WOMAN'S WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8704, 18 August 1906, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD.

The fortune of Ihe ex-Empress Eugenic will be divided at her death, one-half going to her grand-nephew, the Duke of Albany, and' theother half to the Princes Victor and Louia Napoleon. Among King Alfonso's gifts to his bridfe was a motor-car—the smallest and daintiest in the world—* brooch set in diamonds, an ingenious copy of his own favourite car. The top of the tonneau is" encircled with rubies, while the door of the car, when opened, shows a portrait of his Majesty. On« of the most curious clubs on record has recently been formed by society ladies in Berlin. The principal condition, of membership is that the applicant must be deal. The club has over a hundred members, who meet regularly once a week in handsomelyfiurnished rooms in the Wi.helmstrasse, where they converse by means of ear-trumpets and sign. language, and drink tea-. It is rumoured in London that some firms purpose sending perfectly dressed women to all the- principal resorts this summer. People will_ discuss their clothes, and it will be the business of these perambulating fashion plates or animated dress stands to deftly descant on elc.hes with their fellow-guests at the hotels. They will thus be able to drag 1 in the name of the firm they are represent' ing. 'Madame Dupuifl, who was Belgium's oldest inhabitia.nl>, died in June, in the village of Chapeile, ag«d 105. Madame Dupuis, who lived in the same farmhouse for ninety-two years, was said to be the only living witness of Napoleon's flight on June 18, 1815, when. as a girl of fourteen, she followed the sound of the cannon, and reached the fie.d of Wa.erloo during the final catastrophe. Her two surviving sons are both octogenarians. Miss Peck, an American, is one of the most daring mountain climbers in the wor.d. Apart from successes in Europe, including the Matterhorn (14.750 feet), she has c' imbed Popocatapetl (17,754) and Orizaba (17,876), m Mexico, and has attempted various peak? in the Andes, reaching the top of El Mist* (19.230 feet), and getting within 15C0 feet of the summit of Tllampu (21,500 feet)^ The mountains she has ascended would, if piled one on another, reaoh. a height of more than sixty miles. Among Englishwomen who are doing practical work on the Unionist and Imperial side of politics, a. prominent place is now being: taken by Miss Beatrice Mary Chamberlain, a daughter of the ex-Colonial Secretary. In E-st Worcestershire, her brother* constituency, she has just formed^ an associai. on of women to do regular _ organising work in that district, and to assist as opportunity may occur in other counties. Her chief helpers ate the Countess of Plymouth, Lady Holder snad Lady Chavasse. "Norway is presumed to have the distinction of possessing the. only genuine woman policeman, duly commissioned, regularly p-atroking a post. She is Miss Nigiren, is scarcely out of her teens, to judge her looks, ■ and doe* not give the impression of being very athletic, though «he is by no moans frail. Her station is on the island of Nakoim.,' where shs owes a small farm. Her duty is to guard the Government's agricultural experiment station, drill -ground and quarry, and especially to see that excursionists commit no depredations. Mdlle Matelmrm, the popular Russian actress recently created a great sensation at a fancy-dress ball "by appearing in an entrancing costume composed of some forty-six thousand English postage stamps, arranged in beautiful "designs upon a shimmering 1 silk foundation. The originality of the scheme and the complete success with which rt was carried out delighted the onlookers. Point is given to the idea by the fa.t tthat Md 'o t Mitchurin i 3of English origin, her grandfather, a Yorkshireman, having settied in St Petersburg. The favourite pursuit of the Princess Royal is undoubtedly angling, and she is never so happy <as when in Scotland spending! long days "beside the banks of the Dee with her two young daughters, who, like their mother, are successful anglers. TEe Princess Royai has designed more than one fly for fishingrainy days find her making them busily. Queen Alexandra is also a successful angler, and it was her habit « ; t Fredensborg to spend many hours fishing with her daughter, Pnncess Victoria. Of ht-te years her Majesty has been less given to angling, though eometimes when in Scotland with her eldest daughter the old enthusiasm descends upon her. The only bank that is run' entirely by women is in Joplin, Missouri, and it is eminently successful. Its staff consists of fire women — Mrs V. Frank Church, cashier; Miss Tillie Muller, assistant cashier; Miss Oilie M'AVjot and Md»s Henrietta Maxwell, bookkeepers; and Mrs Blanche Jenkins, teller. An ex-Mayor of Joplin is president, but his* time is so taken up with his other business that he loaves hia bank in Ihe oare of tbe women who have proved co capable. Joolin is in the heart of the zinc mining district, and a portion of the patrons of the bank are miners. To accommodate them the bank is open late on Saturday nights, which is quits a departure from the noonday closing of the ordinary concern. Saturday night is the busy time, and often as much as £20.000 is handled by itiktse industrioVs women.