LACKS' GOSSIP,

Otago Witness, Issue 2688, 20 September 1905, Page 73

LACKS' GOSSIP,

— What days of storm a,nd strife wererecalled by the appearance of Mrs Annie Besant -it the Conference of Theosophists in London. Mrs Besnnt has been so long in India, that many of us have forgotten her story. Of Irish blood, but English born, t.liis high priestess of theosophy waa the wife of a minister of the English Church. She had travelled, mastered languages, and assimilated a vast amount of knowledge, but she was totally unfitted for the match blie made. And the inevitable result attended : she and her hus- • band were terribly unhappy. "He," she has written, "with very high idea-s of a husband's authority, holding strongly to | the 'masler-in-my -own-house' theory, thinking very muoh of the details of home I arrangements, precise, methodical, easily I angered, ai:d with difficulty appeised ; 1, j accustomed to freedom, indifferent to home > details, impulsive, very hot-tempered, and I proud -is Luciter." Once after a, terrible j scene with her husband, she contemplated j suicide ; she placed a bottle of laudanum j 1o her lips, but seemed to .hear a voice sayJ ing, '0 coward, coward, who used ' to ' dream of jnartyidoin, and cannot bsar a j few sbiOit years of pain!" And she flung l away the bottle in a rush of shame. From j this clergyman's home there wont a woman j -idio w.i 3to be the head and front of Freethought. And then, after she had trampled ' underfoot all the doctrines which it had been the mission of her husband to preach, she suddenly accepted the strange, fantastic creed of Madame Blavatsky. whom you t will find described in your grave and cautious biographical encyclopaedias as a Eusfcian charlatan and cheat. — A pretty story is going the rounds iof the newly-wed" Prince Gustavus of i Sweden. His grandfather, King Oscar ■ bade him mot to be married with his sword i behveon his bride and liiuiself. It would Ibe a bad omen. King Edward, hearing of the King of Sweden's idea, told the < young Prince that although in uniform, jhe need not wear his sword. Ju&t as the > marriage ceremony commenced, the bride- j groom unbooked his swovd and gave it to I his best man-, who returned it to him at the close of the service. — Society, headed by King Edward and his Consort, is giving a very warm welcome to Mrs Arthur' Paget, who is back in London afrer a long 'stay in Berlin, where she lias been under the care of a famous surjeon. Shis is now able to walk. The marriage of the beautiful Mi&s Paran Stevens was one o-f the first which took place between a.n American hearess and an Englishman belonging by birth and association to the great English world. Mrs Arthur Pagel at once won her place in ber adopted country, and she Foon became noted among London's leading hostesses. — Never has there been greater luxury and refinement than are to be seen in the fnshions of to-day. Every dress is a picture in itself, t]ie reigning materials being tha thinnest lawns, mousselines-de soie, and painted gauzes, all of .vhich are most elaborately trimmed with hand embroideries and real lace. Hats are bouquets, the flowers most perfectly imitated — lilies, roses, sunflowers, irises, and orchids — and softened with tulle and lace. The great tulle ruffles are still very fashionable, though many have not been able to resist th« charms oi the real lace scarf, which clings so gracefully to pretty shoulders. Witih the shoit sleeves have come in igain the long glove, and bracelets are de rigueur. — Lady Leconfield, sister of Lord Rosebery, is an aunt by marriage of Mr George Wyndham, lately Chief Secretary for Ire land in the Tory Cabinet ; \rhile her son. the present Lord LeconfielJ, took an ac live interest in the political fortunes of Viscount Tumour, who recently retained the Horsham Division in the Government interest. The Countess of Carlisle is another instance of political independence in the fanv'Jy circle. An active Liberal and a familiar and influential figure on many a Liberal platform, Lady Carlisle is the wife of a political opponent who sits in the House of Lords, and the mother of another political opponent who sits in tho Commons, her son, Viscount Morpeth, being member for South Birmingham and a supporter of Mr Chamberlain. —It has been said many times that the solution of the servant problem will have been found wlien the calling of an ordinary domestic is by some means or other raised to the dignity of a recognised and honoured career for women. Various meajis of bringing tills about have been suggested. It seems to me that dre&s has a great deal to do with fclie matter — dress ?Jid liberty. The latter point is no new one. but I believe that a smart and really becoming uniform )7ouid largelj Uda £s/

attract youiig m oin. i n to seivicr. I woulc even l(o so L'r as to waive the cap, thougl in my own opinion it is nw-t becoming and ihat it is &o seldom worn nowaday: by the matron of ths superior class i: rciilly a matter for rcgiet. Bui at al c\ tills, in a wtll-cut tailor-ma. lo dress o da?k blue, d<uk grey, with a fuicy waist coat, collars and cuffs like nurses', anc aprons M.d caps — if these are really in dispensable — according to fancy, any rea aonablc a oung woman might feel of sonit importance. She would command attention, e^en admiration, when her unifora was specially pretty. The uniform hac unquestionably b?en the web which hat en ught many niunes. — Ambrosia, in the World. — A most interesting event in Court circles has been the mauiage, on the same day, of two of the Queen's maids of honoui 1 — Miss Mary Hart Dyke, who became the I bride of Captain Bell, and Miss Doris 1 Vivian, who&e bridegroom, General Douglas TJaig. his to return to India nex' ' month. Tiieij* Majesties invited the tw couples to be married in the private ohap< i in "Buckingham Palace. They attended tS wedding, and afterwards entertained I luncheon the near relntives of both yoir la-dies The two brides walked up t' aisle together. Miss Vivian's white satii. gown had the skirt quite simple, but ecquisitoly ci;t, one large lily embroidered in lasts and .silver on one side of the front, and a small oi.e on the draped bodice, which had real lace on the upper part of the sleeves. The Queen gave each of the brides £1000. — According to a specialist who has made a careful .study of the subject, the reason why women are better looking than men is because they are more indolent and are not called upon to use their i brains as much as men are. Hard in- , tellectual work and assiduous attention to i business, he says, are harmful so far as physical beauty is concerned. As proof that his theory is correct he., points to the Zaros, whose home is in British India. Among them women hold the place which in other countries is occupied by men. The Zaro woman manages the affairs of . state, goes into business on her own account, and does not wait for a proposal ,of mairiage, but proposes herself; whereas the Zaro man has nothing to do but cook the meals and look after the children. The natural result, says the scientist, is that the men of this singular | tribe are very pretty and the women are ' unusually plain. ! — Master Theodore Roosevelt, son of the President of the United States, is the hero of an ndventure that promises to become as historic ns that of George Washington and his little axe. It seems that Master Theodore and two of his schoolmates indulged in a mild flirtation with some of the girl students of the Stonewall Jackson Institute, in Virginia. , As a pun- ! ishinent the girls were " gated " for a j week. At a ■ local dance young Roosei velt and his companions met the head mistress of the Institute, and assured her, in the most chivalrous ! way, that they were entirely to blame. They further begged that-they might have tha privilege of bearing the punishment. The head mistress agreed to the proposition, and sentenced the boys to stand in a corner facing the wall until the conclusion of the dance. This was duly done, and the sentence on the girls was forthwith commuted. — What a difference there is in women! I allude now to the way in which they treat their looks (writes a lady in. a London contemporary). There aie some who are beauties by inheritance, but who neglect their loveliness until it becomes marred and spoiled, and there are others from whom actual good looks have been withdrawn who so cultivate comeliness that really they are more delightful to look upon than their so-called fairer rivals. The woman who means to retain all the beauty she possesses and intends to add to her stock of charms loses no chance of improving her appearance. Every time she dresses she regards each little part of her toilet as a rite, and all day long k-eeps her aim in her mind. I would say a word here upon the subject of grimaces, because they are a text upon which to base some forcible remaiks. Do overcome such disfiguring habits as frowning and knitting the brows. Is it not worth while to have a pretty forehead — one that is white and clear, smooth and unlinedY To keep it so requires care. Let your forehead remain immobile and calm, so avoiding furrows on it. Don't raise your eyebrows with every sentence, as so many women do, so that above them are formed a mass of wrinkles. Try to express nothing by your forehead. Do that by means of speech. — I believe that the use of the human voice in speaking (writes Lady Henry Somerset in an American journal) is as much an art as the use of the voice in singing. It requires to be studied with almost as much thought and unsparing pains. Its vocation is the same, for in speaking you have to produce upon an audience exactly the same impression as in singing. You have to touch the emotion ; you have to arouse a sense of joy or sorrow. But in speaking you have something further to accomplish, for

:1 you have to aigue and convince. j!hs i production of tin- \oiec depends a great , deal upon the attitude ot the body. We s ha-^ e all of us li 'Did oi a disease which s is very common in tin-* comitiy, called 1 "clergj nnn's throat, and from" careiul f observation I ha\e little doubt «s to how - this particular form ot complaint is conil tracted. li you read for ;i long hmo - with your body bowed, your head droop- - ing forward, ?nd therefore the vocal chord ? bent at an angle before the found is - omitted, you will soon discover the strain l that you are putting on your voice, a 3 strain which parclie* the throat, contracts s the muscles, hinders the full production i of sound, and usually obliges the reader to speak on a false note. The head voice, ' the throat voice, the thin, harsh voice, ? which never appear to have any relation ' to the chest, are all equally disagreeable. i Everyone ought to be able to place his > hand upon his diaphiagm and feel a dis- ■ Unct reverberation whea he .speaks. It is \ useful practice to take a long breath ,nd to speak out a sentence, ascertaining 1 the while that the voico is coming om the depths of the lungs, from which ii\ took your long drought of air, and utt you arc able to maintain sound withjt breathles?ness. When you are address-* . nig an audience in a very large hall it ; j is only necessary to speak a litle slower, ■ to lay a little more stress on the vowels. ■ and to be certain that the «cjid of every • word is finished. I have ssen a man 1 scream in our great Albert HML which i holds ten thousand people, until he is almost black in the face. The veins rise s I like cords in his throat, perspiration diops » ! from his forehead, his whole being agi- • j tated, strained, unnatural, and I have ■ j learned afterwards that lie was badly ' j heard, in spite of all this effort. There • i is no necessity for the speaker to remain J in uncertainty as to whether or no he is" [ heard. The great thine; is to use the : full diapason of the voice, to watch tbe ' . people in the farthest point of the hall, and address them ; and if you see that they are sitting still and 'listening intelligently you may be certain that your end is accomplished, and then you are free to give your whole thought to tlia matter of your speech, and not the manner . of it. i — It is rather amusing to find Enghsh- ] women being called to account for their ; good looks (says tha Lady's Pictorial). ' Miss Gertrude Atherton, the American. I writer, has been telling her countrywomen, : through the medium of an American. ' journal what she thought of Englishwomen as they are represented in smart society, land, having delivered herself of the opinion that they are monotonously alike, she grumbles that none of them have any, ' wrinkles, for the very good reason thatf V they never allow their feelings to be expressed in their faces. Consequently, I says this candid critic, the society beauty is splendidly null, lite a wax doll, antf having no further to go in the social scale she becomes dull. So tar as the wrinkles are concerned the Englishwoman will bear this criticism with equanimity, but the charge of dulness is Jess pleasant to bear. I think, perhaps, she is less painstaking, as Miss Athciton would suggest, than she need be about making herself -socially . attractive. Her position may be assured, it is true, but it would better make for general liveliness if she sometimes, acted as if her reputation as a society leader depended on her vivacity and her gifts as a hostess. — There are people of wide and people cf very limited experience where their fellow-creatures are concerned, but on© and all imagine they are capable of giving a true and accurate opinion of ths tastes and habits of other people in general. The truth of this revealed it-self to nre (remark* "Yetta" in the Liverpool Mercury) when reading + he severe criticisms of certain Aery wise folk (at least, in their own estimation) upon the hteinture that finds favour among young girls of to-day. Whether the supply creates the demand or the demand calls forth a supply is difficult ■ to determine, but certain it is that a, tremendous amount of undesirable reading matter is within the reach of all of us ; but who daie to say there is not plenty of good stuff, too? The effect of the good work so far supersedes that of what, for ■want of a better word, 1 will call rubbish that, given a girl reads a dozen novels with only one good one among them, the other eleven will have faded from her memory in no time, whilst the thoughts . aroused by the good one will long remain. As a means of relaxation when body and mind ajre alike tired, the light, thin, frivolous novel attains its ena, when a deeper work that required concentration would b« absolutely valueless. One critic, who 18 hersslf a wiiter, declares that j girls have not improved from a literary, ' standpoint, and that they are dissatisfied with the sentimental matter that delighted their grandmothers. Sport and hockey f I have apparently taken the place of senti* ! ment. That is not my view of the matter.I1I 1 am of opinion that all girls, whether ' athletic or stay-at-homes, are always senti- ' mental — not to their detriment be iti understood. The hard, matter-of-fact girl, without sentiment, is the exception, and ' not the rule, among our young folk, ano^ long may she remain so ! Why the average

. girl should be judged as devoid of senti--ment is hard to say, certainly her favourite books do not engender that idea. Taking cheap publications, those of the novelette class seem to have about as much senti- _ ment to the page as they can possibly contain, and as we ascend the scale we find .all the books of the widest circulation contain an amount of sentimentality 1 that would vouch for its popularity. The -members of the feminine world have many -more occupations to-day than formerly, which may account for a decrease of favouritism in -the long, slowly-developed story that required so much time to get •through. In our leisure hours we want (something that interests at once, and that, as a rule, we can finish before we _iiave to lay it aside. The morality or - immorality of a work greatly depends | l hpon the temperament of the reader. One person will read a book and see only the beauty, aud another will .only be ''Bt-ruck by the badness. This is a truth " in; which I think many thoughtful persons will agree with me. I . — Court gowns sewn with jewels are the latest extravagance. The fashion Avas ! -set by the Queen's magnificent Coronation ' dress embroidered in a design of diamond fcows, finished willi a wonderful gem-set ' -"lace collar. Lady Suffolk's now famous j " velvet train, sewn with diamonds, has - been a sensation of this season, while 'Lady Tweeddale's beautiful Court gown, ornamented with diamond and pearl roses, and finished with diamond shoulder straps, "represents a fortune. Lady Hood, Lady Marjory Wilson, Lady Ramsey, and Lady Airlie are other ladies who follow _thiseostly fashion, while one great lady has even further, and to match her ;: jewelled gown has shoes embroidered in p- diamonds, rubies, and pearls, which cost "£2OO a pair. — Mrs Hugh Adams, in liondon Opinion. - "^ — "Apropos of the crinoline scare which comes upon us periodically with almost as much regularity as the silly season or '~sea serpent, I must relate a quaint story told me by a gentleman old enough to remember the ' age of steel,' and who was ~ intimately acquainted with the country •parson who preached the sermon he - quoted from. He was the rector of a parish very nearly absorbed into the city of Norwich in these town-spreading times. His church was a very small one, and his congregation a large and fashionable one. The rector was neither narrowminded nor behind the times, and his j taste was catholic enough to embrace even the crinoline of the early sixties. He did not find fault with their appearance, only with the undue space they , usurped. On one memorable Sunday morning he electrified his congregation by discoursing: on the subject. He dealt 1

tenderly with the offending hoop, and began by making a singularly unpractical suggestion, with all ths ignorance of his Avell -meaning masculine mind, to the effect that they might wear these appendages during the week with great eclat, but leave them off on Sundays. Then, when the flutter his audacious suggestion had caused in the dovecots had begun to subside, he declared himself no enemy to but eminently the friend of fashion ; changes of style in dress, he intimated, Avere pleasing to the eye, and excellent for trade — they encouraged ingenuity in Avork and' gave lessons in taste. 'I have no intention of disparaging your crinolines, my friends,' he said benevolently, 'but would rather draw a lesson from them, and wish with all my heart that your virtues may be as large as your skirts, and your vices as small as your Avaists.' " — "'Hebe," in the Gentlewoman. — Mrs Dick-Cunninghame, the widow of the late distinguished Victoria Cross hero, has received 210 end of kindly sympathy from the King and Queen, and she is frequently invited to dine Avith them. All the members of the Royal Family have a great regard for her, especially the Battenbergs. At the great ball in honour of the coming-out of Princess Ena, Mrs Dick-Cunninghame Avas one of the very feAV untitled people present.