The San Francisco call., 1904-06-05
ORD CURZON WARDEN THE CINQUE PORTS
MOST LECT sNECUREs IN The ENGLISH Government
"Gesticulation" Is the New Fad
and the American Girl
Is Teacher.

it is understood that she is on pretty
familiar terms with Lady Barrymore
Her ladyship has never been particu-
larly struck with the glamour of Eng
Ish society. and has no taste for push
ing herself forward.
Lispenard Stewart of New York Is
doing London at present. He was the
guest of w Waldorf Astor at the Carl
ton Club recently. He has been spend
ing few days at Mr.. Astor's place at
Cliveden and the two have been much
together about town.
Mrs Lewis de Zerega is staying
with her daughter. Mrs. Charles Pei
ham Clinton, at the house which she
and her husband recently acquired in
Northamptonshire. Mrs. Zerega means
to return to London. where she viii
spend a great portion of the season.
The family will stay at one of the
big hotels, as the Pelham Clintons
have given up their town house.
KING SETS THE FASHION.
One of King Edwards greatest
functions is, of course, that of arbiter
of masculine fashions. Being of port
ly figure ne does not appear to ad-
hence his prediction for loose fitting
overcoats, which are more than ever
worn this season. although with men
of slender build their effect is much
IKE that of a sack hung on a beanpole.
Particularly fashionable are those
most affected by the King. which are
made of gray or brown tweeds and
worn with a derby hat. Those who
follow the royal example in such mat
ters will be interested to learn. how
ever, that the Kings frOck coats and
lounge suits show no variation from
last year, the roll collars, it is OF the
highest Importance to note. being
brought no lower than the third waist
coat button. For country wear soft
mixed linen and silk shirts are the
very latest thing. his Majesty having
shown his approval of them by order
ing a large number. They are worn
with double collars and small, neat
ties, the cuffs accompanying them be-
ing OF the variety called double turn
overs"
The latest recruits to the ranks OF
London society women who are in
trade are Lady Monckton and Miss
Firth, who keep a bric-a-brac shop in
the Fulham road. Lady Monckton is
the widow of Sir John Monckton. who
was for many years City Clerk. which
represents one of the very highest and
most desired appointments in the city
of London. Her son. Lionel Monck-
ton. is the well known composer,
whose music always figures in the
leading comic opera in London and
who married Gertie Millar, the Gaiety
actress. Miss Firth is the daughter
Of the well known artist, William
Powell Firth, whose paintings Of Der
by Day, The Railway Station and
others are in the National Gallery.
The craze for antique furniture con-
tinues unabated and the supply more
than keeps pace with the demand
Manufacturers Of these goods are now
turning to account that most marvel
Gus discovery Of modern science.
X-rays. BY their use it is declared
they can in a day or two convert a
table or sidebOard fresh from the
cabinet-maker's hands into furniture
of the Elizabethan or some highly
priced period. so perfectly counterfeit
ing the genuine that the most experi-
enced experts are puzzled to detect the
fraud This is how it is done: Some
potatoes are reduced to pulp. treated
with glycerine and rubbed into the
new furnituEe which is to undergo the
process of transformation Then a
horde of hungry woOd-eating worms.
obtained by cultivation. are let loose
upon it Reveling in the potato mix
ture they speedily drill their way into
the woodwork. doing in a very brief
period what it took their honest, easy
going, ancestral progenitors centuries
to accomplish. The result is appar-
emily trustworthy and indisputable
evidence Of the ravages OF time. But
there is still needed the color which
long ago alone Is supposed to give.
That is where the X-rays come in to
complete the fraudulent process. After
a fierce application of them the whole
fiber of the wood assumes the desired
hue, and the worms, whose presence
might betray their recent nefarious en-
ployment, are destroyed. Then the ar
ticle sells for two, five, or ten times
what 1t is worth, according to the
purse of the buyer and the capacity
of the seller to lie eloquently and per-
suasively. But the blissfully ignorant
purchaser being rendered just as happy
as if he had obtained a genuine antique.
it is perhaps the poor worms that after
all are most deserving Of sympathy.