Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-01-22

ALEXANDRA, ALBERT EDWARDS coNsoRr
sought. victoria7s women used to take an
early breakfast and await summons from
their. mistress before venturing into her
presence. The morning was usually passed
in reading the newspapers to her majesty
till near luncheon time. The queen par
took of this meal with her own family, the
women of the household eating apart at 2
o'clock.
From to 4 p IN. the women accompar
MED their mistress on her daily drive, after
which they read, arranged photographs or
completed fancy work begun but not fin
ished by royal fingers. This continued
until the queens dinner hour, about 9
O'Clock. BY this time all concerned were
likely to be weary, and no one was ever
heard to complain because the waits" or
terms of service rarely if ever exceeded
five months in any one year The pay of
the ladies of the household varied from $500
to $500 per annum- Most of them were
peeresses, or at least of noble blood. An
untitled woman who was member of the
queens household was privileged by reason
of her service to use the prefix honorable
before her name. Among the duties of the
ladies in waiting during Victoria's reign
was the repetition in her majesty's ears of
all the court tattle of the day.
Yictoria's appetite was good. Here is a
menu of luncheon served in 1892 at the
home of her granddaughter, the Duchess of
Fife, to which the royal grandmother is
said to have done ample justice:
Minosd veli.sozi. boiled capons, OK tongue,
cold roast chicken and York ham, cold grouse,
cold roast sirloin of Scotch beef, pastry, chedar
cheese and salad, 1884 champagne, dry biscuits
and 30 years old dry port
Victoria possessed a most remarkable
memory. She rarely forgot Il face, and to
the day of her death she could recite the
pedigree of almost every noble family in
England, of all the German royalties, the
exact arrangement of everything in chest
of drawers locked up a twelvemonth be-
fore, and every slight or civility offered to
her consort, Prince Albert, during their -
years of married life.
The queen was very fond of dogs, and her
kennels at Windsor used to house about so
of them. They were petted In life Dy royal
hands, and at death received elaborate
burial. The kennels at Windsor are elab-
crate affairs, the yards being paved with
red and blue tiles and the bed chambers
with white bricks, and contain sleeping
benches covered with straw, hot water
pipes, baths, etc. A tiled portico along the
front of the kennels, where Victoria used
often to walk. is known as the queens
veranda. -
Nearly 60 years ago an American visiting
in London, and who saw the queen shortly
before her coronation, described her thus:
.'She is q dainty little maiden, only feet
10 inches in height. with delicate figure,
fiowerlike face, a slender arm and exqui
sitely poised head. The face was a little
pensiye, but nevertheless mirthful, the cor
ners of the mouth turning up decidedly
The tendency of the upper lip was to curl.
and like most English people she held her
lips slightly open, allowing mere sugges-
ton OF white teeth to appear. She wore
simple gown of soft white india muslin,
bound around the waist with satin ribbon.
Her waist was an English one, long and
slender. The dress was embroidered with
field daisies, and strings of pearls were
around about her throat Her arms were
quite bare and without ornaments. and she
wore no rings on her slim fingers, Shere-
tanned her regal bearing to the last, but al
most every other characteristic given in
this description disappeared many years be-
fore her death.
It is said that Victoria used to consider
herself really at home in but one place, and
that her private garden at Osborne, on the
Isle of Wight There she had a plot of
ground her own private property on
which no stranger was ever allowed TO in
tr,lde A Swiss chalet has been built there
and fitted up as a sort of family museum.
and In the grounds themselves the queen
has exploited her personal taste in the mat
ter of tree planting. Royal marriages were
commemorated by planting slips from a
myrtle bush
Not far from this row of trees is the
mourning row. all planted by her majesty
OF late years the younger members of the
queens army OF descendants have done
much of the tree planting. and the place is
full Of all sorts of trees IN commemoration
of all sorts of events A feature of the gar
den is a wooden playhouse built nearly 20
years ago by Victuria's eldest son. Albert
Edward. and his brother. the Duke of EdiD-