The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-09-21

[ witnessed another curious sight re-
Gently in one of London's busiest thor
oughfares. AS l was passing through
Knightsbridge I saw a large limousine
drawn up against the shady side of the
curb. Around it was collected a group
of interested small boys and girls In
side the car four men were seated with
a green baize-covered board resting on
their knees. They were quite calmly en-
joying game og auction bridge and
apparently took no interest whatever ex-
cept in their camel L don't know whether
they were playing for money or not,
hut as a passer-by remarked. the police
took no notice of them whatever, but
had they been playing craps" or shove
halfpenny (as we call the game heEe) it
would have been very differentS tale
the bobby would have told at the po-
lice station!
letter from friend who is spend
ing a few weeks at Ostend for his
healths sake is rather interesting at this
moment when the cry of 'prohteers" and
economy is rampant throughout Great
Britain.
II am under a strict regime" says my
correspondent Alcohol and smokes are
strictly forbidden; no meat, bread or po-
tatoes, and various other burdens and
restraints are imposed upon me. 1t is
a sad shadow of existence remains. But
it is quite cheerful at Ostend though l
must move. on soon as prices here are
phenomenal. My single room at this
hotel with sea view is 65 francs a
day to begin with. The petit depeuner is
served la carte after this fashion:
Tea, . francs; two slices of toast;
francs; a portion of butter, francs; a
portion of marmalade, francs, making
total of francs for the few mouth
fuls with which one begins the day.
The simple fare to which l am restricted
runs up to more than % francs for lunch
and over 80 francs for dinner. Anyone
eating or drinking normally would re-
ouire considerably more; in fact, double,
what / consume, You can then add up
quite easily just about what it would
cost for a weekend at Ostendl The
gaiety here is almost as it was before
the war with the additional advantage
however, that one no longer sees fat
German fraus and fraulens with their
masculine compliments wandering along
the PLACE and insulting the dgue with
their gross presence"
A friend of mine just over from Paris
has been telling me of the extraordinary
interest aroused in France by the sale
of many of the articles used by Marshal
Foch during his command of the north
and northeast armies. Duly autheni-
Gated objects which had associations with
Marshal Foch commanded prices out or
all proportion to their intrinsic value.
The bedroom furniture, for instance, used
by him when stationed at the Chateau
de Prevent was. L am told, snapped up
by London dealers who are likely to sell
il at a tremendous profit during the WIN
ter season In fact, it seems to be rather
the fashion to sell things" nowadays,
and / am told that the Dowager Lady
Brassey is another of the titled English
people going in for sale by auction.
CT all tat, tQft af hnr
mansion that old Lord Brassey made into
sort of museum. which is stuffed full
Of collections acquired by him during
his various trips around the world in
his yacht Sunbeam" Lady Brassey is
putting up for sale great many pre-
sumably valuable tapestries and some
wood carvings by Grinding Gibbons. Also
two or three huge paintings of very florid
looking ladies that are attributed to
Rubens and which used to be hung in
the great oak-panelled dining room in
Park Lane. / sympathize with her lady
ship in wishing to get rid of these de-
cidedly "meaty'' looking pictures. l re-
member lunching there once and hav-
ing my appetite sadly interfered with by
being obliged to gaze upon the override
veloped charms of Roman ladies and a
Venus who would certainly not have won
beauty competition in these days.
A very important enga~ement that
has been announced during the past few
weeks is that of Lady Moyra Beauclerk
to Capt. Oliver Lyttelton, D. s. o., M.
c. Lady Moyra is the younger daughter
or the Duke and Duchess of Leeds and
Captain Lyttleton the only son of the
Hon. Mrs. Alfred Lyttleton, who is one
of the best known among the artistic
set in London. The Duke and Duchess
of Leeds are very inconsnicuous' figures
in social life. In fact, they hate Lon
don and live almost entirely In the
country where the duke devotes most of
his time to sport and farming. He used
to be master of the beagle hounds and
is very keen on coursing His grey
hound stud is said to be the best in
England. He is also great yachtsman
and is vice commodore of the Squadron
Yacht club. His yacht, Corisande, and
his steam yacht, Aries. are both famous
and familiar sights in the Solent. The
wedding of Lady Moyra and Captain
Lyttleton is fixed to take place during
the latter part of September.
A marvellous old lady, Mrs. Arthur
Motley, who had reached the ripe age
of 104 years and 204 days, died the other
night at Malvern View, Cheltenham. l
mention her death chiefly because the
record Of her immediate family is so
extraordinary. She was one of II broth
ers and sisters who all attained the av-
erage OF W years ana ZfU Gays, ana IN one
instance life was cut short by accident!
Mrs. Motley was related to all sorts of
famous and interesting people. and up
to the day of her death kept up a con-
slant communication with the relatives
of people who had had close connection
with the court of Queen Victoria when
she was a girl. Long after she became
a centenarian she was physically and
mentally well. She read her daily paper
without the aid of glasses and took an
immense interest in the war. One of her
most precious possessions was letter
from Queen Mary thanking her for a
parcel Of scarves that she had knitted
for the troops. This letter she kept side
by side with one from Queen Victoria.
who had written to her at the time of
the Crimean war and thanked her for her
assistance in making bandages and
otherwise doing good war work" dur
ing that period of conflict.
Copyright, 1879