RECEPTION AND TEA

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 290, 3 September 1931, Page 4

RECEPTION AND TEA

Ministers’ Wives Entertain WONDERFUL FLOWERS Seldom has such a wonderful variety of Miriii" Howers beeu seen on the tables and walls'of the Parliamentary reception room as was seen yesterday afternoon, when the wives of Ministers of the Crown entertained the members of both Houses and their wives and daughters at afternoon The flowers —hellebores, wattle, japonica, narcissi, poppies, grape hyacinths, and orange trees —all came from the garden oE Mrs. Cobbe at Feilding. and they were most artistically displayed. Lady Sidey and Mrs. Ransom received tlie guests at the door, and the other hostesses were Mrs. Veitch, Mrs. Taverner, Mrs. Cobbe, Mrs. Donald, Mrs. btallwor.thy, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Murdoch, Mrs. Masters, \ Her Excellency Lady Bledisloe, aceompanied Lady Nora Jdlicoe, Sir John Hanham, Bart., and Lieut. Elworthy, R.N., were present. , , . Her Excellency looked very lovely in an ensemble Of honey-coloured maroeaiu trimmed with a fawn fox collar, and a felt beretta of the same shade. She was presented with a delicately-tinted bouquet of cineraria and grape hyacinths. Lady Norah Jellicoe wore a navy blue frock with a tiny coloured floral pattern, a brown fur coat, and a blue fur felt hat. Au enjoyable musical programme was provided by a small orchestra, and songs were given by Mrs. Bernard Wood and Miss Monica Malfroy. Mr. Gordon Short was the accompanist. DEPARTED FASHION Pug Dogs as Pets WHERE ARE THEY NOW? It takes little, so little, .to make one feel positively aged (writes Gertruue Townend in an exchange). - This morning 1 rattued my golf clubs in my bag, scorning a caddy, full of the vim of youth, and feelinfe, as I swung over the springy turf in the glorious May sunshine, somewhere in the region of fivc-and-twenty summers. Now that is all past and gone, and this afternoon I sit, my toes to, a fire, wondering whether, at my time of life, 1 ought not to wear wool next to my skin all the year round. And the reason? A Pug dog! . les, the recollections of Puddie, the taithtul bandy-legged friend oi my youtih, who seemed to be inflicted with a permanent cold in the head, and who waddled round after my Aunt Elizabeth, fat unto burst-ing-point, the extremity of the reddest tongue you ever beheld protruding from its flat face like a felt penwiper. The discussion, after IS holes of the best, had veered round to dogs, and the merits and demerits of the various breeds were being bandied between us all. The Alsatians, with their wild forest beauty, fiery-blooded and proud, the Sealyhams, game little sportsmen, ever ready for adventure and excitement, and the gentlemouthed Spaniels, so obedient and ready to serve. All these, and many others, were trotted out and discussed, when I caused, apparently, a species of electric shock to run round the entire company by voicing my own views. “IVell.” I said, “no doubt they ore all attractive breeds, but somehow best of all I love a pug. . A long silence, a puzzled silence, full of polite interest and that elusive vacant quality which tells you instantly that your hearers haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about. . , . “A pug?” said one. “Oh, ah, yes! Let me see, what exactly is a pug?” . . . My face must have fallen, with my spirits, about a mile. 7 Instantly I visioned the- nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine pugs which had followed the nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine fashionable ladies who lived in and around the Kensington Square where I spent my youth. Black pugs, fawn pugs, creamy white pugs, mostly decorated with little fancy collars tinkling round with silver bells, the ultra fashionable amongst them wearing huge silk bows of pale blue or scarjet, according to the colour of thejf pelts. ’ “Horrors!” I thought. “Can I really be so old that I alone can recollect all these little creatures with the silly faces, the greedy tummies, and the hearts of young lions?” (for the pug, though he loved his food too well, was a marvellous hopse-dog and as pugnacious as his bigger-brother the Bulldog). “Pugs,” I said-r—“pugs are wonderful dogs. They are among the aristocrats of the canine world not only in this,country but in France, from whence they come. I believe they are absolutely blue blood. Like all highly-bred animals, they are exceedingly intelligent and wise, and they are faithful to death.” Still my audience looked puzzled. “When were they fashionable, darling?” asked Ann, with a sly grin. "Somehow, I can’t seem to even remember them.”

Ann is a silly young chit with a Dalmatian, and, anyway, she makes eyes at Jim and it annoys me. I looked defiant. “Oh 1” I Said tartly, “not so long ago . . . . let me see ...” I -paused to count. . . Heavens 1 about twentyfive years slipped by . , . I crawled back home mi aged woman. Jim was out when I arrived, and I rang for tea, thinking bitterly of my advancing years and wondering how I had lasted so long without any grey hairs. I was almost in tears of self-pity when Jim came in.

“Hullo, old girl!” he said. “You look a bit green. Been overdoing it?” Miserably I recounted the whole beastly tale. “It’s all the fault of those wretched pug dogs,” I said, as I prodded a cake viciously. “And I don’t care if they are old-fashioned; they are very noble animals.” “Gosh 1” said Jim, "to listen to you, fair lady, one would take you for every moment of one hundred years old. What a tirade! And as for noble animals, I remember being sent to the country to an old lady with a pug to rusticate, for my.youthful sins! What a punishment! I killed the little beggar by giving it all the cake it Would eat. I filled it up so full that its eyes dropped out before it finally died !” I don't care! I shall order my Bath chair to-morrow; but when I dp I shall order « pug dog to take out in it with me, even if I have to get a stuffed one out of the British Museum. ARE YOU FRECKLED? . The first warm summer sunshine means a crop of freckles, or sun kisses as they are often called, for those with sensitive skins. One or two freckles nre an added attraction for some people, but if you are not one of the lucky ones, you can remove them with n lotion of equal parts of peroxide of hydrogen and water. Dab this on with cotton wool every night, and in a week or to they should have disappeared. The British Post Office has instilled 2(500 stamn-sejling machines. There are also 34,350 public telephone call offices, 10,040 of which are'in public thoroughfares and, available at all hours of the uay and night. Bouquets of distinction tor the bride mil her maids, in exclusive colouring and style to suit frocks. Miss Murray 30 Willis Street.—Advt.