LADIES WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3229, 27 May 1911, Page 4

LADIES WORLD.

j MOTHER-IN-LAW’S PARADISE. ■ The paradise of the mother-in-law; is said to be Nunivak* Island, which. lies just off the coast of Alaska-. The wife and mother are supreme on Nunivak. When a suitor comes to the house it is “to see mamma,” not “papa.” When the mother-in-law-to-be gives 'her consent, it is to her that tne bridegroom hands over -the specified' amount of sealskins which represent the value of the bride. He must also prove that- he has killed a certain number of walruses and seals before lie passes muster as a provider. THE CORONATION DURBAR. Great interest has been aroused in India by the proposal that Indian ladies of princely families should be attached to the staff of the Queen during her coining visit. It will’ be remembered that when the King and Queen, then Prince and Princess of Wales, last toured in India, one Indian chief was attached to His Majesty’s staff, but no Indian lady to that of the Queen. The suggestion- therefore, that Indian ladies of society should now attend upon Hei; Majesty at the Coronation Durbar is expected' to meet- with Royal favor, especially since Lady Hardinge- has undertaken to communicate- their request and assure the Queen of their unswerving loyalty and devotion. OUT-O F-THE-ORD IN ARY. The late Lord Glenesk’s Piccadilly house, which is for sale, was the scene of Byron’s brief married life. There his daughter, Ada Lady Lovelace, was born, and there he parted for ever from his wife. The room has changed very little during the last one hundred years. From a lobby leading out of the morn-ing-room a short brief flight of secret stairs connects the drawing-room above bv a trap-door in the floor. Tradition relates that this latter was used by Byron as a bedroom, and that, with his love of out-of-the-ordinary, he preferred to use the back stairs and the trap-door rather than mount the "rand staircase and enter the common door. OTHER-DAY STYLES. ! Many writers ascribe the introduction of the side-saddle to Anne of Bohemia, the wife of Richard 11. Mr. Wright, however, in his “Hemes of Other Days,” ’contends that Saxton women rode sideways, supporting liis theory by pictures painted prior to the reign of Richard 11., where women are depicted riding in this way. He acknowledges however, that the' pommel was unknown in these days. The aiders sat with their left- hands to the horse’s head, until their feet hanging down a-s if they were sitting on a bench. AIR-VOYAGING. Now that air-vovaging has become a fashionable craze, peeresses and princesses joining in the- aerial procession, it is interesting to remember that the first English woman to venture on an aerial craft was the beautiful Mrs Sage, who went up in a balloon with Vincent Lunardi in 1784. She came safely back t-o earth in a few .hours, landing near Harrow. i ' ITEMS OF INTEREST. 1 Readers of that charming book, ‘‘The Caravaners,” will be interested to hear that the pioneer “ ‘caravanist” in English society is still in the full enjoyment of life. She is Mrs Bereiis, a tall, handsome white-haired woman, with a. clear and lovely complexion. She has written at least one novel, and many st-ories and sketches. She is an expert at bridge and croquet. Two of her daughters have married; the third. Miss I Mabel Berens, is enjoying the freedom of spinsterhood in a- flat of her own. Lady Parker, the handsome colonialborn wife of Sir Gilbert Parker, the- Canadian novelist, now an English M.P., is a commanding figure in musical society m London. Sir Gilbert is one of the busiest of M.P.’s, -his clever wife enters into all his political aims and ; interests; yet between them they find plenty of time to entertain their friends both by the giving of important dinner parties during the season, and by means of Lady Parker’s concerts and musical afternoons. Mrs Adela Maddison, an Irish woman, has written a new opera- called “The Talisman,” which is expected to be the event of the musical season in Leipzig. Nothing ages a woman like a heavy, matronly figure. How often one hears the remark: “Yes, she has a very young face, but what an old' figure !” A heavy figure will often add fifteen or twenty years to one’s looks, and a slim one takes off nearly as many. They have women conductors on the electric cars of Santiago, the capital of Chili. This was made necessary by the late war, which took so many men to the front and! imposed on women the work usually done by men. The custom has been kept up, the women having proved equally as efficient as the men had been. I Princess Sturdza of Roumania has offered to give the money necessary to continue the publication of the French j edition of “Jus Suffragii,” the official I organ of the Internationad Woman Sufj fraga Alliance. Mdme. Alma Webster-Powell is the president of the Public Good Society, | which held! its first meeting this season recently in the Hotel Aster,,New York. ; The first object of the Society is the | reform of evening dress. If successful, I bare arms, bare necks, velvet slippers j and! hobbled ' skirts will be abolished, along with swallow-tail coats. This mil prove a Herculean achievement for any , Society. An interesting Anglo-Russian engagement is.that of the Countess Benckenj dorff, daughter of the Russian Ambas- ! sador, to the Hen. Jasper Ridley, a | young Tory' politician, who -has just I been in the- thick of the elections as a prominent Tariff Reformer. The Countess supported her fiance with spirit and enthusiasm throughout his campaign, and no doubt thought a thought or two concerning- the difference- -between English and Russian electioneering.