LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2410, 10 May 1900, Page 56

LADIES' GOSSIP.

I — The Duchess of Marlboropoh is dis- ' playing that shrewdness and capacity for business which seems to be one of the especial "siitues of American women. .Kverybcdy may not be aware that whew the Duke of Marlborough married Gonsuclo Vanderbilt she at once proceeded to nia&Ler every detail connected with the management of the enormous estates which surround the historical Palace of Blenheim. Those houro .spent in patient study have already borne gocd fruit in the gradual improvement oi ih& property. And now that the Duke of Marlborovgh has gone to the war, his wife will entirely manage his ■ affairs and direct all operations ou the estates. Thus history repeats itself, for when the lirst Duke of Marlborough was winning battles against Louis XIV, Irs Duchess — nee Sarah Jennings — managed his estates

I with a parsimonious thrift which made her the butiTof all the wits and balladmongers i in the days of good Queen Anne. ! — Lady Lanadowne's concert in London in aid of the Avar fund was a very fine sight, and a great success numerically as j well as financially. Patti sang beautifully. Her voice is still- that of quite a young woman. She looks old, of course, but her figure is so slight and young, and she dresses so well, that her age tells less than I with most people. She wore wonderful I diamonds — her bodice was covered . with them — and she had a very fine tiara. She was all smiles and graciousness, and sang ■"again and again. The Prince and Princess of Wales stayed till the end, when the Prince went to supper with Lady Lansdowne, but the Princess went home. The Princess of Wales looked extremely well ond prettyfin black, with many diamonds.

— At a recent convention of American bankers, one lady delegate was in attendance, Miss Elizabeth Dodds, who holds the position of assistant-cashier of the Women's department of the State Savings Bank for the City oi Detroit. Miss. Dodds is reported to be as goud-looking as she is professionally clever. - — Mi&s Florence Nightingale, who is now over 80 years, wrote the other day to the nurses of the Cape of Good Hope Red Cross Society. " This is a sad and painful 'business, but how much good it has called forth ! -Moy we hope that the nurses — svery one of them — will prove themselves worthy of a great opportunity afforded by God's goodness. I wish I could go ; but lam chained 10 my room by illness. Three cheers for you wherever you go ! Cheers to strengthen, not xo disturb, the sick."

— Lord Curzon is, achieving great success as Viceroy of Lndia, where his autocratic legislation is sweeping away red-tap and abuses in the most remarkable manner. But he is evidently being disturbed in his own doir.e-ticity, for ths Indian question of the hour is whether the sisters-in-law of the Viceroy have any precedence. Of course they have none. But the t\s o Iviisses Lsiter, who hail from the United Stares, where all women are on a level, do not accept this, and. consequently, their efforts to force themselves into undue preced2nee is entailing a good deal of trouble. This recalls the i dventure of Sir Alfred .MiLner when he first went out as Governor of Capa Colony to repair the mistakes of his predecessor, Lord Hosmead. - Not being married, Sir Alfred MihiPi 1 asked the wife of one of his staff, Captain Hanbury Williams, to do the honours. But the wife of the Military Secretary, Major Dawkins, who was a daughter of Lord P.osmead, did not accept this with dv? acquiescence, and S'r Alfred }limer had to arbitrate gravely on mere petticoat points in the midst of important affairs. Sir Alfred settled the matter very quietly. Major Dawkins ouly held his appointment temporarily, and instead of its* being confirmed, he presently found himself rejoining his regiment, Avhile an unmarried successor bed Ms place. -No words of praise can bii too high 'fcr Mrs H-nbury Williams, whr has carried out her task with all possible tact. — The Empress Eugenic, who has been very ill in Paris, has sufficiently iccovered Io be able to proceed to her villa at Cap Man in. This season the Empress will miss her intimate friend, the Duchess of Rutland, who iif-s died since last year. The Empress, who has Scotch blood in her veinti, used of' en to talk with the Duchess about Dunkeid, a beautiful spot well known to both ladies. The Empress owes her Scottish kinship to tha family of X rkpatrick. Her father, the Count Montijo, was a Spanish nobleman. H3 married Miss Kirkpatrick, a native of Dumfriesshire, and their* daughter is the Empress Eugenic. When Miss Kirkpatrick was engaged to the Count, there was an objection raised to the mau'Hge, on the score of birth, but Mr Kirkpatrick wrote to relatives in. Sootland, with the result that, by his pedigree, he was entitled to 16 quarterings. This had the effect of smoothing matters over, and tha marriage took place. When in Scotland in 1867, the Empress Eugenic, whilst staving with the- late Duke and Duchess of Atholl at Dunkeid, visited Stirling and the surrounding countr.y, with a view to learning something of her ancestors, wno resided in that district.' While there she was shown over Stirling Castle, where, at that time, tha gallant 79th Highlanders were quartered, and Captain Scovell had the honour of pointing out the historic bemti°s .of the place to the Empress.

— Nothing is too difficult for the Queen to undertake if she considers it necessary for her to do so. She was over 60 years of age wiien klio first undeitook to learn Hindustani, and this very difficult tar-k ih.2 accomplished in sht.ter time than most, and is now pble to converse with her Ind;au subjects in their native tongue. — The musical birthday of the month of March was that on the 21&t, of Lady Halle, ihe "most famous woman violinist in the world, whose reputation was made as Madame Norman" Neruda. Her father was the organist at the cathedral of Brunn, in Moravia, and she herself made her debut in Vienna at the age of six, and appeared in London a few years later. — The young Queen of Holland is showing her^f to be very energetic and desirous of making full acquaintance with affairs of State. Slis rises daily at 7, and the 'morning and part of the afternoon are occupied with official business, with the exception of time allowed for a ride before luncheon. Though there are constantly reports of her immediate engagement, it appears that the has not decided who is to share her heart and throne.