GOSSIP.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2740, 19 February 1910, Page 4 (Supplement)

GOSSIP.

The Garter, of which King Emanuel of Portugal ha s been made a 'knight, is mainlv (says “M.A.P.”) an Order of foreign monarchs. As regards British subjects its membership is limited to some twelve dukes, five marquises, and eight earls. But the King, if he wishes, can confer it broadcast on brother Royalties and their heirs. Manuel is yie twenty-fourth European Sovereign who wears the Garter at present, to sav nothing of some half-dozen heirs apparent. King Edward seems to make a practice of personally buckling the strap at Royal investitures. The piece of dark-blue velvet, of which the Garter is composed, with its solid gold pendants, is worth well upwards of £’10(30. Royal knights arc permitted to keep the insignia, but peers hold theirs only on loan. The Garter, with its accompanying Star and two Georges, is returned to the King when a nobleman of the Order dies.

The French Prime Minister, Monsieur Briand, is one of the simplest of men; not so much because he is a Socialist, perhaps, as in spite of the fact: And two things worry him considerably since he has been Prime Minister. The first is that he has to attend the official shoots at Rambouillet. Monsieur Briand is a fisherman, but does not care for shooting, and Monsieur Pal Here said of him, the first time that he came down :

“Why, our new Prime Minister holds his gun like. a. fishing rod.” And Monsieur Briand only smiled.

Monsieur Briand’s second trouble is a quaint one. The caricaturists refuse to put him in the papers. “And until they do,” he says, “I shall know that I am not really popular.”

Herr Maximilian Harden, who has been saying that war between England and Germany is inevitable, is one of the most remarkable of living writers. “He is an extraordinary chap,” said the Kaiser on one occasion, “and his mind is like a kaleidoscope.” .Herr Harden’s name was originally Wit'kowski, and he comes of Polish-Jewish stock. When only thirteen, he ran away from home and joined a troupe of strolling players. After undergoing numerous hardships, he became a journalist, eventually founding the “Zukunft”—the most outspoken newspaper in Germany. His fearlessness has often brought him in conflict with the authorities, and he has been twice convicted of lese maieste.

Mr. Birrell, who has, on behalf of the donor, presented Mr. Solomon’s portrait of the Prime Minister to the National Liberal Club, is one of the greatest wits of the present day, although you would never guess it to look at him. Short of stature, bespectacled, grey-haired, and of melancholy mein, he looks the last man in the woarld to give, all those brilliant flashes of humor for which he lias become famous.

Apart from politics, he has the distinction of having added a new word to the language, to “Birrell,” which may be taken to mean to discourse lightly and pleasantly on a familiar topic with the faintest touch of pedantry, and a deal of literary charm.

One of the best stories told about him concerns a poor client, whose case Mr. Birrell, when he was at the Bar, took up for nothing. When the case had been won, his client gratefully sent him the sum of los. W'hicli he accepted. in order not to give offence. A colleague reproached him, however, for this “unprofessional conduct” in taking less than gold. “But I took all the poor beggar had,” said Mr. Birrell. “and I consider that is not unprofessional!”

Maeterlinck’s savoir faire is proverbial. A distinguished French politician, who once sat next to him at a banquet, tells a characteristic little story bearing on this. In the middle of a conversation ’ there was a clattering fall, sind a clumsy waiter upset a elate of clear soup down Maeterlim:‘k r s back. Directly the consternation was over, he turned round, and, in a slightly reproachful voice, remarked to the offender: “It was thick soup I asked for.”

Signor Enrico Caruso, who, it is rumored, is shortly to inarry a' beautiful Sicilian girl, is a great sufferer from stage-fright. As a matter of fact, he 'hardly ever appears in public without experiencing the most acute nervousness. Curiously enough, he delights in this, for he believes that it eggs him on to do his best. “There is only one kind of trouble that I adore,” he has said : “it is the trouble that takes me in ambush when I go on the stage. I am then seized with nervousness, and the anguish alone makes my voice what it is.” . . This fever reveals it-

self to the public by many mysterious effects, which fill it with emotion; but let it be known that Caruso on the boards is not responsible for the pleasure he may give to others, and that everything is due to that redoubtable diet.v called ‘stage-fright.’ ” Certainly a modest view to take of his fame.

In the little town of Essen. Germany, is a hotel—a first-class hotel—at which the principal guests who put up there never have to pay for their accommodation.. It is owned by Frau Bertha Krupp, the richest woman in Germany, and owner of the great Krupp works-at Essen. She runs it at a loss of £20,000 a year. This hotel was builfc by Frau Krupp solely for the. entertainment of the representatives of foreign Governments who visit Essen to superintend the execution of orders. Emissaries from the Emperors! of Japan and Russia, from the ICings of. Roumania, Bulgaria, Spain, Norway, and Sweden, as well as from the Presidents of the Central and South American Republics, have been entertained at the Kru~”> Hotel for months at a time, in the most lavish and princely style. Ordinary travellers sometimes can 1 find accommodation at the Krupp Hotel, but only when the rooms are not required for Frau Krupp’s foreign official guests.