OVER THE TEACUPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2242, 18 February 1897, Page 43

OVER THE TEACUPS.

Dbati KBA.DEB3, — I woafiar whether yon, '. like myself, have found the soVjeoti of fche English Royal Family somewhat, overdone ia the magazines lately 7 I am sore we colonists are a loyal people, and yet either our passion for detail iB weaker, or our interests are somewhat different, for the feeling of impatience : one has in reading all th«so trivial details of royal tastea, accoaipl^hiueute, domestic inoideulg, and personal experiences,- almost prompts the question, " Are the English people unusually loyal, or extremely snobbish?" What do yon tb.Snk of the craze for red . which Is to invade our every fashion for thiH winter 1 I faccy wa sbaJl tot cure much to { blend our shades of red wish shades of petunia, as the French are doing, but »haJl harden its outline and intensify iU boldness : w ith blaok, brown, or cream, aa the English taste directs. And while on the subjeot of drees I do hope that ws shall all have the oourage of our opinions t.hib winter, and not allow the j golf players to bt. tho ooly women whose skirts escape the filth and contamination ot the pavement. Let us one acd all, on tha right side of 50, determine to wear our street dresses completely clearing the ground. Such skirts may not, and. do,not, look graceful av«n oo slender figures, but a glance at the pavement more than reconciles one. Look at any meet corner, by the cabstands and the tram termini, at the doors of hotels aad the porticos of buildings — anywhere, in fact, where two or thie* men are gathered together, one glance at the pavement in front of you, an instant's realisation what it must mem to draw the hem of your garment ever »o lightly over it, will almost: make you ' shudder. • No worda of the mvsc aloquont j dresb reformer could briag tha truth borne to you as that one steady lock will do. People talk about the larrikin nuisance, i " the louts " who infest the street corners, | and so on ; bat the sober, decent working I man, the back clerk (w'ao rurely is a slip of > : the aristocracy), and the merchant's or j lawyer's clerk all contribute their quota to j the horrible state of our street pavement*. Why, so strong is the habit of expectoration engendered by smoking that ev«n the interior of the train cars is nofc free from the nuisance. Until men Itarn to be more I cleanly let as wear short, drosses. | We are becoming bo used to the sight of lady cyclists in our streets, so accustomed to tb« stealthy sbootiug past of_ two or three " wheelmen " — silent, absorbed — that we have ceased even to remark upon it. Nevertheless, what we smilingly tolerate as tha craze of the moment has assumed very serious and important aspects in both Ecgland and America. I am sura you must have noticed bow maiiy of tha roagaEices aad nftwspaptjrs both at Hjrufs and abroad b.SiYo roceittly pub- i li»fc»d arncles oq the subject. The effect ol • tho bicycle craze in th^ trade ot m»»y lt-- r g9 ' Arnerioan oi'i f> s hsa been moot curious — ivaii , disastfonc. Drsv-My firrna, florist*, mercery, ■ bootmakers, barbete, fheatra and music ha!' manngara all have their indignant protest to ■ j enter against the bicycle. It appears that t , young men, instead of " getting themselves 1 up" for the occasion, purchasing some

Sowera, blflttg a cab, and taking their young lady Mends to theatre or concert, don their oldest ciotbee, a pair of obeap sand shoes, and a shabby old cap fco go— "Diking." But the bitterest outcry naturally comes from the livery ■tftfele-ke*perß, cab proprietork 1 , and rcoree d**ierß. -whoae oiel>tashioQ«3 wares are quite at a disoouat. Wh*t ofawaoe of oompetition has the tr&ublsHomo steed, which must be stabled, fed, tnd groomed, beside the oonvenient piece of mechanism whloh is run into the angle of the verandah, finds a few feet of spaoe In the box room sufficient, or awaits its rider's pleasure In the trim suburban porch 1 11 bioycles play such havoo with other trades and tradespeople now in the time of their exocwalva price, what will they do when the " patenti run out," or when the Japanese start manufacturing them at, say, 5s eaoh 1 Perhaps they would not wear very long— oce might wwr out half a doaen in a year — bur, then, what a choice in colour and decorationn one could have ! White with blue oxydlsed mounts, terra cotta with dragon deoor*4ions in old gold— oharminc idea ! I shall wait and get a Japanese bloyole ! Shall you be moat surprised or amused to hear that rtoent statistics show that thtra are no l«s than 65,000 dressmakers lv Paris alon«», while in ffrapoa itoeif 700,000 persons are ccca'pied. in making articles of dress. It seem almott incredible, doe» it not 1 lv aay of your reading about the great animal painter Rosa Bonbeur did you ever see mention made of that wonderful painting wtaioh she began mora than 20 years ago and wbiob is still unfinished 1 It must surely be intended to eclipse &U her previous work, oven tbe famous " Huise Fair." It is said that Mdllo Bontieur (who is now an old lady with White bair) is to receive £12,500 for the picture immediately it is completed, ao thai a spleadkl disregard for money is implied in the foot tbAt she still delays putting the finishing touchea to the great canvas, which in about. 15ft square. Th« pubjecfc is oqg whioh mn;t afford tha greatest ■cope to her »peoial tal«Bts. A nunobet of Breton bones are engaged in treading out the com on the threshlt>g floor oi tbe great granary. Tbe rich shadows of the interior throw into rali&f the virile forms of the labonrfog horses, while the piles- of straw and the banpn of golden grain i'orm an inimitable foreground. Yet £12,500 for ose plctur*, »nd dutlng the artist's lifetime, is a magnifloofit sum. However uncertain and scanty may be the earnings of minor musicians and paiatevi, there never was a time in the world's history when suoh princely sums were paid to those fortunate mortals who stand at tho head ot the various fine arts. Sir A. Sullivan, lor iasmrsce, is believed to draw about £40,000 & year from his cotftio operas alone. By the way, he only takes two months, they ssy, to write the soore of an opera. I went, as in duty bound, you know, to see the " kinenmtcgrsph " while it was on exhibition ber.v, »ed 1 r<?commeßd you all to do likewise when opportunity offers. Not that it ottrae uj& to my e^pectatiows by ar.y menus, hv.i even with All diawb?.ckß accounted fo* it is a wonderful invention. How excited we were about tbe talapfeooe ; with what queer sonsabious we listened to the ghostv-Hke, thready voioa at the phonograph ; but what were tbay to these weird livittfcf, moTiog piocntes 'I You kr.ow the prooess by which tbe efiect is produosd, or perhaps you read abd have f6rgatt«n 1 Let me remind you ; Hundreds of photographto piotaiceft are taken as fast as the aim oan be exposed — taken in snob a fraction of a second tb*t> only a fraction of the complete movement is registered in each, aad each isolated photograph is oaly a raaanin«less coafusion. Yet when by tsao perfeot«d invention these hunciradd of photographs are thrown on to the screen with the rapidity of lightning, the effect is tbac of life-like and ' complete movezaant. There is no donbfc that ttM invention as skown hare was either inferior or badly worked, for the pictures wero marred by continual dazzling zigzugst cf light *»d the movements were too islow j but for all that it wag most interesting and wonderful. Now I wanted to say a word about lace and lace making before we parted, but It must wait until our next meeting over the teacups. 1111 then, sweet frienda, adieu. Kmmelinb.