FANCY DRESS BALL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 27, 1 February 1875, Page 2

FANCY DRESS BALL.

The fancy ball of which so much has been talked of late, and for which such preparations hid been made, took place on Fa lay evening, and was made bo thorough a success by those who lad taken the trouble to prep> re their costunvs that a Bhort description of it will, we believe, be interesting to our readers. Being B«mewbat late in arriving, we found the Hall well filled, and dancing commenced. The door was at onoe opened to our knock, and we must confess to having been surprised at the company in which we found ourselves on entering, expecting as we did to meet none but respectable people* instead of which we were ushered in by individuals of the most knavish aspect. Yes, there they were, " as large as life, and twice as natural," as the showman says, the Knaves of Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, and Spades. To one of these we announced ourselves, and he at once attracted attention to our presence by calling out in a loud tone of voice " The ;" well, our object is not to describe our own appearance, but that of those we saw, so we will refrain from repeating what the knave said. A gay, but a somewhat confusing scene, was that which burst upon us, but the first individual to attract special notice was a venerab'e looking dervish in flowing robes, long beard, and tall peaked^hat, who was standing against the wall at the end of the room solemnly beating time with his aage old head to the music of the quadrille. We approached with a feeling almost approaching awe, which however, vanished when we discovered that it was a friend over whose head no very great number of summers had passed. Taking a long look round the room we grew a little more at ease as we began to see through the various cleverly contrived disguises. The first to catch our eye was a young lady who had apparently just dropped in from the Vale of Cashmere, and, in costume that well became her, was busily engaged in threading the mazes of the dance under the protection of the Earl of Rochester, who did not appear to be in the least surprised or perturbed at finding himself in such unaccustomed but excellent company. The dance being over we joined in the promenade, and, after nodding familiarly to Marshal Macmahon, and exchanging salutes with a sprightly vivandiere, we found ourselves in the presence of a gentleman of Satannic nspect " Dost thou not recognise me? Hast thou no more respect for the red doublet? Canst thou not distinguish the cock's feather? Must I then name myself?" 2sTo, it needed not that lie should tell us his name, for instinctively we felt that he before whom we stood was that wily potentate, Mephistopheles. So excellent was the get.up that it was almost with a feeling of relief that we sidled away from him and took up a position in the neighborhood of "Night." Clad in sombre dress. which like the " wonderful mysterious vault," was " spangled with things that looked as though they would be stare," the lidy who h<»d tab en this character shed a peaceful influence around her that contrasted favorably with the demoniac atmosphere from which we had just escaped. Just then there came up a charming litt'e Hungarian peasant girl in a blue velvet skirt trimmed with ermine, and wearing scarlet boots and a square scarlet hat, and we were beginning to think that if she were a true representative of her class we should like to spend the rest-of our days in Hungiiry, when there approached a Circassian lady in gorgeous attire, to which she did the fullest justice, who brought about an entire revolution in our ideas with respect to Hungary being the most desirable country hi which to dwell, and removed any doubts that hRd previously existed in our minds as to the attractions of Cifca«sia as a place of residence. While in this Btate of indecision we stumbled across a group, the three members of which hailei from the vicinity of Naples. We have no desire to say anything disrespectful of the gentleman who was apparently the head of the family, but we cannot refrain from remarking that he was about the most vill»iHOUs-looking specimen of humanity that ever we set eyes upon. In his wife's face, however, there was an absence of that severity which marked the countenance of the bandit, her lord nnd master, while their litt'e hoy, in his gay ribbons and many-coloured clothes, added greatly to the picturesqueness of the group. A Turk next cossed our path, ami we could not help thinking of the old Irish so ng, in which these words occur : — " I'd make a mo&fcTlli<yant Turk, For I'm lDnd of tobacco and ladies.*" for as we recognized in this fierce-looking individual an old friend, we could not bring ourselves to regard him as other than a sham Mahommedan. And now, sg we get into the crowd, we find it more and more difflcu't to bestow more than a passing glance at crcli as he or she passes ug by. The goddesß Flora was numerously and prettily represented ; Spinish la J ies, and Continental peasants, met us at every eten, «ome accompanied by gay forc'tei-a in their suits of Lincoln green, others "by brigands, and John Chinamen. Lady HpaHsease looked as though she had just run in for shelter frorb a shower of jlSTrM^s, the most beailtiful of which had railherFrl to her dress ; and therciwifg the Queen of the Bu'terflies, with her g'auzv wings and attendant a'tny of the graceful little winged insects which spotted her dre=s from head to to foot, and we frit very much inclined to sine with heart and voioe, "I'd be a butterfly," if one of the conditions of th-^ transmogrification should be that we were to be pppetually paring homage to ft sovereign who apparently ruled with so gentle a sway. Lndies of eypry century that has passed since A.D.I, with patched cheeks and rowdered hair, pave an air of dignity to the sc-ne, a^d this was enhanced by the presence of Cardinal Wolaey, who looked «s though he was prepared to pronounce his M ssing on all around him. Grave and benign of aspect as he was, we could almost imagine lhat there stood before, us the very individual to whom the troubledr Henry exclaimed — \^ V "O! my Wolsey, The quiet ot my wounded conscience, Thou art a cure fit for a king-." But we must not go on in this strain or we miehfc fill columns. Numbers there were to whose dresses we Imd intendrd to refer morp particularly, but if we omit to do so it is from want of space and time rather than of inclination. One, however, we mu't mention. He was an individual who, between the sole of his foot and the crown of his head, occupies a good deal of space, hut, not satisfied with this, he had added to his Bpparent ftature by a conical hat some two feet in height. He wa* dressed in a sort of loo c e blooce, with knickerbockers and stocking, hfs left half being of the deepest black, and his risht of the purest white, the boundary line between the two colors being especially distinguishable in that most prominent feature, the nose. In hia peculiar costume he might have been taken for the half brother of that cheerful nigger Tambourine, who also srrnced the Hall with hia presence. We can only ai£ ihat during the evpning there were at interofta scenes from operas, &c\, acted on a stnge erected frr the purpose at the end of the Hflll I]\ firet was irom " Rntflnellft," »^d represcntel the slave market in Turis, with the chorus ''■Merry Tunis." The second was thp" '•'awkward servants," scene from "She stoops to conquer." The third was very effective, representing Druidical monument* on the edge of a forest, thespiritnd invoc^ti n chorus -from "Norma" being rendered by a number of white bearded Druids, dreaeed in long white robei, and crowned with laurel/ The fourth, namely, the "Cauldron Bcene," /

from Macbeth, was remarkably we' l done. It represented the ihterior of a cnve with the cauldron ia the centre and the three weirdlooking witches < ntered <md commenced their neantations, an owl gravely ljoking on and winking and hooting, while ihunder rolled overhead, and the vok-esof spirit* floating in the air were heard. The colored fire* produced an excelhnt effect, as the well-known music by Locke wns r<nderet with ,/reat spirit. Ine fl t\ de.«cribe,l as " a musical pantoraine ballet, w«s a most laualiahle piece of dumb B'iowa'-tin.' to cons'nntly varying and t-ug-g»stive inane. Dancing was kept up with great spirit nntil half-paat three, wru n one of Hie most successful balls in Nelson was brought to a close with three he»rby cheers for Mr Kawson, to whom the sue ess was mainly due. The music w aß effectively supplied by Messrs Oakey, Jacobs, and Ojrrick on the piano, vio'in, and piocolo. '

I The N. Z. Times says :—Two of the saloon passengers who arrived in the Avalanche yesterday had a narrow escape from sailing for Auckland in the ship Cospatrick. They had engaged cabius in that vessel, but owing to a domestic affliction which happened a few days before the Cospatrick sailed, they were detained, and accordingly took passage by the Avalanche. An extravagance price is not asked for votes in the borough of Napier, if thia may be taken as a sample of the free and independent: — Five electors offered to plump on Friday for ong candidate for the small bribe of a drink a-piece. The weather was hot and dry, but the heat of the atmosphere, says a local journal scarcely accounts, for the demoralisation of these voters. T^j/iV. Z. Times says :— " The very simple process of covering the footways with a thin coating of coal-tar and then throwing upou them sea-sand or very fine gravel, has very greatly improved the side walks of the city, so far as the work has gone. The City Surveyor will no doubt persevere, for nothing can be more distressing'^ to the pedestrian — especially to ladies, with thin boots — than the hard gravel, which by some fiction of the olden time has been held to be a proper thing floor footpaths in the hot dry streets of the towns in New Zealand. The following is related in the Hobarfc Town Mercury : — " The passer-by may observe every morning, near the battery in the Queen's^ Domain, two or three youths practising the game of cricket. As soon as play commences a brindled bull-dog, named Turk, owned by one of the players, takes up a position just behind the wickets. When the batsJ mau fails to hie a ball, Turk, as wicket keeper and backstop, receives it, and then carries it to his master. If the ball is sent in the air to point, the sagacious animal runs out, and seldom fails to catch it in his mouth. As for leather hunting it would take a very active man to rival Turk in that \capacity."