LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2473, 7 August 1901, Page 62

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Dame Fashion's last cry is dress and coat trimming made of ordinary twine, not the lace-like macrame of former days, but rough kitchen string netted or knotted. This new garniture is frequently studded •with gems, and is consequently made as costly as any delicate ,silk or embroidered passementerie. A mixture of quite common garniture with expensive garnishiugs has now captured the tickle fancy of the l'.irisienne for a time. Expensive simplicity is tHe password of the season, and the knowledge that only the initiated appreciate it at its full value adds to its charm. i — Priucess Henry of Battenberg is an enthusiastic collector of lace, and in a large scrap book bound in ivory she keeps patterns of rare laces, with a note against each in her own handwriting. — When little Prince Edward. the King's grandson, was ar Windsor lately, he was°taught riding and driving. He is to be taught swimming and rowing on the lake in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, the lake on which Queen Alexandra used to work a water bicycle. As this lake is deep in parts the King has had the water drained off m order that the deep portion may be filled in, so as to make it generally shallow, aftd so conduce to the safety, not cnV of Prince Edward, but of his brothers itnd sisters,, whose fdvouiite playground is near the hike. It is not generally known tliA the lake communicates with the ornamental water in Ht. James's Park, and although great care was taken to preserve tin goldfish, perch, and other fish in the loke," many ot them escaped through the passage into the ornamental water in St. Jcmes's Park. The lake, arc! indeed the site of the Palace generally, used to be covered by the Thames before it was diI verted to its present bed. This possibly accounted for a dislike her late Majesty en- ! tertained for the Palace as a residence on the ground of its alleged dampness. — Large eirrings are again being worn, "vhich incline to take the special form of gold or platinum, generally lightly and Tlecantly set with one lustrous gem. Solitaires, an isolated diamond, sapphire, or pearl, mounted upon a delicate stud, come more and more "into vogue, and there is even a marked return to the elongated pendants and jewelled tassels of Georgian and early Victorian days. — The Empress Frederick has reached a stage in her distressing malady when she is experiencing welcome relief from the pain which has previously tortured her While she conveises with her family, and is grateful for the respite, the Empress herself has no false hopes. .-Mine. Walpurga yon Isacescu, the lady swimmer, who intends to make another attempt to swim the English Channei, is the widow of a Roumanian nobleman, and conies of an old Viennese family. Her means, however, are Miiall, And &ne has been compelled to take a position as clerk in the offices of an Austrian railway crmpany. Profiting by her unfortunate experiences la^t year. lime. Isacescu will this year constituted spectacles to aiuld in r e\e& from wind and •water, and she is 'uippful of succeeding. — Mrs Sniyly. the "Dublin philanthropist, who had devoted the gi eater part of her long life to work among the destitute and neglected chi'dren of her native city, died on May 20, aged 87. More than a thousand ciiildien are maintained in the vanous homes which have been established througli Lit excuions. Mis Smyly made hu&elf l.tuinly re*i>onMbl" for thu support of these i'unies, collecting with the aid oi her ckughLrs and iin-ul- some £12.000 per ,mrum. Hhe -was the mother of Sir PlHlip Uiumpton Smyly, M.D., of Dr William yniyly. and of ' Mis. Stewait, who. with her husband, a misMonaiy, was muidered some years ago in China. Ethel R. Penjanlin, Barrister and Solicitor, Albert Buildings, Princes street, Uunect'a (oircsite C.P.0.), hag tiust moneys to lend <t» approved legujiti,— 4*v|