MEN AND WOMEN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue XIV, 2 April 1898, Page 408

MEN AND WOMEN.

It is possible that the Queen may return to England, after her visit abroad, through Germany, in which ease Her Majesty is to pay a visit to the German Emperor ami Empress at Potsdam, and she will be present at the wedding of her eldest greatgrandchild, Princess Feodore of SaxeMeiningen (granddaughter of the Empress Frederick) and Prince Henry XXX. of Reuss. Miss Marie Corelli is very methodical in her work, and is usually in her study by nine o’clock, where she breakfasts alone, in order that nothing may disturb her thoughts. She usually writes until two o’clock,when she considers her literary work for the day over, and devotes the remainder of the time to driving, reading, and to music, which still remains her chief recreation. She plays the piano and mandoline. It is her habit to write a rough draft of her stories in pencil, afterwards enlarging as she copies out in a legible hand, which must be a delight to compositors. Secretaries deal with her correspondence, but everything relating to the actual writing of her books passes through her own hands. Her household is simply ordered, and she is relieved of all housekeeping care by her friend and companion, Miss Vyver, while her step-brother, Mr Eric Mackay, author of ‘The Love Letters of a Violinist,’ makes his home with her. The latest Paris fad has been set going by the shoemakers. In the fashionable boot shops on the boulevards and in the Rue de la Paix are to be seen boots with illustrations on the soles. Figures and landscapes are painted on them by hand. The French have produced the most remarkable kleptomaniac on record. This is an old woman named Bide, whose passion for smoking has impelled her to pilfer pipes from Parisian shops with such industry that no fewer than 2,600 were found in her lodgings. AH were meerschaums and thirty-nine were well coloured. All great celebrities have large noses, inclined to the Roman type, and large ears. A short, weak jaw marks the man lacking in will, while a broad and heavy jaw shows firmness, and even stubbornness. New York rejoices in a Rainy Day. Club. It is composed of ladies, and exists for the purpose of advocating

what is called a rainy day skirt in wet weather. From the report of the annual meeting of the club, which appears in the ‘New York Tribune,’ we gather that the influence of the club is spreading, other organisations having l>een formed in various parts of the Union. The test of membership is that members pledge themselves to wear short skirts, about four inches from the ground, on rainy days; and some of the more enthusiastic members favour the imposition of a fine upon those who fail to comply with this regulation. It. will benews to most people to learn that there exists in Russia a district which is wholly administered, and for the greater part of the year exclusively inhabited, by the fair sex. It comprises some fifteen square miles in the province of Smolensk. In the early spring all the able bodied males emigrate in search of work to the large towns, and remain absent for nine months or more, leaving their wives and daughters to cultivate the fields, and manage local affairs generally under the presidency of a Mayoress. Before nightfall the ladies assemble in a sort of club house, and play cards till one or two in the morning. Moreover, against the return of the men folk, they brew quantities of ‘braga,’ or small beer, and cook numbers of ‘piroghis,’ or patties. This Adamless Eden is one of the most prosperous and best conducted portions of the empire, and the Czarina takes a strong interest in its welfare. Dark hair and complexion, in races as well as in individuals, signify strength. Dark-skined races are always behind the lighter hue peoples in fine civilisation, because the physical predominates among them to the exclusion of the mental. Coarse red hair indicates marvellous physical endurance. Wide, round heads and faces indicate selfishness, joviality and animal propensities; narrow and long heads show soberness and strong- character. A deep thinker carries the head bent, forward: a woman capable of deep affection carries her head thrown well back. It is said to have been the Princess of Wales who suggested to Her Majesty and to the Prime Minister that that the honour of knighthood should be conferred upon Mr Lipton. The Princess (says a London correspondent) was full of gratitude to the. anonymous donor of £25,000 to her

jubilee fund, and when, after much difficulty she discovered the identity of the donor, she sent for Mr Lipton and thanked him personally. Last month Her Royal Highness again received Mr Lipton at Marlborough House, granted him an audience of twenty minutes, presented him with a scarfpin with the figures 1837-1897 set in brilliants, and announced that she had suggested Mr Lipton’s name for knighthood. Leonard Huxley’s paper on his distinguished father in the current Century is full of delightful glimpses of i tender-hearted and gentle man. The professor’s love for children was one of his most winning traits, and as a grandfather he was perfect. He would make endless fun with his little people, even pretending to misbehave at the table and being banished temporarily to the corner. ‘Little Miss Madge, a quaint, observant mite of 3s, on her first visit was mueh astonished at a grave and reverend seignior thus conducting himself, and at last broke out with, “Well, you are the curious’t old man I ever seen!” This tickled his fancy amazingly, and he delighted in telling the story.’ As for pets, the professor showed in his care for them the same gentle nature. His son says of him: This story is told of Mohammed that once, rather than disturb his cat, he cut off the sleevs of his robe, on which it had gone to sleep. Not less kindly has my father been found in the study reading in an uncomfortable seat, while the cat was lazily curled up in the arm chair. He laughingly defended himself by saying he could not turn the poor beast out. At dinner time he might often be seen with a big cat either on the arm of his chair or crouched on his shoulder, demanding proper attention, and, if it thought itself neglected, putting out an eager paw at the morsels on their way to its master’s mouth. Undoubtedly Mme. Du Bos d’Elbhecq is the oldest living woman who supports herself by her pen. She is 99 years old and has outlived her husband, son, grandchildren and friends, and is now living in a convent at Angiers, France. Mme. Du Bos d’Elbhecq is a prolific authoress. A list of her books would fill a column of a iarge newspaper. Some of these were highly successful, and ‘Le Fere Fargeau’ still sells. Her handwriting remains firm and legible; and the works which she now produces are read chiefly by the peasants and country folks. She began to work for tin printers at the age of 20—that is, seventy-nine years ago—and her life ever since has been a regular one. She has never been very poor and never very well off. She was elected a member of the Societe des Gens de Lettres fifty-three years ago.