22 MAY 1909, Page 3

The ridiculous storm in a teacup which has been raised

by a section of the Press over the fact that Mrs. Asquith asked a certain number of her friends to look at some Paris gowns in Downing Street has, we trust, received its quietus in a letter addressed by Mrs. Asquith to Mr. Richardson, M.P.. In this letter Mrs. Asquith writes that there is no truth in the statement that there has been an exhibition and sale of foreign stuffs or clothes at 10 Downing Street. She goes on to say that on the 6th of the month in the course of the afternoon she received in her private room at tea some twenty to twenty- five of her personal friends, "and a well-known French costumier, whose models can be bought in any London shop, brought some specimens for the inspection of myself and my guests. It was a purely private occasion."