GEMS FROM KINGSLEY

Gisborne Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 4899, 19 June 1918, Page 3

GEMS FROM KINGSLEY

The most wonderful and strangest things in the world are just, the things which no one can see. There is life in you; and it is the life in you which makes you grow, and move and think, and yet you can’t see it. The wiser men are tha less they talk about “cannot.” t . There is no true ro t but labor.

j ABOUT FAIRY TALES. j A correspondent in an exchange • Avrites: —I have somewhere read the ' argument that fairy tales have an ;■ “immoral” effect on the youthful I mind —that Jack the Giant-killer ! had no right to steal the, giant s bags of gold, and so on. This seems a little far-fetched; but I do think it is .a pity to put into small children s minds ideas of Avolves and! witches and giants and other non-existent terrors.' ' ' , , j QUEENSLAND NOTES. - Lad v Goold-Adams, accompanied by Mrs William Collin*. paid a surprise visit to the 3rd floor of the Courier Buildings, Avhere the Brisbane Woolspinning Guild carries on operations. Her ladyship, avlio is patroness of the •mild was very congratulatory. Ho members’ 26 wTieels were m work, and other members were busy A\itff skeining, hand-carding, etc. | THE TREND OFFASHION * The general trend of fashion during , the coming spring is towaids ex iem simplicity The .-new tailor-ma le costumes have plain, straight skiits, sufficiently wide for comfortable walking but pel-ceptibly longer and nar rower thai those of 1917. The semifitting coats are also cut on s.mple lines, with little or no trnnmmg except three bone-buttons, by Avhicn the coats are fastened down the centre of the front. Hie acme of smip.icity is reached in the so-called ‘ national chess”, which can be carried out i ll various materials, the one pattern •serving if need be for an outdoor sprint*- costume, a velvet frock for home"’ wear in the afternoon, a restgown, an evening frock, a lrghtdresi, a til a dressing-gOAvn ! The national dress slips over the head, and requires no fastening of any sort. Ine waist is ingeniously mounted! upon carefully adjusted elastic. A combined collar and belt give opportunity for individual taste. Carried out in serge or garbardine, fitted with a collar and belt, trimmed AVith fur or velvet, the national dress is very suitable for indoor Avar work. Another Avar novelty is tlio t boudoir cap. It is an air-raid discovei a , anu is designed to bide any small contrivances used for beautifying the hair. Moreover, even a pretty young face ' is the better for some becoming beadgear which takes away any thought ol dishevelmOnt, LaCie, Brussels net, and orepe de cliine are the popular materials, and the mob-cap offers a pretty shape. In some patterns little hunches of delicatelv tinted* silk lie Avers are added, one hanging over each ear. It must be remembered! tbfit at the time of full moon a, woman may have five or six calls from bed in a single week. Who knows that this raid-cap may not have saved many a reputation for grace in the last few weeks? *

SOCIAL GOSSIP. An interesting old lady who passed at- Windsor recently was Mrs Anne Molyneux, who, whqn she was .ayoung woman, was appointed official embroideress to Queen Victoria, a position held by her mother before her. As a. gin Mrs Molyneux helped to get ready the trousseau of the Kaiser’s mother, the Princess Royal, as blissfully ignorant as was anyone else of the desolation a son of that- yoiing Princess was to bring upon humanity. The lianderchiefs presented by Queen Victoria to her first 'daughter-in-law Princess Alexandra of Denmark, passed through the skilful hands of the embroideress, and so long did she retain her ability that a short time previous to the war, when she was 75 years old, she was chosen to renovate the lace worn by Charles 1. at Ids execution .and the ]ace collar of Queen Henrietta Maria that are now keptin a silver frame in the private apartments of Windsor Oastle. In her book on the wives of the Prime Ministers Miss Elizabeth Lee says that, at the outset of their married life. Gladstone gave bis wjfe the choice: —Either to. know nothing cf the great matters of State in which lie would be involved and so be entirely free of responsibility, or to know eveiything and! be bound to secieey. Needless to say, she chose the latter. Fifty years later, Gladstone declared, “My wife has known every political secret I have ever had; and lias never betrayed my confidence.” To the late Dr. Butler, Master of Cambridge, belonged the distinction of marrying the girl wno was the -most brilliant scholar of her year—“above the Senior Wrangler”—and be did it at a time when women who took the trouble to cultivate their brains were less admired than they are now. But Miss Agnata Mamsay proved an allround success as Mrs Butler, being admirable wife, mother, home-maker, hostess, and friend, and the three sons of tlio marriage were as brilliant as tlieir parents and grandparents on either side. One of them, unhappily, fell in the war in 1916, and another is interned in Germany. Mrs Butler, to whom keen sympathy goes out, is the youngest daughter of his first marriage of -Sir James Ramsay of Bamff, the historian, all of whose daughters are gifted in one way or another.

ONE SUMMER’S DAYA most successful performance of the comedy “One Summer’s Day” was given at His Majesty’s Theatre by Auckland amateurs in aid of the Victorian League Red Cross Fund. Ser-geant-Major Herbert J. Bentley was director andl producer and also took tile part of Major Rudyard, Lady Walker was in the leading role of Maysi e,. th© ward, and Mrs Bentley took the part .of the Urchin. Other characters were taken by Mrs Patrick Cole as Ohiara, the gipsy, Mrs 0.. C. Forsyth, Mr s A. Kinder, Miss Beryl Cole Messrs A. L. Denhniston, Jack Tole, Meredith, Forbes, and Wallace Bruce. The piece had a three nights’ season to full houses. Mr. Crowther was stage manager? so there was never a hitch. The 3rd Auckland Mounted Riflc-s Bond provided excellent musio 4 their selections being a feature of the production. A number of girls under Mrs Skipworth’s direction did good business'selling sweets.

R ATIONING AT. HOME, Our main topic of conversation at present, says a London letter to an exchange, is not raids, but food. Next week we are all to be meat rationed —11b weekly for each adult, and Jib for each child under ten. We are not to spend more than Is 3d each, which naturally will not' buy very much. Fish is not rationed, though bacon will be, and we are all expecting to see eggs soar up to a tremendous price. They are at present 5d each, and! have been more. We are all interested, in our funny ration cards, with their disco, each of which gives us the right to rather less meat than one offers to a young magpie. Possibly all this sounds as if we were leading dismal lives, but apart from til 9 - war, it is doubtful whether anyone is a penny the worse. There is plenty to eat. though it may not always be just what we would fancy, and 'doctors say that there has rarely been so litt'e sickness. The match famine has set us all hi axing paper spills, and many a family boasts that it only uses one match a day, lighting gas and candlen with paper slips..from the dining-room fare, which is started before breakfast. Wo gossip now- about our last meal 01 pur. next meal in a shameless A'«iy>

j and exult over a "lovely piece of ; beef,” or "half a pound of butter.” ; Probably nine women in ten would I say, if asked what they would choose ; for their next meal, "White bread | and butter.” The brea<s we get is ' all right, but it is khaki color,"and : steams furiously before it will toast. > A Manchester newspaper terms it | "The staff of death.” Butter has to | be eked out at the rate of a quar- ! ter of a pound per person per week, j therefore, one rarely gets more than i a scraping on one’s bread. But fish and vegetables and jam and cereals are plentiful, and if fa*- people are a little thinner than they were it really does not matter.

WELLINGTON NEWS. (From the Otago Witness.) WELLINGTON. May 23. Babies still to the fore. The most notable demonstration was Mrs G. W. Bussell’ s concert and dance in the interest of the Plunket Baby. History does not record what the baby thought of it—probably because the language of the baby is not under standee! of the people generally. But there is no doubt about what the guests thought. They enjoyed themselves thoroughly. To many it was a reminder of the old times when the Seddon regime was at its height, and cordiality reigned in welcome fashion with crowds. For it was in the old residence in Moles worth street. Indeed, the memories carry much further back, even to the mystic days of 1884, when the place was inhabited by Mr and Mrs Bolleston, whose salon was the centre of much political and social hospitality. There followed the Stout-Vogel regime, in which the late Hon. E. Richardson inhabited the said Ministerial residence; and after them came the last Atkinson days, in which the late Hon. T. Fergus dispense,] hospitality in the staid old house, with many a dinner and many an evening of singing and the light fantastic. Fate, that never leaves anybody undisturbed, sent the Atkinson regime out and sent the Balance day in, whereupon the new tenants to take up their abode in the Ministerial residence were the Hon. Mr Reeves and his good lady. To them, in due course of political change, succeeded the Seddons. It was in about ’B3 the year from which much in the Liberal tradition dates, and on to 190 G, the days were bright in the old mansion, which, with its extensive —extensive for Wellington, where ground is at a premium—grounds, underwent a change to brightness and comfort with additions of billiard room, library, offices, lawns. And all through the period of 13 years there was in the place the jo v of life and the ceaseless beat of strenuous work, resulting in the hatching of many schemes much dismissed in their clay of inception and mostly justified by* their days of usefulness. Death cast bis shadow at last, as we all remember, and there was the lying in state and the crowds of friends and sympathisers,pressing around, and in due time camethq great procession, „when all that was left of'the great Prime Minister was transferred to the Lobby of the House, in which his burly figure had so long dominated and his jovial voice so often rang, and great crow ~ti came in, respectful and reverent, him passed before the silent figure in the majesty of death in the midst oi the vast wealth of flowers till tjie dav or the greatest funeral procession. After this sad ending tlie old bouse fell to the late Dr ALXab, whose tenancy passed in suitable gloom, keeping on the round of pleasure from the memories of the pageantry of death. Fate, the inexorable, sending the Massey regime to established power, the Hon. Sir F. D. Bell took'up his abode in tlie mansion of many experiences, and made it brilliant wren warm hospitality, and once more lights and flowers and the toy of lire "raced the rooms inside the historic portals. Fate once more too it a band and this time without tne in- ! tervention of party strife Hie National Government was formed, ana for a time there was great speculation as to the coming occupant or ' the old house of political and social memories. This was ended by the announcement that the Hon. • Russell and his lady were the incoming tenants. They took up their abI ode in due course, and upon the cele- ! brat ion of the rights of the Plunket Baby the full rooms recalled these many experiences of the past. ■ Th o guests were received by the ! Hon. CL W. and bis good lady, and their daughter Doris and their son proved valuable helps in the organisation and carrying out of tlie social plans. The guests filed m amon ß chrysanthemums and a wealth of autumn - leaves, cunningly displayed, and pot - plants from the conservatories of the house and other bouses, enhancing the effect, with lights m all coigns of vantage. Singing, dancing, conversation, supper,—and so the evening passed all too quickly among the memories and the traditions.' These dwelt with the older exoneration. The young people reeked not of such things, enjoying themselves to their hearts’ content. Mis Massev and her daughter. Colonel and Mrs Morice and their daughters. Mrs W. B. Montgomery and her daughters, Mr and Mrs Corliss, and •their daughter, Mr and Airs Donald Robertson. Air and Airs Clung Major and Mrs Corrigan. Dr and Airs Anderson and « host more, with officers from Trentliam galore, made up the throng of guests, and everyone went away thoroughly _ pleased wuli - the. warmth* and cordiality.