Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-11-10

and Fancy Fete, where it was made quite a
feature, was the leading about of pretty
little girls, who were permitted to be kissed
ior consideration. What a beneficial et-
iecr 1t must have on the minds of these chill
dren to be taught to sell their kisses at q
smiling apiece. Surely such practice
would deserve a special clause in the re-
Gently passed Children's bill. Where did
they come from, these pretty little mites?
Even in these advanced days one can
scarcely imagine ''the daughters Of Bel
graVia" allowing their little ones to dream
OF such thing, for of late years they have
discontinued the habit of turning them
selves into amateur cigar cutters. No doubt
thaC was the last straw which broke the
husbands back.
ARIsToCRATIC INSTITUTIONS.
Year by year fancy fairs have grown more
arlstocratic, until during the past season it
was the exception to find q commoner hold
ing a stall, unless it was some much sought
after American beauty. Among those whose
names figure prominently in this season of
tetes of all sorts, sizes and description were
the Duchess of Leinster, the Countess Rom
ney, the Duchess of Portland, whom every
one was anxious to see; Lady Algernon
Gordon Lennox, the Countess Cairns, Lady
Jane Taylor, the Marchioness of Conyng-
ham, the Countess Victoria Gleichen, Lady
Conyers, Lady Marlborough, the Marchioness
OF Waterford and Lady Coleridge.
Perhaps the smartest of the many fairs
held this year, and probably the most sue
cessful, was that at the old Irish Market
Place at Olympia, with the object of pro-
noting Irish cottage industries, most of the
articles for sale having been made by Irish
peasants. Here Lady Salisbury and Mrs.
Gladstone, attired in a gown and shawl of
Irish manufacture. sold side by side, while
d. r. II. the Duchess of Teck, with her son
and daughter, found purchasers for in
Vulnerable baskets of strawberries. The
Countess of Kilmorey and the Dowager
Countess Of Mayo did thriving trade in
fans and kittens, q strange combination,
while Mrs. "Tay Pay" O'Connor, Mrs. Os-
car Wilde, and Miss Justin McC Carthy made
no end of money at the "HOme Rule" stall
by the sale of exquisite lace, handkerchief,
carved bog-oak "dhudeens" and photo
graphs of Mr.. Parnen and other Irish
patriots.
MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM.
Not SO successful, yet by far the prettiest;
held this year, was the Tumble League
Fete, yclept the Midsummer Nights
Dream, where the chief feature was the en-
tertainments given both by professionals
ana amateurs. Although stalls were held
BY the Princess Victor of Hohenlohe,
Countess Feodore Gleichen, the Dowager
Countess of Winchelsea and others, the fair
was not a great hit financially. Here the
great attraction was the ballet danced twice
daily by sprites (Mme. Katie Lanner's
pupils) in the Albert Hall arena, trans
formed for the nonce into an Elizabethan
garden. There were certainly many novel
ties to be seen here, and yet grave doubts
were entertained as to whether it would
cover the expenses it entailed.
When one sees the really deserving chari-
ties for which these fetes are held, even now
when our appetite for them has been so
thoroughly cloyed, pang of regret shoots
through our hearts that their failure may
mean want, pain or sickness to those for
whose benefit they were held. Surely the
fertile bra1n-if it is still in the land of the
thinking-which some II years ago evolved
the idea of that first Elizabethian Fancie
Fayre, held in the Albert Hall, can invent
some new plan for charming coin from the
unchsritable, for it is an extraordinary put
true fact that there are many
who, refusing sovereign in charity, will
pay five times that amount into the hands of
a duchess for some utterly useless trife.
ETHEL NJ. MACKENZIE.