ENGLISH GOSSIP

New Zealand Mail, Issue 844, 4 May 1888, Page 22

ENGLISH GOSSIP

(p ROM OUR GOSSIPING CORRESPONDENT.) London, March 9. Cold, still cold is the weather in London. A bitter north-easter has been blowing, chilling the very blood in one’s veins, and rendering life about as unbearable as possible. Even in the new furlined ulsters, which a man is bound to possess nowadays if he aspires to any social rank, do not keep our bodies warm ; out of doors. King Frost reigns supreme all over the country, and I—"well I thrust my slippered feet further in the fender and nearer to the grate, and huddle over my blazing fire, mentally cursing the land of my birth for possessing • such atrocious weather, and a dozen times a day wishing I was back on Lambton-quay, where, “barrin’the wind,” there is a congenial climate. I ventured out a few days “furred to my very eyes,” to witness the melancholy procesr sion of the best of our blue blood on their way to a “levbe” at Buckingham Palace, held by Prince Albert Edward, by command of and for his Royal mother. It was a terrible day ; the gaunt bare trees in tlie Mall looked as naked and ugly as a “bad burn ” in tlie Forty-mile Bush The ground was covered with snow, not of that hue of ‘‘spotless blemish ” upon which tho sun glints such vivid color upon the slopes of Egmont the mighty in fair Taranaki, but an indescribable slatey grey tint, the quintessence of nastiness of color. Overhead leaden clouds drifted fiercely past, driven by a cruel cold nor’-east wind. The Mall was lined with carriages four and five ranks deep. As most of. these carriages had plenty of windows a sorry spectacle of shivering humanity was seen within them. Through some strange wliim of her own, Her Most Gracious Majesty will insist upon the regulation height or depth of the ladies dresses’ who attend the Royal drawingroom. At the time of my visit, there was what is known as a “ block ” in the traffic, and the carriages had to wait fully 20 minutes before the block could be remedied so that they could proceed, and during this time the unfortunate occupants were exposed to the jeering taunts of the unwashed crowd of London s lower life. I pitied the poor ladies who, with bare •arms, necks, and shoulders, sat shivering and looking the picture of misery. Through f that east wind all the blue blood in their veins germed to have turned a dark purple. Their aristocratic noses were pinched and of a strange, tint. Their slgeth chattered in their vhqad#. To add insult to injury, I saw one great hulking fellow’ offer a stately dame a draw of his old clay pipe, f i Just to warm the end of; your nose, missus,” she ejaculated through the closed window.. . It was .a sorry sig.it, that dreary procession of the followers or fashion’s folly, and, as the story goes, the three hours’ weary wait iu Buckingham Palace is unrewarded by royalty with even a cup of warm cheering tea. Nothing but a glass of water is obtainable for these “high class guests,” and even that is difficult to get. Buckingham Palace at all (tkues is a great bam of a place, as cold •and rn draughty as a signalman’s but on the giiputaka railway. I hear that at this drawing-room ” I speak of something like .fright tons of coals were being used in the vai’iG-JiS grates, stoves, &c.,°to obtain even a decant warmth. Like all other small matters co-iieernhag the expenditure of the Royal Household jjer Majesty found out this item, and a row took place over what she was pleased to term “die extravagance of the servants. ” So ey§n “ Royal drawing-rooms ” are not always “boudoirs of roses.” We are a very gay lop in this great metropolis. ♦• We are .‘*‘desperately wicked” and outrageously sinful. >ye d. 6 just as wo please, and care not .a jot for any inan. Wb make Sunday the gayest day of the week. We I am supposed to be one of tne “ upper ten ”) do not- go to church while in town on Sabbath mornings ; fo.r after bath and breakfast, it is past high poon and we have “to do a studio” of some ißSing artist, or pay a visit to a “ private show ” of some new gallery of paintings.' This is our time for the must-not be-missed drive in the park. Then comes afternoon tea with an acquaintance to meet with some of 'the new “ lions ” of society, the new poet, the bronzed traveller, the rich colonial, “the daring adventurer, or any one of the score of “ sbais,’ the fashionable world runs mad over. Then you know it is time to go home to dress for dinner, and by the time the gentlemen have finished their post-prandial cigarette, the chimos on Big Bon ring out 9 o’clock. We have been so good and circumspect all day, we can afford at this hour to really amuse ourselves. Ah, we will drive to Lady Dolly’s, where Crarnper,the clever comedian, is stage managing a pretty jliijtl,? comedy, written expressly for Lady gift’d her friends, who take to the stage ’qs Rurally as ducks to water, jjlie dqubjp .cLrfwjng-room is fitted as a theatre, and .rs .W° <?nter tho comedy of “A. loveless Wife’- (iE.jybqyt to commence. The rooms Ate full £.r,est people in the world, , : of the British aristocracy. We drive to another home in a .grand square, Lady Bluesox’s. She sets her face strictly against theatricals on Sundays, so she invites her friends to a musical party, where skilled amateurs and highlypaid professionals sing and play delicious music. But all music is sacred if you keep the soft pedal down, said a cynic to me theother day; but at Lady Bluesox’s we do pot keep the pedal down, but on the contrary it is raised pretty high, as

Signora Squalsfcone sings a wicked little song of the “ Cafe Chansonotte .type, but° in French of course. Nothing is wicked in a foreign language, don t you know. Then we go to Lord Sliortcash s about midnight, and in a snug room, with cigars, mixed drinks, and small talk, we play strange games with packs of cards, or do a “ pool” at billiards. If this is too tame, we can drop in a snug crib m a quiet back street, and witness noted bruisers hammer themselves out of breath and disfigure “God’s image” with or without gloves. Such is a programme of Sunday amusements at present fashionable amongst the upper crust in swell West-endom. Of course they are not all addicted to hese scones, but the quietest .of homes devote Sundays to grand dinner parties ; and in some houses even a quiet carpet dance is not objected to; not a regular ball, don’t you know, but just a nice little dance for the young people. The aristocracy are supposed to set an example, and so they do, for these amusements are imitated by the lower strata of society, the merchant princes, the successful professional men, the well-to-do tradesmen, &c. And thus our Sabbaths are anything but a “ day of rest” in the “Grand World.” To such an extent is this desecration carried on that our right reverends the bishops, our Lord’s spiritual, are up in arms against it. In the Upper House of Convocation the other day the Bishop of Exeter presented a petition on the subject from the Lord’s Day Observance Society. The petition stated there had been a very marked increase in the employment of the afternoon and evening on Sundays for amusements of various kinds in the upper and fashionable classes of society. The Bishop of London much regretted that the accusations were true, and were quietly increasing. The evil, he thought, was a very serious one, and was much more excusable in the lower classes, who had to toil hard all the rest of the week. The Bishop of Lincoln pleaded io-norance of the practices complained of, but thought that the improper trammo- of the young was the direct cause. The Bishop of Winchester knew the practices complained of were rife in the upper circles,but be did. not hold with the rioidity with which our forefathers observed the Sabbath day, for he believed that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. After a long discussion it was resolved to appeal to the clergy and others who exercise influence, not to suffer the Church and the country to lose “the priceless benefits and sancitity of the Lord’s Day.” My wife informs me that there is one item of gossip I must relate for the benefit of the Wellington ladies, and one that will no doubt specially interest them, and iliat - ‘ijs tha t tsllk is going to be dearer. I am sorry ,tp Leaf }P> f° r I know only too well what a good, silk cost me once in the capital city: - ffinp reason of this rise in silk is that the Frepqhihayq decided to ii#po?e a heavy tariff on raw silk im- , ported from Jtaly into France, and t\iej consequence will fee tlpafc Hypiis and St Etienne factories will fcaye £W fc ' down, and the price of work wifi vise generally all over Europe, for ao a rule the London market rests very much upon the French factories, and then again upon Italy. Every year nearly L 8,000,000 sterling worth of silk is im ported into France from Italy ; the profit, according to the French manufacturer, after all his expenses are paid, being certainly not more than from 2 cent. Still on ladies' topics, I may mention what seems to me a cruel fashion now the rage in Paris, and which is gradually creeping into London. M!y attention was first called to it at the Crystal Palace the other day. I. was dining in what is known as the Prince's room, overlooking the grounds. At a table opposite to me sat a party of two French ladies and their —-well, I suppose, their husbands.. They were dressed in the height of fashion. I was-struck with an ormirpent one of the ladies wore op the left .shoulder of a magnificent black silk drqss. I saw a .tiny gold chaiiji fastened at quo end to g. ornament U P°P. shopldm-. Tlie ohaip was about bin in length, and # further end it clasped on to a tiny gold collar w.hmb encircled a golden beetle. I wa.s :Pfr«ck mW i th ® fidelity with which, as I supposed, this beetle was fashioned from natureI watched closely for some time, when, to my surprise I saw the beetle crawl ever the lady’s shoulder in a roost leisurelymanner. I made inquiries afterward, and found that the beetle was actually alive. It was a species of the golden Yucatan beetle, a creature of comparatively large size, and whose sole virtue is in the fact that they shine with the brilliancy of pure gold. These unfortunate creatures, whose less picturesques English relatives are the banc of women, are now by the irony of fashion declared to be “ the proper thing to wear. The creatures are treated as if they were indeed lumps of gold. They are easily fed, it is true, but I doubt whether frivolous fashionable women .will ever dream of giving them meat or drink. It is a cruel custom,and one I hope tendeihearted English women will never stoop I often see in the colonial papers stray paE&g&nbs hoping that Henry Irving will visit Aus&i’fSui and New Zealand. I do not think there Xeir of that event happening just yefc--.a# leatt, v nc? , nl theatrical scene. He is making tod .uLic-G money here and in America, to think of leaving a good safe thing for the risk of the uncertainty of a colonial trip. We expect shortly to see him in his Lyceum I home in a, new role. Mr W. G. Wills,

the dramatic writer, has just finished the last portion of his new drama, “ Don Quixote,” which he has specially written for Irving. He has fitted the character of the countess expressly for Miss Terry. I believe it will be a great success. Irving is just my "ideal of a man who can “make up” as Don Quixote, “the knight of the rueful countenance.” I suppose you get from other sources the latest particulars of the health of “ Our Fritz ”of Germany. We are hoping that he will be able to pull through liis dreadful malady. .Sir Morell Mackenzie is very sanguine about tho success of his treatment. A medical man, wellknown in town, said the other night in one of the clubs that as long as Sir Morell attended ‘ ‘ Fritz ” alone the possibilities were about equal, but with the advent of each doctor the chances against him have increased with mathematical regularity, and that it is now about 3.25 to 1 against him.

I had some country cousins up in town the other day, and of course I must take them round to see all the sights. I went into that old popular institution, Madame Tussauds’. I found a new relic had been added since my last visit, being the iron camp bedstead used by the Duke of Wellington on the night previous to the Battle of Waterloo. It is considered a precious, valuable relic, but I thought if it should have turned up at friend Kennedy Macdonald’s sale-room the. enterprising Flockton would not have given a couple of half-crowns for it. I am afraid you would not appreciate relics in New Zealand, except that relic of youra—the Upper House. If a man once gets a name for being clever it is astonishing what yarns get spread about him. One of the latest about Edison, the electric light genius, is that he. is- sure that a certain vegetable is in existence which will enable him to make great improvements in electrical appliances where it grows, and how to secure it he does not know, though he has a specimen in his possession. So to find this precious secret he has dispatched Professor Ricalton on a two years’ tour of tho globe to find it, and I hear that it is believed that it exists in some part of the north of Auckland, not far from the Puhi Puhi Bush, between Whangarei and Hokianga. , Sir John Lubbock is a good old soul. Not satisfied with being the Patron Saint of bank holidays, he wants to go one higher, and insist upon the early closing of all retail shops. He has also a sensible view of poor suffering humanity, whose lives are made a miserable martyrdom by the demon of indigestion. He wants, to . add manual instruction to . the education code, either as a class subject, or on the same footing as his scheme of cookery. I have always been a great admirer of Professor Blackie. I was amused at liis naivete, when he said that the notorious Mrs Gordon Baillie “would have deceived the devil himself,” for I always thought the genial Professor was one of the dxtrq “.canny ones.” He ought to be, fqr I\e has gs aqd ideas of his countrymenVpovsrers. " "'ln aa article he has lately written O.p Scotoii he ssys: “If th.e iScqtehroan 13 supejfqr. jto the English in force apj character, he is inferior in dignity. There h? a tendency ip the Scot to low amusement, and in his intellectual attitude he is apt to be argumentative and bumptious. Scotsmen are, too, rather wbat is called unsesthetic, but, on the whole, liis virtues much outweigh his vices. ” After reading those expressions of Professor Blackie, lam not in the least surprised that the “crofter’s friend” should have taken him in and done for him. Englishmen are apt to boast that they are the most practical people in the world. Perhaps they are, but, anyhow, they have now a splendid example set them by the people of Chicago in this way. In that city a notable murder was committed, and no clue to the criminal being forthcoming, the chief of tlie. police is asked to resign in order to make room for a more capable and energetic man. I would suggest to my old friend the present Minister of justice in 3 7 our Colony to cut this paragraph out and"'post it in liis jhary with spine modifications ; the libit might" some day be'useful to work evfexi in" New’ Zealand.'

J. notice tbftt tfio Australian papers are makiug a- great f over tfie ,pf rubies iu spme parts of .their country. I saw some ,of them in r je.\vplier’s shop wiudojy in Qxfprd-street the other week. J am up judge of theni as far as tbpir value gops, but I .was mueh struck with the beauty aud depth of their “fire.” But 1 .don’t tldpk I shall, be tempted to speculate iii ruby mines either ip BufUJah or Western Australia op elsewhere, for a more payqbje ruby mine has been discovered . in . Paris, and we sltali have one in London. very shortly ‘ that will eclipse the biggest finds ever developed in India, Burmah, or “the island continent,” A famous French chemist, 'M. Frdray, who presides over the Paris Museum of Natural History, has been this last week exhibiting some polyhedral crystals, demonstrating, to the satisfaction of all, that the problem of the chemical production of the natural ruby is now practically solved, and that nothing remains but for the industrial world to take possession of thel discovery. That these artificial gems are equal in every respect to natural rubies, M. des Cloiseaux, Professor of Mineralogy in the Paris Museum, declares tlnfr 3 Jj-0 has made a minute crystallographieal of them, and could find no fault' with They were of perfect crystalline form, of adamantine brilliancy, of absolute trans-

parency* and without the slightest trace of horium. Moral: Don’t speculate n> ruby mines when there is a chance of artificial ones being made equal to the natural ones at a Very much less cost: I saw a paragraph some time ago iri tlid New Zealand Times that you had one of those automatic weighing machines on the Queen’s Wharf—put -a penny - in the slip and weigh yourself arrangement. Well, there is quite a mania in London for machines constructed on similar principles. You meet them at all the. railway stations, "at street corners ; .in fact, everywhere. I took a colonial for a walk last Sunday, and we invested a penny in each of the following machines hi the course of an hour’s walk: — “Postal cards,” “note paper and envelope,” “ a packet of taffy,” “ a cigarette,” “a box of wax matches,” “a packet of chocolate drops,” “ a packet of cough lozenges,” “an insurance ticket for 24 hours’ for L 100,” and last, but not least, we dropped into Praed-street station for a ride home in the underground railway, and lo ! and behold on the platform there stood a scent fountain ! We dropped “a humble brown ” into the" slit, held offr handkerchiefs under an electro-plated tap and down comes a liberal douch of a delicate and agreeable perfume. It is said that an ingenious inventor is making a machine to supply automatic drink. Why don’t some of your enterprising speculators introduce some of these automatic machines into Wellington. There’s heaps of money in them. In one of my previous letters I mentioned that a reform in men’s attire was about to make its advent upon the fashionable world. I notice lately soberminded men have gone a “boom on waistcoats. Fashion now decrees that we shall go back to the time when the late Earl of Beaconsfield was an ornament in the gilded saloons of society and fascinated all hearts by his gorgeous vests. Charles Dickens used to tell tlie tale, of the sensation he caused by appearing on© night at a party in a vest of that tint now known as ‘•‘electrip blue,” ' A recent visitor to New Zealand, G.eorgp Auguptg§ Sala, Jias a craze for -white yests. H& boatts that for the past 27 years he has never worn any other than a white vest. He told that tale in Paris one day while strolling across .tlie Pont du Nord, jvher* j a laundress overheard him; and said; “ 1 : envy your washerwoman.” There are now in our streets outward, and visible ; signs that ,our males ar.e going to put on more color, .and merge -.out of that ; funereal style typical of the Yictorian ! ej'a, I saw in Regent-street the other day a couple of portly patrician? walking arm-and-arm .southward. No--1 wore a double-breasted waistcoat of cardinal plush., the other wore oiae of light seal brown. I saw a•“ masher.'” jjj the Alhambra stalls the other night with a lio-ht blue vest, and it is now considered the O.K. thing to go as bright as you can in the matter of vests.

I noticed the policeman whose beat is in front of my house about midnight looked half frozen with the cold the other night as 1 was returning home. I spoke to him, and asked him in for a moment to give him a good stiff glass of hot grog. In tliß"course of a short chat he told me that alj the police are now supplied - with revolvers pf'f similar pattern to those used by fhe Ijriaf A night or so after he brought lfi.e his to show me. They .are supplied w ifc h 2#. cartridges. This is a new departure in police arrangements. Lord Randolph Gliurchill is fond of a game at billiards, aud in Clubland is considered a smart player, and many a gamo the Marquis of Hartington has had with him. The noble Marquis is a crack player, and formerly was able to give his Lordship 30 in a 100 and beat him. But since Lord Randolph has been on a visit to St. Petersburg he has evidently picked up a wrinkle, for since his return he can give Hartington the same odds as he used to receive and beat him easily. Whether the cold of Russia strengthened his nerves, or whether the Czar gave him lessons I know not, but there is the fact of his improved play. I hear on good authority that the Tichborne Claimant is about to reopen ,his 'ease against the present owners of the .jhqhborne estate. 1 ■* Ho has got hold of‘<a clever‘lawyer, who boasts that -he is in possessiojx' of* important * eVMence from Australia* and New "■ ijealaiid " that-- will completely ’’establish the’identity bffrhb Claimant with .tljb heir ttf the"baronetcy: Qur ;£at friend is >t 'present' aidting as-bas? tenderer in a drijiking saloon •m- 'BrofiKlyn, and weighs 35011).- The rumor "circcfigted jpme fey/ months lie 'was incarcerated in a luqiitip §sylqm'ls entirely false.

T flaresay you have heard ere ,fchis of the discovery at Stratford- on : Ayon' of " a large mass of letters' and other of ;bhe time .of Queen Tbey Were found lying loose on a floor of a goo ip in' the .Guildhall of .that town. The papery ppmibe.r bqfcwoen j.OOO and 2000, and they are now keiflg' carefully 'examined to see j| they .throw .afiy ight on the life amd" career <?f the immortal Will One document has already been deciphered which hears the date of 1609, written at least seven years before Shakespeare’s death, and while he was living at New Place, Strat-ford-on-Avon. The most curious tiling about these papers, to my. mind, is the fact that the room in which they wer« found had been used only a few years ago by the Town Clerk and. other officials. It speaks volumes for their intelligence, when they actually walked overthese price-, frgg r.elics and never took the trouble to see what’ they were or what they were

worth. Can you imagine such natural stupidity, especially when anything connected with Stratford in Shakespeare’s time is worth untold sums ? It reminds me of a visit I made to that town a few years ago, in company with a young friend from Sydney. This friend, who was a great student of Shakespeare, fondly imagined that all Stratford people must he steeped to the very eyes in Shakespearean loro, but was rudely shaken out of his belief as we walked out of the hamlet of Sliottery, whore Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hatheway, was bora. Just before we came to the house we asked a decentlooking countryman at work on the roadside, just for an experiment there anything worth seeing at Shottery? ’ “Naught that I knows on,” was the reply. “Is there nothing here to remind one of Shakespeare,” we asked. “Ho, sir. Nobody lives there of that name.” “ But I mean, was Shakespeare, the great writer, ever connected with this village.” “I never heard of him, sir; he couldn’t have lived here, sir, for I was born here, and I’ve never bin furder away nor Warwick for the past forty years. ” We walked on, and my Sydney friend, more emphatic than grammatical, said “ Well, I’m blowed !” It’s not a choice expression, but at that time it meant a lot.