LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 73

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Discontent .rith the conditions of her life, which appears to her to be so aimless, makes the young girl long to take up some profession which will bring her more into the world and into the ' society of man. It is surely no sign of immodesty in a girl that she should wish occasionally to see something of the other sex, and in this way obtain chances of marriage. — Englishwoman's Review. — Lady CoJebrooke, famous alike for her beauty, accomplishments, and skill as a political hostess, possesses a wonderfully ! complete carpenters and wood-carving I shop at Abingtou, Lanarkshire. Here she has not only turned out some clever pieces of "\york, but has also taught; some, of the village girls on hei« husband's estate how to fashion wood by hammer and chisel. Lady Colebrooke is a clever 6eulptor too, and shares with her pusVand a love of all that is artistic and beautiful. ♦—It is absurd to suppose tjiat an edur cated ladjj to Mjj nothing of I jbußffi^s

woman wfi'o has founded or who carries on a successful enterprise or trading concern, much lees a woman who has become a member of a learned profession, cannot vote for a member of Parliament as intelligently as an ignorant farm or casual labourer in a city who possesses a lodger's vote. — Queen. — Someone once asked & woman how it was she kept her youth so wonderfully. Her hair was snowy white, she was 80 years old, and her energy was waning ; but she never impressed one with the idea of age, for lier heart was still young in sympathy and interests. And this was her answer : " I knew how to forget disagreeable things. I tried to master the art of saying pleasant things. I did not expect too much of my friends. I kept my nerves well in hand, and did not allow them to bore other people. I tried to find any work that came to hand congenial. " — Woman. — The bachelor (writes Ella Hepworth. Dixon in the Lady's Pictorial) is attractive to old and young because the very fact that he does not owe legal allegiance to one woman surrounds bim with a hfllo of fascination, an atmosphere of possible romance. Though the " confirmed bachelor " is apt to retain his un wedded state until death overtakes him, hope springs eternal in the truly womanly breast, and there is no specimen of the tribe who is not pursued by feminine attentions, even though he may have reached the Biblical term of" human life. The astute woman, however, knows better than to spoil a

I charming baohelor-friend by marrying him. It is, indeed, the suave hand of the unmarried masculine guest which often smoothes the waves of angry conjugal waters. — The supposed liberty ghen to ladies to make proposals of marriage during leap year without incurring the reproach of unwomanly immodesty is an eminently humorous institution. To begin with, the privilege does not really exist, nor can it, unless women should become the bread- • winners of the household to a far greater extent than at present. The commercial, or perhaps we should say economic, instinct of humanity is formulated in the familiar adage that' those who pay the piper can call the tune. So true is this saving that the women who have proposed to their husbands formally, or have done most of the wooing themselves, without incurring discredit, or those who have been distinctly superior in wealth or position. A Queen is entitled to ask for the hand of a Prince Con&ort ; and a merry widow can chase and capture the man of her choice by virtue of her millions, without first consulting the calendar. — World. — Those who labour under the impression that the talk about women's rights, woman suffrage, and so forth is an outgrowth of recent years in the Old Country are sadly mistaken. In the Northampton, Mercury for August 11, 1832, occurs the following account of what took place in the House of Commons on August 3 of that year t "Mr Hunt presented: a petition from a lady of fortune and family, who is also a single lady, praying that she might be admitted to a share of the representation, Her name was Mary Smith, of Stanmore, in York. She said that females were only kept-in thraldom among barbarians and heathen nations, but in this country, which had risen to so high a pitch of civilisation, such restrictions should be abolished. She complained that females were amenable to the laws and liable to be punished for their crimes, while they were tried by judges and juries of \h.& opposite sex ; they should therefore be allowed to sit upon juries. Vk »hoj£ A |bft grayed that unmarried - fe-

vZlles of mature age should be put os H fating of equality with the male M 9& Mr Hunt read the petition amid shouts oo laughter from all sides of tEe Houee.'?: Surely Mary Smith, -who could state be? case so cogently and reasonably, should! be regarded as the pioneer of the mctTfh ment of equality of the sexee. — Having for long been a queen 08 beauty, Baroness yon Sohwitaer could not bear the thought of growing old and ugly, bo she committed suicide. The baroness Was the daughter of 8 Roumanian shopkeeper, and was married at 16 to j» wealthy Russian, Count Taliewitch, who was captivated by her remarkable beauty. After a* married life of 24 years, thiei count died, leaving his widow a fortune of over £1,000,000. Of late the barbnesV, who recently passed her fiftieth: year, and had always been very proud If her rt-. markable beauty, had become very melancholy owing to the fact that the ravages of time were becoming more' and mor^ evident. So greatly did the loss of W beauty prey on her mind that she attempted to poison herself. The effort failed, but she "was^ determined on selfdestruction and obtained a revolver, with! which she blew out her brains. She. left a letter stating that she could not bear to survive hersgood looks. — Roj^al infants are attracting a great; share of the public attention just- now. Mothers and babies are most alluring to the average sightseer, and a royal baby appears to them in the light of something specially important. In a sense, $1 royal child is not like any other. From? ite birth it is surrounded by an atmo- , sphere ot publicity ; it is taught to regulate its emotions, its actions, and its speech within the iron bounds of etiquette. From its very cradle it is the focus of all eyes, the centre of attraction. Such an unhealthy condition of things one would think likely to be fatal t6 modesty and simplicity, and yet the royal child is, as a rule, brought up more strictly and more simply than any other. Queen Victoria's humble toys, her homely and unadorned bedroom, and- the quiet black dress displayed at Kensington Palace show; how plainly the future ruler of the kingdom was educated, ard in her memoirs and letters we may read sundry allusions to the drastic amd domestic discipline in which her children were brought "up. They, were taught to .do most things for them- [ selves, to be polite to their - inferiors and I courteous to their servants, and' to speak ! with all due dignity and grace. Queen Victoria's curtsey was the admiration of her contemporaries, as was also the ele» I gance of her dancing, and what old-: fashioned people call deportment. Tho laisser aller of our present manners would! have been abhorrent to the trainer of a' royal child, who was taught to suppress! its emotions, to stand when it was tired', to speak agreeably when it was bored, and "sit still when it was fidgety.—Ladyj Violet Greville, in the Graphic —Mr and Mrs George Coats are evk dently not superstitious, for their newlyacquired house in Hill street has been fax) from lucky to its two previous owners. The Duke of Newcastle sold it to Mr< Ansell, and was robbed of a large part of the purchase money, and Mr Ansell spent a second fortune in reconstructing and redecorating it, and died before ha could move in. Hill street houses are not/ remarkable, as a rule, but this is an exoeption, and the huge dining room* opening on to a marble-paved loggia andi adorned with the choicest work of Italian' artists, the Louis Seize ballroom and re-. ception rooms, the exquisite boudoir, thai Empire suite, the sunk baths of marble, the fireplaces of uncommon design, and! the many pieces of fine tapestry go to-s wards the making of a veritable palace., The owner of all this magnificence is onei of the sewing-cotton princes, of Paisley, and his town house hitherto has been ir» Park lane. It is pretty, but too smalji for the parties Mrs George Coats gives.. Her concerts are usually the best of thd( season, and Melba and Caruso, Kubeliki and Paderewski are among those who help! to entertain her guests. At one concert! the platform was curtained off by draperies made of orchids. Glen Tana, in" Aberdeentfhire, is another magnificent setting for her hospitalities. Of her two daugters, one is the future Lady Waleran, the other the delightful original of Mjp Sergeant's "M-aud" in the Academy ofi 1906.—P. T. O.