FOUR INTIMATE FRIENDS OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVII, Issue 24, 15 December 1906, Page 49

FOUR INTIMATE FRIENDS OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA

The Career of a Circus Girl.

There is no smarter motor car to be seen in St. Petersburg than that of Countess Dora Stackelberg, the widow of the famous general. After the peace was concluded at Portsmouth, U.S.A., the Czar personally informed the fair

Countess of the fact, and with tears in his eyes, kissed her hands. At the time when General Count Stackelberg suffered one defeat after another, and his wife was almost crushed by the news, it was the Czar who consoled her. and told her the Almighty would still be with the general, and send him victories. But who is this Countess Dora Staekelberg. and why do many ladies pass her

by with a sniff, and whisper to one an other, “Ciniselli*’? In 1877 the manager of the Circus Ciniselli opened a season in St. Petersburg, and the two chief at tractions were the beautiful horses presented by King Victor Emanuel of Italy to the beautiful girl Dora Ciniselli. and. secondly. Dora Ciniselli. the proprietor s daughter, herself. Everyone rushed to see her. Among those who tried to win the good graces of Dora was old Prince Gortschakoff, and though all his overtures were repulsed, he became more and more pressing. Ultimately. he threatened to have the father, Ciniselli. sent to Siberia unless his daughtei yielded to him. and he actually had him arrested. The girl, however, asked to have an interview with Alexander IL, and this was accorded. She told his

Majesty everything, and the next morning Ciniselli was released. The Czar said to Gortschakoff:—“My dear Prince you are too hot headed for a politician. You will at once give an order to. have Ciniselli released, and to-night you will accompany me to the circus.” From that day forward the Emperor Alexander 11. became the circus girl’s devoted admirer, and saw her daily till his death. For a long time Dora Ciniselli would accept neither presents nor money from her Imperial lover, and refused to give up her career. When the Czar sent her a large sum in a bonbonniere she distri buted it in his name among the poor. Later his Majesty bought her a chateau in Livadia, and drove out to see her twice a day. It was on his way to Dora Ciniselli that Alexander IL met his

fate. After Alexander ll.’s death Dora Ciniselli was banished from Russia. She left without having saved any money, and she would have been penniless but for Count Stackelberg, who had long loved her, and now made her his wife. He, too, was banished, but the present Czar recalled them.

Be Considerate—Shop Before Christmas Eve.

What happens to the average girl or woman in her home when, from overfatigue, she sometimes faints away?

The family rush to restore her: she is put to bed: the physician is called in: a tonic is given her, rest is prescribed and the whole household tiptoes softly as it passes her door! But what happens to the shopgirl who faints from over-fatigue at Christmas! Last Christmas. so far as could be learned, more than six score girls and women fain’ed away while at their counters! But in nearly every case these girls bad to go back to their places as soon as possible, with the same fierce mob beating about them, under the same stress of hurry and insistence, and with the sanie\close, bad air to breathe. They had in view the possible loss of their places. Not only do these girls know that they are needed every instant, but they also know that the firm cannot afford to retire a large number of saleswomen at the holiday rush, when instead, they are taking on extra help every day. Is it any wonder that one saleswoman was over heard saying io another last Chrsstuiastime: “I think I am going to die. I am so tired. My feet are swollen so every morning that I can’t wear my own shoes, and my head aches so all night th it I can't sleep. Thank Heaven! Christmas will soon be over.

Is this the Christmas spirit that we talk about so much and so beautifully? Is this peace on earth and good will toward men? And whose fault is it? That of toe vast majority of the Christmas shoppers —the women of this country. and especially- of the big cities, who put off their Christmas shopping, and then, during the last fortnight, rush into it with an intensity that might well be envied by the average football team in the fiercest of the play. They forget that another woman, like unto themselves in flesh and nerves, stands behind the counter to serve them. Just stop and think what Christmas means to such a girl behind the counter. Does she have time to recall the beautiful Christmas spirit with which the season was ushered in? Has she leisure to plan delights for those she loves, eleven to loiter along the street and see the shop-windows aglow with light? Not

she. To her the happy Yuletide means only a fierce, beating, pitiless mob that tortures her in mind and bodv from eight o’clock in the morning unta ten o'clock at night. The longer hours tax her sadly; the insistent clamour around her wears upon her nerves and brain; the close air strikes into her lungs. Yet she must keep up. Do you wonder that she faints from sheer exhaustion: that thousands of these brave girls hate the very word Christmas? Yet it could all so easily be made different, if women who inflict the-e injuries by letting their Christmas shopping go until the very last minute would only do a little thinking, would exercise a little forethought, a little consideration —a little humanity!

Winner of the November Baby Show in Auckland, This bouncing young colonial is a grandson of Mr. Thomas Gresham, the well-known Coroner for Auckland.