Newspaper Page Text
28
A^yj ""*"'' V^ V* V*^ LJ LJ LJ \s \J> LJ \^ A. 1,/ \^ U %J \^r \J LJ U I {mtrf \j\J LJ LJ \^^£ &* *r fj (J A" Wt' V l\ \\ // [* ' jr \^y v jl/ / -j^
COUNTESS DU VALENCAY
Daughter of Hon. Levi. P. Morton
Miss Morton's marriage to the Count dv Valencay was the notable
event of society. The mother of the duke and incompatibility of tem
per are said to be the reasons why the countess will seek a divorce
from her titled husband. Miss Morton embraced the Catholic faith to
marry the duke.
BUDS ARE CUT OUT BY MATRONS
Mayfair Mammas Resent the Fashion Set by American
Women Who Dance
Special Foreign Service
ONDON, June 25.—Mayfair mam
-■—/ mas with eligible daughters, and
chaperons with fair aspirants for mat
rimonial honors on their hands, have a
grievance for which they declare the
young American matrons who figure so
conspicuously in fashionable society
are largely responsible. Their specific
complaint is that debutantes are no
longer invited to dances as of yore, and
that in consequence their chances of
contracting desirable marriages are
greatly diminished. And they assert it
Is chiefly the brilliant and bewitching
young American wives in the London
social world who set the example of
closing the ballroom doors against
young unmarried English girls. Hav
ing once taken the field, they hold it
against all newcomers. It is they who
dance and give the dances for which
invitations are most eagerly sought.
As notable among these are mentioned
Lady Essex, Lady Grey-Egerton, and
several others, in whose trains, as at
tendant satellites, are many young
English matrons. At their smart terp
sichorean functions young unmarried
girls form an inconspicuous minority,
while their brothers, who often regard
dancing as a "beastly bore," receive
more invitations than they can find
time to accept. Under such circum
stances what chance, asks the indig
nant British matron, has the demure
little English girl just out of school
against the brilliancy and dash of the
all-conquering American woman in so
ciety?
T-he Duchess of Roxburghe is still
house hunting. She is now personally
kiiQ*vn to nearly every fashionable real
estate agent in London and has earned
the'reputation of being the stiffest bar
gainer among all the American ladies
who have found their way into the
English peerage. "She also is fastid
ious to the point of being almost ridicu
lous," said a leading agent who has
soiffe of the finest mansions in Mayfair
and Belgravia- on his books. "Why." he
added, "if I offered her Buckingham
palace or Marlborough house she would
find fault with them. She wants all
London constructed on the American
principle." It is thought likely that the
duchess will settle on a house in Cav
endish square, as the owners of man
sions in the American colony in May
fair are opposed to any radical changes
in the internal construction of their
prdperties, especially when they are
only required for short terms.
That expensive and brilliant wed
dings do not always insure the con
tinued prosperity of the young couples
is «, truism that holds good from the
highest to the lowest. Certainly few
marriages could have been more daz
zling than that of Lady Peggy Prim
rose, the daughter of the Earl of Rose
bery, to the Earl of Crewe, yet within
a few years even these, lacking the
wherewithal to keep up a home of their
own have returned to live with the
bride's father.
ffot in a generation would there be
such universal interest in the marriage
of any one girl as that manifested in
Lady Peggy Primrose's nuptials. Her
trousseau was an enormous one, and
the order for her lingerie the largest
with one exception ever executed in
England, or rather given in England,
for it was executed in the convents of
Ireland. The exception was the trous
seau of Lady Peggy's mother. Miss
Rothschild, in which every article of
wearing apparel was multiplied by
eight dozen.
The wedding was, of course, the func
tion of the season, presents from the
whole of the upper ten thousand in
cluding Queen Victoria, being show
ered upon the happy pair. The cere
mony took place at Westminster Ab
bey in the presence of hundreds of
eager guests and onlookers
The Earl of Crewe, at the time of his
marriage, had daughters of the same
age as his youthful bride, but he was
acknowledged by all the feminine crit
ics as being very handsome, besides
very, young in spirit, and by no means
old in years, and there was not the
slightest fear but that happiness for
both of them was well assured.
Financial difficulties were not ex
pected, but a great deal of money was
spent in the doing up of the Earl of
Crevve's house in Hill street since when
things have gone wrong generally.
-There is talk of unlucky speculation on
the stock exchange. To straighten
things out the earl has sold two es
tates in Yorkshire, given notification
that he is willing to dispose of Wharne
cliffe house in Curzon street, which ex
actly faces the new house of the Duke
and Duchess of Marlborough, and now,
homeless, has taken his young wife
back to her father's, where there is no
fear but that they will be able to dwell
in peace and plenty. Although her
mother was so extremely wealthy the
Countess of Crewe has but $7,500 a
year of her own.
The great event of the social season
in London, so far as the smart Ameri
can colony is concerned, will be Mrs.
Frank Mackay's first dinner party in
her new home in Upper Qfrosvenor
street. Although the house always has
been regarded as one of the most hand
somely decorated mansions in London
it does not suit Mrs. Mackay. In re
decorating it for her initial function
she is going back to the Louis XV.
period, and in other ways the company
invited will witness a new departure in
society entertaining. The ladies are to
be dressed after the style of the period
but there is nothing yet to show that
the men will be put to any inconveni
ence beyond the modern dinner attire.
The decoration of the rooms are in the
hands of a big West End firm, and it
is estimated that the coat will not be
much short of $10,000. Special men
have been imported from Paris and
other places on the continent, as few
English workmen are acquainted with
the style required. The peculiar fea
ture of Mrs. Mackay's enterprise is that
after the opening dinner the rooms are
to be restored to their normal state,
and that on esrery successive occasion,
when a new departure is contemplated,
the apartments are to be again deco
rated according to the style required.
As Mrs. Mackay's parties are to be lav
ish and frequent the decorators are
looking forward to a harvest such as
has seldom been experienced even in
Mayfair. The first party will be most
select and will include most of Mr. and
Mrs. Mackay's American friends now
in London. Later on English society
belles will figure largely at these en
tertainments.
It is to America that the eyes of the
French religious communities will
probably be turning as the next land
of refuge. At the present moment
these refugees are about the one hope
of English lanQed proprietors who are
anxious to sell their houses and es
tates. It now is almost impossible to
sell estates or even to let them in Eng
land. Times are not such as to en
courage English smart folk to take an
extra country seat for a year or bo,
much l'ss buy one, and the wealthy
Americans who come over to England
IKE ST. PAUL GLOBE. SUNDAY. JUNE r^ 1904
SIR DONALD CURRIE RECOVERS HIS HEALTH
Friend of Gladstone and Captain of Industry at the Age of Eighty Secures a New
Lease of Life—Has Had a Remarkable Career
Special Correspondence
ONDON. June 25.—Although, ac
*-' cording to the latest reports. Sir
Donald Currie is recovering from his
recent severe illness, his advanced age
—eighty—makes it unlikely that; thta
friend of Gladstone and Tennyson, and
great English captain of industry, will
live much longer. Sir Donald's most
recent portrait Imparts to his thought
ful, earnest face a marked aspect of
benevolence. That it accords well with
his character was shown the other day
by his munificent donation of $500,000
to the London university.
Self-made and proud of it. Sir Dtm
ald belongs to that £ype of man who
comes to the top' far oftener in the
new world than in the old. He was
boi njn Scotland, entered a steam ship
ping office in his native town of Green
ock when he was fourteen, and from
that humble start on an office stool
rose to be the head of the firm of Don
ald Currie & Co., owners of the great
Castle line of steamers plying to South
Africa; sat for ten years in parliament,
gained knighthood and won the es
teem and friendship of many of Eng
land's most distinguished men. Dur
ing his life he has witnessed the mar
velous growth and development of the
steam mercantile marine, and has
played no small part in it. He entered
the Cunard service when he was
eighteen. At that time this company
possessed the only steamers engaged in
the American trade, and there wene
only three of them. When the present
Sir Donald was thirty-seven he left the
Cunard company and started the Cas
tle line.
Asked once to what he attributed hi 3
success he replied: "To doing thor
oughly whatever I undertook to do. I
made that my guiding principle when I
obtained my first position, and as far
as my powers permitted I have stuck
to that rule ever since."
His interest in South Africa has not
been that of a business man only. As
a Britisher he has always believed in
coloring as much as possible of it red
on the maps, and this occasioned some
differences of opinion between himself
and Gladstone, of whom he was a
warm friend and admirer. But he did
succeed in persuading Gladstone to au
thorize the hoisting of the British flag
at St. Lucia bay in Zululand just in
time to beat the Germans by a few
days. He was knighted in 1879 be
cause, owing to his initiative and re
source in placing steamships at the
disposal of the government and getting
dispatches forwarded, the little British
force shut up at Elkowe, and surround-
are seldom attracted to these estates
that the owners are most anxious to
sell. Americans buying places in Eng
land want the old castles and such like
historic dwelling places which are
mostly entirely out of the power of
their owners to sell. It is out-of-the
way estates and mansions that can be
purchased, and these, while not appeal
ing to the American millionaires, are
especially suited to the different re
ligious communities —most of them are
enormously wealthy—which are being
expelled from Fiance. Too large a
sprinkling of these bodies of Roman
Catholics, however, are in the eyes of
the English not at all pleasing. The
"Papish Invasion," as it is called, would
be demurred against if it grew too
large, and this is why it is believed
that America will be the next land of
refuge.
The Earl of Ashburnham. who is the
second Roman Catholic in England, the
Duke of Norfolk being the first, has
lent Pembrey his splendid estate in
Carmarthenshire, Wales. to v one of these
communities who are noted for their
cheese making. Another body of these
French refugees are negotiating for an
estate in Devonshire. —Lady Mary.
SANDY MACPHERSON
BLEEDS A DUKE
Special Foreign Service
LONDON, June .25.—Although the land
in the vicinity of Floors Castle, which
the Duke of Roxburghe is now transform
ing into golf links, froms part of his es
tate, it has cost him $50,000 to acquire
possession of it .for his own U3e. Sandy
MacPherson, one of the duke's Scotch
tenants, held the property in question on
a long lease, and Sandy was not born
north of ths. Tweed for nothing. When
the duke's agent called upon him with the
view to making some equitable arrange
ment for the relinquishment of his lease
the canny Scot perceived that the oppor
tunity of a lifetime had come to him
and grabbed It.
He named an .exorbitant figure for the
transfer of his holding. The agent did
his best to beat him down to some
thing approximating a reasonable figure,
but Sandy was obdurate. He had read
all about the Goelet millions, and, fur
thermore, as a golfer himself, knew that
his ten acres constituted the best avail
able ground for golf links on the ducal
estate. Also, that whatever the duke
might be disposed to do In the matter,
his American wife would never be sat
isfied with anything less than the best.
He finally told the agent that he would
see the duke In —well. Jericho, before he
would part with his lease for a "baubee"
less than the price he had named. This
message wa. conveyed to the duke, who,
after expressing some very emphatic and
forcible or <*M concerning Sandy,
yielded at last to his terms. It was not
the forking out of the money that he
minded bo much, for he knows that there
is plenty more, where It came from, but
it was being victimized in such fashion
that made him feel sore. As he expressed
it, "It is very hard that one cannot get
possession of hla own property at a de
cent price."
The duke has been an enthusiastic
golfer for some years, but has never at
tained to any high degree of proficiency
In the game. Not long *ago he played
with the Laird of Skibo over the tatter's
private links, but it proved to be a case
of the old man beating the boy, much
to Mr. Carnegie's joy and the duke's
chagrin. It was after this the duke de
cided that he would have golf links of his
own and model them after those at
Skibo. Meanwhile he is taking lessons
from a professional at Berwick. When
the links at Floors Castle are ready he
will take lessons there from the -cele
brated Ben Sayers, who has coached
some of the most distinguished amateur
golfers in the country, including Mr. Bal
four. ttia uruoe minister.
SIR DONALD CURRIE
pgp '■■■■■ ■■.■.■■■■■■ .-. ■",■,■-■ . ..■:■.-. .■Vv'c^B
The great English captain of indus
try and former friend of Gladstone and
Tennyson. Sir Donald is recovering
from his recent serious illness, but, on
account of his great age, is not ex
pected to live long.
Ed by some 10,000 Zulus under Cete
wayo's brother Dabulamanzi, was
saved from destruction.
Sir Donald had at one time a great
fondness for taking distinguished peo
ple on long cruises in his steamers. In
1890 Gladstone was hi 3 companion for
a fortnight in a cruise around Scotland
in the Grantully Caatle, after illness
had compelled him to take a respite
from parliamentary work. On that
voyage Gladstone's favorite book, his
host relates, was "David Copperfield."
Three years later both Gladstone and
Tennyson were his guests on a longer
cruise, which extended around Scot
land to Kirkwall, Norway and Copen
hagen.
"It was most charming," saya Sir
Donald, "to see Gladstone and Tenny
son together, Tennyson would
read one of his poems to the great
statesman, discussing here and there
the various lines, and Gladstone ques
tioned the poet as to how he came to
use this and that form of phraseology,
nothing could be more instructive.
"Sometimes they would talk about
Homer and the Greek poets, and on
one occasion these two great men had
the most interesting discussion on
Shakespeare that I ever heard. Al
though Tennyson was not a very early
riser, immediately after breakfast hs
used to return to his cabin to study
FAME FINDS SAXON
AUTHORJNTWO YEARS
Franz Beyerlein, Writer of Mil
itary Life, Is the Literary Lion
of Germany Today
Staff Correspondence
BERLIN, June 4.—Franz Adam Bey
erlein, the young Saxon writer, has
done more with his novels and dramas
of German military life to prove that
X - JUgst
FRANZ BEYERLEIN
Whose Military Books and Novell Are
Literary Sensation of the Decade in
the Fatherland.
the pen is mightier than the sword
than any author of his generation. Two
years ago an obscure tyro, today finds
him famous and the dominant literary
figure of the hour in Germany." Two
works —a novel and a play—have won
him reputation and fortune, the ro
mance, "Jena or Sedan" and the stir
ring drama of German barrack life,
"Zapfenstreich." Both portray in strik
ingly vivid form the modern aspects of
German militarism, which is set forth
in such naked reality that the public
conscience of all Germany hfcis been
aroused, as It has never been aroused
before, to the evils of the grinding sys
tem and all its attendant bitternesses
and hardships. "Jena or Sedan" has
broken all German records for sales.
More than 200,000 copies have been
printed and sold, a figure never before
approached in the history of the Ger
man book trade. Everybody who reads
at all has read it. The kaiser is said
to have thumbed it through three
times. Army officers have made it the
subject of passionate debate in private
and in public, and the relchstag has
rung with angry quotations from its
pages, by members of the Social Demo
cratic party, who find it unrivaled ma
terial for their incessant attacks on
the government's military policy.
Beyerlein is a native of a little man
ufacturing town in Saxony, renowned
for the production of Meisaen pottery.
As a young man of twenty-one be
and write, for. as he told me. he con
sidered this was the best part of the
day for work. When Tennyson talked
it was ju3t like one of his poems. When
he was viewing scenery—a moonlight
night, or a sunset, or a little bit of im
pressive landscape—he would sit and
look at it silently for a moment, as
though drinking it in and filling his
soul, only the next moment to tell it all
to those whose privilege it was to sit
near him."
Sir Donald's reminiscences of this
sort make one's mouth water for more
of them. By doing thoroughly every
thing he set his hand to he has earned
well merited distinction, but if he were
only a Bos well, by giving us a record
of these rapturous monologues of the
poet and the discussions between him
and Gladstone, he might earn a fame
that would -endure long after himself
and his ships have been forgotten.
.It was on this voyage of the Pem
broke Castle that royalty paid its hom
age to genius, a banquet being given
on board at Copenhagen, at which were
present the king and queen of Den
mark, the then emperor and empress
of Russia, the king and queen of Greece
and lesser royalties swelling the num
ber to twenty-nine. Gladstone made a
speech and Tennyson read two of his
poems, and royalty expressed great
satisfaction with both performances.
On this occasion Sir Donald obtained
one of his most cherished possessions—
one of Tennyson's clay pipes. After
the dinner Tennyson had retired to his
cabin for a smoke, where Sir Donald
hunted him up and conveyed to him
the request of the assembled royalties
that he would be so kind and obliging
as to read to them some of his poems.
The poet was loath to lay aside his
pipe, even for that, but by Scotch per
sistency Sir Donald got hkri to give it
up, and Tennyson, instead of tpssing it
out of the cabin window, as he was ac
customed to do with his clays after a
smoke, gave it to Sir Donald as a
keepsake.
"When I told Gladstone this," relates
Sir Donald, "he said, 'Keep it; it will
be precious some day.' "
When Gladstone returned to England
after this voyage he got a wigging
from his royal mistress, Queen Vic
toria, a great stickler for: etiquette, and
all the prerogatives of her exalted posi
tion as everybody knows, because he
had dared to put foot on a foreign
shore without having first obtained her
permission, which, as prime minister,
he ought to have done. And as Mr.
Morley records in hi 3 biography of the
statesman he had to make a most hum
ble apology to the queen for having
ignored her authority.
Sir Donald has a town residence at
No. 4 Hyde Park place, and among his
art treasures there are more Turners
than can be found in any other private
collection. His country residence is
Garth Castle, near Aberfedy, Scotland,
and there he keeps his Tennyson pipe.
served his year with the colors as an ar
tilleryman at the garrison at Pirna,
near Dresden, where his shrewd pow
ers of observation and retentive mem
ory supplied him with the material
with which he was destined to win lit
erary renown. The garrison of Pirna,
under another name, is the place at
which the scenes described in "Jena or
Sedan" are supposed to have occurred.
The interrogatory title of the book
was chosen by Beyerlein to indicate
that Germany must choose between
another "Jena" —the great battle at
which the Prussians were crushed by
Napoleon—and another "Sedan"—the
fight in which they worsted the French
in 1870 —if the Fatherland is to remain
an invulnerable military power. His
conclusions, of course, are that the
country is headed for another Jena,
unless the abuses which he depicts are
radically arrested. Howls of protest,
taunts of "traitor" and "Social Demo
crat" greeted Beyerlein when "Jena or
Sedan" first appeared. He was ac
cused of malicious exaggeration of
army abuses and of striving for a sen
sation, but people took him so seri
ously that the army authorities them
selves were finally stirred and, in re
sponse to public sentiment which im
mediately began to crystallize, they
were forced to order a rigid investiga
tion of the most serious charge Beyer-
Iqin had made —namely, that abuse of
recruited men was common and wide
spread among the kaiser's troops.
Court-martial after court-martial re
vealed the truth of the author's
charges. Dozens of brutal sergeants
were tried and sentenced for brutality
in barracks. One non-commissioned
ruffian was convicted of over 3.000 in
dividual cases of maltreatment of men.
Such revelations- naturally caused an
upheaval of popular resentment, for
the best families in Germany, under
the inexorable conscription system,
send their sons into the army, and the
toleration of such practices was brand
ed as barbaric.
The authorities found themselves
compelled to withstand an avalanche
of criticism from every quarter, and
the stamping out of brutality in the
army Tias become within the past year
the subject to engross the closest at
tention of the kaiser'a commanding of
ficers. His majesty himself has, of
course, felt the weight of public opin
ion and has expressed himself forcibly
upon the necessity for treating enlist
ed men humanely.
Beyerlein's friends resent the impu
tation that he tent himself to revolu
tionary uses in writing "Jena or Se
dan." They assert he proved his patri
otism by calling attention to the evils
of the army system, and point to the
revelations and reforms the publica
tion has precipitated as proof of the
good work he has accomplished.
Last winter Beyerlein added to his
fame by writing the military play,
"Zapfenstreich." As "Jena or Sedan"
emphasizes one evil of army life, bru
tality to soldiers, "Zapfenstreich" mor
alizes on the deadly caste distinction
which respect for the officer class
breeds in the German people. A charm
ing love story, with a tragic ending,
throws the veil of romance around the
story which is in reality a merciless at
tack on militarism, the very bone and
sinew of German life. The crown
prince attended the opening perform
ance of Zapfenstreich" at the Leasing
theater m Berlin, and was severely
reprimanded by the kaiser for^ doing
so. At many garrison cities the mili
tary authorities have forbidden either
officers or men to attend the play,
which is now being produced every
where and arouses tremendous enthu
siasm.
Beyerlein's best days are before him
and admirers of his <bold style predict
a still more brilliant career for the
young author, who has chosen the
most vital theme of German life as a
vehicle for his talents.
LATEST PORTRAIT OF MRS. ALFRED LYTTLETON
88l 8881 ' wBbBB 1
mmmmmmwW^ BB
I Miß cJSF #bBB§ *
IBjPJtgPl 3»n I
illß
IBPaaBBSPBBB:-. ÜBR -.->., ■.■!«■.■>&.
■a *-W
fIBBB£^BE^%^S-"--v' BjWW«yy.y.« ,• t^'^^^/' MiisSmA
|||
||B%|af[i|i * ' WMm Ji
l*M^w^
H|m^ ' «ft ■""•■■ /#^bßHbHßb-bH
|X , ,flrCp****&w "
IP >:^BB^^ !ȴ "i^^^^^S^ 8^ SfIHBB^^aVBIBIpaBBB^BB^BB^BBa^BBBB
If
N-shN:" :**'" "^ ./.-.■..■. ~--ftK?£S&mW^mmi
The English Colonial Secretary's Clever Wife, Who Made Political
Speeches on Her Husband's Behalf and Whose Play "Warp
and Woof" Is About to Be Produced
Special Foreign Service
ONDON, June 25. —The colonial
•*-' secretary's wife, Mrs. Alfred Lyt
tleton, i 3 showing herself to be one of
the most gifted and capable women in
London's smart set. Mr. Lyttleton has,
too, the distinction of being married to
a clever man, her husband having been
appointed to succeed Mr. Chamber
lain, not through influence, but because
he was regarded as the man best fitted
for the billet in the ranks of the Con
servative party. As her portrait shows,
nature has endowed Mrs. Lyttleton lib
erally with good looks as well as
brains. Society is awaiting with much
interest the production in London next
week of the play she has written, the
leading role of which will be filled by
Mrs. Patrick Campbell. It is entitled
"Warp and Woof," and has for its
theme the failings of society in its re
lations with the working classes. As
regards society, at least, Mrs. Lyttle
ton has no need to seek second-hand
information, for she has long been re
garded as one of its most brilliant
members, and as a conversationalist is
ENGLAND'S PEN TAKES TO CATS
Imitators Drive Alexandra to Give Up Dogs and Make
Pets of Tabbies
Special Foreign Service
LONDON, June 25.—T0 all but the
favored few who are on intimate
terms with Queen Alexandra, it came
as rather a surprise when, on her ar
rival in Ireland a while ago, the queen
was found to be accompanied by a pet
cat. Heretofore a dog of one breed or
another almost invariably has been
numbered among the queen's traveling
companions, and it was known gener
ally that her majesty, besides being
fond of bow-wows, bred them exten
sively and was the owner of about the
most luxurious kennels in England,
but she never has been suspected of
any special liking for cats. I learn,
however, that these animals have al
most entirely supplanted dogs as re
cipients of the queen's attention. Her
kennels were the royal lady's delight,
but when she discovered that all sorts
of folk were copying her in this direc
tion, she decided to stop breeding dogs
and g?o in for the cats instead- True to
her customary policy of thoroughness,
the queen now has a small army of the
best breeds, and if any of the royal
residences contain a mouse t^ crea
ture must be a veritable De Wet of its
kind.
The "royal cats" have practically
the free run of Buckingham palace,
Windsor castle and Sandringham
bouse, and any of the queen's friends
who yearn for feline companionship
have only to confess as much to Queen
Alexandra to have their want supplied.
The queen has six particular favor
ites among her cat family, but a valu
able Persian enjoys her special affec
tion. This is "Sandy" — who is so
named because he first saw the light
at Sandringham. For several months
her majesty has never traveled with
out him, and he is as fondly attached
to his royal mistress as the celebrated
Irish terrier "Jack" was to the king in
his most affectionate moments. "San
dy" is privileged to disport himself in
the dining apartments, though his less
fortunate brothers and sisters have to
confine their activities to the other
rooms in the royal dwellings.
Edward VII. hates cats, and if he had
his way "Sandy" would not long have
the privilege—supposedly reserved for
his kind —of "looking at a king." but
the liberties that her royal husband de
manded for his "Jack" the queen now
demands for her pet. If the king has
no love for "Sandy," however, the feel
ing seems to be fully reciprocated, for
the queen's favorite will not come to
his majesty's Bide of the table at any
price, and generally makes himself
scarce when his majesty is about.
"Sandy," as well as "Monarch" and
"Ossy," the two cats — also Persian.
whici* cotne next to the favorite in
one of the few women to whom the
king delights to listen. And she can
make speeches as well as she can talk.
Her talents in that direction, however,
she did not discover until, after his ap
pointment to a cabinet position, her
husband, as required by English law,
had to stand again for election to par
liament. In the midst of the-selection
fight at Leamington, much to the con
sternation of his friends, he was taken
ill. It was then Mrs. Lyttleton pluckily
jumped into the breach and stumped
the constituency. Her addresses to
workingmen proved especially effect
ive, and so excellent a substitute did
she make for her husband that it was
conceded that he gained more votes
than he lost by his absence. Like her
husband Mrs. Lyttleton i 3 an ardent
imperialist, and as president of the
Ladies' Empire club, in fashionable
Grosvenor street, has done much to
make that a center of feminine political
activity, which counts for much in
England despite the fact that women
have no votes. Mr. Lyttleton is only
forty-seven and, it is predicted that he
will go far in politics, tf the prophecy
is verified undoubtedly he will owe
much of his success to his brilliant and
charming wife.
their mistress' affection, sat for their
photographs at Buckingham palace re
cently, thanks to which fact it is possi
ble for the first time to reproduce their
likenesses. They also have sat at
Windsor and Sandringham to Louig
Wain, the great cat artist, who de
clares them to be about the best and
most patient sitters he ever has had.
According to the lowest estimate the
royal cats now number fifty. Her spe
cial pets are always in residence where
the queen is for the time being. They
have a groom all to themselves; they
have a bath every morning and their
toilet is carefully attended to twice a
day. On the slightest sign of illness
the royal "vet" is summoned, who
makes a careful diagnosis, and the re
sult is immediately communicated to
her majesty. There is a specially pre
paied room called 'The Cat Hospital,"
in the stables attached to Buckingham
palace, and here pussy reclines—wh^en
indisposed—in a bed sufficiently lux
urious for the baby of a marquis. Its
temperature is taken and the stethe
scope applied as regularly as if the
fate of an empire were depending on
the cat's existence. Her majesty makes
constant inquiries as to the progress of:
the illness, and if one of her pets is re
ported in danger she goes personally
to see it.
For her cats, when in health, the
queen has prescribed a diet of fish and
milk, and as she is quite unwilling to
trust the discrimination of the ordi
nary London milkman as to the quality
of the latter, the royal cats are fed on
milk which comes fresh from Sandring
ham every morning, while a fish dealer
of repute is intrusted with the supply
of the fish known to be the best for
feline consumption. When her majesty
first took to cats she knew nothing
whatever about, their tastes or habits.
She was also ignorant of the points ojC
the different breeds, but Louis Wain,
whom she had presented to her for the
purpose, was able to convey so much.'
information that now the queen can
discuss cats with the greatest expert in
Europe.
Now that the queen has gone in for
cats, society, ever eager to follow a
royal lead, is sure to take up the fad,
and puss will be in clover for some
time to come. In fashionable circles
there are. however, already many cat
devotees. Most conspicuous among'
them is Lady Marcus Beresford, foun
der of the Cat club. She possesses
what is said to be the finest 'V;ittery >#
in the world, in which something like
150 cats of the choicest breeds, from
the tailless Manxman to the bushy
tailed chinchilla, live in a veritable fe
line paradise. Many of them reside in
a picturesque, creeper-clad building
known in the neighborhood as "Cat
Cottage." H«re no expense has been
spared in adapting the rooms to their
requirements, and the most elaborate
provisions are made for warmth and
ventilation. One room is set apart for
a woman, who is held responsible for
the conduct ot the establishment.
