LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1973, 12 September 1889, Page 33

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— It often happens that if in a group of females there should be a young widow, it is she who attracts more notice from eligibles of the sex than any of the others, even though every one of them may be healthier, wealthier, and wiser. Some astute young ladies have remarked this fact, and are acting upon it. They dress in deep mourning, and as the widow's bonnet is not what it used to be, they can hoist some white crape as a flag of distress, but only just in sufficient quantity to lead the gullible men astray. Then, by the hand, the woman holds a little child, borrowed for the occasion, and also dressed in black. This plot is on a par (the other pa has not yet been hooked) with the device of the tradesman who put into his shop window a "leading article "—something to catch the pedestrian's eye, and cause him to pause and perhaps to purchase. Of course some foolish fellow notices the bereft one and thus argues with himself : " This pale blossom must surely be a sweetly scented flower and a prize. I cannot do better than follow in the footsteps of the dear departed, for it is 10 to I that he knew what he was about," The

soliloquist then seeks an Introduction; is charmed ; he falls in love ; then comes an explanation concerning the mock-widow's bonnet, and consequently a slight shock, but Cupid's dart is too firmly fixed, and widow or spinster the man hurries his enslaver to the altar, and is engulfed in the maelstrom of matrimony. That was all the sly puss wanted.

— "Eiffel," petticoats are being sold at some of the shops in Paris. They are generally made very long, and,- if not white, are of choice material, their peculiarity being a little plain space of light colour left in the front near the bottom. This is to allow the magic words "third platform " to be printed, and this badge of honour is given on the spot to those who ascend the tower as far as the third platform. I suppose we shall hear of these petticoats being preserved under a glass case by some enthusiastic soul.

— The ladies of Utrecht have just set an example which our own grandes dames would do well to follow. They have made an appeal to ail well-to-do Dutch families to join them in forming an association, each member of which is to be bound, before leaving home for a summer trip, to give one guilder towards a fund for sending the sick poor for a change into the country or to the seaside. The appeal has met with great sympathy in Holland.

— A new infention called the "Convenience Glove " has been patented in Saxony. An opening is made in the seam of the forefinger which enables the wearer to uncover the finger tip for the purpose of picking up coins or trying the texture of any fabric. The natural elasticity of silk, of wfcich the glove is manufactured, prevents the aperture from being observed on ordinary occasions.

— The rage at present is for women to appear manly and to copy men in all things; and a great mistake it is, as by doing so they are apt to lose the great charms that have always surrounded wellbred Englishwomen of gentleness and modesty, and they run the risk of losing the respect of true gentlemen, who should look up to them, instead of being tempted as they are now to treat them as boon companions who have adopted their own pursuits and their own ways of thinkinn, acting, and talking. — Saturday Review.

— The drawing room at the residence of the Prince of Wales at Sandringham is of a good height. The ceiling is lightly frescoed ; the walls panelled alternately in delicate pink and blue, divided by creamy mouldings touched with gold. Here and there mirrors are let in, reflecting the light from the great windows which come down to the floor, and also from a bow-shaped conservatory opening directly into it, which is filled with tall branching ferns; huge pots of maidenhair, leafy palms, and widely spreading vines, arranged in the form of an amphitheatre, affording a most effective background for the bathing girls of Madame Jerichan, a life-sized group of lovely girls executed in white marble.

— Among one of the more important functions of the Shah's visit to England was his presence at the opera at Convent Garden. It is said that never had so many beautiful women be seen together before, nor such a display of jewels, diamonds being as abundant as green peas in June. Mr Augustus Harris had provided a bouqnet for every lady and a button-hole for each representative of his own sex. Very large bouquets wer-e distributed to some especially favoured guests, 700 having been supplied by one florist alone. On the back of every seat was pinned a programme printed in blue on white gorgeous satin, 12in x 18in. The agents were selling seats at £75 each. The Princess of Wales wore a red gown ; her neck smobhered in necklaces of diamonds, and a dazzling diamond coronet was worn on her head. The Shah, unacquainted with the extreme courtesy shown to women in this country and the deference paid to the sex, and more particularly to our future Queen, during the interval did not wait for the Princess of Wales to take the initiative, bub left the box unceremoniously, her Royal Highness quietly following him out. The royal party were using books of the words bound in crimson silk. The whole of the arrangements were conducted on a scale of magnificence commensurate with the fabled Arabian Nights entertainment. The grand staircase was covered with a carpet of peacock blue and decorated with palms, shrubs, and cut flowers; in short, never before was there such unparalleled magnificei cc displayed in any opera house in the universe.

— At Dumfries recently, a Newoastle land agent, aged 71, was married in St. Mary's Church, to a girl who has not yet reached her seventeenth birthday. The minister who officiated excited a broad smile among those who witnessed the ceremony by giving out, at the close, the 67th Psalm, " Lord bless and pity us."

— There is, as " Hospital " remind us, only one thing in all the catalogue of female boauty that all nations are agreed in admiring, and thab is a small mouth. For the rest, white teeth are admired in Europe, and yellow teeth in Asia. We Tasmanians boast of our rosy zaaids, while the damsels of Greenland paint their complexions blue or green. We like a straight or moderately aquiline nose. In Persia the ideal nose is orooked, and in Hayti mothers crush the noses of their children in their infancy to produce the much admired snub-shape.

— By the way, the bonnet of the season is of the "truly rural " description. Sometimes it is smothered in buttercups, and sometimes it takes the form of such a bewitching little toque of forget-me-nots that one can scarce look at the wearer without feeling sentimental. Cornflowers are thick and plenty in the land, too, and roses literally thatch other ot the head-pieces. Some of the hats are a sort of walking garden, as if the wearers had gone abroad to cry, " all a-blowing and agrowing I " and find purchasers for their floral wares. Most of the horticultural blooms are constructed to look as if they were made of nothing but tulle and blonde, bows and blooms, nestling of their own accord on the head.

— Every year, on the anniversary of the Fete Dieu (June), the Chateau de Bouchout, the residence of H.I.H. Princess Charlotte, the unfortunate widow of the ill-fated Maximilian, is thrown open to the pnblic. The inhabitants' of the village and excursionists from Brussels [axe admitted inside the^ park, in order to watch the procession wending its way to the ohuroh, The Mexican flag floats

from the castle tower. Visitors wander about the precincts of the old domain, and an indescribable sense of pity and sadness is mixed up with the religious part of the ceremony. The Princess is seen at one of the windows of the chateau. The sometime happy wife and ambitious Empress gazes on the crowd with heavy, lustreless eyes, and leaning on the arm of an attendant lady, she lingers at the window until the final blessing has been given and the last visitor has departed.

— Queen Natalie is again _the victim of disappointed hopes. The Archbishop Michael has been restored to his See as Metropolitan of Belgrade ; but he has given no sign of any intention to quash the divorce pronounced by his substitute, and it is extremely improbable that he will keep his promise to do so. The reason for this is not difficult to discover. Russia has determined to throw its influence into the scale with Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, and in this case poor Natalie and her son will have to go to the wall.

— Lady Cynthia Duncombe's was (says a Home paper) one of the prettiest weddings of the season, and thatissayiDg a great deal, for it has been a wedding season in very truth. Lady Cynthia has been the belle of a couple of seasons, and deservedly so, for she is wonderfully pretty, and looked simply exquisite in her wedding dress. The train was of rich white and gold brocade with a petticoat and vest of white satin duchesse, clouded mousseline chiffon. Her veil was of tulle, and was unusually fall. Being one of the few people who can afford to believe that " beauty unadorned is adorned the most," she wore neither flowers nor ]ewels in her hair, the only remarkable point of her dress being the high-standing collar. Lady Cynthia is particularly partial to high collars, the cape to her travelling gown having a high one turned back all round, and faced with ostrich feathers to match her dress. This was of a light tone of mushroom or beaver in thin nun's veiling, with bands of a darker tone of velvet, and open passementerie. The bodice was made with velvet straps let in at the side seams and then brought to the front and finished off. by natty little bows. This is a pretty way of trimming the front of a bodice, now much »vorn.

The bridesmaids followed another prevalent fashion and were "picture maids," wearing dresses of white muslin and lace, and white fichus, blue silk sashes and stockings, and large Gainsborough hats in blue crepe. "Little Boy Blue" — who held the bride's train — was in pale blue satin slashed with white, a deep lace collar, and a"broad brimmed hat with ostrich feathers. Amongst the wedding guests one of the most beautiful dresses was a straightly cut coat of white corded silk, opening over a soft front of lisse, caught in by a Swiss belt of foliage green silk. The hat was of black, and a green drawn crepe brim. Another beautiful dress was of white silk, quite de rigueur for weddings just now, with a white bonnet of gauze drawn upon wire, and edged with tiny frills of lace. A white parasol was made exactly to match. Another costume which attracted my admiration was a pink dress of white muslin and lace over pink silk, the bodice being trimmed with black ; and a blush pink Pongee silk, with stripes of Valenciennes lace inserted down the skirt, was charming. It had a square fichu of drawn silk and muslin, and full sleeves furnished with little frills of white lace.

—The Queen of Siam wears 1$ in boots; She has just ordered 20 pairs of shoes, averaging 2gs a pair. Each pair is different, and all have very low heels. The most "elaborate are made of plush, silk, and velvet, heavily embroidered, and jewelled with pearls and paste. Even royalties do not care to run the risk of wearing diamond shoe ornaments, but they wear expensive paste.

— Long ago the prediction was uttered that we should have the poor always with us, and to this pleasing prospect might have been added that the world will always rejoice in the presence of the pickpocket. Besides the delightful company of these creatures at society gatherings, there appears to have developed of late another form of scoundrel, whose simple stock-in-trade is a pair of scissors With these instruments he cuts off buttons, trimmings, and the "expensive etceteras with which ladies now adorn themselves for the promenade. The fair sex, however, seem to lay themselves out for this species of robbery, for the garments in which they are encased are so voluminous, and the draperies at such a distance from the wearer, that it is impossible for them to detect the operator's touch. In fact, a handsome bunch of jet ornaments resting serenely on a dress improver, like the Queen's crown on its velvet cushion, must be a temptation which the professional kleptomaniac finds it utterly impossible to resist.

— Playing the mandolin is becoming quite the fashionable amusement among the Parisian aristocracy, the ladies especially. — Mrs Allen G. Thurman says of the late Mrs Hayes : " The' White House was never presided over with more grace than by Lucy Hayes, and never contained a nobler woman. Her death will be mourned by every true woman in the land."

— Any matrimonial allianco between the Royal Family of Sweden and Norway and our own Royal Family would, of course, be a mosfe terrible mesalliance for the house of Guelpb d'Este, although, as we all know, in yeara gone by the present King of Sweden was wildly in love with the ever-beautiful, lovable, and charming Princess Mary of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck ; and, if we may believe rumour, that most charming princess was herself far from.being inclined to turn a deaf ear to the sighing of her Swedish swain. The result* however, of this wooing was moss extraordinary, viewed by the light shed by subsequent events. As ouv readers may remember, certain medical men vetoed the marriage, on the ground that no children could be born of ~this union ! Seeing that both the King of Sweden and the Duchess of Teck aie now blessed with quite all that they require or can take caie of in the way of children, the learned medicos would seem in this instance to have been false prophets. The genial Teck does not, of course, complain ; but the poor King of Sweden — whose Qnesn is the most nervous woman breathing outside of an asylum, and who since the death of her doctor at Heidelberg has been drifting from bad to worse-Hmay

be very shrewdly suspected of bitterly regretting the stupidity of the savants who, by their false prophecies, put a stop to the projected alliance between himself and the for-ever-beautiful niece of George IV, who now presides over the White Lodge, Richmond.

— Miss Lois Royce, the young schoolteacher who lost both her feet in consequence of her heroic fidelity to the pupils under her charge, during a blizzard, can now walk on the artificial feet sent to her. She is progressing favourably in her studies at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, la., where she is taking a four years' course.

— The death of Laura Bridgeman recalls 'my first interview with her some years ago. She knew my brother, and when I was introduced to her she asked permission to get acquainted by touching my face. This I readily granted, and her little hand went quickly and softly over face and head, even touching the shoulders to get an idea of my size. In an instant she said in deaf-mute signs, "Does not look like her brother." — Boston Correspondent of the Worcester Spy. — Replying to an announcement from hiß Banffshire tenantry that they wished to present him with a marriage present, Lord Fife says he cannot allow his tenantry to make any present, as he feels so thoroughly that these are not the times for tenants to devote their resources to any objects which are not strictly neces,sary. He adds: " I feel none the less deeply touched at the warm, cordial feelings which have prompted this generous offer, but no exchange of gifts is necessary to emphasise such feelings. They have characterised all our relations from the earliest days since I can remember, and I shall to my dying day earnestly endeavour to perpetuate and maintain them."

— The Emperor of Austria absorbs himself in the business of government like a brave and wise fman, who won't let business interfere with "duty; but his sad gravity remains unchanged. The Empress still resides at Lainz, and seems to find the quiet and beauty of this lovely estate soothing to her health and spirits. Her Majesty delights in taking long walks in the vicinity, accompanied by a single lady-in-waiting, and the other day she went as far as Kaltenleutgeben. This village is high up on the mountains, and quite buried, as it were, with wooded slopes ; and the Empress and tier attendant lost their way, and stood bewildered where the tree-arched road branched hither and thither, not knowing where to turn. A peasant woman presently came up, and Elizabeth, with her most gracious smile, asked for direction. But the villager did not recognise the'plainly-dressed lady who gently inquired which was the road to Lainz, and answered quite rudely that she did not know anything about the way to the Emperor s chateau, not she I and trudged away, leaving the wanderers with scant' ceremony. The Empress was more amused by this little adventure than by anything that occurred since her bereavement, and — finding the route — returned home in quite improved spirits. — At the Queen's wish, and also because Princess Beatrice was exceptionally fond of her brother the Duke of Albany, her Majesty's latest grandchild was christened " Leopold." The young gentleman, apparently resenting what superstitious people would call an unlucky choice, was not exactly as good as gold. Perhaps, however, he was overawed by the five dignitaries whom it took to perform the ceremony, not to speak of the six sponsors, who must have been moie than usually puzzled to know what to give their new god-child. —A lady of fashion who sits on the right side of a certain church, close to the wall, recently sent an order to her milliner in New York for a new bonnet. The milliner is an artist in her work, and her customers usually leave all matters of design entirely to her. Yesterday the bonnet came, and what was the lady's chagrin to perceive that the most gorgeous of the plumes and bows were on the right side of the bonnet, where the congregation at church would never be able to see them. At a late hour yesterday she was trying to decide whether to send the bonnet back or to change her sitting in the sanctuary. — Buffalo Courier.

A Song of KHlarney. By the lakes of Killarney, one morning in May, On ray pipe of green holly I warbled away, While a blackbird, high up on the arbutus tree, Gave back my gay musio with gushes of glee, When my Eileen's voice stole From the thicket of holly, Aud turned just the whole Of cay fluting to folly, And softly along Through the myrtle and heather The maid and her song Swept upon us together. Twaa an old Irish tale, full of passionate trust, Of two faithful lovers long laid in the dust. And her eyes as she sang looked so far, far away, She went by me, nor knew she went by, where I lay.

And myself and the grass, And the little red daisies Should let our dear pass, Only whisp'ring her praises Till the lass and her layThrough the myrtle and heather, Like a dream died away O'er the mount aiu together. — Alfbbd Percbval Grates, in the Spectator.