The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-17

ing photographs and she possess a fine collection of interesting pictures that she has taken from time to time. Another of her royal highnesses' accomplishments is cookery and thanks to the queens exam plae, she is a very thorough little house. wife.
 Mir Balfour, now that he is free from the cares of leadership, will probably be- come as great concert goer as he was some 30 or more years ago, when he had leisure to devote to his favorite art Possibly he and his old friend, Sir John Gerst, another music loving soul, may again attend concerts together, as in the days of the fourth party. when they were often accompanied by the then Lady Ran dolph Churchill, whose husband and Sir Henry Drummond-Wo made up the once famous quartet. The three might often have been seen at the Monday pops one aesthetic, with long hair and huge l spats, the other solemn and stern looking,
 with beard and eyeglasses, and Lady Randolph very handsome and exquisitely dressed. MT. Balfour has knowledge oi music that Is little short of marvellous Wagner Beethoven, Schumann. Handel and Bach, and his old friend, Sir Hubert Parry, are all familiar composers. He likes playing Schumann or Beethoven with another congenial spirit, and is fine performer on the pianoforte, reading and playing classical music with the ease of professional.
 What a lot our statesmen have owed to the devotion of women! MT. Gladstone could never have accomplished as much work as he did if it had not been for ms wife. and all the world knows that MT. Balfour might say the same thing of his youngest sister. She has been wonderful, and his retirement and the disloyalty or part of his party have proved great blow to her. It is she who has always managed the estate at Whittingehame, and the stables too. She has keen eye
 for detail, and leaves nothing to her un- derstudies. She knows the capabilities of each of the gardeners at Whittingehame, l and in the pre-motoring days used to go through the stables twice a week in order to see for herself that all the horses were in the pink of condition. The 1 brougham in which MT. Balfour used to
 get about in London was fitted up with
 the most elaborate conveniences. Little 1 pockets for pencils and pens and papers,
 clocks, throat losenges and what not.
 Whenever a time saving novelty appeared Miss Balfour always bought it. There is 1 the same kind of affection between the
 two as prevailed between Mary and 1 Charles Lamb.
 An interesting incident in connection
 with Miss Lily Elsies wedding passed
 quite unnotieed by the daily press. mo- ticeable feature of the ceremony in the
 church was the presence in the congre- gation of more males than females and
 on the beautiful and popular bride leav- ing the building at the close of the ser vice, she had to pass between lines oi youthful admirers holding handkerchief fo fhoff f, ar aft n
 was a humorous incident, and at the
 same time a pretty compliment to the
 happy bride.
 Princess Hatzfedt who has returned
 to town and is looking for a West End
 mansion, where she will entertain on heI
 usual lavish scale, is an enormously rich
 woman. It is stated that she has inheri- ted some e15,000OOO from her uncle, the