New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-02-08

reference TO the manner In which the women spend
their days in an English country house. The
reason for my silence on such subject is only
logical. | have the misfortune to belong 10 the
sex wrongly described as the stronger" and
what man is there in the world who has ever
yet been able really to comprehend how women
spend their timesO awfully busy in doing nothing
in the most exhaustive fashion.
Another feature of English country-house life
which always strikes foreigners is the importance
attached to the attendance at church on Sundays
Nowhere is this more conspicuous than at Sand
bingham, where the Prince makes his appearance
downstairs shortly before IL o'clock and laugh
ingly orders every one nolens volens get ready
for church. Everybody has got to co. tie Cath
olicS in carriages to the Catholic church at the
neighboring town OF Kings Lynn, and the Angicans
on foot to the pretty church on the estate about
ten minutes walk from the house. The Prince
makes a point OF seeing the whole party off
to be sure that no one remains behind, and
brings up the guard himself, with a keen and
watchful eye for stragglers. On the way home
if the weather is fine the Prince takes his guests
to inspect his menagerie Of all kinds of wonderful
pet animals, from crocOdiles down to hedgehOgs,
while the Princess will insist on your admiring
the kennels, where she keeps her pet dogs, some
seventy in number. After luncheon at = thcn
see the prize cattle. of which the Prince is very
proud. and from there to the stables. which cost
the Prince some $50 900 per annum, and are almost
| perfection. One Of the finest features of Sand
bingham is the magnificent ballroom, with its
superb collection of Indian trophies and memen.
toes, almost every one of them OF the Princes
visit to India in 1876
One of tie only drawbacks 10 n stay at an
English country house is the comparatively heavy
| outlay involved by gratuit.es t. the servants.
Indeed it is scarcely correct to describe them as
| gratuties EXtortion would be a far more suit
able word. There is the head gamekeeDer and
one of his deputies, the head c0achnan and one
| of the groOms the head butler and one Of the
footmcn, the chambcnnad and the footmln who
attends to the smoking and bilard-room all Of
whose claims have to be taken into consideTa-
ton. The head gamekeepcr upon whose favor
depends your good bad location at the covert
side, would disdain to accept anything less than
five more generally ten-pound note; and
you may depend upon being mounted upon the
very s0rriest nag OF YOnr hosts stables unless you
propitiate his head cOachman in sim lar manner.
The butler Will he satisfied with anything from
two TO five soyereigns. and the footman, the
chambermaid. the groom and the under keepers
| with anything from ten to twenty shillings. All
| this however, constitutes a heavy drain on the
|
extends beyond a week. and that during the course
Of the autumn and winter months, one passes on
| from one country house to another paying some
| times as many as ten fifteen even twenty
| visits.
| Bad, however, as is the system, it has at
| least the merit Of being carried with a GER
! tain pretence OF secrecy. and not III such bare
faced and shameless fashion as at the French
Presidential Palace Of the ElySce, III the days OF
| " Grcvy, when a plate was openly placed upon
| the table of the anteroom in Which the clOaks
and wrappers were left for the reception OF the
| donations OF the Presidents guests on their de-
parture.
Practical joking is not altogether unknown
| in English country houses. Indeed, there is
| good deal of it going on the British mind having
| a peculiar beat IN that direction. The Prince
himself was formerly an invceratc practical joker,
his principal aid and abcttor being as a rule Lord
| Charles Beresford, and his victim quite frequently
that most faithful. patient and discreet OF private
secretaries. Sir Frank Knoys. 1t cannot, how
| ever, be said that the English practical jokes
| are Of particularly witty nature; indeed. tho
| victim is generally inclined 10 consider the re-
| verse 10 be the case. They include apple-pe beds,
| BOBBY traps, sewing mp pockets and altering the
seams of coats, waistcoats and trousers in such
| a manner 10 create an impression on the part
| of their owner that he has become afflicted with
| dropsy. clephantiasIS. or some other maIady cal.
| culated Ia swell the human body beyond it's
normal dimensions. Occasionally these practical
Jokes serve the Purpose OF RIDING me mousse
| of a visitor whose presence. for one reason or
| another, has become uncongenlaL remember a
case in point. which occurred rot in Ensiand,
,but at shepherds that famous Old English
| throughout the winter by coteric
of people prominent in London society 70
| the exclusion of nearly all outsiders. Among the
persons stopping at the hotel during one Of the
| winters which | spent there was dIgnltlly
| of the English Church. an eX-Colonial Bishop vino
| was accustomed 10 frown upon our innocent amuse,
| ments and 10 put great deal too much side
| and pOmposity for so rank an outsider n, an
ey-Colonial prelatc Determined to get rid
| Of him, We got hold, one evening", no
about o'clock, of a gigantic haminso.
a most vicious brItc, who dwelt H. the
hotel garden. and tucked him IN tie Bishops bed
tightly that he could not move. Then we fas-
| tened down the mosquito curtains, which we're
| thick enough 10 conceal the interior OF the pea,
except by dayahSt Ar ABOUT II ,bo the hSn s5
| Of candle. being unwilling 70 attract mos,
| GuitOcs by a more extensive illumination, and
then nyp hs BEFORE dowg@ nsSs the
mosquito curtain TO get into bed: The moment
| he untuckcd the sheets the imprisoned fiamingo
| became released and with hoarse and furious
| croak jumped up and made an angry lunge with
| its enormous beak at the Bishop. The latter,
| terror-stricken. Jumped away. tearing down the
! entire canopy of the bed, and fed, without much
| dress or dignity, around the long corridor, hlllng
the air with his mprecatlons and app Tor assist
ance A few SIPS behind him came tie now franilc
| bird with outstIetchcd wings and eXtended
| bealI cracking with fury almost as loud as the
| curses of the Bishop. The bird manifeStly was
| in pursuit of the right reverend father. whom
| it held responsible for its long imprisonment in
| the bed. and its ordinarily cOmical appearance
| was further increased by the fact that part Of
| the mosquito netting Of the bed was hanging
| from its shoulders. much in the same manner az
a cergyman's surplicc. The Bishop finally got
| round to his room door again, and finding 10
| open boted in and locked it,. The indignant bird
spent the remainder of the night waddling up and
| down the corridor cappng its beal and croak.
| ing until in the morning the native gardeners
| were summoned 10 remove IL back 10 the court
| ward Our object, however. had been attained
| for the Bishop left the following day..
EX-DIPLOMATIST.
| fOOK HER FOR BRICABRlC.
The D,HaI