Evening journal., 1895-07-22
LIfa or an Ambnssador,s WIG.

The life Of an ambassadors wife Is
not the easiest In the world. The strict
etiquette Of foreign courts requires that
they must conform to all the little
niceties not only of state ooeRsions but
or drawing room ceremonies, or be
ostraoizsd. The ambassador can, II he
so desires, neglect many Of the minor
details, so long as he pays attention to
visits and matters of precedence but
his wife cannot do this without
compromising both herself and
the dignity Of the country her
husband represents In referring to the
estimsble wife OF Hon Thomas f.
Bayard, ambassador TO the Court of st
James, the New York Recorder says:
Mrs. Bayard, condemned to London
etiquette for four years, hast he sympathy
OF everybody, although, as wife Of an
ambasss sdor, instead of mere minister,
matters are much simplifsd for her She
has not nearly as long to wait Ia matters
OF precedence, and Is not quite 20 worn
out before the show begins. Besides
this, Queen Victoria had mat her on
previous private occasions, and had
fancled her, which brought her IA
good favor with those who can make the
drawing-room days easier
Bat presentation at ths English court
Is never an easy thing. II is 30 bound
around With purple braid and fastened
with royal seals The fashion Of dress IL
q prescribed one, anj is carefully ex-
planned by the court chamberlain weeks
before The train must be just 40 long
and the neck ust so low. Then come
the details Of halrdressing This coiffurs
must be high and Ia the top of Il must
stand the court plumes The wearing Of
tho rNt4fn1au fa the dffff anlt thin a.
about the presentation dress They must
stand Rs upright as lie guerdsmen, and
be incapable Of waver or wilt. 10 all
England there is only one woman who
can arrange these plumes, and she does II
for all who appear at court Her
services must be engaged for weeks
before and to set around Ia time she
begins at 6 o'clock In the morning and
works diligently, going from house to
house, until almost the hour Of the
drawing groom
On the day Mrs. Bayard was TO be pre-
ssnted the hairdresser introduced herself
at what seemed like daylight, and soon
after her came the plume woman. Is
lacked many hours Of presentation time,
"bUt madam must put on her gown. Alb
yes. she must be wholly ready to present
when the plumes are put on, to get the
ASntLhA NAcoNs
AS martyrs went to the stake sho wing
their sufferlngs only in their tired eyes.
so this frAil American la1y consented TO
be buokled into her gown and TO havs
the plumes put on st early sun
Into her suffering. aching head the
plume wires we're twisted and straight
ened into place then drawn bsnsath
and fastened to the scalp in some invlsl
Bile, awful way.
But the feathers waved aloft in q be
coming manner, and nothing more coulC
be desired for court day. When Mrs
Bayard bowed herself low before tbs
queens chair and backed gracefully
away, Her Msjssty smiled and reached
out to pat the hand that had so prettil,
held hers a second but I could no
forget how that awful plume woman
arrived at dawn" wrote Mrs BRyarC
home.
None of the American women nov
abroad is a poor diplomat. One and al
manage to please the queens to whom
they are sent abroad to bow low, ant
all succeed In having pretty things writ
ten about them In the court dailies.
But there have been cases where wive
Of American ministers abroad have vote,
the whole business silly and useless