LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 953, 25 April 1889, Page 34

LADIES' GOSSIP.

—There is a very valuable library in one of the private apartments of Windsor Castle, but it is very seldom that the Queen or any of her children enter its precincts. This winter, however, while the Prince and Princess of Wales were staying at the castle, one cold and gloomy afternoon, when it had been too foggy and miserable all day for any sort of, outdoor amusements in comfort, it appears that someone had a "happy thought," and proposed a general adjournment to this library. In they all trooped, accordingly, to the astonishment of the librarian ; the Queen heading the procession, and a whole bevy of children and grandchildren following her. The dignity of the entry was rather marred by a little dog, who had taken license to follow its owner (one of the Wales' girls), flying at the librarian on the spot, with a furious outburst of barking, and an evident conviction in his deluded canine mind that here was a conspirator who must be exposed and taken into custody at once 1 The kind Princess of Wales snatched him up, kicking and yelping, and apologised heartily for this most mean behaviour, excusing the doggie's stupidity to the librarian with so charming , an amiability that he , felt quite obliged to the little beast for his assault. Then began a long inspection of all the rare old books and pictures; and the Queen kept on asking for this, that, and t'other that had belonged to j her ancestors, showing how well she remem- j bered , the entire valuable collection, and where, to find the volumes. — Talking of costly treasures, the valuable servant whom Queen Victoria has just had the misfortune to lose, had, under especial care and supervision, such a wealth of splendid objects belonging to' her Majesty as the general public has little knowledge of. The late Mr Heather was responsible for the " gold and silver pantry," where the plate is of almost priceless value ; and besides -this, the " North Gallery," which is a terra incognita to the visitors of the " State Apartments " at Windsor Castle, was also under his jurisdiction. This corridor is simply crammed with gorgeous objects and curios of the most valuable nature. One who has often inspecteg them describes its aspect thus: — " Gold and precious stones are as thick « as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks in Vallambrosa I '"

— A fashionable Frenchwoman gave a Lyons manufacturer an order to reproduce a pattern of white and gold brocade used by Marie Antoinette for a ball gown. The design is in the style of Louis XVI, and so rich and magnificent is the stuff itself that the artistic modiste into whose hands it was entrusted used no trimmings beyond a border of white ostrich feathers, and opened the perfectly plain skirt at the left side over an accordion petticoat of delicate blue silk, embroidered in gold.

— The most perfect home I ever saw (wrote the late Helen Hunt) was a little house into the sweet incense of whose fires went no costly things. , A, thousand dollars served as a year's living for father, mother, and three children. But the mother was the creator of a home ; her relations with the children were the most beautiful I have ever seen. Every inmate of the house involuntarily looked into her face for the keynote of the day,' and it always rung clear. From the rosebud, or clover leaf, which, in spite of her hard housework, she always found time to put beside our plate at breakfast, down to the story she had in hand to read in the evening, there was no intermission of her influence. She has always been and will always be my ideal of a mother, wife, and homemaker. If to her quick brain, loving heart, and exquisite face had been added the appliances of wealth and enlargements of wide culture, hers would have been absolutely the ideal home. As it was, it wa3 the best I have ever seen.

—For extra out-of-door covering I (Home correspondent) can recommend nothing so fashionable as corduroy. It is worn in fawn, white, and brown severally. Jackets made of corduroy look smarter if tight fitting and trimmed with large pearl buttons. It must not be trimmed with fur, but a fur boa may be worn. Feather boas are popular in England, but they spoil so quickly that I do not recommend them. Bonnets seem to get gradually smaller and more simple. They are rounded over the ears, and the strings just fasten with a brooch pin or a few stitches at the centre of the back and nowhere else. The strings are very narrow, and only just long enough to tie in a neat little bow under the left ear. They are slightly twisted before tying. Strings of this sort are a happy compromise between ordinary strings and bonnets which are sfcringless. The latter are only fit for girls and young married women, and there is a marked dowdiness in bonnets tied in the ordinary way. For once the "happy mean "is arrived at. Of course elderly ladies do not consider fashion before comfort, and will adhere to bonnet strings as before.

—Not very long ago, the daughter of one of the labourers on the Sandringham estate died of consumption ; and during her long and wearisome illness, she was cheered by thefrequent visits of sympathy, and many acts of kindness of aneighbour. That "neighbour," who| seems truly to understand the word in the same sense as the good Samaritan of old, was the Princess of Wales, who came every few days to sit by the invalid's bed, loheering her with good words, and reading to her consoling passages from Scripture. The bereaved mother speaks enthusiastically of this gentle visitor and her attentions, generally winding up her discourse by saying, •♦And -look at this nice warm shawl ; the Princess gave it to me that I might have a bit of black to go to the funeral in, bless her!"

-^The London " Mode of Fashion " says that the Empress of Japau is at the head of a powerful movement for bettering the condition of the women of that country; She has established a college for women at Tokio, under the management of a committee of European and American women. The standard of education is very low, especially in the country districts, and it is hoped that this college will prove a valuable aid in raising the vf omen of Japan to a higher level. Jn one of tbe London hospitals there are now

three Japanese ladies who are going through their training as nurses, <witlh the intention of returning to their own country ' when 1 qualified, and teaching their own country-

women.

—If an acorn be suspended by a piece of thread within half an inch of the surface of some water contained in a hyacinth glass, and so permitted. to remain without being disturbed, it will, in a few months, burst and throw a root down into the water, and shoot upwards its straight and tapering stem, with beautiful green leaves. A young oak tree growing in this way on the mantleshelf of a room is a very elegant and interesting objeot. — The latest in fans is a combination that will appeal to society ladies who enjoy masquerades. A mask is folded in with the upper part, a powder pouch hangs under a rosette on the outside sticks, within which is a case for scissors, pencil, and button-hook. Thirty dollars buys this whole dressing-case. — The relentless Directoire rage has attacked even the night-robe, and declared that it must be full and high about the throat, with a broad band of nainsook, edged with fluffy lace down the front. The baok, from neck to waist, is laid in wide pleats, and hangs quite full to the floor. The balloon-like sleeves are drawn nearly up at the elbow by a bow of ribbon ; in fact, ribbons, 1 may be placed wherever there is room for them.— The Parisian fancy of the moment for Empire evening gowns is four or five unhemmed skirts of tulle, the uppermost one bordered with 15 rows of soutache braid, either gold,, copper, or silver. ' —A very good story is told of the father of the baby King of Spain, who was allowed to make friends at Granja with the children of one of the generals there, when he was a ■little older than his son and heir now is ; the friendship grew apace, until one day the 'general's eldest boy got into a rage with Prince Alfonso and gave him a sound The heir to the Spanish throne yelled for mercy, and the bystanders almost fainted with horror; but good-natured Queen Isabella shook her sides with laughter, and called out, "Let well alone 1 children will be children, and I daresay my, boy is in the wrong." A dozen years later the belligerent companion of royalty, grown to man's estate now, and Marquis of Monreale, came to pay his devoirs to his whilom playmate. "Aha l it's you, is it?" cried out Alfonso XII, " but I hope and trust you are not going to give me such a drubbing this time, my friend?" And Senor Monreale always found a steady and generous friend in the King whom he had once beaten. —The violet season is at its height at Home, and a woman's toilet is scarce complete without a bunch of these fragrant little blossoms nodding on her corsage, nest-^ ling against the broad fur collar of her wrap, peeping out from the knot of ribbon on her fanciful little muff, or carried loosely in her hand. A cluster of artificial blossoms, so closely imitating the real ones as to defy detection, are tucked into the folds of the snug little black velvet turbans now so much affected by ladies in the street and at the theatre.

1 —The Greek drapery is fast crowding out the Directoire styles for house dresses. It is a mass of soft material falling from the heck to the instep, confined loosely by a girdle and caught up at the left side of the. skirt to show a petticoat of silk, bordered with the Grecian key in. silver or gold thread. Some Greek gowns have even the drapery bordered with this classic design. — Sarah Bernhardt has one great claim to celebrity aside from her fame as an actress. Women owe to her the introduction of 32button gloves, of Empire dresses, Directoire sashes, and the revival of the long boa, dear to the hearts of our grandmothers. She has set the fashion for Theodora hairpins and Tosca hats, and has, in fact, wielded an influence over the world of dress beyond that exercised by any other woman in the world since the days of the Empress Eugenic. —As I have been recommending tightfitting jackets for out-of-door wear I may seasonably inform my readers of a means of' keeping their dress sleeves in place when drawing on those belonging to the jacket. Sleeves of jackets should be lined with silk ; but even then the under sleeve is apt to ruck, • and is then most uncomfortable. To avoid this procure two small curtain rings, and with itrong knitting cotton join them by a knitted cord about a yard in length. Before pulling on the jacket pass one ring over the thumb and wind the cord round and round the eleeve to be inserted; then slip the second ring over the first ; draw on the jacket sleeve, and unwind the cord. This is an effective plan for keeping sleeves in place. —The late Mrs Jay Gould was a very gentle woman, whose chief liking was for children and flowers. In late years she spent much time in her conservatories. Mr ■ Gould built them for her at a cost of 500,000d01. The Gould tomb is on the highest mound in Woodlawn, and as seen from afar, brings to mind the Parthenon at Athens, though, as a matter of fact, it is architecturally unlike what a copy of that temple would be. Mrs. Gould selected the site, and her husband paid 50,000d0l for the ground.

—It appears that the naughty boy Kaiser Is at loggerheads with his German grandmother just as fiercely as he is now at war with his English granddame. The worthy Augusta, , who, as widow of his adored grandsire, ought to be the objeot of his special veneration, has written to Master Wilhelm an autograph letter, soundly rating him for the indecorum with which he allows his father's memory to be slandered and insulted, and giving in her resignation as patroness of the Order of Queen Louise, as a mark of her strong disapprobation of his conduct. But Don Braggadocio was not to be thus snubbed, and he simply took no notice of Augusta's well-meant rebuke, except to give the office she threw up in disgust to *his Kaiserin Augusta Victoria.

— "My first appearance in a theatre," writes Jane Hading, " came about through the negligence of a man who provided accessories. I was then three years old. My father was acting the part of Lagardere in •The Hunchback.' The curtain was raised on the ditches of Caylus, when it was noticed that the pasteboard baby which was given up every evening to my father was not in its, place. Then the manager behind the scenes took from my mother a child in his arms-— myself— saying; '!Here is one u that will be;

more natural than the other/ And my father, astonished and' hajppy to have his little Jane' in his arms, put ins in bed tenderly on a bunch of straw, saying: * Do- not stir.' I shall never forget this recollection of my childhood. Perhaps it was fastened strongly in my young mind to indicate the path I was to follow. A year later, when four years old, I spoke in a scene for the first time." — " Victorira silk " is the name of a new make of faille. It is ribbed, but is likewise very soft and supple. ■ This make of silk is largely dyed in the vivid colour known of "Ninevah red.". That is a bright shade of brick red. < It is very '■effective at night, and much more stylish than cardinal, ruby, grenat, and similar hued, which have been rather done to death' lately. The new colour combines well with black lace and black mone silk.

—The Diplomatic Corps at Washington, while mourning for Lork Sackville and his daughters, and missing the hospitalities of • the British Legation this winter, will be mourning for the Bonapartes next winter. Colonel Jerome Bonaparte is considered quite as a member of the foreign colony here, and his household a French-speaking one. While an American by birth he has always kept up his attachment and relationship for France. He fought in the French army in the war in Africa and in the Franco-German war, and has rank as a colonel. He has spent half his life in France, counting in his annual visits, and is deep in Bonapartist councils and the most popular Bonaparte inthe connection. In France he is always highly honoured, and if Betsey Patterson's marriage is acknowledged he is the rightful heir of the Bonaparte pretentions. After this summer at their Newport home Colonel Bonaparte will take his family to Paris to live, and intends to remain there from three to five years. His children are more French than American, and although great grandchildren of Daniel Webster, disdain their American blood and are proudest of being French and Bonapartes.— Washington letter.

— The Duches9 of Rutland is a constant contributor to several magazines, and bargains for her pay as closely as any ordinary literary hack. All that she earns, however, she sends to one of the London asylums for the blind. She is wealthy, or rather her husband is, even for a duke, and few women in England can claim to be more thoroughly happy than v Her Scribbling Grace," as the Princess of Wales smilingly christened her one day at a Buckingham Palace drawing room.

— Black butterflies constitute the latest craze of the Paris milliner. The hapless little insects are in great demand, and double the expense of a bonnet, as they aie hard to obtain. Their velvety substance is in some miraculous way preserved and fastened to a bit of invisible wire, they are placed to quiver over a mass of green tulle, or perched on the edge of a cluster of pale ribbon loops. — Flamme de Ponche is to be the colour of the season, a peculiarly splendid shade of rich purple brown, the sort of amethystine tint of burning spirits. i — Attractive young women were employed to pass the contribution boxes on a recent Sunday at Eockland, Me., and the receipts proved the experiment well worth permanent adoption. — According to Frank Leslie's Illustrated the loss occasioned by shop-lifters in New York is immense, and it has consequently become the general custom to employ, in addition to the "floor-walker," one or more detectives, who are constantly on the lookout for customers seeking to appropriate articles without going through the formality of paying for them. The proprietor of a large shop, who claims to have lost quite heavily in this manner during every holiday season for some years past, says : — " I think we have found a means of at la3t checking this great leak. All the merchants are adopting it. • We circulate amongst ourselves a black-list of habitual offenders, so that the professionals are finding this a pretty hard season.". This merchant, when a clear case has been established against a shop-lifter, summons her to his office, and proposes to her the only alternative of immediate arrest or of signing a document confessing her thefts and agreeing not to enter that shop again, i The culprit usually prefers to sign the dbcument, thus hushing the matter up, and at the same time supplying the proprietor with an effective instrument of protection. It is asserted that some establishments have collections of these tell-tale autographs which would shock the world if ever they were revealed.

—One of the best-known Parisian writers 6n the subject of fashion has just been defending the old-fashioned crinoline, which she thinks has been wrongly abused, and considered an unmitigated horror. The invention, she says, had its good points, and did much to improve < the health of womanhood in general by doing away with the immense weight of multifarious petticoats, all worn. dragging from the waist. One can agree with this portion of her argument more than with that where she asserts that the crinoline gave opportunity for much elegance in . the way of ball toilets. The expanse of the hoop, she says, showed off to advantage the richness of silks and velvets, and the vaporous beauty of lace flounces, and furnished a foundation for showing off garlands and bouquets of artificial flowers. The writer goes on to say that a graceful woman never looked more graceful than when floating, swan-like, through a ballroom, all methods of locomotion entirely concealed, and' the slender waist and shapely bust rising in sea-nymph fashion out of billows of tulle or .costly ripples of exquisite lace. This is carrying the praise of the hoop a little too far,

—Continental ladies are following the English fashion, and are taking to trade in large numbers. The latest addition to the class of aristocratic shopkeepers is an ex-lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabelle of Spain, who has just started a millinery business in Paris.

— The following anecdote records a memorable interview between the exEmpress Eugenic and Madame yon Bismarck, then Countess Bismarck. The exEmpress .was, accustomed to spend a certain portion of the year at Biarritz, where a toy .palace had been erected for her at great expense, and one afternoon, just as she and her ladies were preparing for a great game

of romps, of whioh she was childishly foiid, and chairs were beiiig brought? out and arranged on the beach for the purpose, a lord-in-waiting brought into the presence three strange figures, very dowdily dressed, and presented them as Madame and Mesdemoiselles yon Bismarck. They were dressed in'black straw hats tied under 1 the chin, very plain and odd-looking gowns, and exhibited most tremendous beetle-crushers in the way of footgear. The ex-Empress Eugenic was so tickled at the contrast between these scarecrow figures and- her own brilliant 'ladies that she burst out into the French equivalent for " Good heavens 1 what dreadful beetle-crushers," and the whole court roared with laughter. The Bismarcks did not move a muscle at this ridicule, but they stayed a very short time and communicated the insult to the man of blood and iron, who never forgot or forgave it, and no doubt the Emperor Napoleon 111 had later to rue the consequences of his wife's ill-timed pleasantry. ' ' — The Tribune quotes a New York woman as saying : — " I would rather have a man's opinions about my gowns any time than a woman's. He does not know once out of a hundred times what the material is or what it is worth. He does not know, however, whether or not it is becoming, Now, a woman will sit up in your room and tell you what a beautiful gown it is. All the while she is looking you over from head to foot, saying to herself that the gown cost so much, the trimming so much, and the buttons so much. You can see that she thinks she could have bought the gown for 20dol less and have it made up in a mucht prettier way. If the gown pleases a man he shows it in his looks, and, perhaps, says something pleasant about! it. Whether he says anything or not, if hejlikes it, his look of approbation is more than satisfactory, while if the gown is not pretty or becoming, he simply doesn't notice it. That is the way of a man ; he never sees a thing that is not attractive, and is quick to appreciate one that is." Thee. The violet loves a sunny bank, ' The cowslips lovbb the lea, The scarlet creeper loves the elm ; But'l love— thee J The sunshine kisses mount and vale, The stars they kiss the sea, The west winds kiss the clover blooms,

But I kiss— thee ! The oriole wedß his mottled'mate,

The lily's bride o' the bpe ; Heaven's marriage ring Is round tbe earth : Shall I we'd— thee ?

—Bayard Tayiob.