Women in Print.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 78, 4 April 1910, Page 9

Women in Print.

Tho press at Homo (s commenting seriously, and more in sorrow than anger, upon the facility fashions have of quickly becoming exaggerated. It is a true bill, for at our distance from the great centre we see tho same deplorable departure in our circles. It emphasises the ' change that the rapid evolution all round us had made in women. Their ready acceptance of glaringly new fashions now marks the absence of any of the former strict line of dress that women used to adhere- to, aud often marked their individuality. They accepted changes with such uiodifica-tfons only as made them inconspicuous in their dross. A curious dignity (handed down from the women of past generations) gave them a shy Teverence which shrank from public attention, and notoriety was abhorrent to them. Amongst court ladies or fashionable beauties some extremes were practised in bygone days. Then the circle was circumscribed and defined. Nowadays, every class dresses alike, and we have in the street costumes, most incongruous garments and garniture. It is an anomaly to see the monstrous hats of the Sedan chair days, struggling in and out of an electric tram. If they wore very dangerously long hat pins in those dnys, they had comparatively few opportunities for doing harm, because they were not used by "all 6orts and concMtions." Custom and usage has no bold vhatever upon 20th century women. They have broken .ill such trammels, and bow to no law but individual taste, and the size of their purses. Sixty years ago a girl expected to wear cups as soon as she married, and a pretty selection of these lovely lace cups was an indispensable part of all trousseaux. It was an arbitrary law, and much better abolished, bnt no bride of to-day would meekly submit to any such coercion ns her grnndmothers did without c protest. Many such unwritten laws were obeyed like the laws of the land. \Yo know they would he disregarded in these days of absolute liberty. The question is, ore wo improved by having such emancipation ? The sumptuary laws of long ago were tyrannical and unjust. The pendulum having swung so extremely in the other direction, has engendered a state of things that shows they had a useful side under tho arbitrary hardness of them.. Mrs. and Miss Card, of Featherston, who are leaving for a trip to England, are having a farewell social given them before their departure. The opening night of the Eastbourne Savage Club on baturday was a most pleasant occasion. It was a lovely ovening, which tempted a number oi ladies to go over to enjoy the fun. The pavilion was very nicely arranged for the entertainment, and was very closely filled with guests. The programme was most excellent, and printed on dark paper, looking particularly barbaric. Kach guest had one presented to her as a souvenir of what the Savages can do. A tribe of Wellington barbarians went over to assist at the curious function. A dainty supper was provided before the guests left for town in motors and other vehicles, the drive home being part of the night's pleasure. Amonght some who were present were Mrs. Wilfotd (senior), Miss Skerrett, Mrs. Longmore, Mrs. Shortt, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Oidebury, Misses Murray, Van Staveren, Butts, Lyon, ayall, Carroll. Buckley, Caverhill, Isaacs, Fruhauf, Johnston, Smith, Howard, Saunders, Robertson. Mr. and Mrfl. Harold Beauchamp returned from the south on Saturday. Mrs. Suckling, of Coromandcl-street, Rave a handkerchief tea on Saturday, for Miss (.ieraldiuc Stewart, who is to be married at an early date to Mr. Withers. There has been no time lost between ths closing of the tennis and croquet seasons nnd the opening of the golf links for tho winter. The Hutt Club had a tine afternoon for their beginning, and there was a large attendance. It was such a lovely afternoon that being out of doors was of itself a pleasure. Somo mixed foursomes filled in the time for the ladies, who aro veiy keen and interested players on these links. Amongst the visitors were Mrs. H. Rose, Mrs. J. Rose, Mrs. Nathan, Mrs. Trimnel, Mr*. Harris, Mrs. Broderick, Mrs. Wagg, Misses Cook, Parsons, Ratlibone. The Miramar Golf Club al6o were so lucky as to have chosen Saturday for their opening day this season. Consequently a number of their friends jour* ne>ed out to enjoy the beauty of the ] day as well as to watch some play. The president, Mrs. R. A. Holmes, Miss Elsie Gray, and Miss Klsme Ward presided over the tea in the golf house, j and it was dispensed to the visitors, by choice, out of doors. There- were several competitions which were interesting to watch. Amongst the visitors were Mrs. and Miss Litchfleld, Mrs. Firth, Mrs. T. Wurd, Mrs. Macart hy, Mrs. and Miss Wylie, Mrs. Begg, Misses Didsbury, Turner, Kane, Logan, Bulkley, aud many others. The Victoria College students brought their bazaar to a close on Saturday evening with a pleasant little concert. The afternoon saw a great number of patrons, who climbed up to enjoy the variations of this multifarious bazaar, and to enjoy the view, which of itself was well worth the time and strength so expended. Of the over-generous tupplv of commodities, naturally somo are left for future use, and it is quite useful to have a nest egg for next time, whenever that may be. Wo hop© the promoters have made enough for their present needs, and are enabled to feel their hard work has answered its end. The many friends of Miss M. E. Rosengrave will be pleased to hear that she is now progressing favourably from her illness at her home in Woolcombestreet. The Hon. W. W. M'Cardle, M.L.C., and Mrs. M'Cardle are in Auckland, where their son, Vincent recently underwent a serious operation. Miss Flossie Aieken (Auckland), who has been visiting her aunt, Mrs. Gordon Aieken, left on Friday evening by the Ulimaroa, for Sydney. Mrs. Roberts, who has been spending a holiday nt Waikaiue, was accorded (writes our Oreytown correspondent) a hearty send-off nt a "social" given by friends. The gu#st left for Sydney on Kiiday. What is known as the "Women's Charter' — a series of iiiut* bills, all affecting women — has been introduced into the House of Commons. The bills deal with oveiything, from the franchise to the decile; fiom education down to the nuini'-'iMal tuilk .supply. The creche syhlem which 'is adopted by this "Womt'iiV, C'haitcr" is the German one of Pentdlozzi-Fiocbel houses, stales tho London conespomlpnt of tho Sydney .Morning Herald. That is the system in\cnled by one of^ the best men that ever lived — a "man illiterate, ill-dressed, unbusinesslike, utterly incapable of any organisation or management, but a. m/n wbo, by tho ehitr goodneai of hii life, the eweetaesi of hit personality, and his

wide, wise, comprehensive, dominating love, especially for the helpless and the young, made his influence felt throughout all Europe. He had read Rousseau's "Emilc," and was saturated with the theory that tho only way to develop a child as it ought to be developed was to give it as nearly as possible its natural surroundings — find its natural inclinations, and care for them. He was bom in Switzerland in 1745. And to carry out his theories, he collected some oi' the waifs and stray* that ho came across, and took them to live with him as ihildien with a father at a farm at Niuihof . The farm failed financially, as did almost every one of his later institutions. But the principle that he invented lived on, and was caught up by the German Froebel — forty years younger — his disciple and firm friend. Writing from Honolulu to friends in Palmerston North, sayt, the Standard, Mrs. F. W. Frankland, of Foxton, who left with her husband on a visit to America recently, states that the party had an excellent trip from Auckland to Suva, but a ntay of three days in the latter place in intensely hot weather was very depressing. Honolulu, however, proved a welcome change. Being winter time, the air was deliciou.=ly cool and bracing, and the travellers were soon set on their feet again. Mrs. Frankland says the beauties of Houojulu are difficult to deecrihe. Although it was the worst season for flowers, there was a fine show of hibifciip and other tropical flowering vine? and shrubs. While out driving one day they passed a stone wall covered a full mile with a white cactus, which opens out in a white flowrr after sunset— one of the many lovely sights in this beautiful island of the Pncifie. During their stay at Honolulu (fie Cleveland, from New York, with 700 tourists on a trip round the world, called, and the sight at the wharf when tho pteamer departed for Yokohama was very interesting. Mr. and Mrs. Frankland were embammg on tho s.b. Korea from Japan, which would take them to San Franci«eo. Mrs. Frankland stated that her husband had considerable bupiner-B to transact in America, and upon the length of time occupied in the work would depend whether they would vi«fl Europe. They expect to have their longest stay in New York. Brilliant success (says the New Yoik correspondent of the London Mail) is claimed for a social innovation described as a "Bellamy dance," held at Pittsburg. From tho beginning to the end of the programme everything was done backwards. When the dancers, numbering several hundreds, assembled they found the ballroom siirrbuiided with "mngic mirrors." On the back of each guest was pinned his name, written backwards. With his supper partner he danced backwards to the banqueting tables, on which tho guests sat, while supper was served on the chairs. The meal began with black coffee and ended with soup. It was served by waiter-* who wore false faces on the back of their heads, and walked backward?, with their coats buttoned the reverse way up the back. ( Dancing opened with the "home waltz" and closed with a grand march. Despite the severe headaches, dizziness, and indigestion from which all the par ticipauts suffered next day, Pittsburg society, acroidimr to the newppaperH, haa pronounced tho '"Bellamy dance" a fascinating innovation. A novel exhibition will he held in London early in Muy. It will be a display of hair, with all its intricate deceptions. The organising body is the Incorporated Guild of Hairdressers. For many years (says the Daily Mail) hairdressers 'have made half-hearted efforts to make London tho originator of its own fashions in coiffure, but it is comparatively recently that tho Incorporated Guild has taken the matter in hnnd. "The trouble is that there are so many different hairdressing associations in* London," said ono of the foremost members of the trade. "For years each of these has gone in a different direction, but the guild is doing everything possible- to weld them all together. The idea of this exhibition is to prove that London is capable of producing as excellent a coiffure- as anything obtainable in Paris, and that the English type of beauty demands totally different modes from those ruling in the French capital. Many Englishwomen prefer to l'ltn across to Pans to make purchases vrhich they could effect more cheaply and more satisfactorily in London. A determined stand on the part of hairdressers here, and we can change nil that-. It i<* not generally known in England that the foremost awffure-designer in Paris is himself an ftnglishmau."