LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2734, 8 August 1906, Page 64

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Princess Henry of Battenberg has said good-bye to her only daughter, and is spending a little time at Xissengen before taking up the threads of her life in England again. One does not require the gift of much imagination to realise* how that parting at La Granja must have" wrung .the heart of the elder woman. (For Queen Victoria of Spain there is youth and love, the dazzling excitement of. her new position, the feeling that ' the world lies smiling before her. The griefs of 18 years ace not intense, especially when there are such compensations as King Alfonso's bride , enjoys. But for thfc mother it is different. She realises, as the girl cannot, that between the Queen of Spain and the Princess of England the gulf is great, and that it must inevitably widen. Etiquette, religion, and private duties,' time, and opportunity are all against mother and daughter seeing much of each othev. When they lfieet .things can never be as they wore. No one realises better than Princess Henry of Battenberg that she has lost her daughter. The life of Queen Victoria's youngest child has been so continually oneof service and sacrifice for those to Her, one in which duty and 1 discipline have always been the words best understood, and self has had -no - p&ice ; «o joyless a life, for the most part, that her -last sorrow finds her accustomed and brave. But, all the same, it is hard. — I have seeD innumerable instances of chivalry from 1 one child to another, from an elder boy to a younger,, -from children towards animals ; it is amongst women of j the upper-middle class thatone cannot help ( observing a lack of chiyalry. How very; i very rarely one woman pays another any tribute of respect or courtesy ! How rarely one sees a young woman go outside an omnibtfs to let an older one have her place inside, or change her seat outside so that two friends may eit together ! This absence of chivalry is not so noticeable amongst the lower classes. — The Gentlewoman. —An interesting report on the manufacture of Jace by the " women of Greece, accompanied by photographs of exquisite patterns of ancient origin as well as of modern design, has been furnished by , COIIBUI GreOrgO Horton.^ -The history of this industry began, in sadness and grief, .but, nurtered wisely and generously, it has grown to be a source of comfort and independence to many poor Grecian women. Destitute Thessalian .refugees flocked into Athens after the war -with -Turkey was ended, about eight years ago, and Lady Edgerton, wife of the British Minister, pitying their oondition, undertook to set them at work. These women, with scarcely an exception,* knew how to weave on hand looms, and largely made their own cloths. The -embroidery on the skirts of the peasant women and on the sleeves of their jackets convinced Lady Edg«rton that they possessed a talent 'for embroider- ' ing ; also, that the talent for lace-making i that seems latent in- every woman whether she realises it or rot, dwelt in their skilful fingers. Thus were started the present royal schools of needlework; By the timj the Thessalians, heartened and helped, were ready to return to their old home, c nucleus of Athenians had become interested in the work, and had taken it up. The ] Athens school, in which these modern Penelopes weave their beautiful webs, is J a gi£tof the King, who is a»constant bene- , factor of this enterprise; the .ground also j was donated. There are schools now at Corinth, Ithaca, Salonica, and a large school in Crete, "as well as many other -places. Princess Helena is the patroness of these schools, and devotes several mornings of each week to personally supervising them. Greek embroidery is distinctive from that of any other country in its superior quality and in the beauty of its designs, which, always have a certain historic interest because they are derived from the patterns in use among the islanders, from the mural decorations in the ancient Mycensean and Cretan palaces, and from the paintings, on vases. In all about 1000 girls are given employment. *— When you say a pleasant thing to a. neighbour, be certain that it is a pleasant thing, else don't say it. Some people's compliments leave a bad taste behind. "Dear child, how wonderfully you've impioved," is the sort of thing to leave unsaid, however honourable your intentions. I Th-3 suggestion of past d »:iencies that it I qoj^vevj m.ust needs be unpalatable -to

"dear child." It is nev«? acceptable to the loyal-minded to be told he's th© cleverest member of his family. A tribute at the expense of one's best and dearest is valueless. "I never imagined you could look so well," is little short of offensive "You're looking ten years younger since your trip," to a spinster of uncertain years, forces the inference that she lo»ks at least ten years older for comfort under ordinary circumstances. A person in black never feels quite comfortable to be told that you ar-? sure she appears to best advantage in white or colours, nor is it entirely agreeable to be informed "you look so stylish, I really didn't know you I" — Apropos of the young Spanish Queen's new title of Queen of Jerusalem, this designation is also claimed by Princess Cristofero, a lady who lives quietly in West Kensington, is married to an i Englishman, and whose sons are in the English army. Yet she claims— and it is said that she can prove her right — to be Queen of Jerusalem and Empress of Byzantium, together with some dozen or ! so of sub-titles. Princess Cristofero keeps up a certain state, ' although she is far from rich. .It would be difficult for the passer-by to imagine that in one of those uniform Earl's Court drawing rooms an Empress was holding her court. Yet Princess Cristofero receives her adherents' seated on a dais and with a canopy above her head. The members of the various royalist societies know her well. She attends the special services at the old chapel of St. Mary-in-the-Wardrobe in the city, and heads- the Jacobite proceßsion which once a yeas* deposits wreaths on the statue of Charles I. The late Queen Victoria is said to have received Princess Cristofero with ' quasi-regal honours when on one occasion she went to Windsor Castle. — Vanity Fair. j — A good story is told about an awkward mistake made by the present Lord ! Selby. On Jubilee Day Mr Speaker Gully, as he then was, assembled many distinguished friends around him at his . official residence in the Houses of Parlia- ' ment, and, dispensing hospitality, induced his wife to sit down, and poured out a glass of champagne for her and another for himself. He was called away for a | minute or two, and, on -returning, placed , his hand, as he supposed, on his wife's shoulder, remarking, jocosely : "I want my champagne; J can't trust it with you!" The lady~turned her head, with amazement, and the startled Speaker saw : that he was addressing that most earnest , teetotal advocate, Lady Henry Somerset. — The death is announced of Lady Sandhurst, who' was born in 185&r was a daughter of the fourth Earl Spencer and a half-sister to the present peer? Her father was Lord Chamberlain from 1846 to 1848, andr at the time or her birth was Lord Steward, of the Household. She was a goddaughter* of her late Majesty, whose names of Victoria Alexandrina she bore. Hes we'ddirfg, with Lord Sandhurst, who had been in. the Coldstream Guards and was at that time a Lord-in-Waiting to the Queen, took place: in July, 1881,* and. was one of the_ most . brilliant of a very brilliant season. Their present Majesties, as Prince and Princess of Wales, were present, as were the Duke and Duchess ot Teck. Queen Victoria's gifts included a superb pendant of gold, diamonds, and enamel encircling a -miniature portrait, and having a large pearl drop, and a rare Indian shawl, while that of -the Prince and Princess was a very fine Chippendale writing table. Lord Sandhurst retained his position in the royal household until 1885, and was subsequently ap- I pointed Under-secretary of State for War, Lady Sandhurst, of course, bearing her full, share in the social duties of his position. —•It has been noted that nearly all the European Kings have Consorts who are taller than themselves. Princess Ena is so much taller than the King of Spain | that when they are standing to be taken i by the camera the art of the photographer is exercised in many a cierer a«vice to , bring their heads ob a level. The Queen | of Italy towers above her King ; and the I stately Queen of Portugal gains addedi state when betide her husband's jovial face and figure. The Tsaritsa is ia every respect built on a more noble seals than her husband, and the Princess of Wales looks more robust as well as taller than the Prince. This seems to show that there is some degree of "natural eelec- j tion," as Mi- Darwin would have called it, , even in the weddings that are so much I matters of State as those of. Kings and heirs to thrones. The. little woman, "just as high as my heart," is not in fashion nowadays ; and Queer-a, Princesses, and Duchesses are all as notably affected by this modern taste as their less important sisters. Who* that saw it will ever forget the stately height and consequent dignity of the four Duchesses who bore Queen Alexandra's Coronation canopy? — A great sensation has been caused in aristocratic circles by the discovery of an enormous quantity of stolen silver in Sehloss Basedow, Mecklenburg, the residence of a Prince and Princess. A servant who had been dismissed made the accusation to the police in Berlin, and a, detective was sent to search the castle. Silver dishes, cruets, spoone, and other silver goods were found packed away in boxes, all the things bearing the name of first-class Continental hotels. The affair will take a good deal of clearing up._ — An article in the London Daily Tele-i graph on "American Business Women," tells how 1 , in these days of big .enterprises . and big salaries in the United States, women are often heavily touched with the unrest and craving of the time, and how those who are making most money are, like most of bhe rich men of the country, self-made, and began on the lowest rung of the ladder. The successful are those who have proved themselves to possess more than ord-inary business ability. They have shown themselves to possess more than ordinary business ability. They have shown themselves to be tactful, re- I sourceful, and, above all, so "closemouthed," nothing in relation to the misi- j ness ia which they are concerned 1 becom-

' ing known to the outside world through even a word or look. In- the great steel companies, from which Mr Carnegie and other Americans have 'derived so many 'nillions, there are women- employees trusted; with important business secrets, and whose work and discretion are adequately paid for, not -only by large salaries, but by special gifts and opportunities of buying stock on peculiarly advantageous terms. One of the formidable antagonists of th« Standard Oil Company is Miss Ida Tarbell, v whose writings exposed many of the methods of that corporation which it least* desired to see £n print, and she has made a fortune out of her articles. Women insurance agents are all over the country, and make "a very good thing out >f it," wiile very prosperous are those who show themselves enterprising in the business ■'of advertising. ' — It seems that the level of smartness is rising so rapidly that one is no longer well dressed unless one is in -^ position to expend enormous sums for- one's costumes. For the dresses which, compose the spring season the tailor-made costumes and the costumes in woollen, cloth furnish delightful models. ' Though these tuffsare, as a rule/ fun of^fiheß, checks, sjots, etc., they ire very sober in -colour and of dull shades,, as%if they were faded 11 — tonea which we find ' in. antique stuffs. The-tailor-made costume, for the spring ojf 1906 preserves the thinness and flatness ot the hips, but exaggerates v th& width below by /flounces en forme, or skilful pip- " ing. This allows .of the- addition to th& lower part of the skirt of some imperceptible stitching' which forms godete, thus giving the illusion of «a reversed lily. M is proposed to bring into fashion, when the season is a« its height, mantle in j veiling and white lawn, with insertions . of valuable guipure or applications of pre- ! cious laoe. These have the appearance and the flou of a teagown. These gar-, ments, on account of their lightness, can- : not be any great protection against tb* cold, 1 and on account of their fragility are more susceptible of damage than the dresses they cover. They are, therefore, only one luxury the more We need no1 call them mantles, but coquetteries. ~"My wife always said her books balanced all right, and once 6he showed me how neatly she' kept' them, and how nicely she put in the balance with red ink i and how carefully she ruled the lines. i Once she left the books on her -desk, and I just iook them up without* thinking. They looked fine! Pretty soon I noticed 'G.K.W7 in many places in the housekeeping account, ana occasionally "in ' her private«account. I thought over all the things those initials, might mean — 'Girls' kick "work/ meaning she *had,to hire extra lelp, or 'Got; kimono washed.' But the amount .paid, was tfl?»ay« tod small. She .came in, and I said that I had been look* ■ing- at her boo t ks. . 'Yea,' she said 1 , serenely. Then I told her that 1 did^want'to ktiow the meaning of those initials, and *the colour came into her cheeks as it did vrlten she came down tne aisle at church on our wedding day. 'Oh, John,' she said, 'I wish you-* hadn't looked. I hate to tell' 1 you. \ But, you see, it is so difficult to remember what one spends, and ''sundries" and "profit and loss" looks so careless. Well, I might as well tell you ! G.K. W. means "Goodness knows what" I spent that wretched money for.'" — The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess Cyril of Russia ,have been making a tour _in the Austrian Tyrol. Although not yetj 30, this royal lady, has had a dramatic; career. Born Princess Victoria' Melitft of Saxe-Coburg, she is a daii'ghtei of the late Duke, -and a niece >of his Majesty the King. "When only 17, she wedded her | couein, the Grand Duke of Hesse, "but thai; marriage was dissolved, and she is now i the- wife of the Grand Duke Cyril of ' Russia. Her first name, Victoria, indi- { cates that she was a goddaughter of the i late Sovereign, and her second, Melita,' I marks the fact that _ehe was born in' I Malta. She is, however, Jcnown t6»liei! I intimates as "Ducky." Among iier chosen I friends is Miss Toupie Lowther, of Loni don, the charming champion lady fencer of the world. The Grand Duchess- Cyrir ia a handsome woman,."dresse6 well, has" a* , ready wit, and is extremely bright and amusing. She is keen on s_port, .slioots straight with gun, rifle, and revolver^ ia a splendid w whip," drives J tandem and j four-in-hand, is a fine horsewoman, and, in the old days, u^ed to ride -at the head - lof her own regiment of cavalry. Then §he has many gifts and graces, is musical j sings well, and shows decided taste -as Ef* piamste and composer. And she Has a' taste for art, excels in flower-paint ing ; and some of her pictures have been exhibited I in London.

— The decline in the number of marriages is assigned to many causes, not th«" least of which is the independence of women, which endangers" a feeling of good fellowship between the sexes in place of the reverent ial_ attitude of the prospective husband. "" In the opinion of many women writers, the. old-fashioned gallantry, and the old-fashioned chivalry is .rapidly on the decline. _ Woman's prominence in the world of has led to a greater camaraderie between man and: woman, but' it has done away with the .troubadour -.style of lover, and with the carpe^knight who was for ever picking up his lady's glor« and concealing it in his breast. AU that was very pretty as far "as it went,~but if did, not go far. _ The troubadour 6ang beneath a great number of windows, and the carpet knight probably had so.laxg*.

a collection of gloves that he would have a difficulty in remembering the names of their respective owners. Gallantry is an excellent thing in man, as coquetry is in a woman. *But the woman is wise who wait* to find out 'how much real man exists under the veneer of gallantry before sHe gives her Ufe into his keeping; and the man is wise who waits until he finds the * real woman beneath the coquette* mask before he entrusts fo her his name and bis honour. We cannot imagine anything in the course of human, events that •would materially affect the attraction' of the sexes. So -long as men and women exist they will h£ drawn together by that subtle and mysterious fascination which ie called by so many names. It is a pity to see a woman too matter-of-fact in her association with man, and it does not -encourage the growth of chivalry when men treat her more like a -"good fellow" thai a possible sweetheart. It greatly depends on woman's attitude to restore - something of man's gallantry. She can ' -progress as fast as ene chooses, ajid still keep him a chivalrous cavalier, if she has the tact and the desire, for in the main men always thing of women as they desire to be thought of. — Lady writer in Home paper. "