It is with something like a- sigh of regret that I have read the newspaper accounts of two dinners which have been given at the Savoy Hotel during the past week. The one given last Friday, by Mr. Kressler of New York, is said to have cost £3,000, It was held in a gondola, which had been placed in the court yard of the hotel, which has been temporarily converted into a lake for the purpose. Last night, on the same spot, Captain Raburaki, the naval attache of the Japanese Embassy, entertained Prince and Princess Arisugawa, Viscount Hayashi, the Duchess Itichijo and some sixty other guests in a similar manner, only on' this occasion instead of Venice, Japan was the happy hunting ground; everything was reminiscent of the land of the rising sun; the musicians wore Japanese dress, though they probably hailed from Austria or Germany, and the decorations of the banqueting hall and dining table must all have been imported from the Far East, though they were collected together at less than twenty-four hours' notice. The hall itself was arranged so as to represent a Japanese garden, whilst the table was supposed to be a huge basket, with a ledge running round it for plates, ete, At each end of the basket a miniature village had been erected, with tiny trees and a diminutive tea house, Connecting them—running the entire length of the tablo—was a stream of water, in which gold fish disported and over which, at intervals, bridges were placed, on which small elephants were fo be seen. Of course it was very charming, and I am care all the guests must have enjoyed the sight immensely, but the question is, if dinners such as these are to become the fashion, beware ordinary mortals to entertain at all? We are told on all bands that nowadays unless one can do a thing well it is useless to attempt to do it at all, but every year the " well" seems to grow in sumptuousness and the question is, where is it all to and? At the present moment we seem to be bitten somewhat severely by the Japanese craze even our latest sunshades of lace and chiffon are being made quite flat in imitation of the silk and paper ones from far Japan. I noticed it was stated a few days ago in a daily paper that the Mikado had sent as jo present to Queen Alexandra some wonderfully embroidered dresses of Japanese design and that her. Majesty was so delighted with the beauty of them that she insisted upon wearing one on the. occasion of the State banquet given to the Japanese guests at Buckingham Palace; one was also lent to the Duchess of Portland, who was acting as Mistress of the Robes on the occasion, and Princess Arisugawa was bogged to wear another, though she usually dons the most up-to-date of Parisian toilettes. This will undoubtedly set the fashion, and before long Japanese dinners will be the correct thing in Clapham and Upper Tooting; only at the preseat moment—owing to the war—all Eastern wearing apparel is very scare "The Times" Latest Idea.
Having sufficiently exploited the Encyclopedia Britannica, the "Times" Atl and the selling of. their paper for twopence—paid annually in' advance—the energetic board of management of that most surprising of all our daily papers seem to be pining for a now outlet. for their energies, and, according to Mr. Clement Shorter, the Editor of the "Sphere," "they have hit upon a scheme which may be of groat benefit to literature." If properly worked I should think it will be of advantage to the public generally, as it seems they intend to enter into competition with Messrs. Mudie (of library mo), and themselves run a circulating library in connection with their paper. Full particulars are not yet published, but I imagine the idea is that only subscribers to the twopenny "Timos" will be eligible as members of the library, Whether the books will be delivered with the paper does not yet transpire. So far there appears to be a certain amount of trouble betwoon some firms of publishers and the would-be librarians on the subject: of the allowance of discounts, the "Times" demanding something extra to that usually allowed, However, it is thought that this will: eventually be arranged and the project successfully carried through. On all hands one hears complaints of the difficulty of procuring any but old books from Mudie's, who appear to cater most inefficiently for their vast number of subscribers so, iffer no other reason than that it will supply a little wholesome stimulation in the matter of competition, the " Times" nowest scheme is most welcome.
Wednesday in last week was a notable night at Covent Garden Opera House in one particular, as for th first time an opera founded on fa Chinese play was performed there. It is true the com-Poser of the music (Signor, Leoni) is Italian and thejopera was sung in Italian and by Italians; in fact if the truth must be owned the only thing which struck me as really Chinese in the entire porformance was the overture, which con-owner. Further reproduction pro! ited without permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.