Gossip from Sydeny.

Free Lance, Volume XIV, Issue 692, 4 October 1913, Page 23

Gossip from Sydeny.

. Mr DkAB CJHBIBTAHBI.i— •■".. .'•tllJS'F 'E are looking forward with some 'I'VII, ' trepidation to the first week -in, October. The great event, tjfche arrival; of-the-first tinitof the.Aus•iralian navy, occurs on October 4th—the .first day of the _spring meeting at Randwick. Illuminations of the c»ty and har>bonr will be sprinkled over every evening of the following week. Race time, which is always an orgy of frivolity, will 'this year break-every record.' * /*"'»*■*' The American fleet thoughtfully timed itheir descent on this coast for an off month—August. They were,_ also, lucky -enough to find our tram service in working order. A week or two before the r Stars and Stripes fluttered in Farm ■Cove, we had a first-class strike, of .tramway employees, and a torrential rainfall •to increase the joys of transit per 'Shanks' ponies. -~"»' »'.._» ■' ■ ». ..■" ' Just now there is a fierce desire on' , "the part of ardent patriots to dig up --every detail of Sydney's welcome to the ■American fleet. This is, of course, with a view to going one better for our own bluejackets. The circumstances, and the riimes are too different to make this notion practical. If we treat our naval men better than we have treated pur -starved. Defence Forces in the past, we -ahall-be doing them a better service than 'by feeding them like prize_Tpigs for a 'Week or two, and wrangling over every -extra shilling on the estimates for their•decent maintenance, for the next twenty ; years. This point of view is extremely nnpopular, of course. Jack Tar is the idol of the hour. In six months a grateful country will probably insist that he ,jpays. custom duties on every'extra item, m his rations"" '—.'.'■ * #'■ » .' ♦' Aldermen are either more quarrelsome "than other members of the community, •or their bickering is more carefully re'ported in the daily press. • Out of a . -seething flood of civic argument, the tnost petty details concerning the decor--.ations of the citv, to -welcome our sail•orq,.have been thrashed to pulp. Even "now* more important matters are hanging "fire while the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedledee is decided to the satisfaction of belligerent aldermen. * • . * »'. ' The great reception in the Town Hall to the officers of the fleet will be an -evening affair. This has actually been agreed to. The presentation of a magmificent shield and bell from the city to its namesake, H.M.A.S. Sydney, will •take place on the same occasion. This has, also, been decided on, after some •minor skirmishes. * * * *' In spite of the slack business season, us a result of our prevailing affliction, iJie vaccinated portion of the population is making great preparations to enjoy itself in October. The shops, which have suffered severely from the natural slump in trade, are opening their spring goods in the almost certain hope of a revival in the money market. ■ » # » » One-piece lace frocks in champagne colour are beautfiul contributions to the summer girl's wardrobe. Mostly, they show a knotted sash, hanging_at the side, in some vivid colour. White cotton voile, exquisitely embroidered in white washing silk, is another temptation, of the moment. It washes well; ' and .is as easily laundered as a silk hand* kerchief. The girl who can do up her own fine things will find it by no means extravagant wear. Thin princess slips in a fairly robust texture of Jap. silk are necessities this season. In the end they are really economical. The appalling laundry-bills the old-fashioned white starched petticoat used to build 'up, are saved by these useful Blips. As you know, a teaspoonful of methylated spirits in the rinsing water gives the. silk a necessary substance that is, and is not, stiffening. * . #. ♦ *. The city of Sydney tennis championship resulted in H. A. Parker I —the young, man you sent us some,, years ago from Wellington* — winning the singles championship. .After disappointing his admirers in one or two recent matches, the recent victory of Mr. Parker over Mr. J. 0. Anderson was a popular event. jHe is a graceful player, . and so sportsmanlike' when the game, is against him, that the. public always give him a rousing reception in the hour of victory. Mrs. Beatty, possibly the best and most consistent tennis player of the feminine persuasion in New South Wales, won the-'ladies' singles championship at the same tournament. A young ana handsome - Australian woman, this briHiantplayer is the wife of Dr." Beatty, E.N. They returned to this naval station last year, after spending some years in England, while > Dr. Beatty was attached to the Bquadron in home waters. The dash and nerve of this Cornstalk

lady on the tennis courts of sleepy English towns must 'have astounded -women of more conventional mould. She won several big-events in Britain, and must be the owner of a stack of tennis tro-» phies. ■' 'J-*..\ '■'■ •* '". * .. . •■* . The hew inter-State steamer Katoom- - ba is about 9000 tons. She belongs to Mcllraith, MoEacharn and Co., and runs :■ between Sydney and Westralia, touching at intervening ports. -At a big at home to introduce this fine boat to Sydney folks, about. 1200 guests were sumptuously entertained at an afternoon gathering. After admiring • the size of the cabins' and the spick and span effect which is common to all new steamers, the guests found tworgenuine novelties to engage their attention. One was an orchestra composed of young women— a soprano, a pianist, and two violinists. This is quite an innovation for an interState steamer.' It may help to take the minds of sea-sick passengers off their own woes—or-j-it may hot. The other was -a most original idea. - Several state rooms, as well as the lounge, had fireplaces. At a glance they looked as if coal fires had burned red in their wide grates. As the afternoon was rather chilly (for , Sydney) one unsuspicious visitor walked up; " to the cheery glow in the music-room, and be-. gan to warm his' coat-tails after the hianner of his. kind. Obviously they didn't warm, for the owner turned round . to diagnose the fire. I suppose he found that the heat from red glass (cunningly > designed to jeover the alleged coals in the grate) was ,a non-combustible: reflex', of cold for he beat a hurried retreat. ... . ■ .*".♦. * * - .'.'. Mr. Alfred Barry, a well-known musical authority in New South Wales, has just returned from the Dominion. He brought back to Australia a firm conviction that music is in a sound and progressive condition in New Zealand. As an adjudicator in a recent Festival in Dunedm, Mr. Barry had every opportunity of finding out whether Maoruand had or had not an ear for.music., » - •* ."»'■ .♦ New Zealand horses did very well at Rosehill races last Mr. T. H. Lowry, of your island, has many golden reasons for feeling satisfied with, the form of Soltano as winner of the Spring Stakes. * * * * An Anglican Church Congress in Brisbane recently drew clerics from various remote towns and settlements in Australasia. Bishop Julius, of Christchurch

New Zealand, by the way, who was on.. his way to this amenably, was not well . enough to get any farther than Sydney. V "What the ultimate result 'of these gatk- - erings may be, the lay mind cannot presume to decide.. The women-folk—or & few enthusiasts whom I chanced to meet ; —interested in these clerical arguments, ' are "not usually the brightest of our sex. There may be many brilliant exceptions. Some of the ladies, however, who came from remote States to join the apostolus throng, were of the Jellaby type. They were too much occupied with what dear •, Bishop was going to say about foreign missions to tie their shoe-laces with any finality. -■ One worthy soul was so indifferent to the hooking up of her back, that I fear dear Bishop Such-andTi Such must have had, to avert his eyes from such a frank'display of Low Church stay bodice. , * » ;♦ "■.'.-♦'■ Finance was a thrilling topic of the - Brisbane Congress. Since Sunday golf, and tennis came here_ to stay, the. collection three-penny bit is more elusive than^' ever. Many of our: parsons, particularly in the Outback, have to live on a wage that would: send a day labourer out, on strike. Though State aid to any special brand of theology is. an impossible proposition in. a new country, Archbishop Wright was only stating-, a threadbare fact when he spoke of the present "muddle" in - Anglican Church -finance. .At present all the. support the clergy, get : . comes from a few. The strength of the Roman Catholic organisation is the gen- , erous giving of the many. Yours discursively, Bona.