LONDON GOSSIP.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 29

LONDON GOSSIP.

From Our Own Correspondent. London, January 27. POLITICS. In the opinion of “ Labby," and' indeed of most of the Radicals one meats at the National Liberal Club, the Government are “ riding for a fall," and Easter should see the general election. That the out--qome of the latter will be the triumphant return of the Conservatives to power I cannot doubt. We Liberals have got no battle-cry wherewith to rally our suppor- . ters. You can’t thrill the electors (the .great them I mean) with speeches conceiving; Welsh and Scotch Disestablishment, and over “"Local Vqto " and “ Payment of Members" we are far more likely to lose than gain votes. The attitude of the temperance extremists will seemingly of itself “crab" the “Local Veto “ measure. Moderate men appear to be growing utterly hopeless of total abstinence fanatics. Their unreasoning intolerance and superlatives damn the cause they wish to help on. “ Men like the Bishop of Chester," said the Times recently, “ are the despair of temperance reformers." And no wonder. How can any dispassionate person ever have faith in Dr 'Jayne again ? His lordship couldn’t agtee with the Times' articles on the Gothenburg system, so, in the hope of damaging .them, he resolved to discover and discredit the writer. The latter happened to be an old college pupil of his, and taking advantage of the fact this episcopal wolf in sheep’s clothing wrote to him and asked him if the Times articles were his work. Suspecting no evil and nattered by the seeming interest of his late tutor, the young man fell into the trap and in a private note admitted the soft impeachment. Judge his amazement at the appearance a week later of a letter in which' his pseudo-friend attacked him vigorously, calmly making use of the information privately obtained for the purpose and avowing that the authorship of the articles rendered their conclusions worthless.

Needless to say the Bishop was soon sorry he’d spoken. Seldom if ever has a dignitary of the church received a severer castigation from the Times. No cogent defence could be offered in the face of his letters. The victim of course published the correspondence, and the “ Thunderer" offered a few comments. Society then stood aghast at the spectacle of a spiritual peer whose fanaticism had evidently completely obscured common honour, honesty and good-feeling. V. HOME RULE. Home Rule is even a more hopeless rallying cry for the Liberals than Local Option. Every day its impossibility becomes clearer. The Irishmen themselves never lose an opportunity of ramming the truth home. Personally it would afford myself and many other Radicals the liveliest satisfaction to pack off the whole demoralised and disorganised gang to College Green. /But I fear it can’t be done. The manner in which they are splitting up into cliques renders the party, however, comparatively harmless. Then too, money is very scarce, and the prospects of procuring more, unless another Parnell arises, remote. Ask Mr Hogan to tell you how the rank and file of the party manage to get along. He himself has a fluent pen and can earn a respectable income by it, but very few of his comrades are in such good case. LORD RANDOLPH. If Lord Randolph Churchill had been a poor man he would —through inability to procure the highest medical skill—have died in peace within a few days of his arrival in England. Thanks, however, to the untiring efforts of Dr Robson Roose and his colleagues the unfortunate mail’s misery was prolonged for several weeks. It is not as though there had ever been the smallest hope. The doctors knew the case to be absolutely incurable

when they saw him first. Much the kindest treatment would have been to administer a narcotic and let the distinguished patient drift quietly into eternity. But Civilisation (with a big C) and the ethics of leechcraft forbade this, and so for weeks poor Lord Bandolph’s friends were compelled to stand by and watch his torture, and to suffer themselves, conscious that it Was utterly useless, a mere sacrifice to conventionality, an offering on the altar of professional etiquette.

LADY RANDOLPH.

-Lady Randolph was a good wife to this unlucky member of an unlucky family, proving a rare helpmeet to him, both in sickness and health. When the little man became leader of the House, and held the Premiership within his grasp, his wife’s gracious ways and social diplomacy enormously increased his popularity. If he would have allowed her to guide lhim his health need never have broken down. But Lord Randolph overworked and over played feverishly. He tried his nerves in half a hundred ways and finally insomnia (one of the worst of earthly trials) marked him down. Had he even then taken wifely and medical advice, all might have been well, but the short cut to sleep seemed pleasanter, and Lord Randolph had recourse to drugs. Is it necessary to say more. Facilis descensus Averni. We know thWest of the story. Its outward accompaniments were the abandonment of politics, the'-spasm of sport, the voyage to the Cape, many strange eccentricities, mental derangement and the end. The inner history—a terribly sad one no doubt —Lady Randolph could alone relate, and we may rest assured She never will.

A DETECTIVE STORY.

The dirty tricks of a certain class of “private detectives" have been respon- . sible for a good deal of domestic unhappii ness. A husband suspects his wife and , sets one of the “ agencies " to watch her. Probably the woman is quite innocent of all wrong towards her husband, but if this be the case the “ private detective," instead of- reporting “ all well," will proceed by - devious <ways to attempt his subject’s downfall. Or maybe the husband is tired of his wife and seeks a ground for breaking the marriage tie. For a sufficient consideration the “ private detective " will endeavour to get up a case, in most .calling in “a'woman" to help him to hrihg r about- another woman’s shame. It is a dirty ’tradethe risks are srpall, however, in comparison to the profits, and these “ agencies " flourish by dozens in the metropolis alone. They will probably walk more circumspectly when the Courts have done with Henry Clarke and Ellen Lyons, who figured in the dock at Bow street on Monday, charged with a . criminal conspiracy to prevent the due course of law and justice in connection with the divorce suit of Barrett v. Barrett. That suit ended in the jury finding misconduct against the, petitioner, but they expressed their opinion that her shame was brought about by the persons emploj'ed by her husband to assist in obtaining evidence in favour of his counter-petition. Acting on this strong hint the Public Prosecutor at once applied for warrants to arrest Clarke and Lyons. The woman evaded the police for some time, but in the end the precious pair were both in custody. Mrs Barrett told the story of the attempt at her undoing in the witness-box at Bow street. She is a slight, pale, sweet-faced girl of two-and-twenty, and told her long story very concisely. She wedded Barrett in 1891, but unhappiness commenced very early in the honeymoon and she finally left husband in February, 1892, and applied'Joi? -a .separation. To 166 Earl’s Court road, where she boarded after leaving her spouse, there., came a “Mrs Watson," wife of an electrical engineer, who in event proved to be Ellen Lyons. “Mrs Watson" was very kind and sympathetic to the little grass widow, and the two became fast friends. Soon Mrs I Watson persuaded the girl to move to Denbigh street, Pimlico; and a little later suggested that as they both had bad husbands they should make the best of their lonely lives. “ Let’s go to the | Empire and enjoy ourselves,"suggested the tempter, and, seeing no wrong, Mrs Barrett ! put on her smartest frock, lent Mrs Watson a sovereign to pay for seats and champagne, and accompanied that lady to the “ ’All of Dazzling Light," which Mrs Ormiston Chant loves so well. In her innocence Mrs Barrett knew not the mysteries of the “ Tarts’ Parade." Mrs j Watson did, and leaving her companion she walked round to see if she could “ find any friends " out of whom she could get a “ fiver." In a few minutes Mrs Watson came back having in tow a “swell" whom she introduced to Mrs Barrett as “Mr Stephens of the Stock Exchange." Stephens was Clarke and he talked to the novice for some time quite nicely. Then he showed the cloven hoof by suggesting that Mrs Barrett had seen enough of the performance and could amuse herself much better at a private hotel. She wasn’t quite sure what Stephens meant, but wisely refused the invitation. Clarke then asked her to go to supper with him, and as Mrs Watson was invited to come along Mrs Barrett accepted the offer. Clarke paid for the spread and took them home to Denbigh street in a cab. He kissed Mrs Watson good-night and would fain have favoured the other lady similarly, but she declined the caress. Some time after Mrs Watson again persuaded Mrs Barrett to the Empire and this time introduced her to a “ Mr Charles ■Wilson" —“ a tremendously rich young'

man.” After champagning, Mrs Watson suggested supper at Rupert Hotel, but Mrs Barrett had a dislike for semi-privata concerns and expressed a decided opinion in favour of the Monico. So to tha famous cafe the trio repaired, and whilst discussing the various courses with tha aid of copious draughts of champagne, “Wilson" romanced about his father tha M.P., his ancestral halls in Yorkshire, his house in Grosvenor Gardens and hia yacht. “ Wilson" was a decent-looking fellow, and his apparent possession of money in plenty made his offer to correspond with Mrs Barrett very tempting to the forlorn little wife, but she steadily refused to receive any missive from him. When the women got home again. Mrs Watson expatiated on “ Wilson’s " wealth and strongly urged her friend to accept his overtures. Next day the unhappy girl took the first step down the. steep path. She met “ Wilson "at Hyde Park corner, and he asked her to go away with him for a week. She said that was impossible, but he continued to urge hei, and finally she consented to go with hita to look at some rooms at St. John’s Wo6d. “ Mrs Watson " was delighted at the tiirn matters had taken, and said, “ That’s right, love! make the most of your chances. His money will be very useful to us." It was then arranged that the women should “keep house together." But Mrs Barrett rued her promise- very soon, and it took a tremendous amount of ~ persuasion on “ Wilson’s " part to get her to go to Wellington road. They went thither by way of the Metropolitan Music Hall, and according to Mrs Barrett Wilson got so drunk that when they got “ home " to St. John’s Wood he laid down on the sofa and slept there all night, herself retiring to the bedroom. Next day she insisted on returning to Denbigh street, and in spite of Wilson’s opposition (he hid her hat in the coalscuttle, and collared her purse) she achieved her object. “ Mrs Watson ” laughed over the incident, and remarked that it was “ experience gained." She also arranged that the companionship should terminate, her plea being that “the electrical engineer" was coming home almost at once. Mrs Barrett fell ill and became an in-patient of St. George’s Hospital, and recovering, found herself in possession of a citation for divorce, “ Wilson" being named as the correspondent. By this time Mrs Barrett seems to have begun to “ smell a rat," and took her case to a solicitor. Subsequently she met a “ Mr Bloomfield," who introduced himself to her as “of the London and County Bank." He was wearing a silk hat which Mrs Barrett recognised as having been worn by Wilson, a peculiar scratch at the side showing its identity with the “ topper ” which had done service for the “ son of the M.P.” Acting on her solicitor’s advice Mrs Barrett allowed “ Mr Bloomfield ” to improve the acquaintance. Since the dismissal of her suit she had received nothing from-Jibr husband, and was now earning a livelihood as a private nurse. Sir John Bridge adjourned the enquiry at this point, remarking that to proceed further would impose too great a stf&in on the unfortunate young woman.

A GORGEOUSLY SIMPLE SWINDLE.

There are thirty odd millions of people in England, and, according to Carlyle, most of them are fools. ’Tis manj years since the Chelsea Sage passed his sweeping and uncomplimentary dictum, but with the spread of education notwithstanding, it still seems to hold good. Messrs Edd. Ames Webber and Louis Perlman evidently accepted the Carlyle doctrine as being “ up-to-date." Anyhow,, they acted upon it, and, but for a certain incompleteness in their arrangements, they, might have returned whence they, came—America to wit—with a snug little fortune apiece. Their modus operandi was beautifully simple. They called themselves the “ American Oxyzone Syndicate," and advertised in the leading London and provincial papers that they were prepared to give “ cash for brains," to the extent of £4 to each person who could fill in correctly the blank spaces in a senteiice like this “T-. P.. .. M.. h ...r T . . m I . e S . . . d." The only thing the brainy people solving this brain - twister had to do in order to get the reward offered was to forward half a guinea to the Syndicate “ to cover the cost of a tin of Oxyzone to be forwarded with the prize money." On the face of it the advertisement had “ Swindle" writ large, but to make it seem genuine the authors put forth the exceedingly ingenuous explanation that they had hit upon this method of advertising “ Oxyzone," and were prepared to spend .£20,000 upon the plan instead of in advertising by the old-fashioned methods. The bait took splendidly. The syndicate was deluged with solutions to their problem, and the Post Office supplied their mails in special bags. Nine or ten clerks were kept busy opening letters and replying to each solver that his or her solution was correct and that the L 4 together with a tin of Oxyzone would be sent on receipt of 10s 6d. Thousands forwarded half-guineas and were then told that the “ Oxyzone "would not be sent for about 20 days, supplies not. having come to hand from America. The scheme ran for a couple of months, and on the proceeds the Yankees lived in style at the First Avenue Hotel, Holborn. Then the police woke up to the fact that a gorgeous “have" was being worked out under their very noses. The authorities at once stepped in -ted Webber and Perlman, and tool j of their letters. The first post on jal day produced 316 missives, m them containing

postal orders or cheques for half-a-guinea. So to Bow street the, schemers were hauled. Inspector Marshall, in giving evidence, drew Sir John Bridge’s attention to the fact that though the advertisement had been running two months no change had been made in the problem set for solution a damning point against Webber and his confrere. The Inspector also said that he found in one letter a cheque for L 4 15s 6d drawn on the “ Good Exchange Banking Co." in favour of “A Sensible Man," and crossed “ A Swindle and Co." Sir John remanded Perlman and his pal for a week and wouldn t accept bail even for a large sum.