WHAT A NIGHT !

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 10 August 1925, Page 10

WHAT A NIGHT !

LORD .MAYOR S BALL IX SYDNEY

EXCITED FLAPPERS

SYDNED, July 28

‘■(joojli! Mind where you’re stepping, That's my pet corn,’’ said rlie aapper in tosebud pink, as she grabbed a golden epaulette to steady herself in the crush at the- Lord Mayor’s Bab for the Admirals and officers of the American Fleet, at the Town Hail last night. The (epaulette eamjo awafp in bethand, and she played with tli e fringe in a wheedling wav. Will he . . Won’t he?

But that souvenir wasn’t going out so early in the evening; at midnight, maybe, who knows? So tlie officer tucked his shoulderpiece under one arm, and his flapper under too other, and stood first on one leg. and then on the other. •‘Sav, hut this is some ball.” fie remarked. But if it appeared some ball to the officer, it represented a- climax of excitement to the flapper (says the Sydney Sunk What did it matter to her if old fogies scowled under the gaL lieries, and complained that there was not room to dance. Th e old fogies did not dance, anyway; you can hardly ••all a capering waltz a dance, these days. There is always plenty of room to dance--watch her, walking to music, spinning or a piece of floor the size of a plate. And when you ar e one member oi a crush 4000 strong, there is always an element of chance romance —that unknown man stabbing your back with his elbow may be the ‘‘fate ’ of which the fortune-teller has <so often reminded you. The only way a flapper judges the success of the Lord Mayor’s Ball is by the crowd. She would feel cheated if all Sydney and its suburbs had not tried to pile into the hall. There never has been such a ball within the memory- of half of Sydney’s flappers, and they- rose to the occasion in a merry mood. They met hall their friends pushing their way- round the hall, and they saw face to face all those folk who are known merely as names in newspapers. Knights' in all their ribboned glory; soldiers and sa’lois life fiction heroes; tons of gold braid and hundteds of tinkling medals, reminding women of braveryand inspiring another little clash of hero-worship. CHAMPAGXE THRILLS. Champagne! That in itself was sunieient to compensate for any discomfort on the dancing floor. Pallid claret cup—that was for less auspicious occasions, but who ever neard of lashions of champagne at a ball for which you received, a large gi.t-edged invitation and did not have to part up any golden guineas? it was enough to send any flapper on the edge or an adventure into the seventh heaven of delight. The scrimmage on the stairs onlyadded to the thrill of everything. The flapper squealed with delight at each fresh shove and shook her shingled head as much as to say “Let ’em all come. This is my night out!” Youth makes allowances and does not get bad-tempered under such circumstances; a crush —especially when it is a top-hatted crush, and she’s sheltering under the arm of a naval man—is to her the essence of lire — i.iie with a capital L. There was only one way to describe the frocks. “Simply gorgeous!” The flapper left it at that. She peered at sparkling diamond tiaras with curious eyes, she watched th 9 swing or crystal and gold lame with bated breath—if there had been twice -If!-1,! people she would never have tired of watching the frocks pass by. She pointed out to her officer all the people she knew ; she told him titles in the corridors which lie matched in the galleries; she shuffled her way Ihtougli fox trots till she was almost crazy with happiness. And long after midnight had lioomed she heaved a long sigh, and said raptrously, “What a night!’ As she came down the red carpeted steps of the Town Hall she looked towards the epaulette. There was an exchange of smiles: lie tucked her arm into his, and off they went into the night.