"ALIEN'S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3125, 11 February 1914, Page 67

"ALIEN'S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

HAVING AND December 23. | With Christmas in the air, and the postman’s knock every hour announcing cards, and the New Zealand mail with its budget from old friends recalling memories, it is difficult to concentrate one’s attention for hours running on the attempt to write. “To greet you right heartily and to wish you a happy Christmas” takes one’s mind in the direction of the pinewoods and sea of Bournemouth; and the greeting ! Just wealth enough to free from care, j Just health enough to stand life’s wear, : Just friends enough, faithful and true, j To make life’s path a joy to you. i comes from one who, raving counted 80 Christmas Days, should know what best to wish. “The best of all- that life can give” brings from Cornwall memory of the best of hospitality and beauty shared through one delightful summer holiday. And in memory what a hoard of treasure; gifts that are regiven, love and friendship that stay, though the givers have passed. Looking at these teeming streets of shoppers, one cannot but wonder to whom all the gifts are going, and the pleasure they will take; as the great day approaches the shopping carnival has reached its height. The pavements of Oxford aiid Bond streets have been so congested that it is necessary for the police to regulate their traffic as in the roads. Far as the eye can reach one long queue of people spread out, and it is amazing how the people dispose of themselves or the road traffic can move an inch. One firm reports sending out quite 60,000 packages a day. Yet in all this buying and giving there are some—there are many—whose part in the abundance is only to look on. And these are not all those dressed in rags, but the genteel poor, whose slender means will not stretch beyond fire and daily food; there has been sickness perhaps during the year, or other extra burden that has strained apart the two ends that at the best will barely meet. These are London’s most pitiable poor, who make unsuspected excuses for hospitality proffered because of the shabby suit, the dowdy dress, the fare not forthcoming. That is the meaning of many a “previous engagement”—a previous engagement with poverty and care. They stand, these pale, sad-faced women, gazing at the lavish display in the shop ; windows with quiet patience,. and turn away with a sigh. The men do not stop, ; but hurry on, not daring to gaze and despair. The contrasts of the gay scenes of the West End, with its riot of spending, emphasise the pleasures of the rich. One hundred thousand shoppers a day are calculated to pass through each big shop. The busy, buzzing millions are spending in various degrees; some foolishly and selfishly, most kindly and generously. One little child the other day, when told to choose himself a toy, asked the smiling attendant, “How much is that?” “Six pennies,” was the reply. “And how much is that?” “That costs a sovereign.” “Oh, I’ll pay a sovereign; I can’t afford to spend my pennies!” He knew the value of a penny; he did not understand the meaning of gold. And he is not alone in differentiating between the value of gold and copper. How many are willing to throw the gold of life away, to part with the high-valued coin whose worth is not understood, and cling to ttie copper! Few can say they have always spent well; courage and affection and faith—so much that bears the guinea’s stamp—have been squandered for that wliich is not bread or happiness. If youth but knew how to spend its gold of love, of strength, of effort, of talent, what a store of good for age! But the ignorant and the generous squander give of themselves till their best has gone, pay sovereigns where only copper is due. Among the London shoppers last week was the Queen, Queen Alexandra, Princess Mary, and King Manoel and his bride (who have returned to England). The Queens were very busy over their several affairs, making numerous purchases at the leading shops, Queen Mary doing quite a lot of shopping without being recognised, but Queen Alexandra’s elegant figure and beautiful face do not pass long without recognition. Vast numbers of Royal gifts have gone to the hospitals and charitable institutions, for the Royal Family do much thinking 'and planning and spending for the comfort of the poor i and pleasure to their friends before they settle down to their own enjoyment. The Royal Family party will be at Sandring- | ham again this year —Queen Alexandra in her old beloved home, and the King and Queen and children at York Cottage. | The Royal party,, with the Court, left | Buckingham Palace yesterday (Monday) , morning. A few days before they left j there was a secret expedition of two of j the Royal children to buy their Christmas , presents for their father and mother and i grandmother. Accompanied by a Lady-in- ! Waiting, Princess Mary and Prince George ] went to Gamage’s, in Holborn, and made ; a selection of gifts, making quite a secret : of their selection, Prince George impress- j ing on the lady who served them “not , to tell.” Had she done so the secret would have been public news next day. | During the last few days the character i of the shopping has changed—the presents ' are mostly bought, and it is now the provisions that are occupying attention. Not only the wonderful markets, and the West End, but all the thoroughfares of the city, all the stores present the most wonderful display of meat, poultry vegetables, fruit, etc., which more than half the -world has contributed to the feast. Beef and poultry is much dearer this year than last; the prices of all provisions have steadily increased all the year, and it is calculated that £1 only goes as far as 15s did a few years ago, and this in house- j holds where the pounds are few makes '

(Specially Written for the Ladies’ Page.)

SPENDING. an enormous difference to the purchase value. A “green Christmas” means a lowering of the prices of perishable goods, and until to-day great cold —in fact, Arctic winter weather —was foretold for Christmas, and on the lamp-posts big posters attracted the attention. “In the event of a heavy fall of snow” 6d an hour was offered to the workless men who ■watched the iron-grey skies anxiously, to clear the streets. But no snow has fallen, to the great relief of shoppers and deliverers of goods, and the gain of the greater number has been to the loss of those whose Christmas dinner and fire depended on the shovelling o£ the unfallen snow. And to the provision merchants and’ purveyors of perishable goods this morning’s forecast that milder weather may be expected will not be too pleasant, for a green Christmas means a great clearance at the last moment at reduced prices; for it does not pay to put the cheap foreign produce into cold storage ; so turkeys and geese will find their way to tables where they -were not expected should the frost not hold. There has been an enormous exodus for the Christmas holidays; the great stations presenting indescribable scenes. Thousands have gone to Switzerland, where the winter sports are yearly growing more in favour with English folk, and as many others arc leaving for Paris, Monte Carlo, and Biarritz,/but there are signs that London will n6t be so deserted by society this year as in some other years. The attractions at the palatial hotels and restaurants for Christmas Eve and Christmas Night increase with every year, as does the dining-out habit. It is often more convenient for flat-dwellers, and those of small establishments, to give their servants a day off, and arrange to dine with friends at a restaurant where is ample entertainment without. At the Savoy there will be a children’s party on Christmas Eve, and one of the tallest Christmas trees on record, and a gala dinner and ball on Christmas Night; at the Waldorf there will be a mediaeval castle in the diningroom, from which the dinner will be served in the Old English style with boar’s head procession to the tables by men in mediaeval dress, and after the dinner a vaudeville entertainment and short /plays and dance. At the Carlton on Christmas Eve “Jack” will climb a gigantic beanstalk lighted by electricity, and a giant will present each child with a golden egg the yolk of which will be of chocolates, etc., the Palm Court transformed for the occasion into an old English garden, with rustic flower-wreathed arches; and so at all the restaurants. The pantomimes all promise to be as excellent as.usual, and at other theatres the children are catered for liberally, “Peter Pan,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and the “Wonder Zoo” are among the attractions, beside innumerable children’s dances, the fancy-dress ball at the Mansion House being pleasurably anticipated for the New Year. Until England’s merriest week in the year is over there will be nothing else talked of, nothing else of interest. How many at the outposts of the Empire will turn their thought to the Homeland this week ? There has been a most satisfactory result of the society charity fetes of the last two weeks; £SOOO was realised by the three days Regimental Bazaa^ - that was opened by Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught in the Royal Horticultural Hall. Equally satisfactory results was the reward of the workers for the Christmas in Fairyland Bazaar in the same hall a few days later, opened by Queen Amelia. The arrangement of the hall was exceedingly pretty, long forest glades of Christmas trees being laden with seasonable gifts. Princess Alexander of Teck presided over the Snow Queen’s tree, and Princess 'Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein presided over the Ali Baba tree. There was a Santa Claus tree, a Peter Pan tree, an Aladdin’s tree, Hansel and Gretchel, Alice in Wonderland, and numerous other trees. The proceeds was in aid of the Scholarship Fund of the Imperial Service College, Windsor. Princess Louisa Duchess of Argyll, performed the opening ceremony on the second day, wearing a dark green velvet costume with black hat massed with green feathers. The revival of the living pictures that were given at the great fancy-dress ball at the Albert Hall in aid of the Invalid Kitchens of London proved another success. There were two performances of these at the Gaiety Theatre, and at the matinee. Queen Alexandra, accompanied by Princess Victoria and Miss Knollys, Miss Ivy Gordon Lennox, Sir Dighton Probyn, and Sir George Holford, was present, her Majesty showing much interest in the pictures, especially those of the early Victorian period after Winterhalter, in which seven beautiful ladies appeared wearing ringlets and hooped skirts. The pictures were very greatly admired, especially a lovely presentation of the Early Italian School, as Botticelli’s allegory of spring, Primavera, with her gauzy draperies starred with flowers. Lady Gladstone, who organised the Spanish pictures, appeared at Margaretta Theresa, by Valesquez. wearing an enormous farthingale of the sixteenth century. This Jiving portrait gallery was shown in real frames, some of the most beautiful and famous women in England, beautiful not only in face, but with that refined grace of form and deportment that wears exquisite clothes regally. The pictures included friezes from the days before oilpainting was invented, and groups and individual pieces had all the charm of the great masters, and will remain a living memory to those who had the privilege of being present. The Royal box

was full both afternoon and evening as well as every other box and stall and seat in the house. “The Three Graces,” by Reynolds, was a beautiful group, and also by" Reynolds “The Three Ladies Waldegrave,” represented by Lady Ada Fitzwilliam, the Hon. Mrs Arthur Somerset, and Mrs Dick Cunyngham. _ The Indian groups were arranged by Princess Pretiva Mander, and the Begum of Fyzee Rahoim, the Late Italian, by the Marchessa Imperillia, wife of the Italian Ambassador, Prince Colouna, Lieutenant Raffaell Quarigia anc' others, the Early Italian, the Persian, the Chinese, the Greek, the Roman, the Dutch, the French, and the English all bsing in equally capable hands, and no tableaux vivants in London have ever been more beautiful. Many of the coiffures achieved by the pictures were wonderful, and a study of the different modes of different countries and times from which the modern coiffure is adapted. Every style seemed to suit a lovely face, both in the frames and among the audience; but for the matron and the middle-aged the high dressing of the hair which has come into fashion again is certainly most becoming. The mode of the French marquise, raised above her brow, with a few stray locks to soften the face, and the hair dressed high on the head, gives dignity to one who is no longer in her vouth. In Paris a few months ago the fashion was started of blue and other coloured hair for evening wear, also pure white, which looks charming. But blue! It is scarcely probable that coloured hair will find any heads foolish enough to wear it except at fancy-dress balls. And at the recent picture ‘ball and the Arabian Nights’ ball several coloured wigs did appear —one with blue hair, one heliotrope, and another green ! The King and Queen were treated to an unrehearsed and surprising scene £1 the Royal Opera House the other night. They were seated in the Royal box, when some ladies who occupied the box opposite and others in the amphitheatre and gallery, rose and began a concerted delivery of a suffrage Between the Royal box and the opposite box is a considerable distance, and Mrs Sadden, the leader, had brought .a megaphone with her to assist her in making herself heard by their Majesties. Before the management arrived at the ladies’ box to request them to retire, they had got quite through their speech, comparing Mrs- Pankhurst to Joan of Arc (the opera being performed), and imploring his Majesty to put a stop to the torturing of women in his prisons. Also, they unfurled their banner and scattered a shower of suffragist leaflets on the astonished heads of those below; then, their object gained, quietly left the Opera House at the request of the manager. Their Majesties being addressed through a megaphone is a new idea. In anticipation of any attempt of the suffragists to reach the Royal box the approaches had been locked up, but nobody had anticipated a megaphone. It is not known what their Majesties thought. Queen Mary’s face must have been a mask, for she sets great stress on etiquette. The King sat quietly studying his opera book while the speech was in rogress, and then when the suffragettes had left®.the theatre their Majesties withdrew, and did not return till the second act was in progress. There were many references to the disturbance, at tire Royal Opera House made at the weekly meeting of the Women’s Social and Political Union at Knightsbridge Hall, and a telegram was sent to King George as follows : —“To the King,— In your Majesty’s name a noble woman is being done to death at Holloway. We all call upon 4 your Majesty- in the name of God to stop this crime before it is too late.’’ The week-end has had one or two startling occurrences. The most disastrous fire, that has ever been known at Portsmouth dockyards' took place on Saturday night. A chuge block of storehouses took fire through some unknown reason, and although thousands of sailors and Royal Marines, with the metropolitan police and Portsmouth police, assisted the Fire Brigade, - the fire was not got under till the buildings were gutted and two poor men in the watchtower lost their lives. The tower was 167 ft high, and erected on the top of the buildings, and for 200 years it -has been a prbminent landmark at Portsmouth. The block of buildings burned were built in the eighteenth century. They ran the length of the south railway jetty, and the blaze was terrific. Owing to the fact that the buildings were beside the water, the storehouses adjoining, containing 30,000 tons of oil and tar, ware saved. Had it not been so the consequences would have been more terrible then they were. For some time the shipping near was in peril, the Queen Mary narrowly escaping, quantities of burning wood falling on her decks. There Hvas another terrific fire at Hull, where £50,000 damage was done at a crushing mill at Stoneferry. Lord Inverclyde’s fine steam yacht Beryl, which was lying in Mill Bay, off Roseneath, on the Clyde, was also destroyed by fire. And in the early hours of Sunday morning 200 convent children in the Orphanage of St. Mary’s, Leeds, had a narrow escape by fire. But, aided by the sisters, the children were got out without panic. They were not even told that the convent was on fire, but dressed and marched out in a perfectly orderly way before they realised - anything was amiss. We can understand the joy of those good women, who doubtless prayed as they worked to the once Child of the Manger, whose birth the world is celebrating to-day, the Christmas of 1913.