THE CORONATION BALL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2502, 1 July 1915, Page 3

THE CORONATION BALL

A CHARMING SPECTACLE. , _ The coronation • activities still continue to be a source of great attraction to large numbers of;people in Wellington, aud the royal coronation ball which was held in tho town Hall last eveu- . ing was crowded with;both dancers and onlookers. The galleries as a matter of fact were altogether and large numbers of people had to be turned away. The royal procession, which entered the hall about -half-past 8, while Sir.; Bernard Page played the Coronation March, made its stately march round the large Chamber before taking its place upon the dais, showed to much greater advantage oil this occasion than »n any of the previous nights, as the .wide space of floor free of seats aud people, with its . fringe of spectators, either in gaily coloured fancy dresses or ' those in tho softer colours .or ordinary avening dress, afforded a sympathetic .background to tho scene. It was altogether a i charming sight, «iul the red and yellow drapings which festooned the galleries and also formed tho customary alcoves gave a still more vivid tone to the general scheme of colouring. The crowning of the Queen again took place, . but on this occasion tlu re was no presentation scene,; the ladies-in-waiting as they arrived upon the'dais merely making their curtsev and .taking their place on each sido or > the .Queen, with .the pages in the background.' It took a jertain amount 1 of skilful placing to get sveryone upon the stage, as it had been 'educed in size to. give; greater space for dancing." The royal set of lancers was matched; with much interest, and was taken, part in by the. following Her Majesty Queen Kitty' and Mr. F. W. Manton, Mrs. J. Hannah and Mr. W. J. Meredith,-, Miss D.WM'Cormack .and Lieut. Niiiimo, Miss Senior aiid Mr. Barber; Miss M'Euroe and. Mr. J. J. ■ . M.Grath, Da. Platts-Mills and Major . Marshall, Miss M'Xegg and Mr. N. Kirkcaldie, Mrs. Algar Williams and Mr.' Seed, Miss Palmar and Mr. Cook, . Ifurse Everitt'ahd.Mr. Wickham, MVb. ■W. H., Smith and Mr. W. H., • Smith, Miss Low. and Mr. Bloxham, Miss Roseingrave and Mr. Monaghan, Mrs. Manton and Mr. Doughty, Mrs. Hempton : and Mr. Hempton, Mrs. M'Vicar and Mr. H. George. - i . The grand parade ;of dancers - which - followed displayed some excellent fancy costumes, an exceedingly well-carried-out one being a lampshade, while another, a Maori wahine with her baby on ') her hack,.was another outstanding character, the picanirihy ■ being most realistic. .Pages, Gainsborough ladies,' Neapolitan peasants, an excellent London waif (a newsboy), and;all the customary characters to be seen; at a fancy dress ball were there,- the. whole effect being greatly enhanced by'the presence of the Queen,; the Mistress,of the Robes, her ladies-in-waiting, the sword bearers] the Lord High Chancellor, .etc. The small pages had their' own/special dance,, after .which they were taken off to supper prior to their departure for home. .. The. Concert Chamber was used as a-j supper room, the long tables running i down the centre of .'tne room having been very prettily arranged with au- I tumn foliage, while the centre table had I pink- and crimson streamers carried from one tall flower, .'stand to Mrs. Oscar Johnsonprovided an ex-! ' cellent supper,. and Mr;. Cowley's orl chestra supplied excellent music for dancing. As a spectacle the ball was a charming affair, but, the indefinite-. . ness of . the arrangements was a very ■unnecessary and highly inconvenient feature of the organisation._ The M.C.'s were Messrs. Bloxhani, Julius, Liardet, Lockwood, Meredith, (Smith, and Nor-ton-Ta.ylor. Mr. F. A. Levin was sec-1 rotary. : ■ ■

Mr. and Mrs. J. Studholme, of' Canterbury, and Mr. and Mrs. T. B. Grosse, Hawke's Bay, who have been visiting their plantation .it Fiji, returned to New Zealand by ; the early in the week. , . ' Miss Warneford (sister of the late Lieutenant Warntford, the Canadian aviator, who wrecked'the Zeppelin and received the V.O. and Legion of Honour) has been staying: with' Mrs. Robertson (Strathallan) at the Hydro; Timaru, and is now visiting Christchurch, accompanied by Mrs. Robertson (states a southern exchange). There was a large attendance of, wellwishers at the Salvation Army Citadel yesterday afternoon to. witness , the double wedding of Captain Hawkins,, of Carterton, and Lieutenant Jackson, of Woodville, and v Corporal-Bandsman Jackson and 'Mies Algar, both soldiers .belonging to the Army in Wellington. The ceremony was conducted by Commissioner Hodder. Lieutenant Jackson arid Bandsman Jackson are : sister and brother. Mr. Buick, M.P., Mrs. and Miss Buick are staying at.-Kilmore, Hawkestono Street. ?ji. Our Greytown correipoii'lfni reports that a house occupied bv Mr W. Waite, of Morrison's Bush, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday afternoon •