ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3097, 23 July 1913, Page 67

ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

DERBY June 7. Blue skies, radiant sunshine, and the singing of birds have marked the advent of June. The red and white May, the lilac, tire yellow mimosa, the white chestnut blooms have not yet gone, while roses and geraniums and numberless other flowers are making glad the earth of England’s .joytime. This year the past month has been indeed “the sweet o’ the year.” And in no other country are the scents of the spring so fragrant. The meadows and woods and hedgerows have a perfume of their own; tire resin of pines, the scent of clover and hay—happy are they this June whose lot is far from the madding crowd. But this is Derby Week, and hundreds of thousands have added themselves to London's millions, and all through June and July this will be the city of the world. To-day the London season does not mean that the great county families are come to town; it means that “all the world and hie wife” are here; the rich and the noble and the great from all the earth making holiday together. And London this season is in its most alluring guise—a- brilliant moving spectacle of wealth and luxury.

The King's levee on Monday attracted thousands to the vicinity of Buckingham Palace, loitering in the sunshine oi the Mall and St. James's Park, watching the arrivals in their uniforms and robes and levee dress.

The trooping of the colours on the Horse Guards’ .parade on * the King’s Birthday was a brilliant spectacle. It was one of the loveliest days of the year, and the smartest summer g’ovvns and millinery were seen on all sides. The Queen were a gown of pale blue, embroidered in tiny steel beads; Princess Mary was in pale salmon pink; Queen Alexandra and her sister, the Empress Marie of Russia, were both in black; and Princess Victoria in fawn and grey. Princess Henry of Bat--tenberg was accompanied .by her son Prince Alexander; the Duchess of Albany wore heliotrope silk of a deep shade; Princess Patritia of Connaught looked charming in a cream toilet. With her was her sister the Crown Princess of Sweden. London was gay with hags, and his Majesty received congratulations on his forty-eighth birthday from all parts of the world.

It was a superb afternoon for the theatrical garden party, the great stage fete that is given every year in aid of the Actors’ Orphanage Fund, and the beautiful grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital were crowded from 2 till 6, while stars of the stage gave of themselves generously to entertain their guests. Miss Phyllis Broughton’s . hat-trimming and hair-dress-ing exhibition was provocative of great fun. Madame Pavlova, from a rosedeCorated rickshaw, made £9O in three hours selling signed photographs and lily of the valley perfume; she herself made a picture in creamy silk and a flower, hat. The most charming toilets were worn of the lightest and flimiest materials suitable for the warm dav.

The Princess Royal was present at the fete, with her daughters the, Duchess of Fife and Princess Maud.

The same afternoon a large and distinguished congregation gathered at the Guards’ Chapel, Wellington Barracks, where a notable military wedding took place, the bride being the youngest and only unmarried daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Lincolnshire and the bridegroom, Lieutenant Xigol LeggeBourke, sou of Sir Henry Legge, Equerry to the King. Queen Alexandra, who honoured the wedding with her presence, wore black, with a long diamond chain, and pearl ornaments. Princess Victoria's toilet was of grey, the dress of soft broche. The dresses of the ladies of the congregation were very/ charming in all the beautiful colours of this season of colours; but the chief attraction was, of course, the bride and her maids, and they made a charming group. The bride wore a -lovely dress of soft white satin and 'gold covered with filmy tuTle. Her veil of cobwebby old lace was fastened with a spray of orange blossom. There were eight bridesmaids, four of whom were little girls, who wore white frocks of muslin with blue sashes, and wreaths of forget-me-nots fastening white tulle veils. The bridegroom and best man wore full-dress uniform cf the Coldstream Guards. After the ceremony Lady Lincolnshire held a reception at Prince’s Gate, where the handsome and numerous presents were on view.

owerdig J etnoin shrill cmfwy vbgkqvbv The appearance of Queen Alexandra at several social functions this season has given great pleasure, and it is said that her sister, the Dowager Empress of Russia, who is paying the Queen-Mother a long visit, is anxious that her Majesty should take her place again in society. Queen Marv would greatly like her support in court functions.

Derby Day of 1913 has been pronounced the most sensational on record The favourite won, and was afterwards disqualified. Never before has a suffragette interfered with the great race. Epsom Downs was the world’s holiday centre this year. Never has there been seen such a crowd. From the King and Queen of the Empire, to the tramp who set off afoot the night before and slept by the way under the stars, all conditions and estates of men and women were included. The Queen wore a charming toilet, the dress of white veiled in dark blue with hat covered with shaded peonies. Princess Victoria of >* I— w:r wore a charming costume u two shades of blue : the Duchess uf T- k wore whif.* and black; the Crown Pvim-v-- of Sweden, a corn-coloured dre-v. w.;b black _ hat Everv scat c? the ladies’ balcony in the

(Specially Written for the Witness Ladies' Page.)

WEES. Jockey Club’s stand was occupied, and each box of the grandstand and the Paget I stand had its distinguished party. The j sjoene in the paddock between 2 and | 3 o’clock was a memorable one. The toilets, though not so smart as they twill be at Ascot two weeks hence, if it is fine, were very smart and summery. The j roses are two weeks ahead of the season j this year - , and so are the dresses, j It was at the moment of the tensest | excitement when the great race was being 1 run, and 100,000 eyes and hopes were following the rushing horses — that the Suffragette incident occurred that : sent a thrill of horror through the startled

' crowd. | The great ball of this week of gaieties ! was the Versailles ball, held last night at the Albert Hall, and at which the Queen was present. It was one of those gorgeous and monster affairs that give the illusion of being in a past age of luxurious ; splendour when all the great of Europe are met together in gala attire. From midnight till dawn the glories of the : vanished Court of Roi Solc.il were resurrected in aid of the Soldiers and Sailors’ Help Society For weeks all the costumiers have been working night and day with their orders, and the scene passed anticipations in magnificence. The setting of the vast hall was most chaste, and threw into relief the gleaming, glittering costumes, the decorations being white and gold, with the Royal Louis monogram and the fleur-de-lys of France surmounted by the French banner. Before King Louis XIV, who, in the splendour of his Court robes, was seated on a dais of blue and gold, there passed in processions, in which the greatest families of England and France were represented, the different Courts of Europe of 1680. It was a magnificent sight. Queen Alary, who arrived shortly after 11 o’clock, was escorted to the Royal box, which was converted into a bower of orchids. A number of royalties accompanied the Queen, the ladies being beautifully dressed and wearing fine jewels. Her-Majesty looked radiant in a gown of blue satin, with a diamond tiara and many wonderful jewels. King Louis XIV was represented by the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and at a fanfare of trumpets the French Court was heralded, and passed in proces-, sion before him. A master of the ceremonies, in cloth of gold and wig of curls, followed by the guard, led the way for the courtiers, who were exquisitely dressed in the costliest satins and velvets and laces and plumed hats and jewels. Among the women famous for their beauty were Lady Curzon, Lady Lytton, and Lady Diana Manners. The strains of a German march ushered in the Court of Brandenburg, composed of fine men and handsome women. The Countess Blueher (who is a lovely woman) represented the Great Klectress, and her train was borne by genuine Virginian pages, carrying out the history of the Great Elector importing a number of Africans to Virginia from the Guinea Coast who were used as pages by the settlers. The Countess wore a gorgeous dress of black and gold brocade, and wonderful jewels. Another beautiful woman of this Court was Baroness Kuhlmann, of the German Embassy, who wore a robe of gleaming copper satin, with priceless gems. Lady Drogheda, as the Empress Eleanor of the Holy Roman Empire, was another notable figure in a. dress and train of cloth of gold, with a diamond crown. Lord Drogheda was Emperor Leopold 1. Mine. Edwards, wife of the Chilian Minister, represented the Archduchess Maria Antonia. The Court of Denmark and Norway was headed by huntsmen leading on the leash two splendid Danish hounds. The Courts of Spain and Russia followed, all ablaze with jewels. As each Court passed the King of France the ladies and gentlemen made low ohehence. The Court of Spain war, magnificent in Velczquez costumes. The Court of Sweden was picturesquely depicted by a group of fair men and women. An Embassy from China was characteristic, a painted escort accompanying a palanquin. The Court of Turkey, with the banner of the Crescent, the Court of the Doge of Venice, and lastly, and perhaps the most splendid of all, the Court of Charles 11. The King was impersonated to the life by Captain Harry Lindsey, and there was a long retinue of the beautiful and famous women of the “Merry Monarch’s’ time. Mrs Henry Lindsey impersonated Xell Gwyn; Mrs de Winton was Lady Castlema.in, Lady Evelyn Cotterell was the Duchess of Portsmouth. These and other famous beauties were marvellously attired. Lady Downshire, as Mary of Orange in the Court of Holland, wore a dress absolutely lovely, both in design and texture, of white and gold hr’ocade, which was ( woven by hand at Spittalfields, and which won first prize at the Paris Exhibition. , The petticoat was of white satin lace em--1 hroidered in pearls, the robe edged with ermine. Lady Constance Annesley’s dress, of the same Court, was another lovely : creation of blue and white striped gauze, I and Venetian red brocade embroidered ! with gold. After the gorgeous march past ' space was cleared for the great Russian dancer, Mme. Pavlova, and M. Novikoff, | who danced a minuet before the as- ; semhled “Courts.” Afterwards Queen ’ Mary left, and the general dancing o? the . ball began. ; One turns from the contemplation of | those scenes of gaiety to another side of j the life of the women of England, with a sharp sense of coni vast. The latest ! news of Mi - P. ■■’ .i' tL Suffragette who slopped King s horse tn tie- : : Derby, is that Ja L ,-L . bring urn-on- j j scions at the f ci;u," Hospital at (•.(>. ~m i j “he King’s jo- •••■, win, fr.-.c-t urecl a rib j j and bruised ids -mm by the fall, was con- *

veyed home, and is doing well. Miss Davison is a graduate of the London University, and joined the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1906. She has been an enthusiastic worker, well known in Suffragist circles, where her precarious position is causing much concern. Giving way to the determination of the Suffragists and public not to be debarred of free speech, the police are desisting from tlieir persecution of speakers in the park, with the result that last Sunday the hooligans lost their occupation of illtreating the women, and several women made speeches, which were listened to with close attention, especially the speech of a woman from Poplar, who referred to the terrible conditions of the working \vomen of England, for whose sake the Suffragists are fighting. “Some of you young gentlemen wear tucked shirts. I see,” said the woman from Poplar. “Do you know 7 that there are women where I come from making those shirts for lOd a dozen, finding their own thread ? You’re very proud, some of you, of those stickup collars of yours. You think they give you a right to knock the Suffragists about, don’t you? Well, I know women and girls ironing those collars for 2d a dozen, by steam power, so as they can’t stop a second, or else it spoils the cloth. Oughtn’t that to make the sweat come off your brows with shame? I’ll tell you about a girl who came in to see me last night. ‘You’re a Suffragette,’ she says to me; ‘ so’s my mother. My mother, she says my conditions ought to make me into a Suffragette, too.’ I’ll tell you men what her conditions are—that is, if you are men.” (A Voice; “There’s a few of us about, mum!”) “This girl fills tins with pepy>er, seals them up, and labels them. She gets Is for doing 242 tins, and it takes her a whole day to earn that shilling. And all the time she has to stop up her nostrils with plugs, and breathe through her mouth. How long do you suppose she-’ll live with that stuff going into her lungs? I tell you, the Suffragettes are teaching women to think ” —(A Voice; “Aye, that’s the trouble — when women begin to think!”) —“and they’re not going to be slaves any longer!”—(Loud applause.) “One o’ you chaps began* talking about the Empire just now. My little girl came running in to me on Empire Day, and wanted an Empire flag to wave. I gave her a Suffragette flag, p.nd she said it made the

boys laugh at her. ‘ Never mind that,’ I says to her. ‘ They laugh at your mother, too; but you tell them we’re Suffragettes because we want to make things better every bit as much for the boys as the girls.’ Empire, indeed ! I’ll tell you what I saw on Empire Day, down the court where I live:—a little boy, so thin yon could almost see through him, without shoes or stockings, and so ragged you could see his poor little flesh shining through his clothes —and him running along and shouting, ‘Empire! Empire!’ with a Union Jack in his hand. ‘ Yes,’ I says to myself, ‘ that poor little chap is what thev mean when they shout Emoire, is it?’ No, we won’t have it! What’s the good of an Empire if it can’t look after its children better than that?” Aii Extraordinary Case. An extraordinary case is being settled in the Paris Law Courts just now, aud settled in an extraordinary way. It is a case of two mothers claiming one child. Each positively insists that the little one is hers. The curious position arose in this way. Two women, Mine. Marechal and Mine. Dumur, each left a child, some six years ago, to the care of the same foster-mother. The other day the festermother was convicted of cruelty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment. The judge decided to return the various children who had been under her care To their parents.. All were returned but one, a little girl of six, named Stephanie. She was claimed by both lime, Marechal and Mine. Dumur, and the judge was faced with the problem of finding out which was the real mother. The child herself could not 1 elp to solve the puzzle. She had not seen her mother, whichever she was, for six years, and did not recognise either of the two women who claimed her. Then M Hertillon, the great authority on linger prints came forward and offered to help. He explained that, in his opinion, the general character of fingerprints is handed down from mother to daughter. He offered to make a minute examination of the finger-prints of the child, aud of the two women who claimed her. If, he said, the child's finger-prints strongly resembled those of one of the two claimants, it would he safe to assume that she was the real mother. And he is busy now making this minute examination. A Mule-Pack iloiieyuHX’ii. The Countess de Lasteyrie, who was Miss- Constance Warren, daughter of George Henry Warren, and niece of the late Mrs Robert Gcelct. of Newport and New York, is the first bride in her ultrafashionable set to have a mule-pack honeymoon. With the Count, who is a descendant of General Lafayette, and a very prominent young Frenchman himself, the erstwhile Miss Warren has been hunting grizzlies, chasing wildcats and mountain Hons, and riding balky packmules up the mountain trails of California and Colorado. The ruling passion is strong even in death: that it may be equally strong in marriage, and that as the girl is, so the bride will be, is being proved daily by the former Newport belle and athlete. As a girl the Countess had one ruling passion—that of outdoing every other girl, and most men, in strenuous sports. She outswam, outrode. and outwalked every girl in Newport except Miss Eleonora Sears, and few men were her superiors. Miss Warmi r.uii.t ■ Lasteyrie had a per-f-cfly conNcrdioiia! wedding ceremony, and the In ids'- trousseau was just exactly v.hat any wealthy heiress of fashionable s' ci-ty would want and have. But the bride had determined to go on a wedding-

trip where she could cut loose from convention, where she could wear trousers and shoot things that are wild. So off they went to the wilds of California, and began searching for the real West, where she could get the grizzlies and the lions, and wear the trousers. And she found it, too, in the wildest part of the Sierras, where the trails go straight up or straight down, and trousered girls are not jeered at. Here the couple spent most of their time, alternately chasing or being chased bv mountain lions and brown bears, to the intense joy of the Countess. The Count, apparently, has not taken so kindly to the mountain life, and she fears he is but the product of an effete monarchy because he sighs for the comforts of a New York hotel and the ministrations of a competent valet.