L A i\ U A.\ IJ v\ A 1 IV 
.»> ^y-j- 
The Queen sent the other day to St. Dunstan's, Regent's 
Park, for the bhndcd soldiers and sailors, £75, which was 
forwarded to her by Mrs. Starling, of Herr\vood. TenRatt, 
Natal, as the result of a garden fete. 
Last .week Queen Alexandra, wlio was accompanied by the 
Grand Duchess George of Russia, with Princess Nina 
and Princess Victoria, paid a visit to St. Dunstan's. 
To-nionow everyone will be able to buy the Blinded 
Soldiers' and Sailors' Gift Book, a review of which appears 
to-day on another page. 
The Grand Duchess George of Russia, with Princess Nina, 
who have spent the summer quietly at Harrogate, came 
to town last week and were the guests of Queen Alexandra 
at Marlborough House. While there they accompanied 
Her Majesty on a tour of inspection, not only St. Dun- 
stan's being visited, but the offices of the Queen Alexandra 
Field Force Fund and the National Egg Collection. In 
the afternoon they went on to Buckingham Palace to 
see the King and Queen. 
Lady Salisbury, with Captain Ormesby Gore and Lady 
Beatrice Gore, and Lord Robert Cecil, were among those 
lunching a day or two ago in Jules' Restaurant in Jermyn 
Street, which continues to be a most favourite restaurant, 
especially with good people who like quiet places. Every 
night for dinner Jules' Restaurant is full, and he himself 
is always there seeing that everybody is comfortable. It 
is this personal touch that goes such a long way. One 
has only to ask for something a little different, if the 
menu does not happen to suit, for it at once to be cheer- 
fully and pleasantly agreed to. 
Lady Edith Charles wishes to thank all her friends for their 
very kind letters of sympathy, to which she regrets she 
is unable to reply. 
The problem of Hunt management this year would have been 
much greater, but for the fine spirit of ladies keenly ahve 
to the importance of keeping the sport going. Lady 
Portal, in spite of personal inconvenience, has retained 
the mastership of the Vine ; Mrs. and Miss Inge still 
share control of the Atherstone ; while in Shropshire 
and Montgomeryshire the United Hounds have been 
taken over by Miss W. B. VVhitaker. Then the wives of 
many absent M.F.H.s are undertaking the responsibilities 
of " Acting Master." In Ireland Miss Edith Somerville, 
of the West Carbery, and in Wales Mrs. T. H. R. Hughes, 
of the Neuadd-fawr, and Mrs. Blandy Jenkins, of the 
Llanharan, continue to show how very successful lady 
Masters of Foxhounds can be. 
Sir Gilbert Greenall came over from Ireland last week to 
preside at the council meeting of the Hunters' Improve- 
ment Society ; as usual, he made Almond's Hotel in 
Clifford Street, his headquarters. There was a yery full 
■ meeting -of the Council, and condolences were sent to 
Lady Emily Van De Weyer on the death of her husband 
Colonel Victor Van De Weyer, who was one of the oldest 
members of the Society and had always taken a great 
interest in its work. The dozen new members elected 
at this meeting included Lord Minto, Mr. R. C. Monson 
and Captain C. D. Miller. Afterwards Sir Gilbert enter- 
tained one or two friends at luncheon iij Almond's 
little restaurant which has been very busy. 
Even in war-time experiments in cuisine are allowable, and 
Charles gave me at the Ritz the other day .a, jiew way of 
serving the familiar fillet of sole, which introduced new- 
flavours and was altogether a delightful surprise. But 
it is difficult to improve on sole as cooked at the Ritz, 
with aubergine, that homeliest of vegetables ; one only 
wishes it were more common in "this countr;-." 
The marriage of Lieutenant-Colonel Bertram Romilly and 
Miss Nellie Hozier is to take place at the Guards' Chapel, 
Wellington Barracks, on the first Saturday in December! 
JWiis Hozier is a sister of Mrs. Winston Churchill, and 
Colonel Romilly, a son of Mr. Samuel Romilly, a grcat- 
•,'randson of the great Sir Samuel Romilly. The Romillys 
are Huguenots and according to Burke, at the time 
nf the revolution of the Edict of Nantes, came from 
Montpellier and settled in Hoxton. One would have 
thought they would have come from Romilly, a small 
town to the south-west of Paris which is famous in that 
it was the extremest limit of the German invasion of 1914. 
The Church Army is organising a big Sale of Work for the 
relief of distress in France and Russia, to be held at the 
Portman Rooms on Novemlier 23rd. It is hoped that 
Princess Arthur of Connaught will have got over her 
operation then and be able to open it. Comtcsse 
Benckcndorff and the Vicomtesse de la Panouse are to be 
amongst the stall holders. 
-\ Matinee is being organised by the Royal Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in aid of the Special 
Fund for the Sick and Wounded Horses of the British 
Army at the Front, at the St. James's Theatre on Tuesday 
the i6th. The Queen and Queen Alexandra have granted 
their patronage, and a number of prominent artists 
are kindly giving their services. 
The Cafe Chantant, which was held in the new ball room of 
the Piccadilly Hotel last week on behalf of the Brondes- 
bury Park Military Hospital, was a great success ; the 
. l)ig room was crowded and everything went off very well. 
This beautiful ball-room at the Piccadilly was a revela- 
tion to many ; it was only finished a few months before 
the war, and had never come into general use, so that 
many who attend regularly the Piccadilly restaurant 
and grill-room have no idea of its existence. 
Readers of Land and Water will remenaber the imaginative 
stoi^' Mr. Algernon Blackwood wrote for it a few weeks 
ago entitled " A Soldier's Visitor." The soldier was 
wounded, had lost the use of his legs, and the authoi 
' made him dream he had acquired a new power of over- 
coming space. It was a beautiful poetic conception. 
The strange part of it is that it happens to be true to 
life as this extract from a private letter shows : — 
I have lost both legs below the knee — unfortunately not in serving 
my country. In the latter part of your story you speak of 
the soldier's dream ; how space is more or less nothing to him, 
and how he can soar, etc. I have never been to sleep with- 
out dreaming, and of all my dreams, this particular one which 
your soldier dreamt is by far the most frequent. It is abso- 
lutely true. 
Sir Robert Laidlaw, whose death occurred last week at the 
comparatively early age of 58, made a fortune in the East 
by using the Government as his private bill-collector. 
He went to Calcutta and opened with a partner, Mr. 
Whiteaway, a cheap drapery shop about thirty years ago. 
They awoke to the fact that the Value Payable Post, 
which was in existence, made it possible for them to do a 
cash business throughout the length and breadth of 
Hindustan. The V.P.P., as it is called, was originated 
for the benefit of Europeans living in out-of-the-way 
stations. A parcel is handed into the Post Office, the 
amount to be paid on it is stated, and the Post Office 
undertakes to dehver the parcel, collect the monev, and 
remit it to the sender for a small fee. 
^[essrs. Whiteaway and Laidlaw were quick to see how this 
system could be turned to the trader's advantage com- 
bmed with skilful advertising. They inundated the 
country with catalogues whidi grew and grew until they 
became as compendious as Harrod's or the Army and 
Navy Stores. Presently followed imitators, but they had 
made such strides ahead that to this day Messrs. White- 
way and Laidlaw are the biggest general stores in the East. 
Ihcy deserved their successs for their shrewd adaptive 
ness, but it is not often that a commercial firm is in a posi- 
tion to harness a .Government and compel Government 
servants to carry them to fortune. Hermes. 
Kootliall! Try Billiards! liiiiroiighes & \Viltt^• Ta 
Tables. 
28 
