ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13146, 7 April 1906, Page 6 (Supplement)

ITEMS OF SOCIAL NEWS.

1,',".;/ [IKOM the society tapers. ] -/' bias. Georu e Corn wallts West is one of : the most perfectly tactful women in England. : : ■' .:• :;'" ..■"'■ ,' Mrs. Hetty Green., America's wealthiest: woman, is the possessor of diamonds worth ", £160,000, but a wedding-ring is the only r. jewellery the wears. As a. girl, the. Queen of Norway was hailed -Harrie" bv her friends. Queen Maud is still a cyclist, though in Christaiinia, of course, she is never seen awheel. According to the late Sir. F. M. Grant Duff. Mr. Balfour finds a-niuutcr of an hour devoted to the perusal of a book ny ' lSa.int-Beuvo an infallible remedy for ciieerfumess. ' . '~: • , ■ The Marquis of Bote, who is the fortuii.de holder of clever' titles, lord of. over 380 square miles of land. 'and a iivc-fo d millionaire, is a rare combination of bookworm- and keen sportsman. Lord Ampthill, the Governor of Madras/ will be leaving India directly alter the Foval visit has come to an end. He andLadv Ampthill are very ; poiilar with all classes, and their departure is greatly/regretted. • t Madame Sarah Bernhardt has -a- gown worth £1500. Of ivory satin, it is decorated with diamonds, and turquoises. Two hundred animals -were needed to procure ■the ermine to line the ijam. On the skirt is a band of 1800 turquoises."" . ! Perhaps the most careful speaker in the ' .House of Commons—so. far as expressions of opinion .are concerned—-is Kir Henry Campbell-Bunnerman, who rarely makes an -/ important speech witlrbut • first having equipped himself with ii. plenitude of notes. ,j "The King, it is announced on the highest ■/: authority, has promised that, though he : may not* be able, owing to the Spanish marriage and the death Of the King/of Dennurk. to go to Ireland this spring, he will positively be present at the rwext Dublin i season, if he does not go over ( lor the horse show in August. ' J . — ' ' — / When Parliament \--J sitting the King ; keeps in closest tone I with all that" goes ou. .Almost every : rooming dining the ses- . sion he receives t/om the Prime Minister ; ;i- resume of the/doings of the House of Commons durirg the previous evening, and ■■■■■ scarcely a day' passes but he gives audi- ' ' ence to one c; more of his Ministers. '. -■"' „ This year will see the first statue of Queen -'Alexandra erected in England. It is- to be placed outside the London Hospital by the" governors of that institution as a : recognition of Her Majesty's care for the root' and suffering/ The only other statue of the Queen is in Copenhagen, where it .4 was erected shortly after, her marriage. There have been many marriages of poets from the days of Robert "Browning and Elizabeth Barrett downwards. An interesting example in our own time is that of Lord and Lady Alfred Douglas. Lord Alfred has wrtten verse both grave and gay. His wife, "as Miss Olive distance, was ' known as the writer of much delicate poe- ;:? try.

Of her many, treasures, Queen Alexandra values .roost a* modest milk-jug of earthenware, which she keeps in the- boudoir attached to her dairy at Sa'ndringhani. 'It was given to her by a poor dying girl, whose latter days had been soothed by the tender nursing and sympathy of the Princess Alexandra. When the" Queen entertains a-uy very exalted guest at afternoon tea in her Swiss "' chalet it is from this I humble but priceless' jug ; that she pours ' the cream. :.. .''■""

Sir Harry Johnston, the famous explorer, once escaped from a very tight' corner in Africa by a queer stratagem. A score or two of murderous natives had surrounded his tent/into which," before rushing it, they sent an envoy. The, envoy was told that small-pox was in the camp, and a wretched albino was sent out as an awful example. In five minutes the scared tribesmen had vanished. .As Sir Harry well knew, they feared the " white disease" . more than all the inventions of Maxim. - 1 Sir Edward Grey's was no ordinary marriage. Many who,had a. long-standing acquaintance with the present Foreign Secretary did not even know his wife by sight. But Sir Edward carried everywhere with him a singular glow due to an,earthly affection founded on a wife as true as a rock. The blow of her death, is to him no ordinary or conventional one. Nor is he cheered by "the solace of any children. Sometimes, indeed, a ; childless marriage is more closely/ affectionate because the wife has. fewer distractions to divert her attention from her husband she loves. ' When Lord Dufferin was Viceroy of In- - , dia he wan presented with a novel paper- ' knife. One day the Maharajah Holkar', of Indore—who visited England some years —paid him a visit at the Residency, and ", "asked for his ivory paper-cutter as a remembrance. Lord Dufferin consented, the Indian potentate left, and the Viceroy saw him some months later, when Holkar intro- /•-,'■'■■ duced a fine young elephant into the room. A pile of newspapers lay at Lord Duft'er- . iits side; the animal went up to them, cut them neatly with his tusks, which had been purposely sharpened- and laid them in a neat heap on the floor, ready for perusal. When Sir Heitry Cambpell-Banneiman made his notorious allusion to the thirteen milions on the verge of destitution the public/ did not imagine that many of the English clergy were included in that me- , lancholy computation, But Archdeacon ',;.;•- Sinclair says that a large portion of the clergy are improperly fed and sometimes almost on the verge of starvation. More »": than had! the incumbents in England are in receipt of less than £180 a year, and a ] gieat number of. these men have not. enough \ to eat. Many of them, in extremely cold weather, have no' fuel to keep themselves warm. , ... -"'-..' - ■. The Kaiser's daughter is to. be a bridesmaid at the wedding of her brother Prime Eitel Fritz. The little Princess is now. , nearly 14, a tail, angular child. Her one beauty at present is her hair, and it 'is brushed with electric brushes for half an hour each night and morning. The Kaiserin takes much pride in her daughters cleverness and appearance, and she is always most beautifully dressed. The Kaiser, >-'-.. -, by the way. has been prompt to avail himself of the new German invention by means '" . of which photographs can be taken in three colours. Recently His Majesty ordered an atelier to be -specially prepared for him !."'..'■■■■■ at the Monbijou Palace, where he arrived ' one afternoon with an extensive wardrobe. Mine. Marconi has had a little girl. She was the Hon. Beatrice O'Brien, and. is one of the many sisters of Lord Inchiquin. Her marriage with the famous inventor of -.'./'.." wireless telegraphy took place last year, and their Lenten wedding at St.. George's, / Hanover Square, was a social event of the before-Kaster season. •'. She is an attractive .. woman, with no classic beauty, but has a piquante face, with dark hair, Irish eyes, ■iiid a bright 'expression. '' Her marriage gifts were like fairy-tale treasure, and she received furs, jewels, plate., and 'pictures from a grateful and admiring universe. It ' t is noticeable that (his lady" styles herself Mute. Marconi ran ; has apparently, dropped . the title of "'Honourable/' a.nd her rank as the sister of a baron. This is no doubt , because of the tact that her husband is an Italian, and i '- not become a naturalised >_ English man.