The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-06-12
PRESENTED At COURT
Experience of an American at
an English Royal Levee.
5 RAPID TRANSIT FUNCTION.

3 RAPID TRANSIT FUNCTION.
se Was In and Through and Out Be-
fore He Really Realized What Had
Happened-The Way His Difficulty
About Costume Was Overcome.
4 six foot American who had Sc
cured command" to one OF the Eng
lish royal levees recently found HIM
self in a pretty predicament.
On his notification paper was the
hint that leyee dress was indispensa-
Bile. In the guileless innocence of his
democratic soul the American took this
to mean that frock coat and shiny
shoes would be called for.
He was in the act Of looking over his
best outfit OF that nature when 4 more
l1perienced friend called and caught
him in the act The friend made haste
to inform the misguided Yankee that
levee dress involved silk stockings,
ruffled sleeves, black sword and other
items.
CONSERVATION ensued. It continued
to ensue when owing to his height and
girth no borrowaOle suit was dlScoT-
cred and no tailor could be found who
would make one before the next after
noon. At last a stage leTee dress was
rented from His Majesty's theater,
where it had done duty in The Last
of the Dandies.''
After the levee was over the Ameri-
can confessed that he hardly knew
what had happened. When he reached
the palace he was first surrounded BY
the yeomen Of the guard, who started
him upstairs with great dispatch. In
the course Of his progress upstairs the
yeomen disappeared, and he found
himself in n lane of tin plated lie
guarGSmen.
Again the scene changed, says IoWn
and Country, and there was lane OIL
royal footmen and next large room
filed to overfowing with adnlrais,
generals, diplomats, peers. chamber
lains, soldiers and sailors Of all de-
grees Of Commissioned rank and
great host Of men attired Ike himself
IN levee dress. One by one they were
singled out and ushered into the royal
presence in the adjoining room. wnere
stood the king surrounded by his suit.
The work Of presentation was SO
rapid that the American found himself
out and in another room before ne
knew what had happened. His over
coat was on his back in the same
rapid, mysterious fashion. and the
next thing he knew he was outside IN
the courtyard. But he was actually
presented and is now forever Hot
fshis, or eligible for presentation at
any court in the world. provided he be,
haves himself.
All this was preliminary to the pres
entation Of the mans wife and daugh-
ter st the drawing roo0. Men are pre-
sented at the kings Aevees. and the
women undergo the same ordeal at the
courts or drawing roons, which are
By far the more imposing functions 1t
Is probably no exaggeratlon to say that
every tRae q drawing room is held
) 100000 Is spent by the people who go
to court
None but a very old habitue Of the
court-an6 then she is never below the
rsnk Of a countess-would dream OF
appearing at court in a costume that
she had worn there before The Item
Of flowers alone is one Of vast inpor-
tance. II it were not for the drawing
rooms +he large florists could not exist
Eyers woman who is presented goes
armed with bouquet, whose value IS
at least pound, and some Of them are
worth ten times that sum. Then there
are the bookmakers and the hosiers and
the milliners to consider, to say nothing
Of the people who lend carriages.
Suppose there are at low estimate
500 people on the presentation list. VI
these every mothers daughter has her
self photographed in her court cos
tune, and London court photographers
are notorious for their stiff prices.
st. James park on the night OF g.
drawing room is filed with London
ers who wander up and down the dou-
Bile line Of carriages stalled ID the mali,
peerins into the windows and critics.
ing the costumes Of the matrons and
their debutante daughters. It IS a.
legitimate privilege Of the po2ulace to
consider those waiting for presentation
as objects Of interest, and there the
latter have to sit, some OF them over
an hour, subjected to the gaze Of Lon
6on's citizens. You see half a dozen
shopgirls fattening their noses against
the window of motor brougham and
carrying on a rapid fire conversation
about the dress Of milady and her
daughter inside.
"Ain't she beootiful, Mary Ann" or
s.Wot do you think Of this IN? Oi don't
like 'er gown at ALL
All this has to be borne with Spar
tan fortitude so long as there is no
rowdyism; but. strange to say, there
never is.
a good many people starve them
selves for months so that they and
their offspring may have the money to
enable them to go to court. There are
many half pay colonies who live in
the country whose one object is to
come up for a drawing room.
Generally they have influential and
wealthy friends who make it easy fol
them In the matter Of Lodging in town
and lend them their horses, carriages
and foo+men; otherwise it would be i'm
possible for them to so. There seems
to- be a tradition that if q mans dangh
ter has not been presented at cour1
her way to successful marriage vii
not be 50 smooth. That Of course is
fallacy, but the tradition never dies
y, 1xY0C o O