Then she hurried to the room of the Duke, - and carried him away with her to see this little glimpse of home life which they had left behind, and which, amid all the ringing plaudits of the great colonial empire, they so sorely missed. There were tears in the Royal mother's eyes, and a smile on her lips, as she leant upon her husband's arm and looked at the photographs of her children at Home. .

The King, it is stated, has ordered the construction of a special crown to be worn by Queen Alexandra at the coronation, the principal feature of which will be the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond. Found in the famous mines of Golconda 341 years ago, the Koh-i-Noor was of en worn by Her late Majesty on special occasions. Its original weight was' 800 carats, but it now weighs only 106£ carats. It is valued at about £2,000,000.'

About the best of the true stories of Dr. Lang, Bishop of Stepney, and his aptness in repartee is of the time when he was vicar ,of Portsea, one of the largest and most populous parishes in all England. The Queen who, in latter years, liked occasionally to see some of the younger clergy, commanded his attendance at Osborne on two or three occasions, and highly relished his readiness in conversation On one occasion, not long before her death, the Queen said to the youthful bachelor vicar : " I hear, Mr. Lang, excellent accounts of your work at Portsea, and I find that you actually keep a staff of twelve curates. ! You should take to yourself a wife; I believe you would be able to do with at least two curates less." "Ah, no, madame," came the ready answer— answer 'that delighted the Queen—"that -would scarcely do ; if I have a curate who does not suit I can get rid of him. but I could not do the same with a wife !"

Nilssou's meeting with the Shah was another . amusing reminiscence of :i the late; Colonel Mapleson. Tho Shah was late in arriving, so that by the time! he came the ::great- '.-.singer had put off her gorgeous costume (specially imported from Paris for the occasion) as La Traviata, and was attired in the less becoming rags tatters of Mignon. When, accordingly, she was presented later on to the " King of Kings," she walked straight up to that astonished monarch (engaged at the moment in eating peaches out of the palm of his hand), and exclaimed : " Vous etes un tres mauvais Shah! Tout a l'heure j'etais tres riche, avec des costumes superbes, expres pour votre majeste. A present je me trouve tres pauvre et sans souliers." At the same time she raised her right foot within an inch of His Majesty's nose, who was peering through his spectacles to see what she was pointing to. The Shah was so struck with the originality of. the fair singer' that he notified his attendants that he would not go as had been arranged to the Goldsmiths' Ball, but would remain to see this extraordinary woman.

Mme. Sarah Bernhardt, who has worked with desperate energy all her life, and who looks younger than ever, is said even on her holiday to do with only five hours' sleep,'-. and sometimes with none at all. She is the most wonderful woman of the day. Madame Sarah Bernhardt has been paying a flying visit to Paris. She has arranged a month's tour in Belgium, Switzerland, and the French provinces. Belieisle-en-Mer will hot, by the way, be deserted by Sarah. There was a fear last year among the fisherfolk, who constitute almost the entire population of the island, that they were going to lose her. The actress explained. "Somebody wanted to import into our island tramways and other modern' improvements," she said,.' Under such circumstances, there would 'have been nothing left for me but to fly. Fortunately, the proposals have been abandoned, and I remain faithful to my wild and picturesque retreat." Madame Bernhardt goes to her romantic castle to escape civilisation, _ She only sees two or three intimate friends' there, and spends her time yachting; boating, fishing, and, generally speaking, lives as much on or in the sea as possible. One of her ; pet hobbies is collecting curious marine, plants. This year the great actress went in for yachting a great deal, and it is generally understood that the " incredible experience^"«which aroused the curiosity of Paris, l was;connected with some rather, not to say very, unpleasant cruise in a small sailing.vessel on an extremely choppy sea. But the actress said in her memorable telegram ; that she; would never relate her strange'story, and she kept her word. She did not. reveal the! mystery to a single Parisian during her short stay in the capital. ; CYCLISTS CAN NOW Find Henning in Queen-street, where the ; brightest .light shines. , .; Agent ; for Raleigh, :-Rover, and Massey Harris bicycles, at low prices. Free wheels from 15s, and brakes :cheap. ' ' , ~ •