LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 46

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Madame Carnot, like most of her fashionable lady friends, consecrates one day in the week to a reception of all who wish to see her, or to be presented to her, and these are legion, as they always were, even before she occupied her present high position. 3he receives in the rooms of the first floor of the palace, and the service is done as correctly as in the most correct family of aristocratic England. Politics are forbidden on those days. The only subjects of conversation are social news, new books, new pieces at the theatres, art, fashion, &c. On ball nights, Madame la Presidente opens all the pa'ace to her eager guests, who enter by two halls, hang with splendid Gobelins tapestries, only seen on these occasions. One

of these is the celebrated seventeenth century tapestry, called the " Triumph of the Gods," and another is the equally celebrated " Fracta Belli," of the same period, and a reproduction of Flemish art. — For setting people at their ease the Queen is known to be an adept. She greatly dislikes a visitor who- is shy and colours or looks agitated when addressed. At the finish of the interview the Queen generally bows slightly or offers her hand, and then turns a little to one side to save the very trying necessity of an entirely backward exit from her presence.

— In view of Mr Asquith's recent marriage to Miss Margot Tennant, it is interesting to recall thefact that the dedication of tbe late Mr John Addington Symonds's " Essay?, Speculative and Suggestive," runs as follows : " To Miss Margot Tennant, in memory of long, dark winter nights at Davos, made luminous by witty conversation."

— Some of us like to complain of this world, and the spot we are destined 1o occupy in it. Things are not just as we watt them, nor as we feel they should be for us. But we overlook the fact that the particular spot in thi3 world which we are given to occupy is, and will be, precisely what we choose to make it. Whether we do right or wrong, whether we are happy or otherwise, depends very largely, if not entirely, on ourselves. We have all experienced the feeling of brightness which a sunshiny woman brings with her wherever she goes. She may have just as many worries to face, just as many heartbreaks to endure, just as many anxieties to bear, but she overcomes them largely by a bright and sunny disposition. We are not all capable of laughing In thefaqe of trouble or adversity, but we can, at least, make an attempt, and even if the laugh lacks the ring of heartiness, it is infinitely better than the frown or sigh.

— Lord Eeay is a Dutchman " by birth, breeding, and descent, who has inherited a Bcotch peerage in a very roundabout way, through an original Scotch ancestor who settled in Holland centuries ago, and- was given a Datch barony. Lord Reay's father remained a Dutchman all his life, in spite of the Scotch peerage, but the son was formally naturalised, and lives in England. As

he has no direct male heir, his heir-pre-sumptive is his cousin, a Dutch nobleman, Baron iEueas Mackay d'Ophemert. The position of the Earl of Newburgh is very similar. He is an Italian by birth, the son of an Italian father and mother, and he was not naturalised as an Englishman until He was 40 years of age. His surname is Giustiniani, his principal residence is the Palazzo Altieri at Borne, and his three married daughters are the wives of Italian nobles.

— An English paper makes the almost incredible assertion that "before the Queen left Windsor Castle, orders were given for all the servants to be put on board wages during the absence of her Majesty, and the butter and eggs from the royal dairy farm are to be sold, except the eggs and butter reqnired for the young Battenbergs."

—In Los Angeles there is a dry goods store, at which all the young men have vowed to each other a solemn tow that henceforth they will never refuse a meal to any human being whom they know to be hungry. Two of their number were witnesses when a stalwart, gentlemanly-looking fellow, of some 28 years, rushed into the middle of the road, revolver in hand, and shot himself, cryiag : "I am starving — starving ! What I am going to do I do because I can't stand it a moment longer 1 " The vow was unanimously taken when the two young men reported the incident to their fellow-workers.

— Under the heading " To Men 4bout to Marry," a Home paper says: — "No man should become engaged to a woman without having a perfectly frank talk with her in regard to his means. More than this, they should both go over this question deliberately, looking at all sides of it. The changed mode of living, the self-denials, tho added expense of sickness (if it should come) —all should be carefully .considered. The man who for years has spent his it come upon himself — living, perhaps, like his neighbour, who has a fortune at the back of him — will often be frightened . at the picture of the future which this careful weighing of the subject presents to him, and he may decide to wait for a few years. The woman may have led an aimless, careless life, her father being able to support her in comfort, and perhaps elegance, and the picture may have as little charm for her as for the man who asks her to marry him. Very frequently one or other find*, or perhaps both the man and the woman do, that they have not the independence and moral courage to be willing to live in such a simple, unfashionable manner as their means would compel them to. When two people feel that way it would be better for them and the world at large that they remain single, for we have to-day too many people who are trying to live as if they, had an income of many thousands, when, in fact, it is often the case that they have but two or three hundred a year.'' — A correspondent writes in a 'Home paper : —

11 1 have just received from the Castle of DowghieJly, in Lithuania, a letter written to me by a friend who has been staying there for the wedding of a young Polish Countess whom she bad met this winter at Nice. She tells me of a custom which I think most shocking, but at the same time very characteristic and amusing. 'The young Countess,' says my friend, 'was to be at 12 o'clock precisely at tbe castle of-her future husband to ba married on bia own domain, where the whole party belonging to both families had come to sleep the night before. She arrived punctually in a large barouche drawn by four magnificient white horses abreast ; she stood up in the carriage, and, stretching out her two hands, she jumped into the arms of her fiance, who carried her up the flight of steps as easily as if she had been a child, and without crumpling one fold of her short moire and golden embroidered frock.

" < Then the bride was taken upstairs, on her own legs this time, by a bevy of maids, who were to put on her head the pearl coronet and the lace veil which were to complete her attire; she soon came back resplendent with jewels, and began a round of curtseys and obeisances to all the ladies standing in a circle in the hall. At last she reached her great aunt, the Dowager Countess Lewinsfea, who bent her venerable white bead, kissed her on one cheek, and gave her on the other one of the most sonorous slaps I ever heard. A little scream of terror escaped my lips, but I was most ashamed of it when I saw the bride passing with the greatest composure to the next lady, and everybody looking quite unconcerned, while a man, a sort of clerk, after having scribbled a few words on a large sheet of paper, was going round asking some of the gentlemen present to sign their names on it. It appears that this carious part of the ceremony is not an ancient custom, bnt a modern precaution ; the slap given before witnesses was to lay the foundations for a possible case of divorce in the future, and the document duly signed was to be brought, if necessary, before the court to prove that the marriage took place under pressure and after violence had been em' plowed to force one of the couple.

" ' The wedding breakfast was gorgeous, and the health of the bride was about to be drunk just as an old prince, with a pair of enormous white moustaches got up, and, with an imperious gesture, stopped all the glasses, which were already raised for the toast. " I see with great eorrow," he said in a thundering voice, " that our old customs are djing away in our dear country} it was not in those insignificant articles "" — and paf I he broke into atoms the crystal cup which was before him — " that we need to drink the health of a bride, but in her little red leather boot in very old days, in her satin slipper later on ; then, madam, give me thy shoe ! "

" ' The young countess blushed, and said, giggling, " Come and take it, Prince I " The old man did not lose a moment ; he came round, knelt before the laughing girl, and took off her white slipper 'with red heels ; then returning to hiß^place, he filled it with «. Hungarian wine, and emptied it so quickly and so deftly that very little of it was upset on his embroidered coat front. The slipper went round, bnt all the gentlemen were far from being so skilful, and the Bpectacle was not a refined one."

— A lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Wales told to a friend a touching little incident which took place soon after the death of her son, the Duke of Clarence. The Princess, with her usual gentle reticence.

tried to hide her grief for her first-born. It was shown only in her failing health and increased tender consideration for all round her. One day while walking with one of her ladies in the quiet lanes near Sandringham she met an old woman weeping bitterly and tottering under a load of packages. On inquiry it appeared that she was a carrier, and made her living by shopping and doing errands in the market town for the country people. "But the weight is too heavy at your age," said the Princess. " Yes ; you're right, ma'am. I'll have to give it up, and if I give it tip I'll starve. Jack carried them for me— my boy, ma'am." "And where is he now ? " " Jaok 1 He's dead ! Ob, he's deadl" the old woman cried wildly. The Princess, without a word, hurried on, drawing her veil over her face ,to hide her tears. A tew days later a neat little cart and a stout donkey were brought to the old carrier's door. She now travels with them to and fro, making a comfortable living, and never has been told the rank of the friend who has tried to make her life easier for the sake of her dead boy.-

— " Pa " and " ma " are in England rapidly becoming obsolete forms of address to parents on the part of their children. " Papa " and " mamma " are also dying ont In favour of "pater" and "mater" during schoolboy days, and 'Uhe governor " in later life, which in tarn is frequently replaced by the " old gentle nan," used by the sons, and " poor pa," employed by tb^e girls of a family. All these latter modes of address (says a writer in a Home paper in answer to a query on the subject) are bad ; and you should teach your children to call you from the first »• mother" and "father," and they will stick to them all their days as the most suitable appellations, of which they need never be ashamed.

— Qaeen Victoria is in possession of a curious needle. It was made at the celebrated needle manufactory at Bedditcb, and represents the Trajan column ia miniature. ■Scenes from the Queen's life are depicted on the needle so finely cut that they are only 'discernible through a microscope. — The Paris prefect of police has warned 'women cyclists that the new rational cycling ■costume which they have donned infringes the law against women wearing men's •clothes. They most dress differently.

— The superstitions attaching to the theatrical dressing room are many and •curious. Last year, says, a well-known actress, my maid,' a pretty and clever girl, helped me in donning my costumes. Imagine my sarprise when, after two nights, the young actress who shared the room with me, and a deputation from the chorus girls' dressing apartment near by, waited upon me and demanded that I discharge Mary Jane. The stage manager backed them np. And -what was my maid's crime? She had -whistled between the acts, while all the girls were on the stage, and whistling, I was told, meant "the grand bounce "for all on the floor.

— The Queen's favourite wall, paper has a bright blue ground sprinkled with white stars.

Some Home Fashions*

Tailor-made costumes, whatever their ultimate fate, are in the ascendant just now, and two out of every three women you meek •are arrayed in such garments, if they have the least pretence to fashion ; and if they =are, be you very sure that two out of every three will also have them made of covertcoating, which is beginning to appear in all sorts of shades and tints. Coats and shirts •-are still in request, though one sees entire again more frequently than before, made in the simplest manner with a plain, tight-fitting, basqued bodice, with sleeves Tather full on the shoulders, but not aggressively puffed, and either a plain skirt or one such as I will try to describe to yon ; but in any case the seams are all strapped most rigidly. The new skirt, seed from the right side, •appears to be nothing but the usual plain •one, edged round the bottom with a band of a ' deeper or contrasting colour, but walk around its wearer and you will discover that on the left-band side this edging has besome an (real or simulated) underskirt, over which the upper cloth one is lifted in a careless box-pleat starting from the hip, where it is buttoned over tightly with three large buttons. The effect is good, and gives a variety to the otherwise severe simplicity of the dress, the bodice of which consists of a black satin blouse, with a box-pleat down the front, and a black satin tie kept in place by two or three little pearl-headed pins fastened together by tiny chains, stiff cuffs and collar of the satin completing the shirt. With this goes one of the small three-quarter •capes, slung on with cross straps of the -covert-coating, a boat-shaped stiaw hat of any of the pain brule shades that may happen to suit the dress, trimmed with a band and bow of ribbon through which is run the inevitable quill.

The amount of chieftans' daughters, by the bye, that are about the place, judging by the eagles' feathers they wear, defies arithmetic (I). lam glad for one thing, and that is the increasing femininity of even the tailor-mades. Anything that gives a hard, much less a horsey, look to the costume is rigorously avoided by the best-dressed women, aijd they very evidently show that, though quite willing to avail themselves of the superior fit and neatness of a tailormade, the wearers have not the least intention of hiding their sex. For which relief much thanks, say I, for " slangy " clothes are never well cut clothes, and add a horror even to the masculine she creature.

Another new idea for table decoration is coming in in some houses, where broad bands of handsome old lace, mounted on strips of bright-coloured silk, are replacing the superabundance of flowers and old china hitherto go universal. One result of this decoration is to render the basket of mixed fruit in the centre of the table more than ever popular, find charmingly pretty some' of these baskets are. They are in all sorts of makes and materials, from Vieux Saxe and Georgian plate to rtteh plait, or rustic twigs carelessly twisted together, with the flowers and fruit : apparently tumbled in at their own sweet will. By the bye, this style of decoration is 'by no manner of means the easiest to i arrange, simple as it sounds. While on the subject of table decoration, let me tell you of the latest fancy for lamp shades, which appear to consist of plumes of eathere, these being cut out of the indispensable crepe paper, I cannot say they are

pretty, and they certainly are not thrifty, for almost before you put them on to the lamp they have a dissipated 3|d look suggestive of sale-times and the last rush of the " remnant day," but they are indubitably " new," and that is everything. I fancy, to return to dress, that CHECKS WILL BE IN FAVOUB,

at least the great dressmakers are introducing them, but of late it has been difficult to say what will be really " worn," in contradistinction to being " the fashion." Some fancies have not caught on ; others, again, have died of their own popularity, and this is a risk to which checks are particularly exposed, for there is nothing to prevent their being brought out in the ll|d style that is death to real smartness, bo I would be careful before I rushed into 'this mode. Shepherds' plaid, however, is safe; it is so quiet it is always well worn. In bonnets, I think THE DUTCH COIF

will be most favoured this season, and there is a rumour that the Dutch fancy is to be still further accentuated by adding trimmings that will recall the golden plaques and ornaments that are such a noticeable part of the Dutch vrow's headgear, velvet, however, replacing the metal. The smaller the bonnet the smarter it will be appears to be the general idea, and a good many women walk about with what to the uninitiated mind (say Geoff's, for instance) looks like nothing more than a spray or a ribbon twist set just where the chignon or knot, call it what you will, fits on to the head. To balance this, however, the hat is still " fine and large," and inclined to assimilate all the flowers, ribbons, buckles, &c. f &c, it can contrive to hook on to itself.

In days of old the beautiful Empress Eugenic was supposed to be the source of all the new modes, but in these democratic days it is difficult to decide who really does settle the fashions.

That somebody does, and long before the general public has even thought of them, is evident, for stuffs cannot be manufactured in a week — but who is the mysterious entity 7 — " Elspeth," in the Glasgow Citizen.