MISS COLONIA IN LONDON.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1189, 14 December 1894, Page 14

MISS COLONIA IN LONDON.

CONFIDENCES TO HER COUSINS ACROSS THE SEA. - From Our Own Correspondent. ■ , London, October 27. PRECIS: The Czarina. — A Crown of Terror. — The Attempts on the Life of Her Husband and Tiieir Effects.—“ The Unlucky Queensberrys." Lord Drumlanrig’s Fate.—The GrosvenorTeck Canard.—Some of the Duke of Westminster’s Deeds. —Good and Otherwise.—Women in Congress.— Grievances Against the Males.— Rational Riiess. —The Skirt Doomed. —Mourning.— How Long to Wear Crape, &e.\— The International Woman’s Union, A New Sleeve. —-The “ A.8.C." and Its Employees. —Swimming for Ladies. A Cure For Dyspepsia. , THE CZARINA.

Even if the unfortunate Empress of Russia were not the younger sister of our own dear Princess we should feel the greatest sympathy for the poor lady in her Bad trouble. But the knowledge that she and our future Queen both possess ultranervous and sensitive temperaments, which heightens their capacity for suffer-, ing, vastly increases our concern. When the Prineessj: Dagmar of Denmark accepted her present husband in lieu of his elder brother, who died during their engagement, site had no illusions as to what was before her,. But she was young and strong in 1866 ahd the Nihilists were only beginning to make themselves felt. For ten or fifteen years as the wife of the Czarwitch she bn joyed comparative peace. Then came the attempts on the life of her husband’s father- and finally the awful tragedy of 13th' March, 1881. From that day till now Her Majesty’s life has.been one of constant and wearing anxiety and terrible shocks. Thrice has the Czar had narrow' escapes from death—once when the CJzarina was driving with him from a palaco , at Petersburg. They passed over a charged mine which would have blown. sledge, royalties, equerries and escort into shreds had the fuse worked properly, but it burnt just a moment too long and the Czar’s party were out of danger when the bridge behind them crashed into space, The Czar learnt almost immediately what . the explosion was, but he said nothing then. An hour later the facts had to be broken to the Empress, and though Alexander did it himself, the shock utterly unnerved her. On another occasion the Czar narrowly escaped assassination at the hands of a calvary officer. The Czarina, too, was in the railway-carriage with the Czar at Borki, when his valet was killed by his side and 19 persons lost their lives. Then in May 1891 there came the news of the attempted assassination of the Czarewitch in Japan. His mother believed that the form in which the intelligence was told to her was designedly meant to prepare her for the fact of his death. She swooned before she could be reassured and was ill for many days. The annual holiday of the Czar and Czarina with the King of Denmark’s family party at the quiet castle of Fremdenborg has for years been their one happy time of peace. His father-in-law’s servants the Czar could rely on, and feeling safe he threw himself into the amusements of his relatives like a boy. An equerry of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales that at the close of one of these reremark to his

nieces, “ Well, good-bye, my dears, you are going back to your happy English home, and I (with a groan) must return to my prison/'

LORD DRUMLANRIG. A sort of fatality seems to attend the “ unlucky Douglases," as the Queensberry family have fairly earned the right to be called. Only a few weeks ago, my dear, when writing to you of their eccentricities in connection with the death of the poor lady who married her baker, I said, “Lord Drumlanrig is the hope of the house. To Lord Queensberry’s intense disgust Lord Rosebery has just made his late private secretary a peer of the United Kingdom in his own right. He consequently becomes a more important person than his sire in many respects, the Marquis being only a Scotch peer without a seat in the Lords." And now we read that whilst out shooting last week poor Lord Drumlanrig accidentally killed himself. He was only twenty-five' years old and liad just been married, in fact, the notice of his wedding appeared in the same paper which announced his decease.

Curious enough, Lord Drumlanrig’s paternal grandfather, the seventh Marquis of Queensberry, was also killed by his gun exploding whilst out shooting in August 1858. '

The heir to the Marquisate is now Lord Percy Douglas, whose exploits on the goldfields of West Australia you may possibly have read of.

THE GROSVENORS. The story to the effect that the Duke of Westminster is going to settle L 20,000 a year on Lady Margaret Grosvenor when she marries that nice Prince “ Dolly" of Teck is mere moonshine. The writers evidently don’t know that His Grace has a very large family and that he will have to provide for them out of what he can save from his life interest in the Grosvenor estates. These of course are enormously valuable and growing more so every day. But His Grace cannot touch them. They are strictly entailed and will pass intact to the next holder of the title, whoever he may be. At present the heir-apparent is Earl Grosvenor, 'a lad of fifteen and the Duke’s grandson. His Grace has had fourteen children, ten of whom are alive. Lady Margaret is his youngest daughter by his first wife,’ and a lovely girl to whom all in and around Chester are devoted. The Duke’s charities/are, as a few know, quite commensurate to his large income, but ho insists on doing them through agents and hiding his good works, from the world. His tenants speak in the highest terms of his kindness to them, though in matters of principle His Grace is inflexible. He considers it his duty to do the best he can to improve his London estates in possible manner. Toth says that 15 years ago Pimlico was an abomination to the metropolis. The Duke could do little with the frowsy streets and badly - built lodging - houses till the long leases began to fall in. Then, regardless of cost, he rased whole streets to the ground and re-built’ them with handsome L2OO a year (rent) houses. Vested interests naturally suffered somewhat. Tradesmen who had/ lived for generations on the same spot found themselves ruthlessly ejected. Tom says there was a great stir about the case of a chemist, who offered to re-build his house in any style the Duke wished if he would only give him a new lease. The man urged that his shop had been there for fifty years and that to move would ruin his connection. But the Duke’s agent was inflexible. There were, he said, to be no shops at all in this street and to make an exception would be to spoil the entire thoroughfare. The poor chemist, who could only see one point of view, made a tremendous fuss. Finally he insisted on an interview with His Grace himself, and (according to his own account) went on his knees to the shy and horrified potentate. But the Duke remained firm. “ I have," he said, “to think of the greatest good of the greatest number. If I gave way to your wishes and spoilt this street, I couldn’t even refuse an old tenant a new lease, and might as well give up attempting to improve Pimlico altogether. In Blank street, which is close by, my agent will give you the pick of the new shops we are building. That is the best I can do. Good morning."

THE WOMEN’S CONGRESS. The old saw that “ imitation is the sincerest form of flattery " is being practically illustrated by the Women’s Congress at Glasgow. Men have held congresses and conferences on every conceivable subject, and now the “New Woman" must have her turn. Men were rigorously excluded, but the lady president, Mrs Mirrlees, magnanimously warned the Congress against regarding men as their “natural enemies." The writers of the fashion notes, who prescribe what is to be worn for the season, are saying that anyone who is to be at all de rigueur must appear in a combination of colours. But it was a noticeable fact that most of the dresses at this Congress were of sombre colour. Amongst the subjects discussed was the distaste exhibited by the young women to accept domestic service. They prefer the counter and to be called “ young ladies," to the drudgery of housework and the ignoble term “ slavey." Mrs Mirrlees, speaking of the personal influence exercised by the Queen, remarked that “ when every woman in the realm has equally learned when and where to smile and where to frown there may be hope that public opinion will tend not only to keep

i down the base in man, but teadh high i thoughts and amiable words and courtlirtdss, arid the desire of fame and the love of truth, and all that makes a man." And then> of corirse, we shall have the millennium. Miss Tabor went into figures to show that if every wife were to save a penny in the shilling on household expenses, it would create a fund large enough to pension all the aged poor in the kingdom. But how many women would care to pinch their expenses in that way at the sacrifice, say, of a new bonnet ? The idea

of a pension “self-denial" fund was exploded by a nice old lady in a large coalscuttle bonnet lined with white muslin, astrachan cape, and beneath that a soft black cashmere shawl. Some of the speakers advocated the employment of women inspectors for children and lunatics. Much merriment was provoked by the statement that a certain board composed entired of men had spent an hour discussing the question of hooks and eyes versus buttons for children’s dresses in a certain home. Miss Louisa Stevenson, a poor law guadian of Edinburgh, sapiently argued at this stage that women inspectors “ would be able to lcok into matters quite beyond the province of men." Another grievance against the men was that in one case the guardians selected an untrained parlourmaid as assistant mistress of a home simply because she was pretty.

RATIONAL DRESS. The Rational Dress Society, of which Lady Haberton and Mrs Massingberd are prominent members, are again actively pushing on the dress reform movement. Whilst ‘ the Paris modistes are dictating that skirts shall be worn long enough to literally sweep the footpaths, the Society is offering a reward to any inventor who Will produce a new form of—shall I say. it ?—well, trousers. That is the word used in the advertisement, not the more refined phrase “ dual garments." We have appropriated the shirt fronts, neckties, and collars of our husbands and brothers, and the party of progress now threaten to sweep away the last distinction between the bifurcated garment and the petticoat. Another idea that lias been mooted is to hold a woman’s dress exhibition. I have already seen a circular that has been issued inviting the great firms in London and the provinces to compete for prizes. Amateurs as well as professionals will be allowed to exhibit, so that one may expect to see some very novel and Striking devices, if the affair comes to anything. '

THE PRINCESS OF WALES. It is not generally known that when the Princess of Wales travels, two indispensable adjuncts in her impediments area favourite white cat and a table full of ordinary and assorted little china animals, such as can be bought in any toy shop or bazaar. These entail no little trouble upon her attendants; as she will never allow her rooms to be dismantled until the last moment. The packing of these fragile pets has caused the loss of more than one train and a good deal of irritability.

MOURNING. For those who are so unhappily situated as to be obliged to wear mourning attire, crape is again becoming more and more fashionable. The laws laid down by fashion for the wearing of mourning stand at present thus:-—For a widow the duration is 18 months, for one year of which crape is worn, for three months silk, and for the last three months half mourning. For a father or mother, or for a father-in-law or mother-in-law, nine months crape, three months silk, and three months halfmourning. For a child over seven, six months crape, three months silk, and three months half-mourning; while for grand-parents, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, or sisters-in-laws, three months crape, three months silk, and three months half-mourning are the allotted times.

THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S UNION. The International Women’s Union is again in active work. The Union has branches all over the world, Mrs Shepherd, of Nelson, and Mrs Ballance being members of the executive for New Zealand. The objects in the main are the enfranchisement of women, the preservation of peace, and united efforts between the workers of all nationalities. Branches have recently been formed in Upper India and Persia. A meeting of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union is called for to-morrow, to be followed by a “social," at the invitation of the president.

A NEW SLEEVE. Usually it is the dressmaker who arbitrarily confines one to what the rulers of fashion have prescribed for the season, and who frown down or dismiss with a shrug of the shoulders any attempts at innovation or individual taste. Living in an atmosphere of dress one is apt to-get blas<i, but at present I am infatuated with the new sleeve, and I shall never be haippy till I get it. I wonder if I can describe it properly. If amongst the relics of the past you happen to possess an old bodice with a tight-fitting sleeve, cut it off a little above the elbow, making a block of some complaisant friend for the nonce. You then get some material on the cross, which you double and frill in a full flounce, gradually diminishing until it reaches the shoulder. The appearance is still that of your present sleeve with the arm in its proper shape showing through. You can vary the flounces with wide lace gathered

over it if you like, or any other trimming —the sleeves to follow this model will be more pronounced, for the flounces will descend from the arm-hole to the line above the elbow.

TFIE “ A.8.C." AND ITS EMPLOYEES. At the annual meeting of shareholders in the Aerated Bread Company the other day, a dividend was declared at the rate of 45 per cent, per annum. AMr Lindon had the temerity to get up and ask whether the directors had thought fit to raise the wages of the young women who j are employed for long hours, with scarcely j any time even to sit down. The daring i interrogator was received with a storm of disapproval; and cries of “ time " and “ sit down." Then a Mr Bellairs moved that he be no longer heard, and poor Lindon was promptly squelched. | j I t

SWIMMING FOR LADIES. October in London is the season of natatorial entertainments. Every swimming club in the “ little village " has*' its night, and programme bills meet the eye at every turn. Tom, as you know, is an enthusiast a perfect water rat and chaperoned by him I have spent several evenings of late in the galleries of swimming baths, and I must confess to enjoying myself at these swimming shows. Water-polo has a place in every programme, and a most exciting game it is,

especially if you have male friends in the competing teams. It is great fun to see your extremely proper vis-a-vis at dinner get “ ducked " just as he is taking in air and preparing to throw the ball. The face he pulls on regaining the surface would (as Tom has it) “ make a cat laugh." The ghastly attempt to look pleasant would raise a smile on the face of the Sphinx. But the> game would be better without the referee. He always blows his whistle at the most exciting points. Ladios’ races at swimming- entertainments have been “ all the go " this season. Personally I think they are very dull affairs ; moreover, they shpw up the sad inferiority of the sex in this branch of athletics. At the Marciaus’ entertainment last week a dozen Polytechnic girls swam a thirty yards handicap and the final heat took close upon forty seconds. A few minutes before one of the i scratch men in the open race had swum sixty yards in 37sec l The males very generously applauded their sisters for their pluck, but I was rather ashamed of them. Their costumes were extremely ugly, and-the way the girls “flopped" into the water was a painful contrast to j the graceful plunging of the men. A nice swimming costume is not difficult to get, nor is the expense great so there is ! no excuse foi making one’s self a “ fright " j before men. Personally I should think twice before taking part in a swimming race at an entertainment, but if I did I should- certainly provide myself with something chic to appear in, and should practise plunging before hand. Most of

| the girls’ costumes at the Marciaus display ! only came down to the knee, but professional lady swimmers generally wear costumes which hide foot and leg-also, and these I think are distinctly nicer for women when males are in the audience. As for swimming itself I strongly advise every girl whose health will permit to learn the gentle art at once. It is not difficult if you have a spark of pluck in you, and once you have mastered the elementary difficulty of keeping your,head above water you can get any amount of innocent enjoyment out of a dip in bath or sea. It is also a useful accomplishment and a healthful one if exercised in moderation. Tom says that swimming is a positive cure for indigestion, . but upon what authority deponent 1 knoweth not.