"ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3594, 30 January 1923, Page 55

"ALIEN’S” LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

(Bpe;tally Written for the Ladies’ Page.) DECEMBER 6. With December England gives itself in earnest to the preparation for Christmas, and there is little doing that has not some bearing upon the great festival. The theatrical world, as elsewhere, is busy with preparations, and thousands of children have emerged from drab streets to ■rehearse for the pantomimes, and revel in the make believe that for happy weeks will mean colour and light, dainty frocks and shoes, music and dancing, and the crowns and magic of fairyland. All over

tlie country there will be Cinderellas and Dick Whittingtons, pirates and Aladdins and harlequins, for although the old fairytales are brought up to (fete, they remain the foundation upon which the new scenes are built ; the pantomimes present a collection of all the favourite songs of the year, and much that Cinderella and Aladdin and the Forty Thieves never saw or heard or imagined. There will be no pantomime at the famous Drury Lane this year, but “Robinson Crusoe” will appear at the Lyceum in such form as to make small boys long to be cast upon a desert island with such a delightfully entertaining fellow as Friday. In addition to the }>antomimes there will be plays for children of all ages. “Refer Pan at St. James,’ and the beautiful “Blue Bird” at the Duke of York’s, “The Windmill Man” at Victoria Palace, “Alice In Wonderland” at the Court, and other revivals elsewhere. Three new presentments will be the dramatisation of “Treasure Island,” in which Arthur Bourcher will appear as Long John Silver; at the Everyman will appear a dramatisation of “Brei~ Rabbit,” and “The Christmas Party” at the Regent. American plays in London have had a vogue for some time past. “The Cat and the Canary” has been crowding the Shaftsbury. “The Sign on the Door” caught, as did its title. This season offers the book-loveTS -wide entertainment. Messrs Blackie, as usual, are publishing a batch of children’s books for Christmas, among which are some’ exceptionally good Empire stories. “In Musgrove Ranges” is a story by “Jim Bushman” of the interior of Australia, that boys and girls will enjoy, full of adventure among mountains rich in gold, of savages, and hairbreadth escapes. “A Little Rho desian,” by Margaret Batch el or, published by Milford, is a book more for girls, and is excellent reading. “Canadian Fairy Tales” on the backwoods of Canada is a delightful volume with fascinating stories of animals and Indians, of the Owl and Fish-hawk and others. “The Boys’ Book of Canada,” by Denis Crane is another Dominion book of distinction. It gives the reader a splendid idea of Canada. “The average boy will feel a little envious of his Colonial cousin after reading it,’’ says one review. The following is a list of up-to-date “best sellers’’ for grown-ups as supplied by the booksellers:—Fiction.—Sir Philip Gibbs’s “The Middle of the Road” (Hutchinson); “Enchanted April,’’ by the author of “Elizabeth and Her German Garden” (Macmillan) ; Rose Macaulay’s “Mystery at Geneva” (Collins); G. K. Chesterton’s “The Man Wh o Knew too Much and Other Stories” (Cassell); A. S. M. Hutchinson’s “This Freedom” (Hodder and Stough ton). Miscellaneous.—E. T. Raymond’s “Mr Lloyd George” (Collins); Sir Basil Thomson’s “Queer People’’ (Hodder and Stoughton); “Life and Letters of Walter H. Page” (Heinemann, 2 vols.) ; Sidney Dark’s “The Life of Sir Arthur Pearson’’ (Hodder and Stoughton) ; Lady Susan Townley’s “Indiscretions of Lady Susan” (Thornton Butterworth) ; Sidney Dark’s “The Gnild’s Book of England” (Chapman and Hall). Hurst and Blackett publish a picturesque and pathetic novel of absorbing interest “The Secret of the Shadow,” by Mrs Griffith, whose “The Wedding Gpwn of Old Miss” ran into the 6th edition. There are books for all tastes, biographies and autobiographies, nature studies and travel, among which “On a Chinese Screen,” by Somerset Maugham, we get some vivid sketches of China, and graphic portraits of men. The birthday of the Queen Mother, on December 1, was honoured throughout Britain with the flying of flags and worldwide congratulations. Quite a crowd was gathered outside the gates of Marlborough House all the morning, watching the arrival of the callers to congratulate tho Queen Mother on her 78th birthday. She who came long years ago, “the sea kings daughter from over the sea, ’ the radiantly beautiful bride of Edward the Beloved, is still one of England’s darlings. She ever stood for the fairytale Princess, and the' young folk listen to the old folk’s tales of her beauty and the passion of joy which greeted her coming. To-day she is endeared to the nation not only by fier long and intimate association with its triumphs and defeats, its ideals and failures, its joys and sorrows, but by her own tender part in the swift-moving history of England since she became one with it. One thought—outside her gate—on Alexandra’s birthday, of the two royal sisters within—of that tragic figure of the Empress Marie, mourning the murdered Tzar, and her son’s wife and children. The war has afflicted us, hut none of us have been beaten with heavier stripes than our Royal Household. But they have not burdened us with their private, and family grief. At all times they have “royally” filled their posts and executed their obligations. Think of those two elderly roval sisters--one once the Empress of Russia, the other the widow of King Edward : one mourning all that Russia meant to her. without hope, the other “remembering happier things," yet anticipating still. Don’t vou think that these daughters of the “Sea King” will talk together oF the davs of their girlhood in their father’s simple oalare, where they rejoiced in their duties and beauty aud the “long, long thoughts” of youth. The Prince of Wales, who has only past got over the effects of a sprained ankle, received in the hunting field, has again been thrown, fortunately without hurt, in the Oxford point-to-point, Buffington Club Steeplechase at Garsington. This adventurous “Our Young Man” seems fated for accidents and luckv escapes; they The accidents) peppered his grand tour. Over turned trains and fallen horses seem to cause only passing diversion to the Prince. Yet is his life his own to risk so recklessly? The nation is beginning to ask if TT.R Highness has any thoughts of marriage. Rumours and anticipations have been denied—evidently the nation must wait, patiently. For no one asks or wishes England’s Heir to marry for the Empires

sake alone. Yet if a suitable bride should be chosen it would welcome the' event. The Prince has bean out with the Beaufort hounds frequently. A note says: ‘'As in the House of Lords the other day, when he waited his turn with the others to sign the roll, his consideration for others, shown in tile hunting field by his insistence on awaiting his turn at gates and fences, is very much admired and appreciated—an example many people no less keen might well follow. Always a gentleman, the Prince of Wales never claims any “superior” rights. A “good sport,” he takes his chances and the risks of sport. ' But we don't want him hurt. He comes up from his tumbles limping, yet laughing. It is the gay, fearless spirit that made Britain what- it is, that will make the British Empire what it will be. Large fields are with the Beaufort Hunt nowadays (with which the Prince of Wales hunts), and all over the country hunting is in full cry. Absence of frost makes good going, and up till now the early winter has registered little frost. The hunt balls are the anticipation of the country New Year, but the difficulty of securing good bands is hampering the arrangements. The hunt balls mean in remote country places red-letter occasions to the youth of “country families,” who have great house parties for the occasion, and return the hospitality of the London season. At the “hunts” and the “shoots” many charming debutantes appear before their official “coming out” and presentation at Court. The autumn season has been notable for its weddings. . Scarcely a day has

passed for weeks that has not seen its society wedding at one or another of the fashionable West End churches. Among exceptionally interesting weddings during the week was that of the Earl of Craven and Lady Joan Mulholland at St, Mark’s, North Audly street. I>ady Joan came with her brother, the Earl of Stafford, very charming in a gown of silver grey embroidered with steel beads and long sleeves. Her hat was grey plush with a grey feather hanging to her shoulder, and she carried an armful of red roses. The bride’s little daughter by her former marriage, Miss Daphne Mulholland, was an interesting figure. Quite unexpected by the public, the Prince of Wales put in an appearance, but the news soon spread and a large crowd gathered. The bride was a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Maiy. The bride’s little daughter was with her grandmother, Emily, Countess of Stafford. Among the guests were the Spanish Ambassador and Madam Merry del Val, the Duchess of Sutherland, the Countess of- Cromer, the Countess of Bessborough, Lord and Lady Dunleath, the bride’s father and mother-in-law, and a long list, including the Dowager Countess of Gosford and the bridegroom’s sister and Earl of Derby. Another wedding of the week of more than passing interest was at the pretty village church at Denham, near Uxbridge, where Lord Plunket and the girl widow, Mrs Jack Bamoto, wfere married. The church bloomed with pink and white chrysanthemums. The bride’s father gave her away. She wore a gown of powderblue velvet, the short train lined with silver tissue, and a silver veil was held

by bunches of small blue flowers. The bouquet was of red roses. The four small bridesmaids had long frocks trimmed with powder-blue, and carried Early Victorian posies. There were many guests, wearing beautiful toilets, including Lady Victoria Braithwaite (the bridegroom’s mother), the Dowager Marchioness Dufferin and her mother, and many other people well known in society. The latest sensation is the rejuvenation of youth. It is claimed hv Dt Buchardi, lately come to London from Vienna, that he can, by performing a certain operation, renew the youth of middle-aged people by 20 years. “I do not pretend to perform miracles,” says the doctor, “but I do claim to be able to preserve youth, with capacities and its enjoyments, in the case of suitable subjects.” One of these “suitable subjects” is the ex-Kaiser, who, we are informed, underwent this identical operation before his remarriage, and who has renewed his youth and sprightliness that his days may be long in a world that could very well do without him. Think of the conceit and callousness of a man, who, if he is human, ought to be calling upon the mountains to hide him from the shame of his crimes, jauntily entering upon a new lease of life. Has ever history presented such a contemptible figure of senile decay? It.seems “the Great War Lord” means to humbug Time as he has humbugged the world. As a broken, suffering old man he might have appealed for pitv to the humane, but as a rejuvenated bridegroom he. is contemptible. For 20 years Dr Buchardi has been engaged in experiments on animals, and has treated men and women for about five years. Glandular transformation in the case of men and X-ray treatment in the case of women have never failed, he affirms. Sunken cheeks have been raised, looks restored, and a general air of physical youth imparted to the movements and figure. “Signs of weariness and weakness have disappeared” even from men and women of 70. It reminds one of one of the stories told in “Hiawatha. ’’ where the old woman, bent and wrinkled, entered one end of the hollow fallen tree and came out of the other end young and beautiful. Is it worth while* to be rejuvenated in appearance and remain mentally middleaged? If by spiritual alchemy a man or woman can retain, or regain, the hope and faith and joy of youth it is well, for “as a man thinketh so is he.” But what avails a youthful face and form with a heart that has forgotten how youth felt and jov and trust? It is the mind and soul of wilted middle age that needs treatment, the rejuvenation c aith more than face. No beauty is so becoming to gr,ev hairs as that where wisdom and patience has moulded, and love looks kindly om the things that are and fearless towards the things to be.