The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-12-17
SOCIETY IN LONDON
Ry LADY MARY mANwARING

London, December 16.--6speeial)-Ladies may now smoke in public in London with high official sanction, no less than that of Viscount Haldane.
 Recently a dinner was held at the Sa- voy hotel, in aid of the endowment fund of the Bedford College for Women. Nord Haldene presided and there were present some of the highest placed men and wom- en in the country.
 Al inc conclusion of the dinner proper Lord Haldane said:
 "r am directed by the large body of ladies present to intimate to you that smoking by either sex will be objected to-
 Mrs. Asquith and Mrs. Winston Church. i'll were among the many ladies who lm- mediately lit cigarettes, showing that however wrought may be considered Ill the United States smoking by ladies Tn @ public is permissible in London. Soon after. at the Savoy theatre, Mrs. Cam eron Swann boasted to a meeting or suffragettes how she had tried to upset the dinner because MT Asquith was there She has walked up to the top table and tried to pull off the cloth, and then she had been put out, she said
 
 Madame Patti. who is to Abecome the first honorary freewoman of the borough of Swansea has more decorations than any other woman not of royal blood, and she can also claim the distlnctlon or being kissed by resigning monarch, the King of Spain. His majesty was llt.le rrore than A baby and following strict court etiouette Madame Patti was about to kiss his hand when the queen regent interposed My son." she said, small not be so ungallant as to allow you 10 kiss his hand. Will you permit him to give you kiss?" The singer of course consented, and so, with the aid oi ms nurse, did his youthful majesty
 Ii is announced that Princess Macy is shortly to have a course of private read ing at York cottage Sandrngham. Her royal highness is already very well read but it is the queens wish that she should now pay special attention to the best European literature, and that she should read the German and French authors IT their original tongues.
 The education of the princess has evc1 been a matter of very great interest te her royal mother, who has personally su. perintended her studies and watched hel only daughters progress very carefully Her majesty was particularly anXiou: that all her children should become eS pert inguists, and while the Prince n Wales and his brothers all have a very good knowledge of French and German shown the most aptitude for the study O shown the most aptitude for the study O languages. On one occasion not so verl long ago, the French Ambassador compli mented her royal higness on the fluen manner in which she conversed with hin in his own tongue, and he was very par ticularly struck with the excellence 0 her accent.
 It is not generally known that Princes Mary bids fair to become a very accom- plished sportswoman. King George ha given her lessons in the art of fishing and she is now a keen discipline of Izaal Walton. The princes is alo fond of shoot ing. while she has even gone in for cricke playing the game with her brothers ol the priclIate cricket ground at Windsor Like her august grandmother, Queen Alex andra, Princess Mary is an adept at talk