LADIES’ GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3115, 26 November 1913, Page 65

LADIES’ GOSSIP.

The decision of the Empress Eugenie not to travel last summer led many people in London to jump to the conclusion that this remarkable lady was in failing health. As a- matter of fact, her Majesty, who is now in her 88th year, is enjoying exceptionally good health, but preferred the quietness of her home at Farnborough Hill to the sea trip in the Mediterranean, which she has indulged in regularly for the past few years: The Empress, by the way, has the affection of all English people, if for no other reason than -that she gave her son, the gallant and handsome Prince Imperial, to England. —ln memory of the late. Lady Curzon, a women’s hostel has been erected in King’s Cross road, London, W.C. In the hall is a tablet inscribed: “This building, to be known as the Mary Curzon : Hostel, was erected in 1913 by the relatives and friends of. a woman tender-hearted and beautiful, who in. her short life sought to make the lives of women happier in many lands. Mary-Victoria, wife of Lord Curzon, of Kedleston. Born 1870; died 1906.” The lady referred to was the eldest daughter of the late Levi Zeigler Leiter, the American millionaire. She married Lord Curzon in 1895, and left him with two daughters: • , ■ , —Miss Haldane, who accompanied her brother,' Lord Haldane, to the States, is one of the cleverest and most cultured women of the period. .She acts also- as the Lord Chancellor’s right hand, much as Miss Balfour did to Mr Arthur Balfour, and as did Lady Guendoleh Cecil to the late Lord Salisbury. Miss Haldane is a B.A. of Girton, writes well, reads widely, and is a first-rate woman of business. She does most exquisite needlework, and has reproduced some beautiful pieces of embroidery. Spinning is another of her interests. She owns her own spinningwheel, encourages the industry among the peasants on the family estates in Perthshire, and is responsible for a number of designs of Scotch tweeds, which in the woollen business are known as the Haldane patterns. Her work in the formation of the Territorial force can never be overestimated, as she made a campaign which lasted several weeks, and ofen spoke three or four times a day on behalf of the movement. - Alex. Taylor, his daughter. Miss A. Cameron Taylor, relates an amusing example of the British habit of conferring nicknames. Jn the Punjab service, we are told, were three popular brothers, named Bean. One of these., Leonard, who was of substantial build, was known as “Broad Bean.” His brother, John, who had lived on the Continent, and had charming manners, was called “French Bean.” The third, Charles, “who was of a melancholy and retrospective temperament, and finally died,” was dubbed “Has Been.’’