Nelson Chronicle, Colne Observer, and Clitheroe Division News. — 1891-07-10 (Nelson, Lancashire, England)

LONDON LETTER.  [FROM OUR OWN CO—RRESPONDENT.] LONDON. THURSDAY EVENING. The Empress of Germany was taken to the hearts of English men and women as soon as her kindly face became known and the charm of her manner was felt. The sterling character of the Emperor has already won sincere admiration in England. Far from being the stern, uncompromising personage imagined by some people, the Emperor wins everyone who approaches him by the simplicity and geniality of his manner. An officer who was present at the dinner given at Osborne last year to his Imp.erial Majesty, tells of his keen sense of humour and love of fun. Even Lord Salisbury and he were to be seen laughing together at some joke which seemed to Strike both as irresistible. The Duke of Augustenberg accompanies the German Royalties on their English visit; and once more a union between this young prince, who is, by the way, a brother of the Empress, and much resembling her in amiability of character, and one of the Princesses of Wales is talked of. On dit that the Messrs. Sassoon are to entertain the Emperor William at the 'Empire' in the same munificent style in which they feasted the Shah of Persia two years ago.l The entertainment to the Persian Monarch cost 4.25,000, the roses for the supper-room alone totalling up to a thousand pounds. At the file given by the Rothschild in the Shah's honour £2,000 was spent on the roses. Good times those—and these too—for the florists, siest-ee pea? There have been hardly any costume balls this season, the nearest approach to them being the floral balls so much in worm, where each lady chooses some particular dower with which to decorate her dress. Young girls appear decked in the white stars of the jasimine, trailing fringes of lilies of the valley, or the humble marguerite, while their marriea sisters choose the richer beauties of the azalea, the rose, the iris, the pansy, the carnation, the golden buttercup, or the staring sunflower, accordirg to their complexion. There are also hair roses and bals blows. At the latter only unmarried women are invited, with, of course, their chaperones, and bachelors; whereas the guests of the 'pink' balls are mostly young married couples, with a few gay bachelors thrown in to make up for the presence of a certain number of non-dancing husbands. At all these entertainments, the coullon is the thief feature, with supper served at small tables, both delightful institutions affording rare opportunities for innocent flirting. Sensational suicides seem to be very much the order of the day on the Continent just now. In one case a medical student, who was 13,ing tried for some offence, calmly produced a lancet, opened a vein and bled to death in court, and under the very noses of the judge and jury. In another case, a servant girl in Frankfort, having first undressed, climbed into the bear-pit at the local zoological gardens, and was promptly torn to pieces. Truly are some folks weary of the old methods of doing things, even of making an end of themselves. A cause eelebre has been brought to a close by the decision just given in the lawsuit respecting the money left by Princess Stourdza, widow of Prince Michael Stourdza, former . . _  ruler of Moldavia. The Princess died in 1885 at Baden-Baden, leaving one daughter, Princess Marie, who was married to a sot of the Russian Chancellor, .Gortschakeff. Michael Stourdza had two sons by a former marriage. These two sons accused Princess Marie, who alone was present at her mother's death, of having possessed herself of a belt always worn by the deceased Princess, containing two million francs in notes, and also of having sent to Paris for a locksmith to break open the iron safes in which the Princess kept her valuables. . Out of these safes, the Princes alleged, their step-sister had taken a sum of 186,000 francs. The court has ordered the defendant to replace this sum, with the interest payable on it for five years, to the estate of the deceased Princess; but the taking of the belt with money in it could not be proved, so that charge was dismissed. Russians who are very fond of flowers, do not relish a repast when the table is not one mass of fragrant blossoms, and nowhere else in Europe does one see such gorgeous table decorations as in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Thousands of roubles are often spent for rare orchids to adorn the board of some wealthy boyard, and at the dinner given by Prince Narishkine some time ago the flowers cost over twenty thousand roubles. A case in some respects parallel to the I Tranby Croft affair has been occurrir g in Italy. An officer was caught cheating the other day at a club. A committee was set to watch him and as soon as he was detected he was made an example of on the spot. The insignia of his military rank were torn off his uniform, ho was flung out of the club-rooms, and, by order of the members, simply kicked out of the house by the footmen. Our correspondent says that the multiplicity of firms offering goods to the fair sex must puzzle the ladies where to choose. Personally be has now no difficulty since seeing some patterns from the warehouse of Mr. Elwood Brockbank, of Settle, who is the direct  distributor of Messrs. Ecroyd's fabrics, whose silk warps catuot be equalled for texture, appearance, wear, and cheapness. The latest gossip is that a cloud that looked black over the beads of "smartest England" has passed away, and the public have been cheated out of the most stupendous scandal of modern days. Although we may welcome any form of mediation calculated to prevent an exposure, yet, it is felt, that sooner or later the cloud must return and break, and that the circumstances of the much-talked-of hushing-up are discreditable to certain of the parties concerned as the truths which have been hippily, though only temporarily, suppressed.  A GILVTLIMAN named Andrew Bartle died in the mail train between Euston and Holyhead on Mondiy. The body hail been conveyed to Dublin.