The Washington herald., 1911-09-23
UNIQUE LONDON MUSEUM.

Henry VIII. They will. IL acquired. ba,
exhibited on models, so that they may
be displayed to the best advantage.
There is an interesting echo Of the
visit OF Queen Wllhelmina Of Holland and
her consort to Brussels. The city coun-
Gil possesses a magnificent table service
Of massive silver repousse, by the sculp-
tor Van Der Stappen. and also a beauti-
full tablecloth, worth $1,000 francs. But 1t
does not possess a tea service, for tea
is not popular beverage in Belgium
Now, the programme for the fetes ar
ranged IN honor of the Dutch Queen in
cluded a o'clock tea in the famous sa-
Ions Of the Brussels town hall, but the
discovery was made that there was no
tea service worthy of being placed on
the royal table.
The city fathers searched for several
days, but they could find nothing suita-
BILE. Finally, a member OF the festivities
committee remembered that one Of the
municipal councilmen possessed a very
pretty tea service. for which he had paid
$4,000 francs. He willingly lent It for the
occasion. and so II came about that King
Albert and Queen Wilhelmina drank tea
out of cups which belonged to a town
official who is noted for his advanced
socialistic ideas.
The tea tasted none the worse on that
account, l hope.
All the members Of the wombwell
family gathered last Sunday at Newburgh
Priory to attend the celebration Of the
golden wedding of Sir George and Lady
Wombwell- There was a series OF fes-
tivities on the Newburgh estates, which
Sir George inherited from his grand
mother. Sir George is one Of the most
popular OF the landed gentry in York
shire, where he has been master of the
York and Ainsty hounds for many years.
He Is now in his seventy year
and saw service at Alma. Inkerman, and
Balaklava. and is one OF the only two
surviving officers who took part in the
charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Trede-
gar being the other. He married Lady
Julia Villers, elder daughter Of the sixth
Earl Of Jersey. and OF their children.
Lady Dartrey. Mrs. Graham Menzies, and
Mrs. Henry Hohler still survive, though
Sir George and Lady WOmbwell have had
the misfortune to lose their two sons,
who were both soldiers.
TavistOck in DevOnshire, which re-
Gently has changed hands at the sale OF
the Duke OF BedfOrds property, was a
famous place long before many OF the
present English towns were thought OF.
Springing up around the abbey founded
by Orgar, Earl of Devon, in 961. Tavi-
stock soon boasted a school for the study
OF Saxon literature. to which students
resorted from all parts. while the activi-
ties of its abbots connected 1t with many
famous historical happenings
Lying. who crowned Canute. and AL
dred, who crowned Harold II and
William the COnQuerOr. were abbOts of
TavIstOck. and at a later day the town
retained its historical connection through
its members of Parliament, who included
Pym, the great opponent of the policy
of Charles I and Lord William Russell
who was beheaded in Lincoln's Inn
Fields. And, above all, was not Francis
Drake born at Tavistock?
A Queen to England came from Tavi-
stock. The wife OF King Edgar. who.
having heard OF the beauty of Elfreda,
daughter of the Duke of Devonshire,
sent one of his earls forthwith to WOO
on his behalf. But the earl offered his
own hand instead of that of the King,
and by reporting that the lady's beauty
had been much exaggerated obtained the
Kings consent to the marriage. But the
King and the lady eventually met, and
the earl had a regrettable accident in the
hunting field. He was found "Slsine with
an arrow, and shortly after King Edgar
tooke fayre Elfreda for his Queen"
FLANEUR.
Copyright 1911. by Court Gossip syndicate.l