SERVICE AND SOCIETY NEWS
(According to Mr. Sheldon)
[“The Rev. Charles M. Sheldon has just aroused the wrath of the ladies of Topeka by his views on the servant-girl problem. He advocated from the pulpit ‘the hired girl’ should be treated as one of the family and cherished, not chided.”—Pall Mall Gazette.]
Lord Doubleshire entertained a small party of friends at his town house last evening. After dinner the servants mingled freely with the guests, and the Marchioness of Stoke Newington was presented to the second stair-maid, Miss Elizabeth Wilkins, whose acquaintance she made.
Among the smart “bridge” parties last week must be numbered Mrs. Algey Bounceby’s. Her butler, Thomas Scraggs, who paired for the first rubber with the Duke of Dunkirk, is fast proving his claim to be one of the finest exponents of this fashionable card game.
We understand that the Countess of Crumbleton has issued cards to a distinguished but select few to meet her coachman, Mr. John Jenkins.
At the theatre the other evening, conspicuous among a remarkably well-dressed set of people, we noticed Lord Loughboro, the Hon. Misses Loughboro, and the head gardener, Ezekiel Jilks. The latter gentleman wore the famous silver Albert watch-chain, a Christmas present, it is understood, from Miss Gwendolen Loughboro, the bestowal of which gift has aroused so much comment in aristocratic and horticultural circles.
Half-a-dozen dissatisfied members of Brooks’s club are talking of resigning if Lord Livewell’s groom is not black-balled. He was of course put up by Lord Livewell himself and seconded by his uncle, Earl Gothepace. One or two rumours have certainly reached us reflecting on the temperance of Bob Whippet, the handsome groom. But for the old-fashioned prejudices which evidently animate the action of the discontented six, we have nothing but the severest reproof.
Owing to the severe illness of Miss Madeline Marrowby, the stall at the forthcoming Bazaar will be taken by her maid Ellen Cripps. As previously arranged, the stall-holders will be presented individually to the Royal Visitors.
In the forthcoming golf competition, at Hoylake, Miss Susan Bates, the scullery-maid to Hon. Miss Fitzwinter, is looked on as a likely prize winner. Her handicap playing has shown a wonderful improvement lately, so much so that her considerate mistress has given her permission to forego her ordinary duties of washing up the dishes and filling the coal scuttles, in order that she may get in a good morning’s practice on the links.
Among the presentations for the next Drawing-room we are glad to notice the name of Kate Briggs, the pretty second parlour-maid of Lord and Lady Wigmore. It will be remembered that their head butler attended the last levée. A full description of Miss Briggs’s presentation costume appears elsewhere.
Miss Gushington. “Well, you know, dear Mr. Robinson, for my part, I must say I enjoy excellent health as a rule, only I do suffer so at times from fits of giddiness!”
Lady Visitor. “I see you still have poor old Bingo.”
Fair Widow. “Yes. I wouldn’t part with him on any account. I never look at him without thinking of poor dear Marmaduke!”
He. “And so, as I didn’t know what the leopard would be up to next, I shot him on the spot.”
She. “How very exciting! And which spot did you shoot him on?”
THE LION AT HOME
The Lion at Home.—The Hope and Pride of the Family (just home from the grand tour). “Oh, really, you know, the men one meets in some of those places out west! I said to myself every night, ‘Well, thank Heaven I haven’t shot anybody!’”
Fond and Nervous Mother. “You mean, thank Heaven nobody shot you, don’t you, dear?”
AT A CONVERSAZIONE
Young Lady. “I suppose you know everybody here, Miss Oddie?”
Miss Oddie. “Oh, I know most of them. But there are several strange faces over there!”