WOMAN'S WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7293, 4 January 1902, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD.

At a recent I/ondon auction sale various specimens of beautiful Hood were sold. A yard of fine Italian rose point brought £12; a little over four yards of Venetian) poinifc flounce, £37; and 'an olid Brussels fichu, £5 15s. ./ ~~ ~~~~~ " The new 'Alexandra rose, called after her iMajeafty the Queen, is a cross between tike CriinBon Rambler and "bine Multinora simplex. I*3 ' blossoms "axe of a inch rose' colour with, a whitish centre. The rose, it may be mentioned, is the Queen's favourite flower. One of the most distinguisfbed women in Englkmd is I/ady Dilke, who (furnishes one of •the f&w examples of well-known women who are older than their (husbands, for she was sixtyome on Sept. 2, while' Sir Charles Dilke is only &i fcy-eight. Fox many years she was a recognised critic on fine 'sscs, and sh© conifcnbu'ted atffcioles. on her favourite subjects, not only to English, blip /to French publications, while she has also written for ithe " Emayolopsedia Britannioa." Cat-culture has attained large proportions in England, aa may be gathered, from -the faol that the Oat Club, which held a large exhibition of these domestic pets recently, . offered no fewer than two hundred and fifty prizes andi medal's. Among those who entered theii cat 9 and kittens were the Princess Victoria oJ Schleswig-Holstein, the Duchess of Marlborough, the Duchess of Wellington and Lads Marcus Beresford. People who are very dainty are som'etimeg twitted with not having *he appertrite of a canary bird. A New York man, says "'Pathfinder," recently resolved *o find out jusfc what -the appetite of a canary bird is. He weighed a canasry and found he weighed 247gr, or something over Joz. Ho also -weighed all- (his food, .and found Hhat the bird eats 32 times his weight every memrtih, or actually more iihani his weight every day, showing ibhat tihe proverbial pig is a light eater compared with, the canary. Mrs It. B. Walford has many belongings od family or historio interest. 'Among them are some rare pieces of silver plate, one of which was found on the field of CBannockburn. . She ihas a positive mania for old oak furniture, and almost every room in {her delightful house, Cran'brooke Hall, Essex, ihas its treasures od oak cfhairs, tables, and chests collected during many years from old farmhouses. Her moat valued possession, perhaps, is an* ancient spin-ning-wheel, whidh waia, centuries ago, the prepe*t.y »f a. Scotch, aaacestoess, from -whom 9(he ihas inherited tihe love of the spinnting-wheel. Fencing is becoming fashionable in L'ondon, and there axe many ladies who patro nise the art. Mrs Langtry, if not a first-class fencer, is a very graceful fiwordswoman. She is of that type of whom Emerson says thai they confer a favour on the ' world even bj casting a shadow. Such is the charm of beautiful form. One of the greatest exponents oi the fleuret in England is that well-knowi young lady, Mias Toupie Lowther, who is the daughter, I believe, of an ex-officer of th< Army.- She is tall,, strong, and of great activity, and she fences in magnificent style. Few amateuTS, even in Paris, can hold their owe with her. The Queen of th« Belgians, -wiho has recently celebrated her sixty-fifth birthday, comes of -lihe most ill-fated Boyal house in Europe— the House of Hapsburg-^md her cup of grief has been more flban full. Her hair is said to have been white white she was still l in her ithirties. The Queen's only son, the Duke of Brabant, died suddenly under circumstanceis whidh suggested poisoning; her son-in-law was the Crown Prince .Rudolph, who ended his life in a most tragic manner ; her f avouii'te nephew was killed in an accident; >and her sister is in & lunaitic asylum not far from the Palace a* Brussels. Queen Marie Henrietta has not neglected -the social and intelkotiaal side of life, however. She is a clever hofse-womam, a gifted composei of music, and as fond of her stud «s she is of her camera and' her piano. In two years' she and the King of the Belgians will celebrate iheir golden wedding. The Queen 'spends a great deal of her ifcim© at Spa, where she is foe-Id in great respect and admiratian 1 , a fete being 'held ev«ry year in flier honour. Mias (Helen H. Stone, the kidnapped missionary, is now a woman of fifty-two, who has been labouring in the Turkish, mission^ for -the past twenlty-ttiree years. Her home is in Ohelsea, Massachussefcts, -where her mother stili lives, and grave fears hiave been en'te-rfcained lest the fate of her daughter might have fatal consequences for Mrs S'ttorae, -who is an old woman, and Ihas be«n for som« tim« in failing 'health. Before Miss Stone, wemt to Turkey she was a writer on the " Congregartaonaiist," „ a Boston church paper. According to her phofiograJips- she is a womam with a resolute face, penetrating eyes, and firm mouth. It da not the first time thaifc eh« has been attacked by brigands, although the previous occasion' was without any serious consequences. She was travelling with three missionaries when a band of Kurds overtook ifhem, and proceeded to annex (the horses, leaving them, however, with two on which to conitinuo iheir journey. "What," said one of the missioraaTiea to the leader, " aren't you ashamed to rob defenceless women?" "No," replied fhe man calmly, " besides, aren't two big' horses enough to carry four little women?"