The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-04-07

ance would be appreciated. Of course, nothing untoward has happened, but there is an undercurrent of vigilance which is unusual at these rather stereo- l typed functions.
 Feminine society is sharply divided Into suffragettes and antis. Male so- ciety Is almost unanimously anti. Fem mine suffragettism under 8 tiara re- gently told mo that long sentences on their martyrs" would mean increased outrages. Men might say the law could not be defed, but women knew better.
 To my peply that the strength of the law lay in the fact that men would exe- cute 1t, the lady answered, that is so l likes kAe tyranny of the brutes.'
 It is not surprising that Mr. Winston Churchill should have such a bitter tongue. The most .fnperturbable of statesmen have been known to tremble when Lady Randolph Churchill had req son to be annoyed with them. Curious l ly enough, 1t is MT. Jack Churchill, and not her brilliant and political elder son, of whom Mrs Cornwallis West Is most fond She is immensely proud of I Winnie" But they are too much alike to do more than admire each other. l The Duke of Wellington has just kep. l his birthday. In his young days he hdS dil OlllCeI III lH6 and until he had passed 50, went about the world as Lord Arthur Wellesley. For a long list of foreign titles there is no other English peer who can compare with the Duke of Wellington. Of the 15 he holds one-third were bestowed on his famous forbear by foreign govern ments. So that besides being a duke once, viscount twice, a marquis once, and an earl and baron twice in this country, he is a prince fin the Nether- lands, a duke in Spain, and count, marquis and duke in Portugal. And his many foreign orders Include the Grand Cross of Charles TIT (Spain), the Order of the Black Eagle and of the Rec Eagle (Prussia), and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Tower and Sword (Portugal) The Duke of Wellington also owns property in Spain which ex- tends to several thousand acres.
 l The duke is a grandee of Spain of
 the first class, and among his many
 privileges is the right to keep his head covered in the presence of his sovereign. This ceremony takes place now anu then at Madrid, and the customs ob- i served are as follows: When the King of Spain enters the hall at which the | function is held, he says: Cover your heads" to the grandees assembled. Each grandee advances two steps, bows to the King, and then moves up to the cen
 ter of the hall, where he bows again
 He then takes his place near a table, where he makes a third bow to the King. after which he salutes his brother grandees. The King then says: "Be covered and speak" Upon which the grandee puts on his hat. and makes a speech thanking his majesty for the honor which he has just been accorded. Having finished his speech, the grandee removes his hat, kisses the Kings hand, | 11x xf,.rr h o1r a~ac
 1 Probably no man, save perhaps Lord Knollys, has enjoyed the confidence of the royal family, or knows so much about royal and other precedence, as
 Gen. Drighton Probyn, controller of | Queen AleXandra's household, who has nearly recovered from a long illness Since 1877, when he became private sec retary to the then Prince of Wales, he I has been the friend and confident of l the sovereign. Sir Dighton had a bril- | liant military career in India, ana his
 feats during the mutiny read more like romances of Crusader days His Vic 1 toria cross, in which he has the great est pride, was won ag Agra, when he l was captain of the Second Punjab I cavalry.
 l On a charge of the rebel infantry he became separated from the squadron, and single handed he fought the Sepoys l who surrounded him until his men re- l joined him. But there came more thrilling feat in the face of the enemy. 1 The rebels looked on amazed at this
 daring, and for a moment were motion
 less. Then 100 bullets whizzed about
 but 1t was too late The standard bear
 CT had been cut down and his colors
 captured.
 Lady Doris Blackwood Lord and
 Lady Dufferin's eldest daughter, was ex- pected to make her debut this season but she will not be out for another
 couple of years She is not yet r. and of course, has not completed her edu- cation Lady Doris Is an attractive girl, and sweet singer, and her two
 sisters have inherited their mothers l gift for music. Lady Duiferin is a
 very accomplished woman, and She has also a reputation for being always per fectly dressed. As Miss Florence Davis
 daughter of a New York banker she
 was very beautiful girl with golden hair and perfect coloring. Lord Duf- l ferin met his wife when an attache at
 the British embassy in Paris. and at that time as Lord Terence Blackwood, he had little prospect of ever succeed ing to the title and estates. But his smith and he became heir to the marquisate. Having no son. Lord Duf- ferin's brother, Lord Basil Blackwood, is his heir presumptivc.
 | Queen Alexandra has been spending much of her recent leisure in the pa- 1 thetic task of rearranging some of the rooms in Marlborough House so as to recall the associations of past years. The personal souvenirs of the late King Edward have now been re- moved from Buckingham palace, with the exception of those for which King l George expressed wish. They have either been placed in the positions which 1 they formerly held or have been col llected together into rooms which are kept sacred to his memory. In no cir cumsrances will any person outside the privacy of the royal family be permit ted to intrude upon these experiments. | In that respect Queen Alexandra .s disinclined to follow the usage of some European palaces. as. for example, the winter palace of St Petersburg, m which one may visit the personal rooms of the late Emperor Alexander III The pictures have also bcen rehung, and q
 score of changes made, with the re- suit that her majesty now feels as | thoroughly at home when at Marlbor- tough House as she has always been