THE Journal offered a very jaundiced impression of London social life in 1901 through the eyes of the woman correspondent who wrote the Berrow's Ladies' Column from the capital.

"To many people, London loses its interest when the travelling season sets in. If a woman be not starting off on a journey herself, her best friends are on the wing and hurt her feelings by showing their utter indifference to her fate, left alone in London.

''But if she be the intending traveller, she, in her turn, is utterly callous and abominably selfish in her preparations.

"For the woman who will spend the next month in London, the social distractions are all over. Even the cheap sales no longer afford any pleasure, and it is useless to make morning calls, for the houses of her best friends are closed. Even the servants are away enjoying their summer holidays.

"Letter-writing would fill up a good deal of time hanging heavily on hand, but there are no subjects which give piquancy to a confidential communication. There has been very little society scandal lately.

''I suppose, though, it is true that there remain the letters received from foreign watering-places where one's absent friends are enjoying themselves!"