The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-10-08
Famous French Resort "Chic" As Ever In Piping Times
 Of Peace and London Gay
By LADY MARY

London, September 16.-I had a letter from Barritz the other day which rather surprised me- It has become the habit as nation which is completely meta morphosed. But my correspondent has given me quite a new idea of wartime France in the south, at any rate. "Biar- ritz Is very chic now" my correspondent tells me. There are an immense num- Der of smart women here both from Paris and London. The most fashionable thing to wear seems to be gowns and coats of silk stockinette trimmed with fur. Bands of sable. ermine, fox and sealslSin border the most incongruous garments, while yards of tulle edged with fur envelop threats and shoulders. As the weather is exceedingly warm just now and the sun simply blazing, it does
 ausu1a to wear so much gorgeous fur on the most diaphanous clothes.
 GAIETY IN FRANCE
 France, indeed this part of it at any rate, seems just as it was in pre-war days. l passed through Paris week or two ago, and l must say I have never seen the shops in every quarter of the city look more elegant or more gay or the streets and boulevards brighter. Our journey from Paris to Biarritz was much more comfortable than it was three or four years ago when everybody made a rush for this resort at this special time or the year. There was no crowd, while the sleepers and the dining cars are all as luxurious as every they were. A pleasant contrast to England where, be- cause it is war time, it seems an impos- sibility to get a decent meal on board any train"
 All of which sounds as if France was feeling the reflex action of long months of strain and anxiety and that with her increasing victories she is once more ex- periencing the joy of life.
 ENGLAND NOT DEPRESSED
 When it comes to that, however, we are not showing any special depression in England just now! Everything is very merry and bright and the streets are simply crowded with well dressed women and splendid looking men in khaki who are home on leave or else recovering from their various scars of battle. When I was taking my usual morning stroll in the park recently everybody who happened at the same time to be crowding the leafy walks got into great state of excitement because our latest and most successful airship was taking a constitutional in the clouds above usl All the people walked about with their heads at right angles to their bodies as they gazed skywards and watched the revolutions and maneuvers of this aerial warshp. We were all so busy looking into the skies that nobody seemed to pay much attention to where they were go- ing. All that mattered was that they should keep the right visual angle with the vessel sailing so far above them. The consequence was that any number of amusing collisions occurred and every body was apologizing to everybody else, all the while never removing their gaze from the sky. I found myself enveloped in the long leash of a doglead, one end of which was attached to a small peki- ness puppy with huge blue bow on his back, and the other end to the hand of Lady Randolph Churchill, who was talk ing her pet beast for an airing. We apologized profusely to each other and I disentangled myself from the string, but I think we neither of us were really amused by the contretemps. Lady Ran do1ph was looking very well and was wearing a big black felt hat trimmed with turquoise blue velvet that shaded her eyes and her gray hair becomingly. Her loose Russian coat of black cloth was edged with chenille and belted with turquoise blue velvet and I noticed that she wore pale yellow washing gloves with gauntlet cuffs.
 TALK OF WEDDING
 For the first time since the war there has been a great talk recently about wedding trousseau, and Lady Eileen Wellesleys clothes, both gowns and lin- gerie, have received detailed descriptions in most of the papers. The Duke of Welingtons daughter was married to Mr Cuthbert Orde R. F. C., at that won derful old church in Smithfield market called St. Bartholomews the Great, and "all the world and his wife' were pres-