A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1929, Page 7

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN.

THE KING’S VOICE. (From Our Lady Correspondent.) London, May 30. The King’s long illness seems tb have had a remarkable effect upon his voice, and to have cleared up in a wonderful way the slight bronchial weakness from which he has always more or less suffered. People who have heat'd His Majesty speak since his recovery declare that his voice is much clearer than it used to be. The slightly gutteral quality has to some extent disappeared, leavintr a higher tone, and there is not the faintest trace of weakness, such is often found in a patient who has. had an exhausting illness. His Majesty seems to be very glad to be getting back his strength, and delighted when he is able to do a little more one. day than he found possible the day before. Like all people who have been used to an active life, he finds it terribly trying to be ■warned continually not to overtax his strength. Were he left to himself, he would attempt far more than he does at present. The change to Windsor and familiar surroundings is having an excellent effect, but the King is still hankering after Sandringham. THE QUEEN’S TREASURES. 9 While the Queen has been in London the last day or two she has found a good deal of pleasure in going over the antiques and objets d’art which she collected from every corner of West Sussex while she was staying at Bognor.

She must have gone to nearly a hundred old treasure shops in three months, and at practically all of them she found something which interested her sufficiently to induce her to buy it. She is specially interested just now in old lacquer, which she is buying for her Oriental apartment at Windsor, and in tiny pieces of furniture and miniature specimens of old Georgian china. Her Majesty was able to secure one very delightful set of Georgian cups and saucers —tiny pieces, all of them, but exquisitely ‘decorated and finished, and some smalt pieces of glass of the same period. These will remain at Buckingham Palace, as will some Georgian toys which the Queen bought for her rapidly growing collection of old-fashioned toys. PRINCE’S TROPHIES. jUurina the past few weeks several cases of considerable bulk hate been deposited at Marlborough House. The contents may possibly be the subject of exhibition at one or other of our public museums or galleries, for they are none other than trophies of the visit of the. Prince of Wales to Kenya and Central Africa. There are several lion skins, the heads of some of which are to be made up- « There are also various heads of buck and deer which fell to the gun of His Royal Highness. But the most prized trophies of all are the tusks of a bull elephant which he brought down. The feet also have been sent home, and will be dealt with appropriately by the taxidermist. At the moment the skins and other trophies are being unpacked and carefully examined by the experts who are to cure them. York House will not take all of them, and it is probable the Prince will send some on loan to the appropriate museums. PRINCESS ASTRID. Most people in London who take an interest in visiting Royalties have been askin" lately what has become of the attractive Princess Astrid, sister of Prince Olaf’s bride, who married the. Crown Prince of Belgium a year or two ago. She and her husband —they use the title of Duke and Duchess of Brabant—have been in the Dutch East

Indies for the last six months, but are now on their way home to Brussels. Princess Astrid, to her great'regret, was obliged to miss her sister’s wedding, and as the two have always been such devoted friends and Princess Marthe helped tremendously with the preparations for the earlier wedding, it will readily be understood that it was a great grief to them to be apart on such an important occasion. The Dutch East. Indies trip, however, had been planned a long way ahead, and, as it was undertaken for dipion.atic reasons, it had to be carried through. THE VICEROY’S HOLIDAY. I hear that' the Viceroy of India and Lady Irwin are anxious to have a very quiet holiday when they arrive here from India in July. Lord Irwin, as a result of invitations despatched to Viceregal Lodge from England, has already sent a message begging that he may be allowed to regard his leave as a respite from duty and refusing all public and. semi- public invitations. He hopes to be able to go direct to Yorkshire when he lands, and to spend the very few weeks of his leave at his own home -—Garrowby Hall. His father,. the veteran Lord Halifax, who will be ninety in June, is longing to see his son, who has been abroad three years, and Lord Irwin is sure to spend a good deal of time with him at Hickleton Hall, Doncaster. Lady Irwin came home last year to present 1 her daughter, Miss Anne Wood. She is a very charming woman, and has made a great success as chatelaine of the Viveregal Lodge at Delhi. BABY FAY.

One wonders whether J. M. Barrie may not have had something to say about the choosing of a name for the baby grand-daughter of Lord Scarborough, Mr. Robert and Lady Serena James’s tiny girl, who was christened last week

at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. She is to be called “Fay,” with her mother’s name of Serena to go before it. Barrie is specially interested in her because her father is one of the Northbourne family —-the children for whom he originally wrote “Peter Pan.” Her elder sister, Rosemary, is a "real friend of the whimsical author, and she can reel off to you all kinds of very special information about the immortal Peter and the friends —fairy and otherwise —who visit him in Kensingt i Gardens. Indeed, Rosemary carries a copy of his story with her quite often when she is taken by her nurse or her mother to the gardens, for she has become an authority on him among her many little friends whom she meets there. THE PEACEMAKERS. Lord and Lady Gladstone have accompanied Lord Cecil of Chelwood to Madrid for the meeting of the Federation of League of Union Societies. Lady Gladstone is on the executive committee of the English League of Nations Union, and gives her whole time and enthusiasm to the work. She has spoken all over the country to further the aims of the union, which are, of course, to organise support for the league itself, and to ( instruct the general public in the efforts, that are being made in the world for a I stable’ peace. It is due in large measure to the activities of this body that the League of Nations and Great Britain’s efforts for peace have been made a live question, though not a party ene, at this election. “A SALISBURY LEASE.” Lady Gladstone is still a very pretty woman, and her white hair suits her blue eyes and fair complexion. She is a good speaker, having a clear voice and a very composed manner. She was a Miss Paget, sister of the Sir Richard Paget, who has made a name for himself in a little explored region of science. He has made a special study of voice production, and has invented models in clay which, when air is blown through them, actually speak words. He was invited last year; to lecture on them and demonstrate > his discoveries in America.

’ Lord and Lady Gladstone live in an attractive Georgian House in Hertford- • shire, which belonged to her mothers family, and of which they have what is called, I believe, a Salisbury Lease, namely, a lease for both their lives. Lord Gladstone is an expert gardener and never wants- to leave his trees and flower beds. Lady Gladstone, though very nearly as expert, yet likes to come to London frequently to do her work and see her friends. THE TENNIS WARDROBE. One began to wonder, during the last two summer seasons, how many more etceteras the tennis girl would add to her wardrobe. In addition to her neat white frock, her white stockings and shoes —which must have meant a considerable outlay when she went through the whole list of tournaments from May to September—she seemed to carry round with her a selection of cardigans with hair bandeaux to match. Then she added tennis socks. Now she threatens to go to the opposite extreme and do without either socks or stockings. I asked a tournament player whether one really did plav better without one’s stockings. She smiled in reply, A lot will depend on the weather, of course,” she said, “ but I think our younger girls —like Betty Nuthall and Joan Fry and Eileen Bennett—are much more keen on their play than on their clothes. I hardly think the English airls will follow either Bobby Heine or Helen Wills.” CHEF’S VIEW OF FEMINISM. I was introduced .as a special.honour to a famous West End chef,, an artist of almost world-wide reputation amongst real epicures. It interested me to hear this worthy’s personal . views about modern feminism and to discover in him a sort' of sheik of the kitchen. His attitude was almost caveman. He would not hear of sex equality in any genuine sens©> whatever statesmen micht decree. And he justified his opinion by contrasting the infinite pains a woman bestows on her dress and the utter carelessness with which- she feeds. Women raved over the creation of the modistes atelier, but ignored the highest confections .of the kitchen. The fact that men were just the reverse and chose their meals with far greater discrimination than their clothes the chef advanced as proof of a superior male intelligence. Nor could, he be shaken by any suggestion that feminism may shortly develop an epicurean flank. WHY SHE WOULD NOT FLY. So many English actresses go in for flyinf these days that I was quite surprised to hear Miss Yvonne Arnaud refuse to go up the other day when I was lunching 0 at Croydon Aerodrame, where she was also a guest. The occasion was an “Aviation Day” in aid of the people’s dispensary for sick animals of the poor at which’ Sir Sefton Brancker, director of civil aviation, received messages from foreign countries in appreciation of the very°fine work which the dispensary is doing. Miss Anna May Wong, the little Chinese actress who has made herself so popular, went up for a fight over London with Sir Sefton in his Moth ’plane, and I saw Miss Arnaud’s eyes glued to. the machine all the time it was in sight. But she steadfastly refused to- go up herself, although she was begged to do so. I asked her why. “Well,” she said, “I promised my husband that I would never fly without him. I should love it—at least I think I should—but I cannot break my word.” WHITE GLOVES AGAIN.

I .am very much -fraid that long white gloves are creeping back to universal favour. I say afraid because they are such expensive items in the dress etceteras list, nice as they always look. Of course, they ' ave been threatening to return for some time, and there have been a few pairs—worn mostly by d r wagers —at dances and at the theatre. But since the London season started every smart woman has been wearing them. There have been few, if any, bare arms at the opera. Princess Mary and Queen Augusta Victoria of Portugal set the standard there—l have never seen either of them at an evening function without gloves. At the debutantes’ dances they are very popular with the young people who are just out. It gives you a grown-up feeling, when you are eighteen, to draw long gloves on well over your elbows.

THE “SMART” SET. How long will it be before the familiar announcement, “A marriage has been arranged,” hag its equally familiar counterpart, “A divorce is being arranged?” Several well-known judges, with divorce court experience, have strongly commented on the modern vogue of “planned” divorces, to which a great stimulus was undoubtedly given when the feminists carried their point about the equality of the sexes under the marriage laws. It is rather a scandal, however, when the parties to these legal frauds flaunt the fact socially. Amongst what is known as “the Smart Set” the latest novelty is the “decree absolute ’ party.” I am told that, on one such occasion recently, the company included, ■ in' its merry circle, the petitioner, the respondent, the co-respondent, and the lady to whom the petitioner was engaged. Even New York has never touched quite this note of cynicism. DRESSING-UP TO BATHE. The idea that a lady undresses in order to bathe is obviously becoming old-fashioned. If she is to pass muster with her friends on one of the smart plages, she must be as much- “dressedup” for the business of bathing as for the theatre or dance. The manageress of the “beach wear” department of a West End store assures me that a complete beach kit cost as much as £4O or £5O. The full equipment ivill consist of at least two “swimmers”—and not at 5s lid each —with cloak, hat and shoes to. match each of them. There is even special bathing jewellery —necklaces -and bangles—made of crystal and-

non-corrosive metals. These are specially designed -to sparkle in the water. . Because even at the smartest plages the lady bather does occasionally enter the .water. MILLIONAIRE LEASES PARK. One of the largest estates which have been let to American sportsmen this year is Tichbourne Park, the estate of Sir Joseph Doughty-Tichbourne, at Alresford, Hants. It has been leased for the first time to Mr. Sydney E. Hutchinson, a multi-millionaire from Philadelphia, who will occupy it with a shooting house party during September and October. There are 6000 acres, consisting of partridge shootings and trout fishing. There is a private golf course, excellent tennis court, and a cricket pitch. Mr.'Hutchinson has taken over the whole place, including the servants and game-keepers. In Mr. Hutchinson’s party there will be six guns, one of them being his 21-year-old daughter, who is a° crack shot, and a great lover of name shooting. The party are coming over this year to enjoy a new experience. They have never shot driven partridge before. In America, sportsmen have to shoot mostly quail and grouse. DIRT TRACK IDOLS. In London women are getting great dirt track “fans.” They find far more thrills in watching this risky sport than in following the monotonous contests of oreyhounds° chasing an electric hare. And nowadays the champions of the dirt track are the most idolized of mankind. Their legions of feminine admirers know their queer riding names and records by heart, and buy their autographed photographs more eagerly than ever gallery girls did those of Gerald du Maurier or Owen Nares. At the -moment the acknowledged Valentino of the dirt track is a tall Australian who must make a small fortune out

of his signed photos alone. At almost every meeting he attends dozens of women thrust their own photos upon him, too. I cannot discover any such masculine adulation for the women dirt track riders. Yet some of them' are quite good at the game. Next month two deadly rivals, a pretty Australian girl and ft Lancashire lass, are having a race at Wembley. DALY'S. It is rather a shock to Londoners that Daly’s Theatre is in the market. This is, even more than the Gaiety Theatre, the home of musical comedy. Daly’s was originally built for an American, whose ambitions were Shakespearian, and who started with “The Taming of the Shrew.” But it was the late Mr. George Edwardes who “made” “Daly’s. In its 28 years’ history Daly’s has staged only 19 productions —a record of successful “runs” which few theatres anywhere could challenge. In fact, the average “run” of the pieces put on at Daly’s works out.very nearly at 500 performances. The greatest triumph of all, I suppose, was “The Merry Widow,” which was produced 22 years ago. The late Mr. “Jimmy” White became owner of Daly’s seven years ago, and it is believed that he paid nearly £250,000 for it.

Waste* Not—Want Not. M. Verdier-Dufour has the strangest kingdom in the world. This enterprising and energetic Frenchman has built up a large business —founded on dustbin waste, says an exchange. The operation begins in the gutter, where the householder has dumped his bin of' refuse for collection. When he first set up in his astonishing busirfess, M. Ver-dier-Dufour made a bargain with the Paris collectors ‘ whereby his employees were permitted to rummage in the bins before the collecting carts came round. His employees collect everything that has the least value and convey it to his warehouses. Here the precise value of each scrap of cubbish is known. Nothing is too small to be examined, and each article has its individual storage bin. This waste commands /he admiration of the firms to whom the enterprising merchant sells it, because he maintains the standard of his products. Manufacturers know they can rely upon him to such an extent that they merely have to dump the waste into their machines, thus treating it as if it were new raw material. They do not have to spend a further penny in preparing the waste for their purposes.