A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1932, Page 14

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN.

FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE.

(From Our Lady Correspondent)., . London, Sept. 15.

People are often surprised at the intimate knowledge the Prince of Wales displays about every place he visits. The weeks of intensive study he? gave to the Spanish language before he visited South America is. still fresh in the public memory. Luckily, the language problem does not very frequently present itself, but he likes to know all" there is .to know concerning both the place and the people with whom he is likely to come in contact. Nor is he content to get his subject up from books of travel.’ Whether he is off to Malta for naval manoeuvres; off to Biarritz for a holiday; or off to Copenhagen for the opening of a great exhibition; he insists on being coached by people who can give him first-hapd knowledge. It means a good many interviews, of course, but it explains those little intimate touches the Prince puts into his speeches and into his conversation when he is: on his foreign travels. ROYAL WEDDING GIFTS. The fact that the King and Queen are giving a present of jewellery to Miss MacDonald on her approaching : wedding has called forth the comment'that royal wedding gifts almost invariably take this form. They are very rarely of the practical kind so. increasingly popular with brides in these difficult' times. The explanation is, I am told, that their Majesties have come to appreciate from

long experience the sentimental value always attaching to . their own gifts. These royal wedding presents almost invariably come to be regarded as family heirlooms and are handed down from one' generation • to another. Jewellery, therefore, is the most appropriate form they can take. •' ROYAL PHILATELISTS. The late Czar’s stamp collection, shortly to come under the hammer in the cause of charity, has been valued at £50,000, and this has led to tho belief that it is a much more comprehensive collection than is really the cage. It is not nearly so all-embracing as the collection King George possesses at Buckingham Palace. The Czar’s stamps, however, include many rare and unique examples of issues. Some of these examples never came into actual circulation. 'They were designs submitted for the royal approval and rejected for one cause or another. King George’s collection also contains many rare examples of a like description, and is especially rich in “proof” specimens of Dominion stamps. The Prince of Wales also collects,'but in a small and more or less sporadic fashion. But he takes pains to collect complete sets in countries which he visits and some of the issues are more or less personal to himself. * ASQUITH’S LIFE.' I imagine the Countess of Oxford and Agquith°would dearly have loved to have undertaken the official bjograph of her husband whjch has been written by Mr. J. A. Spender in association with Mr. Cyril Asquith. But “Margot” has always been too much of a partisan to deal impartially with the chequered history of' the late Premier’s career. But for this her pen would have been an ideal selection. Even as it is I should not be surprised if she followed up the official life with an “unofficial” one, dealing with the more intimate and pergonal side of Lord Oxford’s doing?- If she does'it will provide fascinating reading.

But even more intriguing than “Margot’s” Life of Lord Oxford would be “Margot’s”' reminiscences of Mr. David Lloyd George. > ' .

AN OVERWORKED ARTIST. Sir John Lavery, forced to cancel his annual visit to North Berwick m order to overtake. painting commissions,, must recall a little grimly the time, half a century ago, when he was painting in a Glasgow garret more canvasses than Jie could sell. He is one of the few survivors of the “Glasgow School,”, of which the late Sir James Guthrie was the leader and spokesman. In those days its members openly despised the academies of which they were afterwards to become distinguished ornaments. But the business men of Glasgow soon eame to believe that these young men in their midst were ■worth i backing,, and backed them with characteristic enterprise, to their own subsequent advantage. As one of them said, if his ships had earned him as good dividends as his pictures, he would have' been a wealthy, man —as in fact Ije was. Sir John is not by birth a Glasgow man; he is a native of the North of Ireland, and much of his recent work has been done for the benefit of Ireland. SEEING RUSSIA. Even some of London’s .bright young things' have' succumbed this sujnmer to the lure of Russian travel. I don’t imagine they are very deeply interested in the economic, aspects of the Five Year Plan, but a visit to Moscow gives them something fresh to talk about when they come back to London for the little season. ' The Soviet authorities are doing pll they can to encourage tourist traffic from England. Fares and hotel charges are extraordinarily low, and frequently a round charge is made whjch comprises such “extras” as theatres and cinemas. What the . visitor does not bargain for is the terrific bill presented for laundry, . The flow .of tourist traffic is carefully directed to centres like Leningrad/ Moscow, NijniNovgorod and Kiev. Arrangements are even made for visits to one or other of

the much discussed, and much criticised collective farms. And the Russians are as insistent that you shall see their new opera houses as the Gecmese are that you should visit their famous cemetery. ' , .. FAMOUS WOMAN PILOT. Mr. W. J. Everard, M.P., who probably knows ag much about flying as any man in the House of Commons, is coming in ioy a good deal of banter just now. He travels nearly always by air. But wherever he goes it is not-his arrival that is chronicled in the, society column of the local newspaper, it is th® arrival of his, pilot, who happens to be ho less a person than Miss Winifred Spooner. Mr. Everard not only has several planes, ‘but possesses one of tne best equipped private aerodromes in the shires. The Prince of Wales uses it frequently when he goes hunting. Miss Spooner has been in charge of the drome for some considerable time. One of the world’s most intrepid airwomen, she takes Mr. Everard all over Europe, and sometimes beyond. Their next trip ,is to be Almaza, where Migs Spooner’s brother is at present managing the flying operations. The two learnt flying together some half a dozen years ago. CAIRO TUMMIE. Ocean tours have brought a new species of illness in their train. Happily it is not very serious and it is jocularly known as “Cairo Tummie.” “Mind you don’t get Caiio Tummie” is the cheery warning addressed to holidaymakers as they make their way up the gangway to join one of the luxury liners. Needless to say the illness is not incurred on board, where the food is always of the best. It is contracted generally through indulging in native foods at Algiers and other ports on the northern Coast of Africa, where the vessels touch. So prevalent has the epidemic become, and so busy has it kept .some of the doctors on board, that the companies in some instances have thought it wise to issue warnings to passengers as to the food they can safely take and the food they ought. to avoid. TYiere is a special warning against ices, iced, drinks and over-ripe fruit.

HARD HITTERS. Those who have been watching the junior lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon tell me that 1932 cannot be regarded as anything like such a vintage year as 1931. This perhaps could hardly be expected because last year gave us such notable perforiners as Miss Kathleen .Stammers ' (whom “Bunny” Austin regards as one of th© most promising players on the court), and' little Miss Sheila Hewitt, who may. also achieve great things. But there is one outstanding fact about the competitors this year. They are all terrifically hard hitters. If the junior championship is any criterion the coming generation of lawn tennis players are assuredly not going to be'of the pat-ball variety. Young Vines himself might envy the tremendous force which some of these school girls put into their strokes. One of th© most admired players is Miss Josephine Harman, who has come to Wimbledon fresh from, her. triumph in the Irish junior championship.

WOMEN CRICKETERS. It will be interesting to see if the Women’s Cricket Association is strong enough to take up the invitation to send a team of women, cricketers to Australia in 1934. The invitation is understood to be now on its way to London. It is quite ■ on the cards, therefore, that we may have a women’s test match before the world is very much older. If the Women’s Cricket Association is able to put a really representative eleven in the field, it should render a very good account of itself. The game is a comparatively new one so far as women are concerned, but they have made quite surprising progress. The association is sure to 4° its utmost to take up the challenge, in spite of the heavy expense 1

involved, for more than anything els© it would quicken interest, in this branch of women’s sport. WOMEN AT GOLF. The draw for th© English ladies’ golf championship has now been issued, and 121 ladies are earnestly studying the

list to gauge their chances of surviving for one, two'or more rounds. Very wisely the Ladies’ Golf Union refuses to imitate the bad practice established in the lawn tennis world at Wimbledon, of “seeding” competitors to ensure thrilling finals and semi-finals. But the luck of the draw has put the two outstanding competitors, Miss Wanda Morgan and Miss Diana Fishwick, in opposite halves, and on' paper, at least, nothing is more probable than that they will meet in the thirty-six hole final. Miss Enid Wilson has not entered, as she' will be away in the United States. Miss Diana Fishwick will have an easier passage into the final stages than will her rival, Miss Wanda Morgan. The name of the latter appears amongst a little crowd of well-known players including Miss Molly Gourlay, Miss E. Corlett and Miss Kathleen Garnham. The mother of the last named has also entered. It is awful to think what may happen if

they meet in the 'semi-final! Would filial love conquer or succumb? GIRLS ARE DIFFERENT. A youngster attending one of the big public schools gave me his version yesterday of England’s debacle in the Walker Cup match. “We shall never beat the Americans,” he said, “so long as the schools give no encouragement to golf.” He ‘instanced his own case. He is keen on the game, and has already

got down to a single figure handicap. But the only chance he gets of playing is during the school holidays. At term time he can play only cricket or football. ' No game is encouraged that does not foster the team spirit. In contravention of his argument I mentioned

the parlous state of. our lawn tenni.girls. Girls’ schools, at least, give every encouragement to lawn tennis, yet Helen Wills-Moody still. dominates the world. His reply to. this was crushing, if not entirely convincing. “Girls are he said.