LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2499, 5 February 1902, Page 62

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— " That the Oriental woman is not always a& tractable and docile as tradition affirms, will be seen by the following story which has been given by an English eyewitness. Hitherto, although disastrous results have more than once ensued, the average Turkish girl has always suffered her parents or elders to choose and appoint what hubband they deemed suitable for her, and arrange her marriage. Her own consent or refusal was a matter of extreme unimportance to those parties. There the husband was, and, good or bad, the girl had to accept. The preliminary ceremony before the actual marriage feast is the only civil or binding contract, and a very curious one it is. The bridegroom himself, who is not permitted to be present, sends two of his relatives or friends as his representatives. These, with the bride's male relatives, all remain in one room. Behind the door, in another room, or hall, stands the bride with her own people or attendants. One of the bridegroom's representatives comes forward, and with a loud voice asks, 'I am so-and-6o's representative. He desires thee as wife; wilt thou accept?' This is conveyed to the bride by her parent, but an established modesty compels the girl not to answer till the same question has been put to her a third time. As soon as her assent has been heard, the bridegroom's dowry — ' Nikyah ' — is fixed on her, and the representative, usually on horseback, hastens back to tell the husband his good news. In this particular case, the girl, who, thanks to an English governess, had developed a will of her own, accidentally heard of her father's choice of a husband, and sent word to him that she, too, wished to be consulted. Evidently her father looked upon it as a joke, for he proceeded with the preparations, invited the guests, male and female, and brought them all together on the appointed day. The Turkish priest, as the representative, stood behind the door. The contract was drawn up and ready to be signed. The bride, prettily attired, was led downstairs with a'mischievous look in her eyes, which none of the guests seemed to notice. She took up her position at the other side of the door, and when, after the third time of asking, the message was conveyed to her, instead of the modest, almost inaudible 'I accept,' she replied in a clear and distinct voice, ' No ! And tell him who 6ends you that he is the last man I would desire to wed. The confusion which ensued is indescribable. Her mother fainted straight away, the priest had to be dismissed, the guests dispersed, and the father, in great wrath ? banished the girl to her room, where, at present, she is still residing, gloating over her triumph." — - Queen Helena, the beautiful mountaink.^JJifk w^°- c&me^ from theJwtvrt&ea jrf

Montenegro to wed the late "K^g Humbert's heir, and who has now taken, her place by his side on the Italian throne, is, like the Queen-dowager, an enthusiastic athlete. With Queen Margherita, she spends much of her time mountaineering, both ladies adopting the practical peasant dress with the short skirt for the purpose. The young Queen is a first-class sportswoman and a good shot, and she and the King dispense entirely with an escort while on sport intent, and, regardless of the tragedy of King Humbert's death, trust themselves to the peasants, who have already learned to know and love them. Chamois and wild goat hunting form their chief sport, the hunting palace at Boldieri being in the heart of the hunting district.

— Madame Sarah Grand has made quite a "hit " as a lecturer in Philadelphia, where she spoke before an audience of fully two thousand, of which less than a score (most of them reporters) were "mere men.* 1 Here is a description of her appearance : "Dressed in a princess gown, the length of which rather hampered her in the matter of walking, and caused her to quit the. stage as though she were wading through water, and with her hair coiled prettily and becomingly on top of her head, she made one discredit her assertion that some Englishwomen cut their hair and array themselves " in unbecoming garments so as to detract as much as possible from their personal charms."

— A lady who has a very intimate knowledge of the East J s Mrs Archibald Little, the talented authoress of a work upon life in China, which is accepted as a standard authority upon the subject. Her husband is a British -official there> , and Mrs Little has a knowledge of practically every place in the Celestial Empire accessible to an English lady. Few European women are so well known and well received by the Chinese as she. It used to be thought by the natives there, in spite of her endeavours to dissuade them from the belief, that phe was a near relative of Queen Victoria, and every visit of Mrs Little to England was associated with the theory that the Queen could no longer contrive to dispense with the services of her loving subject.

— The city of Marguette, in Michigan, claims the unique distinction of being the only city in America that possesses a lady as consulting architect. This lady (Mrs A. E. M'Crea) has already laid out several parks and a boulevard, in addition to having designed a normal school, a prison, and two railway stations. Am- of these, it is said, will compare favourably with any similar places in* the country.

— In spite of the fact that on December 1 Queen Alexandra celebrated her fiftyseventh birthday, her Majesty still retains that appearance of youth and beauty which has for many years been the admiration and envy of most women, and has won for her such great popularity since she came to this country, in 1863, to become the bride of King Edward, then, of course, Prince of Wales. It is not only our Queen's personal charms, however, which have won for her such a prominent place in the hearts of all British subjects, but also her great goodness of heart. Her Majesty is a great believer in doing good by stealth, and hundreds of cases are knowiLto members of the Royal household in which Queen Alexandra has proved a veritable angel in distress.

— Mademoiselle Lucie Faure, sometimes significantly called "Mademoiselle Lucifer " on account of her rather easily kindled wrath, was much in the public eye while her father was President of the (French Republic. Little is known, however, of the present President's son, M. Paul Loubet. and the rumour that these two are much attached to each other is causing a good deal of interest. M. Paul is a bookish young man, who seems to pass most of his time in entering for examinations and passing them. He is just the sort of husband (says the Week End) likely to suit Mademoiselle Lucie, for she is masterful to a degree.

— Women on the Continent are fast falling into the smoking habit. Among the higher classes, indulgence in the narcotic has become almost universal. A woman of fashion no longer apologises to her guests for lighting a cigarette after dinner, and even as an accompaniment to 5 o'clock tea a cigarette is frequently indulged in by fair Parisiennes. Russian ladies who inhabit the capital are largely responsible for the growing taste for tobacco among the grande dames of Paris. The practice of smoking among ladies is very prevalent. In certain circles and the smart, restaurants, many women may be seen with cigarettes. Among the middle and working classes it is safe to say that scarcely a woman would think of smoking except for fun.

— The Prince of Wales's children, who have just been reunited with their parents after a somewhat trj-ing absence, are always very simply dressed. The boys are generally in sailor suits, and the little princess is plainly frocked, though, of course, the cut of her clothes is unexceptionable. It is their Royal mother's wish that the children should always be dressed quietly. Fond fts King Edward is of his grandchildren, and morfe indulgent than their parents, he is very careful, too, about their training. Recently Prince Edward and his brother went with him to pay an afternoon call, and on leaving, Prince Edward, keen to get the best place in the carriage, flew downstairs in front of his grandfather with scarcely a >vord of farewell. For this he was immediately reproved, and sent upstairs to make an apology. "I'm sorry," said the little Frmce, arriving breathless before his hostess, and then flew down again to take the place of honour by the King's side. — The German Empress has the finest pearl necklace in existence. It contains three world-famous necklaces. One of them formerly belonged to the ex-Queen of Naples and another adorned the image of the Virgin of Atakha. The entire necklace is said to be worth £100,000.

•V There is scarcely a duchess of the present period wh,o is not tall, Duchess of Mariborough takes the lead, with the Puchess of Portland coming very near indeed. The Duchess of Westminster is a very good height, and most of tEe others «&Vell above the. mediuin^tb^Duichjn &

■Wellington and her Grace of Abercorn b& ing,*3ie:exoepiions. • • — It would hardly b& possible (remarks a lady writer in a Home journal) to name the many occupations in which modern iro« "men are engaged for the' purpose of making their own way in the world. Not so very long ago a girl who worked for her living was regarded as of no account socially ; and women were divided into two classes — those who lived at home in comparative idleness save for domestic supervising, and those who "did something." The governess and lady help, whatever, their birth may have been, were outsiders, and treated often with a lack of consideration and good manners which said little for their so-called social superiors. To-day lady florists and milliners, journalists and tea-room proprietors, doctors, teachers, and gardeners are as plentiful as flowers in spring ; and every day more and more women are going in for business, and carrying out with success what they take up. The servant question, also, is apparently to be solved by the modern women workers, who are providing " lady servants " for nurses and cooks. The girl holding a cooking diploma can always command a good salary in a large house, and nurses for chilcren are specially trained in London. Whether girls reared in comfort and with no train-ing •in hard work * could undertake the duties of housemajd. ; is another matter, but Jablemaids and nurses provide easier and "lighter work, while the . duties of cook are of a more scjentific than - : physical description, when there are kitchen " maids to do .the heavy work. People are getting so disheartened over the servantless condition of society ' that some such ■ attempt to remedy matters; is almost "neces- . sary ; and, as the get accustomed to" the idea, the stigma hitherto resting on domestic service will, perhaps, disappear. Many little matters will, of course, be difficult to arrange at first. One hardly likes the idea of a social equal spending her evenings in a kitchen on the area flat ; but kitchens could be made exceedingly comfortable by a capable girl' with artistic ideas. The spectacle of a cook with artistic views would be a strange one to us at present, but changes are always strange at first, and we have had to get accustomed to a good deal in the way of change during the last century. Once a girl decides to take up domestic service, she must determine to do it well, not to shirk what is unpleasant and grumble over what is inevitable, while the treatment she receives from the members of the household, she must always bear in mind, depends a good deal upon herself. — Lord Kitchener is evidently not a woman's man. But his dislike of music even surpasses that of the gentler sex. One evening, after a large dinner party, one of the guests sat down at the piano and wandered through the mazes of a very superior sonata. She was really a talented performer, and a friend^.who was standing near Lord Kitchener asked him how he liked it. " Well," came the rather unexpected reply.' " I'm not a judge of such things, but? if ever I had a _ daughter I should certainly engage a governess who would teach her, how not to play or sing."