LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2443, 9 January 1901, Page 60

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— The Princess Margaret of Connaught is a girl with a keen sense of humour, and she must, says a Home paper, be regarding the anxiety of the court on her behalf at this juncture with a good deal of quiet amusement. When the hint is dropped that William may be coming over to Balmoral with the Kronprinz, Nicholas begins to wonder whether his brother is going to lose anything worth having, so the announcement is promptly made that the Hereditary Grand Duke Michael will be running over to see V.R.I, during the autumn. It is not exactly a neck-and-neck race, but there is some little excitement in it all, and it really begins to look as if little Meg is being drawn into the vortex of European politics willy-nilly. Frankly, the future of Europe is now being decided, for we shall all be affected a quarter of a century hence by the personality of the consorts of Czar and Kaiser. For our own part we should like to see Margaret of Connaught wedded to the Crown Prince, and her sister Pat to the Czarewitch. Something of the kind is in the mind of far-seeing people about the court, and it is this which gives a special interest to the visit of the Connaught girls to their grandmamma just now. .

— I am beginning to think, writes "Kathleen" in the Leeds Mercury, that I may "live to see the day when a domestic servant will be as extinct as the dodo ; and it seems to me that the only thing left for us to do is to train our own daughters in domestic duties, instead of worrying about training other people. Much was hoped from the ladyhelp idea, but it has practically fallen through, from the difficulty of employing an educated woman as a servant with ordinary servants in an ordinary household. Fraternisation is next to impossible under such circumstances. She will hang, like Mahomet's coffin, between heaven and carth — gravitating between the drawing room and the seivants' hall. The ladyhelp is only really possible when she has not to work with other servants, but fulfils her title by only having a "lady" — her mistress — to "help"' ; and also when she is not "a feeble amateur, tremblingly afraid of doing anything 'menial,' or the product of a slum with slum training and slum instincts." Much yet remains to be done in the direction of ladies, going out by the day, as dressmakers _do, to do duty as ;ooks, nurses, housemaids, parlour maids, or house needlewomen. Some years ago I promoted a small society of the last-named workers, and I found that any amount of employment was offered ; the only difficulty was in getting enough workers. I learnt a good deal by my attempt, however, and I still think tljat this system of daily employment is capable of great developments, and will do much to meet the difficulty of which I am writing. The "lady-domestic" of the future will certainly be a daily one, for no one can deny that it is the right of every educated woman to have a little time in which to live her own life ; not, in fact, to be, as under the ordinary conditions of domestic service she is, at the constant i "beck and ca|T of her emjlovers. This is

such a serious matter that I have always appreciated the aversion felt by the educated girls of this generation for domestic service as it is usually understood. —It is said in fashionable quarters that we are to be invaded by the autograph tablecloth. Guests at dinner are to be re quested to inscribe their names on the white damask with a pencil, the writing being afterwards embroidered, so making the signature a peimanence. Something akin to the autograph tablecloth is a possession of one of the wards of a London hospital, and that is a quilt made of squares of red and white cotton, on which are written with marking ink autographs of well-known people, or a line of poetry, a maxim, a riddle — very much sucb writings as one finds in the old-fashioned albums &o deai to our mothers and our aunts. The name of the late Archbishop of Canterbury fills one of the squares. The tiny signature "M. 0. Oiiphant" is a precious and pathetic reminder of one of the gentlest and kindest of the hospital's friends. And there is a Royal signature also ; and the verse of Cowper's well-known hymn beginning "God move 5 : in a mysterious way," 'written in the delicate hand of "Carmen Sylva,"' Queen of Roumania. That quilt is actually used, and many and many are the weary hours of convalescence which it has amused and brightened. The idea originated in the brain of one of the visitors, herself a person of high rank, and she carried it through with characteristic energy and success.

— A sad little story comes from BudaPesth, where an officer in the 6th Hussars, Lieutenant Koloman yon Mike, was betrothed last February to a young lady in the city. His regiment was then quartered at Klagenfurt. Soon after the betrothal the poor fellow developed heart disease, and the doctors forbade any military exercise or riding. Lieutenant yon Mike obtained indefinite leave, and sought a post in the civil service, working with extraordinary energy at the necessary studies for the examination, and passing brilliantly not long after. Coming from the exam, he was taken ill, and carried to his fiancee's home. Little hope of his recovery being held out, he earnestly desired to marry his fiancee. Before a marriage of an officer can be solemnised, a considerable sum, known as "caution-money," has to be forthcoming, and as this in yon Mike's case could not be procured in time his friends telegraphed to the Imperial Military Chancellerie in Vienna for permission to solemnise the wedding without it. The request was immediately granted ; and at 2 o'clock in the morning the hapless young couple were married. Two days after the bridegroom died, and was buried with full military honours at Buda-Pesth.

— Alfonso XII incurred his mother's displeasure by marrying his cousin, Mercedes, and falling under Montpensier influence for a while. "His second alliance did_ not please his first wife's relations and tiieir party, or that clique in Spain which pecks at imported Royalty. And now that the elder sister of Alfonso XIII it, on the marriageable list, and a Prince from the ex-Royal Family of Naples comes forward as a suitor, objections are raised to the proposed match by people who are ever on the watch to make matters uncomfortable for the Queen-Regent. The Count of Caserta's second son belongs to a large, rather poor, deposed and dispossessed set of Bourbons of Legitimist and Clerical principles ; and it may perhaps be feared by a few that he would want his wife to reign on bygone methods if ever she became Queer! On the other hand, no Prince aspiring to wed the Infanta Mercedes, heiress presumptive to the Throne, could expect to please all parties ; as it proved an utter failure when an up-to-date, liberal-minded, and progressive pair of Royalties from Italy tried their luck as King and Queen of Spain for a couple of years. And it is quite possible that the present Princess of the Asturias, like her aunt, the Infanta Isabella,

i may be regarded for years as a possible successor to the Sovereignty, and then have to retire to the background on the arrival of an heir direct. We (Modern Society) hear on good authority that the real reason of the delay of the Piincess of the Asturias' marriage with the young Count of Caserta is owing to a strong letter written to the QueenI Regent of Spain by Senor Sagasta, m which he plainly told her Majesty that he was strongly opposed to the match, and ! would bring the weight of the Government | to bear, to prevent it, urging instead an | alliance with the Duke of Abruzzi. The ! Queen, however, is determined that the Infanta shall marry as her heart dictates, and as both the parties concerned are very i much in love with each other, the match is not likely to be broken off.

—It is, rather amusing to hear that in Berlin, where 99 out of every 100 men smoke, a young lady has commenced an onslaught in 'a local paper against men who smoke in the streets. She . declares that the odour of the fragrant weed is obnoxious to the neives of her delicate nostrils, and that die v biffs of tobacco smoke -which meet her in her walks abroad are a hindrance to her enjoyment of the fresh air. Possibly this act of daring on the part of a young German maiden — to appeal to the public against an almost universal habit of the other sex — may prove two things. It may prove that German ladies are making enormoup strides toward 1 : the emancipation and independence c 1 aimed by their Anglo-Saxon listers across the silver streak of sea ; and it may also show that they are acquiring that inconvenient habit of being hyper-part lcular about small things in life, so much affected by semi-educated and semi-mannered young women over here. But this protect is really a very curious sign of the tunes when one considers t'nat in England the largest firms of tobacco manufacturers frankly prepare and label .cigarettes for ladies, who demand, on dit, the finest tobacco, the best paper, and the purest gold tips for their cigarettes.

— There is one man in the world who is Earning Dutch just now with all his might, for he has ■wooed and ■won a Queen whose native tongue it is. Few people would learn Dutch for the mere sake of learning it, and it is not surprising that Duke Henry does not know it : but anybody would learn it to sit beside a Queen on her throne, and it is not surprising that Duke Henry is learning it as fast a* he can. His love, let u< hope, will not be less happy because he plighted hi« troth in low German. Prince Henry Vladimir Albert Ernest, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, is one of the words fortunate young men. In all but name he will be a king before he is 25, and he will be, if report sneaks truly, a king from head to foot. He belongs to the oldest sovereign family in the Western world, nnd can trace his ancestors for 25 generations. Any man would be proud with a pedigree stretching back to the eleventh century, and it is easy to believe that Duke Henry is proud — too proud to stand in a tow for even & queen to choose. He would not attend the dinner at which Queen Wilhelmina was to see the candidates for her hand. But he is simp 7e7 c and homely, revprtheless. in his tastes. He has known much sorrow, too, and there may be a touch of sadness in his manner. One of his brothers died suddenly in a mysterious way ; another was drowned three years ago in command of a torpedo ; and the companion with whom Duke Henry went round the world — Herr Otto Ehler — was killed while exploring in New Guinea. The Duke has seen most things worth seeing, and knows British India especially well. Like hi? father, who fought for Germany in the two great wars, Duke Henry is a German officer, and the Kaiser was one of the first to congratulate him on his engagement. Tie belonged to two regiments, the Prussian Life Guards and the

Mecklenburg Fusiliers. He is a Protestant ; the whole of his early life was lived under Protestant influence. Three Protestant pastors were his first teachers, until he i\ ent to school at Dresden, where he boarded with another minister — Professor Pollatz. He is also related to his -wife-to-be, and no doubt he and Queen Wilhelmina have already remcmbeied that they both claim the great Czar Paul among their ancestors. Duke Henry, -who is described as tall and Avell built, with fair hair and blue eyes, has already received his first honour from Holland — the Grand Order of the Lion of the Netherlands, and those who know him well bespeak for him a great popularity in Europe. He will hold the same relation to the throne and politics as Prince Albert did in Englnnd, and we may be sure that he will discharge his task of " renunciation and hard work "" — to quote the Kaiser — with honour and ability.

— A great attraction to the juveni'e woild of Vienna, and indeed to many grown-ups, too, is the Doll Exhibition now being held in the Flower Halls on the Ring. Dolls of every imaginable description, illu&tratmg by their dresb either various nationalities or different ranks in life, from the lowest to the highest, are here to be seen, accompanied by animals of all kinds tind toys of every denomination — all perfect in execution. "Once" is vs ell illustrated by two elegantly-equipped dolls in pale blue silk. The little lady wears a stiffly-hooped robe ri Lhly trimmed with lace ; while her companion is a beau with powdered pigtail. He carries his three-cornered hat under his arm, and together they perform the minuet) with finger-tips daintily touching each other, and moving in stately dignity to the strains of the music. The companion doll, "Now." is also a very clever production. "A Theatre" is a wonderfully-got-up affair. Dolls are performing as the curtain ri«es ; the boxes are full of elegant and attentive spectators; and the stalls, the pit and the gallery are evidently much edified at the "premiere." The motor car is, of course, not wanting— in fact, one contains a baker boy acting as driver, while a chimney sweep has jumped on behind with the intent to blacken the snowy garment of the man of dough. A scene from the " Court," an idyll from the Stadt Park, and a village scene in Hungary, together with numerous types, complete the interesting collection. — Though the first and last hostess of the long-empty Millais mansion played a considerable part in social and, indeed, ia artistic history, fii«.t as Mrs Ruskin, and then as the wife of the most prosperous of artists, it is not often that her name has been cited, or her opinion quoted in the many memoirs of the pre-Raphaelites. In the newly-issued biography of Coventry Patmore, however, she seems to be the subject of an allusion, and it concerns wifelinc<s. In a letter from Coventry Patmore of his wife, the inspirer, though not exactly the sitter, of" "The Angel in the House," he says: "Mrs Ruskin seemed to think that the poem did you the highest honour, saying, in answer "to my denial of personality, that it was impossible for a man to write such a poem without an admirable wife."