ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13021, 11 November 1905, Page 6 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

/[FROM THE society , FAFEHS.] ; , Thk Duke' of .Cumberland, just sixty, is doubly, related to our King and Queen, being a second cousin of His Majesty and a broth-er-in-law of Queen Alexandra.: ; " -V

: The Countess of : IDnnoull, who was Miss Mollie;.! Darrell, is ;aV tall, dark, .handsome woman, , who plays the violin exceptionally well, and accompanies her husband when he performs on ; the organ or, piano. ; Next to music, motoring is pernaps the favourite occupation of both husband and wife, and they think notning of doing 450 miles from, London to Perth by road two or three times in the : year. ;; - ;•' ;-; v -- : ---': : - ; .'' :: -": ; " :^"r :-.- :; : /

The story told of Lord Curzoh, when leaving Eton, promising to make a 'schoolfellow Chancellor of the Exchequer when himself Prime Minister, will be borne in mind with a i view to seeing if yfulfilment attend the pledge, if and when Lord Curzon realises his own boyish ambition. Lord Roscbery as a boy declared for the Premiership and the Derby, and has enjoyed the honours of both, and is not yet old. Lord Cufzon's horoscope, cast by a "learned Hindu, includes the Premiership. ,'■ -

The number of learned ladies in society of to-day is largely on the increase. Lady Ulrica Baring and Lady Dorothy Howard have both been at Girton. Lady Dorothy Onslow is much interested in science. and literature, and ■ gained the first . prize " for foreign - languages among five thousand -competitors. Mrs. Butler, a sister :of the Marchioness of Tullibardme, was Senior; Classic" in the Cambridge Tripos in 1887, and Lady Ottoline Mbrrel, half-sister of the Duke of Portland, studied logic at St. Andrew's University. :.".'..': '..■.:■■ ' ■■-/., ,;. ■':•';, .; ; : ■

Miss Bertha Krupp, the Essen, millionaire, has ? become >:- an > ardent florist and spends most of her lime in ; the beautiful Florentine garden which her late,. father had laid out for her. She is especially enthusiastic about orchids, and has-imported some of- the rarest growths from -'England and South America. Believing ornamental gardening to bo a suitable _ calling ,| for women she is starting a school .at Essen where girls are to be trained for the pursuit. Miss Krupp' ■reserved life is "a source of wonder to her friends; she rarely leaves the Villa Huge! except; for an. occasional trip to Florence or the Italian lakes. ; There is no; talk of her marrying, and it is understood that the young Cologne banker who had been paying' his addresses has{been dismissed. . -",.:•'*..-■'

.The Duchesse de Guise, whose recent accident hi ; the ting field has evoked so much sympathy, is by many people considered to he the ; most beautiful of the four handsome ■ daughters of t the Comtesse de Paris; like ■ her sister, the Duchess of Aosta, she is tall and : fair and possesses a lovely figure/ -Though born in France she is very English in "taste and sentiment, having ; spent : the greater part of her life in England, and it was in the little .Roman Catholic Church at Kingston-on-Thames she married her < cousin, , the eldest son of the Due de I Chartres, , who was ' on 1 that : day created Due;' de Guise by• her brother, the Duke of Orleans. , There is still another princess of the "house i. of France—Princess Louise— is said to be the verv first love of the ; much-engaged King ,of Spain. She is, of course, a near cousin of > the voung monarch, and lives chiefly at the Villamanrique Palace -near Seville/ where Queen Alexandra visited her mother last spring. . _____ ■

The marriage of Miss Aida Boothby to Mr. John L. Low gave an added interest to the /" medal week" at St. Andrews. Miss/ Boothby is the elder,daughter of "Colonel and! Mrs/ Boothby, ! of Balnacarron, : and belongs to a family long connected with St. Andrews: golf. Mr. Johnnie Low, who "recently acted as referee in the great inI ternational Koursome, is. perhaps personally I more • widely known "than - any either amateur golfer of the ; present time. / He has as many friends in the ~ north of Scotland as in the south of England, and: is as well known to the golfers of Chicago as to the frequenters of St. Andrews. k Mr. Low, was for two vears captain of the Cambridge Universitv Club and has filled the same office' at 'Woking, Cirencester, and Royal Blackheath. He has also been captain since its formation of the Oxford .and; Cambridge "Golfing Society. /' We.understand that Mr. Low and his/bride/will, spend : the ' greater part) of their honeymoon: '■ up 'the'* Nile." 1 . '

- Lord and Lady Savile, whom tha King is honouring with r visit at Rufford Abbey, are particularly well known in: the diplomatic world ; ' Ladv Snvile, who belongs to the family "of. the Wedderburns, Baronets of Balindean. Perthshire, married, as her first husband.'Mr. Horace Augustus Helyar, of: iCoker s Court, Somerset, who was her first cousin. Mr.' Helyar was in the diplomatic service, anc'l they found many friends in. the most delightful "cosmopolitan,society of the Continent. JLMr. Helyar died in 1893, leaving :an only daughter, .who recently married. Lord Savile was still Mr. John Sa- ! vile, a young diplomat, when Mrs. Helyar [married him. She was welcomed; as ,iv daughter with the utmost delight bv old .Lord Savile, her new uncle, who had been iso loner British Ambassador in Roj>v>; He organised magnificent entertainments :. at Rufford in her honour, and when he died, two ve'ars later, she mourned the stately old diplomat long and deeply. As Lidy : Savile she became a 'great (social success, and was admitted, like her husband, into the reallv j intimate . circle of Marlborough House. :i Lord and Lady Savile have no children, and .:it is always, said that at Lord Savil&'s death; Rufford will pass to Lord Scarborough .'but we believe that this is a mistake, and Lord Savile is free to dispose of his domain as he pleases. .;.

! The many admirers of Mrs. Maesmore Morris; often speak of that charming arid graceful lady as a colonial, but she is really English, born and bred, though she has lived for years 'in ; Australia. ;"; A : leading illustrated paper once published portraits of Mrs. Macsmore • Morris and Miss Maxine Elliott, side by aide, iheaded "The Rival Australians." Miss Elliott is,', of course, an American, and had only been in Australia four months at 1 the time, so the mistake was very amusing. ! Mrs. Morris is bright and clever, and she has many capital stories to tell of experiences connected with her stage career. She has not too exalted an opinion of the value of theatrical criticism, and she tells a funny tale of how severe the critics were regarding the flower-girl costume she wore when playing in "All Fletcher's Fault" at the Avenue. They declared it was " coquettish," and one paper asked, "Why those silk stockings and charming shoes?" 'When the true history of the make-up is considered, Mrs. Morris' .', amusement at these remarks is not surprising. The costume was bought from a real , Covcnt Garden flower-seller by Mrs. Morris' ! costumier.'i, and after being well-baked was supplied to her just as ;it was. , The silk stockings'! cost exactly fivepencc, and tho "charming shoes" were a 1 pair discarded by her own cook. The woman heard that her 1 mistress wanted some -very, wornout shoes for the stage, and kindly offered them. They were of holes, out' at the : toes., and had to be tied on with strings. : So much for realism ! Like most artistes who have played much in the, colons Mrs. -Moms, has had some exciting, and .ercsting experiences. ■ Once she' took part in a regular Jonah tour, which su;:ely was one of the most- unlucky tours on i;record. ?- The company embarked foi New Zealand, and very soon encountered huge waterspouts, wn. threatened to engulf ■■' the ship. ' On arriving at Auckland they were, just in time to take part in an awful hotel fire there, and on going back to 1 Sydney they, were caught;,by a cyclone. I which made their boat two days late, and ! caused.their friends to believe they were i shipwrecked. ?:; They laughed before they, went on to Melbourne, saying, " No more • catastrophes for us; now, k surely!" :, but no sooner were they fairly on their way than tho boiler of the engine burst; in the middle of the night, and : tHey,; had to wait -'on th e road till a.' fresh ,one s could be ;procured. : Financially the T tour was .a' big , success, ; but it was a' terrible strain on : the' nerves of those who took part in it. • - ;, ■