The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-09

tion This meant applying direct to the potent sheriffs, aldermen and other big wigs who form the said corporation for permission to borrow the market for two days, but as Mrs. Scott's husband Is one of these latter, no doubt the way was ma de easy for her. Anyway she succeed ed so well that not only did the august city corporation agree to her proposals, but the lord mayor himself declared that, if the war fair was held, he himself would open it lin state," which means With his gilded carriage and bewigged coachmen and footmen and all the rest. That was good big boost for the thing right at the start.
 Meanwhile Mrs. Scott had preached her scheme to Arnold Bennett and other members of the wounded allies relief committee and she and they promptly set to work endeavoring to interest prorni- nent and influential society hustlers and to gain their assistance. Mrs. Scott saw her fellow w-countrywoman and personal friend, the Hon. Mrs Lionel Guest who occupies the biggest house in millionaire Park Lane, and together they laid siege to Lady Paget, the famous daughter of the late Paran Stevens of New York, who has organized more big benefit" stunts than anybody else in London, and eventually, with the help of Arnold Ben , nett, persuaded her ladyship to promise
  l riege, the American who is now Lon | don's biggest shopkeeper, also came in on | the thing, giving without money and without price the use of his advertising l columns in the London newspapers and | the use of his big organization for re- ceiving and housing the articles con- 1 tributed to the sale.
 So the thing grew. Mrs. Scott saw one of the greatest experts at that sort of thing in London and got him to make l a great chart of the Caledonian Mar | ket, in which, it was found, there was room for 15O0 stalls. Arnold Bennett | turned himself into a press agent and
 wrote all the advertisements of the War | Fair" and all the appeals for contribu- l tions to the sale As prompt result all sorts of things came pouring in, the ] comparatively early arrivals including a l giraffe and an elephant, two horses, two | motor cars and dog cart, Paris hats and old clothes, live pigs and sheep, 2Ooo | tons of coal, Persian kittens and auto- | by Sargent and Shannon, fire-irons, piano
 lamps, carpets, sofas, lawn mowers and l even rocking horse or two
 l Practically everybody who is anybody l in the feminine section of society-and
 half the artistic world, too-had been en- | listed as helpers before the great day came. The stall-holders included the
 
 | Lady Diana Manners one of the most l beautiful girls in society, and certainly | the most talked of and paragraphed. the | Countess of Pembroke, Lady SWaythling, Mrs. Lloyd-George Mrs. Cecil Bingham, | perhaps the most beautiful American in society; Mrs. Parker (the late Lord Kitch- ener's sister,; Mrs. John Astor, the Duch- l ess of Sutherland, Baroness de Forest, l Lady Muir Viscountess Hampden, Lady | Alastair Innes-K Kerr, another daughter of l the United States; Mrs. Arnold Bennett, Lady Ridley, and ever so many more. There were nearly 5000 folk of high and lesser degree helping at the market, and on each of the two days some 5000 persons paid sixpence for admission. That represents about s15,o00 in gate money" alone. And what sight it was. Lady Payet, who had assembled miniature menagerie was selling live birds and beasts of every deScription; Lady Mark ham, whose husband is coal baron," was disposing of the 200o tons of this fuel, which was her per~onal contribu- ton; the Duchess of Rutland, Miss Eliza beth Asquith and the latser's sister, Mrs. Bonham Carter, disposed Of beautiful cushions and soup tureens; the Hon. Mrs. | Cecil Bingham sold French hats and less expensive ones, too; Lady Swaythling sold pipes and tobacco; Mrs. Arnold Bennett books, most of them autographed by their authors, while Mrs. Scott herself had Wedgwood china for sale One piece of this, she told me, was the gift of an elderly couple. both over 80, who trav- eled long journey to bring it. The sen- sation of the day was when, just as