THE SOCIAL SPHERE
Observer, Rōrahi XXXVII, Putanga 24, 17 Huitanguru 1917, Page 8
Mō tēnei niupepa
THE SOCIAL SPHERE
[By Myra.]
THE Mayoress, Mrs. Gunson, who has returned from her holiday, and- much-needed rest, was present at the Town Hall on Thursday last week, assisting Miss Spedding in the packing of the usual Dominion gifts for our soldiers at the front. The day was a very busy one for the large band of ladies who worked with great enthusiasm, and 6000 parcels were, packed, 5500 for France and 500 for Egypt. Letters are constantly being received by the President of the League, by the secretary, and also by friends of the soldiers, appreciative of the articles received: Many of the public come into the hall to watch proceedings, and nearly all select a bundle, enclose their name and address, and pay 2s 6d for the privilege, the money given going towards, buying more of the. luxuries which the soldiers are so glad to get. @> '& ® Last week, on Thursday, Mrs W. R. Wilson gave a tennis party at her pretty home, Takapuna. American tennis was played, the partners being chosen by drawing. Miss Gwen Gorrie and Mrs Billie Watson combined, won. every heat and finally gained the prize. The weather being genial, luncheon and tea were served under the trees on the lawn. A large number of convalescent soldiers from the Annex Hospital were brought over in motor oars, which were conveyed by the ferry boat. They were warmly welcomed by Mrs Wilson and made, a fuss of by all the guests. A delightful time was spent by everybody. Among the ladies present were: Mrs Sydney Nathan, Mrs De.rry, Mrs. Towle, Mrs Watson, Mrs Martin, Mrs Parker Upton, Mrs Louisson, Mrs Cole.grove, Mrs Donald, Misses Horton, Eleanor Young, May and Constance Colegrove, Eileen and Mamie Buckleton, Gwen Gorrie, Nellie Upton and Marjorie Towle. ®> m ® ■■ The friends of Mr Mervyn Bartley of Richmond Road, will be glad to know that his health is much improved. He is staying in Rotorua with his mother, who has taken a furnished cottage there. £ <® ® Mr and Mrs W. H. Butler of Buckland, are staying at the Central Hotel. © <© «© The Misses de la Poer Beresford, who have been to Taranaki, have returned to Auckland. © & e> Their Excellencies, the Governor and- the Countess of Liverpool have been giving a large afternoon party at their residence, Elmwood, Christchurch, all the elite of the. Cathedral town seemingly being present. Their Excellencies do not forget the soldiers, for another day, the wounded, who are in the Christchurch Hospital, were entertained at "Elmwood." 1
Miss Gertrude Preston, eldest daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs J. Preston of Mt. Eden, was quietly married on Tuesday, 6th instant, to Mr T. English, the. ceremony taking place at the residence of Mr. L. W. Graham, Mount Eden Road, and the officiating clergyman being the Rev. 0. H. Garland. Mr E. Preston gave away his sister who wore a s.mart gabardine tailored costume and a crepe de chine hat in two tones, violet and heliotrope. Miss M. Battye was: bridesmaid, wearing a frock of nigger brown crepe de chine, with a violet hat. After the breakfast, •Mr and Mrs English left by the Main Trunk express for their honeymoon trip in the. South. w ® © Mrs and Miss Haskins of Westland are visitors to Auckland. (& &> ®> Mrs Edward Morton is spending a holiday with her sister, Mrs Wm. Murray, Opawa, Christchurch. @ @> ® A New Zealand couple married in England lately was Miss Kitty Williams, third, daughter of the late Mr and Mrs. J. W. Williams, of Hawke's Bay, formerly of Pakaraka, Bay of Islands, and Bombardier Hugh Toplin, of Tuparoa, East Coast. He left New Zealand with one of the first reinforcements, being stationed in Egypt for some time, and is now on active service in France. The wedding took place at Hornchurch, and the decorations were palms, pot plants and chrysanthemums. A New Zealand flag was draped over the reading desk. Mr Hal Williams gave away his sister, who wore a coat and skirt of blue silk taffetas, the hat being blue and having fur trimming. Gunner Colin Williams, a nephew of the bride, was best man. The bride, on her honeymoon tour, wore a handsome fur coat over her pretty costume. ® ' .©> &b The Returned Soldiers' Association, combined' with the Women's Mutual Aid Association, held a moonlight excursion around the harbour on Thursday evening last -week, and the two honorary secretaries, Mrs Yon Stunner and Mr Andrews, "had worked up the outing so well that a crowded boat was the result, it being estimated that fully 100G people were on board. The night was lovely, being calm and bright, and the Peregrine, wlrch had been lent gratis by the ferry company, was brillianth' lighted with coloured electric bulbs", many of which were enclosed in Chinese lanterns. The young couples, got themselves away in all sorts of corners, but it was no US e_they couldn't hide themselves, and the billing and cooing wars witnessed by many amused onlookers who. however, thoroughly sympathised with the young folks. It was astonishing how many young men there were, but they were nearly all returned soldiers or soldiers in the making. The band of the 3rd Auckland Mounted R ; fles was placed in the centre of the ship, and very generously gave its services gratuitously. The music was very fine, and was much appreciated. The steamer went right into the Gxilf, calling in at Devonport on its way out and on its way back, and when at about 10 o'clock the ferry tee was reached, oheers were lustily given for the ferry company and for the band. The' money raised by the excursion will be used in aid of the Building Fund of the Returned Soldiers' Association. $■ <® >$> Mr and Mi« Vie. Casey, of Ponsonby, have just returned from a motor tour to Wellington. They had fairly good weather and a most enjoyable trip. Now they have gone off' to Rotorua, where there is a bowling tournament. © <® » The engagement is announced of Mips Helen J. Hand, youngest daughter of Mrs Hand, of Northcote to Mr Percy Stewart, only son of Mr Stewart, M.P., of Ivawakawa.
The field of women's work is daily enlarging, and the boundaries of sex prejudice have well-nigh disappeared (says an exchange). Commercial women have been for some time an acknowledged fact, while into the professions women have crept slowly and surely; they have, taken slowly to the land, but they are there, and their ranks daily swelling. "Women horticulturists and farmers of every type are making a, living, but to sheep only a few have turned their thoughts. Yet the work of woolclassing is suitable to a woman. Lately it w y as my lot to see a practical example of this in a shed of eight machines. The daughter of the station owner, who, as a hobby, had taken lessons in wool-classing, was enabled to put into practice, in her father's shearing shed, her knowledge, and thus to fill a gap that means hundreds of pounds, to him, with the "burr" daily increasing, in the unshorn sheep. © © © A Byron. Bay correspondent writes that at Pearce's Creek, Booyong, two young ladies are to be seen regularly ploughing and harrowing and doing all the hard work of the farm, so that their brother might be able to take his place in the ranks. This is the practical patriotism that helps—hats off to the Booyong girls. $ ® & Everyone is glad that the authorities have decided to confer distinctions, titles, and orders won by heroes who have fallen in the war upon their nearest women relatives. But the papers, are right to urge that something more should be done for women, They should be recognised on their own account, not only vicariously as the representatives of the brave men whom they have lost. The work of nurses is. not adequately rewarded, nor is the work of the women who organise relief work and devote time and money to work for the State. . 9 9 ® Smoking a pipo. was no great novelty among the ladies of Scotland half a century ago, as: Dr. John Kerr in his "Leaves from an Inspector's Log-book," boars witness. Ladies of irreproachable position and character enjoyed a pipe in those days, he records, and, as regards the habit among middle-class folk, he tells of getting into a public omnibus in Banffshire with the wife of a well-to-do farmer, and inquiring it she wmild object, to smoking. Cm, no," she replied, "I have a cuttie o my am in my pocket," and promptly produced it to keep him company. ® @> ® A writer in an English paper complains that the English language is being disfigured by battlefield colloquialisms. People speak of a Zeppy night; call a cottage a ' dugout"': the ground is described as khnki-coloured ; wo speak of "Joffre • blue and "Dreadnought" grey. In argument, people, "assume the offensive" and "capture the first line of trenches." It remains to.be seen whether these battlefield phrases will be incorporated into the language. Meanwhile the groans, over its degradation are "too late a week," for there is no language which is less respected by its inheritors than English. A foreigner learning it tells us blandly that it is strange the English have no grammar. And'there is. much truth in it. © % ® The Smart Man burst into the room. ' ' "Heard the news about Dickenson getting shot?" he roared, red with excitement. . Club members dropped thenpapers and sprang suddenly to life. "No!" they cried. "When?" "About half an hour ago," gasped the Smart Man. "I was there and saw it." „,, , "Where did he get shot?" gasped another. , ~ "Down at the ironmonger®, chuckled the Smart Man, slipping into the best chair. "He bought two pounds of it."
The Auckland Women's Patriotic League requires about 10,000 pieces of flannel, all-wool tweed or soft cloth (not flannelette), to be about 4 by 5 inches, neatly knicked round the edges. These need not be. new but if not, must be thoroughly well washed. They are to be used in making the needle-book part of the house-wives of which the League guarantees 750 per month, this being the quota for the Auckland Military area. The Mayoress requests that as many as possible of these be sent early, to the Town Hall, Auckland, tied up in bundles of 50 each. There are many who could' perform this; useful service who are debarred for various reasons from more active efforts in the patriotic cause. The Mayoress feels sure it will be a pleasure to such to help in this way. & & © The death of Mr Frank Dcsprez, formerly editor of "The Era," took place at Hampstead in November. Born in 1853 at Bristol, where he was educated at the Grammar School, he came to London in 1875, and joined the staff of "The Era" seven years later, eventually succeeding the late Mr G. Spencer Edwards as editor. Mr Desprez wrote a number of popular songs, and was the author of several successful comediettas and' sketches, many of which were afterwards collected and published in a volume entitled "Curtain Raisers." For the DOyly Carte Opera Company in the old Savoy days he wrote at least two musical sketches "The Carp" and "Mrs: Jarramie's Genie." Other pieces from his pen were: "After All," "In the Sulks," "Bnirn," "Mock Turtles." and "Quite an Adventure." He was also the author of the well-known recitation "The C'rect Card," and wrote several short stories. $? $ <® A big "scoop" was procured for the moving-picUires by Bertin E. Moisant, who filmed Jack London for the "Mutual Weekly" just three days before the author's death. Mr Moisant chanced to be nea.r Glen Ellen, where the late Mr London's ranch is located, and. being a friend of the family, decided to pay a call. Jack London then looked the picture of health, and the camera-man little thought that he was reeling off a picture of historic importance in the world of literature. ® <® <© Miss Jane Gail, who plays the principal part in "The Traffic in Souls," is identical with the lady who for a time appeared in the London Film productions. She originally came from America; but made her big. hit in London, whence she returned to U.S.A. on a particularly profitable contract. Her co-star in the film, Mr Herbert Rawlinson, is best remembered as Hump Van Weyden in "The Sea Wolf."
Carlyle Blackwell is in great demand as a dancer and cotillion leader. During the month of December he "led alone" in society functions in Newark, New York, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. @> $ 6® The sickening sludge exuded by papers about actresses' private lives is deadlier drivel than anything else within the walls of a newspaper. An actress is: a tradeswoman wh6.se business it is to amuse you, just as it is the business of the plumbcrto solder up a hole in a pipe. You don't want to know what kind of a singlet a plumber wears, or if he goes golfing, or wears clocked socks, or collects old china, or uses a typewriter, or wears artificial teeth, or anything outside his business. English illustrated papers are the worst offenders. On one page of the "Newsy News" you find V.C. heroes, missing men, pictures of infants murdered by Zeppelins, and so on. On the other page, a full page of a grinning actress, more or less indecently attired, and with a mouthful of obvious false teeth. The execrable letterpress tells you that Ma belle is passionately addicted to Elruscan ware, or shows her "gardening," standing still in a 350 guinea costume, with a spade in her well-manicured hand, or perhaps sitting down in a Louis the Seventyseventh chair eating cigarettes and reading Paul de Kock. So one is glad to find Florence Rockwell saying this: "It is my opinion that the personal .side of an. artist should not be brought out. The stage side only concerns the public, and 1 doii't know why they should be interested in our private life any more than in that of other people." It's a frightful blow to the flagrant fietionist who lives by inventing new "likes and dislikes" of women who sell their ability exactly as you or T or tho plumber does. c§"? <$t <$ Lawrence Campbell, the. brilliant Australian elocutionist, continues to achieve a great success with his recitals from "The Sentimental Bloke," under the J. and N. Tait direction. C. J. Dcnns, the. clever author of that remarkable book and the equally arresting "Ginger Mick," is new busily engaged on another book which will shortly be in the press. "Tho Sentimental Bloke's" creator is now living in the bush at Toolangi, Vie.
