LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 34

LADIES' GOSSIP.

—That the Parisians are patriotic is well known, but instances with which they study their patriotism rather than their pocket are few and far between. Here, however ia an example. Princess Hohenlohe, wife of the Governor of Alsace-Lorraine, is a lady of fashion, and patronises a Parisian nwdistc, having been hitherto very careful to keep her real name a secret. The week before Christmas was spent by the Princess in the French capital, where she ordered several new dresses. Somehow it came to the knowledge of the dressmaker that her customer was the wife of the German tnonstrc who rules the lost provinces. Thereupon the wily milliner modisteAj declined to execute her orders, and furthermore handed over all the money she had previously received from the Princess to the Alsace-Lorraine Relief Committee. Needless to say that this patriotic priestess of fashion is now all the rage with her countrywomen, while her conduct has increased her business a meweille. Bless your heart, it -is not ' only in England that patriotism pays 1 — A few young girls in Hartford, all of them "Daughters of the King," raised a little money by giving some tableaux not long ago, and then set about making some one happy with that money. They heard of ' a family consisting of a hard- worked mother and three little children, and decided to try and make them happy. First they made a gigantic stocking, and then set out to fill it. They went from store to store explaining their object, and as a result were able to buy a great deal with their money. Most of the purchases were useful articles of food and clothing,' but they didn't forget toys and candies for the little ones. On Christmas morning the stocking was delivered, and there is but other happier group of children than the widow's in Hartford that day, and they were the girls who filled the stocking. — Every year, at the court of Madagascar, the Queen holds a Festival of the Bath. All the courtiers and representatives of foreign Powers being convened, her Majesty goes into a curtained space where the royal tub is secluded, and salvos of artillery announce that she is engaged* in her ablutions. By and bye she reappears clean and clothed in fine raiment and jewels, carrying a horn, from which she sprinkles the assembled company with some of the water in which she has bathed ! We should prefer not to be one of her Majesty's courtiers.

— A tragi-comic romance lately occurred at Buda-Pesth. A stripling of 17 fell in love with a girl three- years his junior, and the children were in such despair at the prospect of having to wait so long before they could be married that they decided to commit suicide. After kissing and hugging each other* the. couple repaired to the Danube,

and with a fortitude worthy of a better cause the ' girl jumped in. Fortunately she could swim, and availed herself fully of the capabilities in that art. She shrieked for "help," which was soon at hand. Just as she was safely landed her lover aimed three pistol shots at himself, but none of them took effect, and a quarter of an hour later the young folks were handed over to their respective parents. — It may not be generally known that one reason for the Queen's marvellous power of enduring the cold and damp that ruins the health and temper of those who surround her, is the fact of her being, for the greater part of the year, completely encased in cotton-wool. The cold must be uncommonly keen to make itself felt through cotton-wool an inch in thickness. Of course it may be asked, Why no not the ladies attached to the court follow the Queen's example? No doubt they would if such a course did not involve an increase of an inch in all directions, but there are not many ladies, excepting, of course, our Empress-Queen, who can face with equanimity an addition of 6in to their waistbands. —Here is a pretty story of Miss Mary Anderson told in The Boston Transcript :— A few days ago, as Miss Anderson was passing through one of the great drygoods stores, the salesmen recognised her and whispered to each other: "There goes Mary Anderson I" A little cash boy, hearing the remark too late to see her face, exolaimed : " Oh ! why didn't you let me know in time? I haven't got money enough to go to see her play, but I might have looked at her." The lady had not passed out of hearing. Turning back she stooped and kissed the. boy. "There, my lad," she said, "you can not only say that you have seen Mary Anderson, but j that she has kissed you." — The Prince and Princess of Wales and their sons and daughters were present at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Manchester's daughter, Lady Alice Montagu, and the Hon. Edward Stanley, eldest son of Lord Stanley of Preston. The Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Knightsbridge, was crowded on the occasion, and among those present were the Duke and Duchess of Teck and their daughter May, who has grown into a splendid figure of a woman. The bride was dressed in white corded silk, draped with mousseline de 3oie, with a fichu of the same, and wore a narrow wreath of orange blossoms and a tulle veil. She wore no jewels. There were eight bridesmaids— all .children— the Ladies Aldra, Mary, and Theo Acheson, Lady Mary, Hamilton, and the Ladies Alice and Mary Montagu (nieces of the bride), and Lady Edith Villiers and Hon. Komola Russell (cousins of the bridegroom). The little dears were in " Cherry Ripe" costumes of white poult de soie, with fichus of white muslin edged with frills of the same, and pale blue sashes, muslin caps with bows of pale blue ribbon, white silk mittens, and bronze stockings and shoes. Each wore a double heart moonstone and diamond brooch, and carried a bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley, intermixed and tied with pale blue ribbon, the gifts o£ the bridegroom. The Prince and Princess of Wales gave, as a wedding present to the bride, a moonstone and diamond brooch; and her Majesty the Queen gave the everlasting Indian shawl I — The household of the Emperor of China is (says Truth) to consist of SOO persons, including 30 fan-bearers 30 umbrella-bearers, 30 / physicians and surgeons, 76 astrologers, 7 chief cooks, and 60 priests. —Said a Boston girl ; "It may be all true that a pretty girl can't be looked at by a man Eor five minutes .without biting her lips, but its equally true that any girl can make a man smooth his moustache by just glancing at him." And she slipped into one of the two 3eats in a passing car quickly offered her and her companion, and, with an energetic dig of tier elbow into the latter's side, glanced sweetly at the risen man and thanked him. He was a sober-looking man of middle age, with the morning paper sticking out of one pocket and his gloves out of the other ; but after commencing at the advertisements, and making a circuit of the car with his eyes, he let them fall again on the occupant of his seat, to meet again her sweet innocent stare, md staightening his shoulders, which were somewhat bent with the double blessing of a large family and a small income, he raised his hand and carefully smoothed down his whiskers. The smart poung woman drew her lips into a line that signified triumph, and, with another lively movement of her elbow, fixed a gaze of 3tartled admiration on a Hibernian hodcarrier in the corner. Patsy's face flushed, and he glanced uneasily out of the window and up at the ventilator, shifted one ungainly boot in front of his dinner pail and hid the other somewhat undera lady's skirts, pulled hishat further over hisforehead,andthen,with a sheepish movement, drew his red, freckled hand awkwardly across his coarse yellow moustache and cast a wooden glance at the factious young woman's feet. With an inward chuckle and an outward innocence, 3he rode to the end of the route, counting in returns from : One very old man accompanied by his grandson, two Harvard freshmen, three poets, one reporter, four ministers, and the conductor, besides the Hibernian hodcarrier aud the man with the morning paper." —The Buffalo man who won a sweet girl by writing numerous love letters to her on five-dollar bills has started a fashion that make courting harder than ever. Not only will the dear creatures refuse to return such missives in case of a quarrel, but they will insist on bill 3 of larger denomination being used. The world will seem but a dreary place to a man who has been using five-dollar bills, as stationary for his love letters, when he gets a note like this from the adored adored object: " Another young gentleman is writing to me en ten dollar bills. Unless you employ twenty dollar bills all is over between us." — Of all enfants tcrribles ever born, the present Lord Cranborne (the eldest son of Lord Salisbury) was in his juvenile days the most terrible, for not content with galloping with his younger brother helter-skelter through the park on their Shetland ponies, he would say things which would very often greatly try the gravity of his indulgent parents. On one occasion, for instance,-^ very prosy old duke had called in Arlington street to see Lady Salisbury, and the pauses in the conversation grated dread-

fully on the nerves of little Granborae, who was lying with his early head on his mother's lap, for Lady Salisbury is a devoted and indulgent mother, and used to allow her children into the drawing room at all times, and very often when they had far better have been in the nursery. Suddenly, after a pause of more than ordinary duration, the baby viscount lifted up his head and said, yawning, " If you haven't got anything more to say, why don't you go away V* This may be perhaps why the Cecil boys had in their early years the reputation of being the rudest in London. —The Kaiser is looking very ill. He appeared at the trumpeters' concert, just before Christmas at when no less than 300 trumpeters biayed out Luther's Hymn with one accord, and seemed to like the brazen music ; but his face showed signs of visible suffering. It appears that when he was at Breslau the other day, a big banner was introduced into the torchlight procession bearing the words, " Honour thy Father and thy Mother t" in large capitals, and young Wilhelm was so infuriated by this rather too suggestive emblem that he sternly forbad* its appearance being reported in any of the newspapers, and actually succeeded in preventing the news travelling out of Germany for some days. TEA GOWNS. Now floats the tea gown into use, Elaborate, costly, neat, but looae ; A rustling plush of twilight; grey Lined with shot silk of opal ray. From neck to feet the front should float, With beaded agrafes at the throat, Should mat be worn (a coarser kind), A demi-train should float behind ; Embroidered gold on satin white The front, drawn in with smockings tight, Or what is silky Pompadour. Lace-trimmed, with Watteau plaits before, While dainty trillings trebly deep Adown each side, with ribbons creep ; And flowers in bouquets here and there Teach Art with Nature to compare. —St. James' Gazette. —The Prime Minister has been making the most strenuous efforts to induce the Queen to attend the opening of Parliament, but her Majesty does not see why she should take the trouble. The drawing rooms are bore enough in her opinion, even in the very easy way in which she gets through them, but the opening of Parliament would be a tremendous and quite unnecessary trouble. To a certain extent she is right. The Queen has steadily refused to yield to the wishes of her subjects for so many years, that now the only result of her appearance would be abitter reflection that all this useless pageantry would hare bo be paid for pretty heavily by the country. — The Queen's roaids-of -honour are entitled bo place the word " honourable " before their names whether they are the daughters of peers or no. — Mrs Vincenza Botta says the trouble about entertaining in New York is that all bhe bright women have stupid husbands and all the wise men impossible wives. A Perfect Lady. A perfect lady ! How comprehensive the term I How much it includes of all that is feminine and attractive ; of all that is considerate and well bred. A perfect lady pays back ill-bred rudeness not in its own base coin but in the pure gold of courtesy. She meets insolence with the rebuke of silence, and impertinent presumption with quiet dignity. She never brings herself down to the level of a vulgar assailant by retort, but takes refuge behind the shield of a well-bred reserve, and a silence more expressive than words. She knows by intuition— which the illbred woman never knows — what is due from one lady to another. The ill-bred woman thinks she owes no debt, so she pays none ; but not so with the well-bred and perfect lady; she gives consideration, courtesy, respect, and forbearance. She would rather inconvenience herself than not to pay what she believes due. A perfect lady is never betrayed by her feelings into an uncivil expression, nor into a, discourteous act by her prejudices or preferences. She does not pride herself on her powers of aggression, or of resistance, but rather on her self-control, which can master bhejndignant answer and keep back the tide of anger. A perfect lady never descends from the pedestal where Nature and society have placed her, in the presence of the other sex. She avoids even the appearance of unrefinement in the presence of gentlemen ; takes no liberties with them and permits none taken with her, and is never guilty in their society of a word or deed she could wish blotted from her memory. There is one peculiarity, that even the coarsest man recognises the charm of a perfect lady, and the coarsest woman is conscious of it, even when she cannot emulate, or resents its manifestations as a personal rebuke. It is a charm that comes into the rudest place like a breath of balmy sweetness; it elevates, refines, and softens; and it treads its way gently along the noisy pathways of the world, like the sweet music of an JSolian lute, through which the wind plays a melody, ethereal, soft, harmonious. No one quality, but several, go to make up a perfect lady. Gentleness, courtesy, dignity, self-restraint, and consideration for others. The noisy, rude, impertinent, and aggressive woman can never be mistaken for a perfect lady any morasihan a tiger lily can be mistaken for a whioe rose. The sweet refined grace is wanting ; the tender, delicate aroma, all-pervading and all-purifying, is not there, nor the nameless charm which fascinates, conciliates, and subdues. — " The Household." Staring. There is probably no instrument of torture more in vogue in society than the stare. A regularly equipped grande dmie has a full complement of the different sorts 'in her quiver, and until she knows how and when they should be winged her training is far from complete. There is the stare of rebuke, the stare of unrecognition, the. pleading and expostulatory stare, the disdainful stare, and so on. There is only one stare which good society never sanctions. This, the stare of surprise or of wonder. It is not supposed that a thoroughbred person can see anything which will, however suddenly it is plumped upon him, so overthrow his balance as to make him use his eyes so improperly. The stare is therefore, though perfectly legitimate as a weapon of warfare, more or less pronounced,

simply a sign of vnlgarity, if not used with premeditation. Bat, seriously, is there anything which so unveils the lack of vital graces in the soul, as the unconscious stares which one observes in all sorts of public places? Men and women, in outward semblance gentle and of high degree, sit in a train, or walk along the Btreets, not using their eyes for the hasty surveys which are the only proper regard to bestow upon passers-by, but insult civil and unobtrusive people by staring them out of countenance. A lively lady once remarked that she always revenged herself for the stare of a man by gazing long and fixedly upon his feet, if by chance they were where she could do so. It is well known that all men are very sensitive as to their feet. " That alway3 makes them colour and turn away," she said laughingly, "I have tried it scores of times." Taming a Bird. No creature is more 'jealous or 'sensitive than a bird, and we know of no better way to make a bird fearless and familiar than that described by Olive Thome Miller in the " Homemaker," : " There is an easy way to win the heart of almost any bird, and without starving him or making him think he has mastered you. Simply talk to him.a good deal. Place his cage near you, on your desk or work-table, and retain his choicest dainty to give him with your own fingers. Let him know that he can never have that particular thing unless he take it from you, and he will soon learn, if you are patient and do not disconcert him by fixing your eyes upon him. After this he will more readily take it from your lips ; and then when you let him out of his cage after the first excitement is over, he will come to you, especially if you have a call you have accustomed him to, and accept the dainty from you while free. As soon as he becomes really convinced that you will not hurt him or try to catch him, or interfere in any way with his liberty, he will give way to his boundless curiosity about you ; he will pull your hair, pick at your eyes, and give you as much of his company as you desire." Queens— Wot (Slaves. 11 It's money fur this an' money fur that, Gtimcraoks an' tinsel an' shine ; You kin spend your own, I tell you tint, You don't git none]o' mine. " You're wanting pictures^and a skeefcer net, This time I go to town; If you ain't keerf ul you'll find ifc yet Such doim'll bringtyou^down. 11 There's sugar to get, an' a pound o' teaSugar's most awful high— A wrench fur the mower, some baocy fur'me, That's all I'm a-goin to buy. " Git up there, Prim ;" and away he went With a darkly-gathering scowl, Holding on tight, if it's only a cent, And letting go with a growl. His good wife entered the homeland sighed As she trotted to and fro ; ",Ef it want fur the children ,|[an' a lifctla prld«, I'd a left here'long'ago. " I work here hard from'morn'tojnight— I'm savin' as I can be ; But pa is gettin' most awful tightHe's worsen he used to be. " He gets the cheapest kind efjstuff— It's throwin' money away I Without him growlin' it's bad enough, And sometimes I'll have my^say. Pull many homes like this you've seen, Where the husbands grudging gave I A wife should be truly the household queen, ! And not a kitchen slave I — FBANOES BUBTON OIABB.