THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, TORTLAXD, JANUARY 22, 1922
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If You Were a Countess, How
Would You Like to Run a Laundry?
That's What the Wife of the Earl of
Clonmell Does a Duke Makes His
Home in a Garage and Others of the
Nobility Are Frankly "In Trade'
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UNDER the burden of decaying
estates and tax-laden shares,
the titled gentry of England are
at last knowing the feel of calloused
hands. Not only are the lords and
ladies of the empire admitting trades
people to their friendship; they are
becoming trades people themselves.
The European explosion that made
s, woodchopper out of a king, turned
piano player into a prime minister
nd established an Anerican widow
the first power behind the Grecian
throne, la still backfiringv madly
through the fissures of British so
ciety. A viscount sells bonds on commis
sion. A duke disposes of his abbey and
tarts housekeeping in a garage.
A duchess takes to the waShtub.
A social leader puts her needlework
on the market.
A titled beauty acts for the movies.
In brief, fate has taken the British
upper class and Jerked It Inside out.
Time was when no gentleman could
work In England. The very act or
gesture of laboring for gain canceled
one'n claim to gentility. A former
duke of Devonshire once remarked
about Henry Cavendish, his scientist
cousin: "lie's not a gentleman. You
see. he works." And this work was
work of the mind. too.
What the present duke of Devon
shJre thinks about the activities of his
present-day noble friend. Is not on
record. But If he had the same feel
ings as his ancestor he would have
ample opportunity for becoming scan
da rizcd.
Society Turns to Trade.
"le would certainly not have to look
far to see Iady Plana Duff-Cooper
Jrturing for the screen:
Or Lord Lyvodn conducting picas
Uro tours;
Or the Lady Marjorte Dalrymple, a
ister of tho earl of Stair, running
a glove establishment:
Or I,ady Victoria Murray, a sister
of tho earl' of Dunmore, doing the
rough work on her farm:
Or the Hon. Mrs. John Fortescue
designing picturo frocks.
Or Lady Henry Bentlnck exhibiting
her delightful hand-painted furniture;
the Hon. Mrs. John Russell, Lord
Ampthlil's daughter, designing frocks
at a Curzon-street studio: Mrs. C. P
I-eyel hearting the Green Wig estab
lishment in Bond street; Lady Eger
ton dlrciting the famous Paul Caret s
in Orchard street, and Mrs. Harrison
Mann managing tho W'illet's decor
ative establishment in tUoane square.
Or if theec did not impress him
he might take a look at a few more
of liU aristocratic associates, who,
though not yet tarnished by trade,
have been driven to sell their large
estates and . accommodate themselves
to clerks' incomes.
For a while, perhaps, it may have
been thought that the titled women
who went to work were either fad
dists or women deficient in the
proper pride. For a while, perhaps,
the bulk of British society was in
clined to sniff at this business of
Joining tho ranks of labor. But what
ever of condescension Was once In
their attitude has been thoroughly
extracted by exploits in business per
formed by the countess of- Clonmell,
wife of the earl of Clonmell, who
holds one of the oldest titles In Ire
land, and Mrs. tlilhert Hamilton, for
merly the wife of Gould Brokaw. the
w York millionaire. The countess
of Clonmell has opened a laundry and
actually works In It; Mrs. Hamilton
operates a lingerie establishment.
London society Is still amazed at
these two. But it forgets them, and,
what is better, patronises them.
Mrs. Hamilton, who before her
marriage to and divorce from Gould
Brokaw was Miss Mary Blair, daugh
ter of James A. Blair of New York,
Is one of the most beautiful and
fascinating members of English so
ciety. She is the wife of Colonel
Hamilton of the Grenadier Guards,
who Is the son of Lord Hamilton and
the grandson of none other than the
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into business, did war work on a biff
scale, and, like thrni, pained experi
ences she never would have under
normal circumstances. When Uie
health of her husband, flie Karl, be
pan to fall recently, and the family
fortunes, already deplet ed, began to
dwindle away sho-looked around for
something to do. In speaking of the
matter she said:
"At the bepinninc: of the year I
began to feel It was time I was doing
pies And rival beaux help
rural schools pay bills
Well-auctioned Tld-Bit in Missouri May Bring as Much as $15 or $20
Into Treasury.
something. Social activities of vari
ous kinds hive always occupied my
time and during the war I was in
terested in many organizations, ite
oently I had lots of time on my hands
- and needed to do something with it.
It mentioned thu matter to Gordon
Selfridge ana said, 'I wish I had
something to do.'
"Well,' he replied, 'why not start
a laundry?
"That was about six months ago.
Today my business is patronized by
people not only in London but in the
provinces, in Scotland and even in
Ireland.
"My premises are just off Oxford
.street and almost any day in the
week you will see a small crowd of
people assembled outside watching
my assistants at work."
N'eedless to say the countess had
her discouragements. Outside of
those friends who were shocked at
her contemplating such a vulgar life
work as operating- a laundry, there
were others who scoffed at the possi
bility of her ever making a go of It.
"You will have a white elephant
on your hands," they said. The
countess did not think so. But she
had a sense of humor and a sporting
feeling, so she defied her luck by
calling her place "The White Elephant."
She has studied her business close-
friends now expect to see her make ft
fortune.
Though many noble families who
have felt the pinch of poverty are
not represented in the ranks of trade
as yet. they are all distinctly aware
that a new order of things has taken
hold of the land and they are pre
paring to meet it. This state of mind
is reflected in the cooking schools,
which for the first tiino are being
crowded with ladies of the aristoc
racy. In some cases they are taking1
lessons openly In other cases they
have hidden their identities. At first
they were hopeless, but they soon
learned to cook.
The American ambassador, it seems,
was trying to have a lady present
ed, but when her connictions were
looked up it was found that her father
manufactured shoes. The court at
taches were shocked and pointed out
to the American ambassador that
trades-people could not be admitted
to court.
Tho ambassador conveyed the In
formation to the rich American, who
immediately and tearfully commun
icated with her father. This gentle
man being a shrewd Yankee, cabled
back: "Not selling shoes, fairly giv
ing them away. JSc advertisement."
The daughter laid the telegram be
fore the ambassador and he, in turn,
apprised the court that the objeetion-
ly, understands the best methods of able parent was really not a trades-
doing fine laundry work and super
vises every detail of the work. Her
person at all, but a philanthropist.
The daughter achieved her ambition.
duke of Abercorn. Colonel Hamil
ton is a cousin of the duke of Devon
shire, a cousin of the duke of Bue
cleugh. a nephew of Lady I.ansdowne
and kinsman of half the proud houses
of British nobility. Among his rela
tions is Viscount Lascelles, who Is to
marry Princess Mary. The American
girl, therefore, had everything in the
way of famdly connections to work
against her actually opening up a
shop.
During the war, however, she
nursed American soldiers at Neuilly
hospital, under the direction of Mrs.
W. K. Vanderbilt, and also, in an
earlier period, did war relief work of
various kinds. Her friends often
heard her say that she would never
b the same woman th-ji somehow
the desire to be making her own way,
to be forgetting her own Efe, to be
free from the safeguards ordinarily
thrown around titled women, to be no
longer under the spell of old con
ventions was now stronger than any
other desire.
As she was always known as a
person of courage, it is not remark
able that she immediately went to
work when she felt that her family
finances needed it. There was no
lack of people trying to dissuade her.
Her friends and relatives all pointed
out that the Hamilton fortune was
still large enough to enable her to
hold her placs in society. But she
knew well enoutrh that heavy income
and death -taxes were swiftly reduc
ing to the same level all the big fam
ilies whose money was in land. She
knew wll enough that if the money
she might earn were not needed im
mediately it would be sooner or later.
So she went to work.
If anything, she Is more popular
than ever among her friends. They
have applauded her action and, what
is more, they have shown their ap
proval by giving her handsome or
ders. Shopping in Mrs. Hamilton's
establishment is pretty much of an
afternoon's holiday, anyhow. She has
put in a line of laces and silks that
are as good as any to be found In
London. She has fixed up her shop
In such a way that it is a delight to
be inside it. And Mrs. Hamilton has
proved herself" a sa. (ft woman of su
perior talents. She sells everybody.
They are delighted to buy first, be
cause Mrs. Hamilton has made of
trading a delightful exercise: second,
because they get first-class values.
Xot infrequently now society wo
men drop in around 4 o'clock to make
small purchases and have tea before
cosy grate fires.
The Countess of Clomell. like all
other British, women who have gone
WHEN a district school board in
Missouri finds itself shy of
funds to put in a furnace, or
start a library needed to bring the
Institution up to the approved school
standard, there is an unfailing re
source in an energetic and pretty
young school teacher a "pie supper."
Some call 'em pie socials or pie recep
tions. It's all the same thing. Three
pie suppers were advertised for the
same night in one of the north Mis
souri papers this week, one in the
Stone district, one at Tewell school
and another at Ely school "Every
body's invited no charge for admis
sion," so ran the announcements. But
r.ever make the mistake of going to
such an event without your pocket
book or checkbook. If you do you'll
simply be an uninteresting subject,
a "wallflower," as lonely as a man
from the country on Broadway. True,
it costs you nothing to get in not
a penny! But once In, you're expect
ed to take, part in the proceedings,
which means the bidding.
"Oh, well, that won't cost much a
pie Is a pie. A quarter ought to let
me out."
But pie social pies don't sell for
sny such Insignificant sum. You see,
the ,girl who made the pie stands by
the auctioneer while he is crying the
sale. It-would take an awfully con
tracted soul to bid only 25 cents for
a pie when the pretty maker, in her
best bib and tucker, was standing
near, her blue eyes fixed steadily on
the bidder. She'd feel that you weren't
very anxious to eat that pie with
her, which is the reward of successful
sportsmanship at the auction.
The open season for "pie raids" be
gins about the- time autumn starts
painting the forest and keeps on until
all the ready cash of the love-lorn
youngsters is in the school treasury.
There's no limit to what a Pie may
cost you. If the creator of the pie
happens to be the belle of the neigh
borhood, her production may bring
from 1S to 120. When the war cam
paigns were on some pies brought
more than that, and the Red Cross
fared well.
. The Grand View Consolidated High
school, in northwest Marion county,
liquidated In two months a $400 debt
for a new piano. The salesman had
offered the school six months' time,
lie couldn't understand how the bill
had been discounted so quickly.
"We sold pics." smiled the teacher.
"But it would take a carload of pies
to raise $400." the salesman said.
y-.ot the way we sell 'em," ex
plained the teacher.
When a country teacher wants to
start something, she Invites a lot of
town boys out to her social. The fun
comes when the town boys and the
country boys get to bucking against
each other.
The organization of a successful
pie bee requires as much headwork
as it .does to run a county political
convention and show the delegates
how to vote. Having chosen her com
pany of piemakers, selected a date,
and made arrangements for the boys
to fill the lamps and sweep out the
building, the teacher calls up the
rural correspondent and tells him to
get a good notice in the paper a week
before. Then she calls up a young
farmer and tells him the girl for
whom he has a tender feeling Is go
ii.g to bake a pie for the social Fri
day night, and that she. as a friend,
hopes he'll get that pie. Which means
she wants him to come well heeled
financially.
Next to the teacher who organizes
the event is the auctioneer. A good
deal of the success depends on him.
During the war, when they were
holding pie socials to help finance
the Red Cross and liberty bond Issues,
a German settlement in North Charl
ton county developed a man of such
good capacity that his services were
called fcr in a great many sections of
the state. At one affair this auction
eer worked 'em up to such a pitch
that one moa put up his bait.
WW3Ttmw
A NEW
YEAR
JAN 1922
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AN OLD
FAVORITE!
gWmwmm jtutrihousn
HAPPY CHILDREN and GROWNUPS
v- ho relish good things to eat will begin
NNOEis the New Year with that Old Favorite:
fy) TRU-BLU GRAHAMS! Nutritious and
j Delicious for every meal and between
iii SOLD BY ALL J T"23(L
&Jh'fl MSn? GOOD GROCERS 1 1 kS?