Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-14

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The hard financial circumstances Of
her youth have made Queen Mary per-
haps the most economically minded OF
women to occupy the English throne
since Queen Elizabeth.
Her majesty, since her marriage,
when she first had a household OF
her own, has followed the ancient
adage: Look after the pence and the
pounds viii look after themselves"
Both as Princess OF Wales and as
Queen she has made it q practice to
20 through herself with her house
keeper, at regular intervals, the books
in which are kept the kitchen and the
housekeeping expenses at all the royal
palaces.
Cuts Kitchen Costs.
A year after King George had as
cended the throne she had managed
TO reduce kitchen expenses $4,000 a
year without noticeably curtailing the
meEls for the royal or household tables.
How infinitely the Queen went into
kitchen expenses may be judged from
the fact that one economy was achieved
by reduction Of $35 q quarter in the
contract for milk supplied Buckingham
Palace.
There was q story current that Queen
Mary requested one morning that none
of the milk cans delivered to the palace
should be touched until she had In
Spected them. None was quite full.
'@rhat is what I suspected" said the
Queen to the palace steward. "See
that they are delivered full In future"
But It was not until after the war
that Queen Mary showed what q capa-
bic economists she il
Opposed Allowance Increase.
The situation she had to face was
this: The grants by the state for SAL
aries and expenses of the household,
respectively $685., 900 and $685., 900 an
nually, became insufficient. Either the
expenses and salaries of the household
must be reduced or an application made
to Parliament for an increase in the
civil list.
The late Bonar Law stated In the
House of Commons that 1t might be-
come necessary to ask Parliament to
increase the amount Of the royal civil
list. But both King George and Queen
Mary greatly diSliked the idea.
Queen Mary told Bonar Law she be-
Heved she could reduce the expenses
Of the household sufficiently to avoid
asking the increase.
&uGGM 0uOWS CuG H SAVAuks
eff you can do so, m'm," replied the
prime minister, you viii have the
chancellor Of the exchequer praying for
your help IN the preparation Of the
budget"
IT think" replied her majesty tartIy,
that could have given lessons in econ
omy to several chancellors Of the
exchequer."
Queen Mary, In reducing the ex-
penSes Of the royal household, was faced
with q difficult task. It was impossible
Tor her to reduce salaries or wages
which had been increased during the
war on the same scale as the salaries
OF all government employees.
1t was only the expenses Of the
household, especially the kitchen ex-
penses, that Queen Mary could reduce
appreciably.
Five Courses Mt Dinner.
In pre-war days IL courses were
served at dinner at the royal table and
at the household table. During the
war the number was cut to 8. Queen
Mary cut them to after the war.
She informed Sir Derek Keppel Of
her intention, and Sir Derek seemed
TO think the step drastic.
"Oh, I am not going to starve any
one" said Queen Mary to the equerry,
1870 .yNA AA0y 4A1SC Ola CO4k6G8 ~ tAlG
household dinner II you like. But at
the Kings table we shall have only
five."
In pre-war days fresh linen was SUD-
piled the royal and household tables for
each meal. Queen Mary cut this to
fresh linen every night for dinner, and
for other meals fresh linen three days
q week.
Lighting Is Restricted.
Lighting facilities at the palace were
severely restricted. In this connection
occurred an incident worth telling.
In the main corridor are 10 lights, 5
ut each side. BY Queen Mary's orders,
the lights at one side were switched OF
at 10. One night, owing to the blow
ing out Of fuse. the i've lights on one
side Of the corridor went out, leaving it
dark.
An eQuerry cropping to his room
bumped heavily Into some one.
Good Lord" exclaimed the eQuorry.
'No," said q mild voice, 1T Is only
the King"
But in spite Of all Queen Mary's re-
auctions In the expenses Of the house
hold, King George for nearly three
years after the war had to make I'D
out OF his own pocket the difference
between the amount he received from
the state for household expenses and
WAab t11Cy ACLudlIy AIuOuuVS0 To-
Saving On Clothes.
Queen Mary made considerable re-
auctions in her personal expenditures
during and after the war. During the
war she heard q Paris establishment
that was closing had quantity Of silk
and cloth to sell. Queen Mary bought
the whole lot, the price averaging 8
Shllings yard
AS the result, Queen Mary after the
war was able to have day and evening
gowns for about IL guineas, when ladies
Of her own court were paying from %
to SO guineaS.
Affairs financially are now easier q
good deal at the English court than di-
rectly after the war. But Queen Mary
keeps as watchful an eye as ever on
the royal purse. It Is literally true
she never wastes a penny.
AS every one knows, she has Tor
years been collecting antique furni-
ture and various small art objects and
colored prints But she knows the value
of all she buys, and 1t would be clever
man who got on her soft side" in such
q deal.
Last year she had O valuation by exc
perts of the more valuable pieces in her
collections. This showed that IL Queen
Mary disposed of her collections at
present prices, she would profit nearly
Scopyright, 1929, by North American News
paper Alliance.)