Gossip from Sydney.

Free Lance, Volume XIV, Issue 695, 25 October 1913, Page 6

Gossip from Sydney.

MT DKAK Chbibtabsl, — . DIAPHANOUS frocking seen in race week—for I understand that par- . sons do not always look the other way when X-ray skirts are just ahead— .is likely to cause some thunder- in local pulpit 6. Without, being in sympathy with the unco' guid, one_ cannot help feeling ' that silk tights, distinctly seen ■ through transparent ninon draperies, are not tne thing for our women-kind. Some of our nicest girls, led away by marvellous illustrations of alleged clothes {for clothes, are supposed to be covering) .worn at Xiongchamps by Parisian mannequins/ have tried to emulate them. The tragic result boiled down into this .remark made in a club smoking-room by a visiting Englishman, "How is it that your society women permit the demimonde to mix with them in the most exclusive entertainments here?"

The combination of fleet-week with raoe-week has been too much for even the hard-worked pressman on daily papers. The _ press chronicled every event with considerable detail. But signs of fatigue crept through the columns of copy that had to be tossed off at express speed, and the printer's devil has danced merrily on the names of important personages.

The last race day of the big spring meeting was less packed with a sardine •crush of human beings than the first. As. usual, through the whole of that eventful week, the weather, in spite of.a few early morning sulks, _ remained perfect. Admiral Patey is said to have been very glad to welcome the end of revelry that kept his men on the qui vive of ex-" -citement. The' strict discipline of the British navy, which makes that service the pattern of every branch of defence, has no time for everlasting bun fights.

Melbourne is naturally anxious to repeat the welcome which Sydney gave "to our baby Navy. But this question has not been officially settled as I t>en this missive. That the Admiral is eager to get his men in hand after so much shore leave, is common knowledge. Jack has "been ."treated" by every other casual .stranger he met. He became mildly aggressive, and had to be collected in bat•ches and taken off to-his. vessel by naval patrols. This is a better scheme than allowing a heady bluejacket to come into conflict with -the white cotton gloves -of tho law in the person of Constable Move-on-there. -'There were one or two fatalities of this. kind, but Policeman X.Y.Z. is* not after scalps on these hilarious occasions. y * * #' * Of our bluejackets during the recent -extraordinary incentive to drunkenness - ' ashore, this can be said: There has not been a single report or complaint of any kind, of a Jack Tar being rude to women in the dense-crowds that paraded our streets in fleet-week. In this they have ben an example to our well-dressed hooliwho live on Sydney .street corners in spite of by-laws. These pests are becoming a terror to nervous suburban ladies who come to town for their shopping. They haunt the "block" area, ana pour forth vile language into the ears of any nicely dressed young girls who are. with- . out a- male escort. Various complaints hare been made in the press ■about these "street gallants/'who are a blot on our boasted civilisation. But their arrest and punishment could only be achieved by a strong posse of plain■clothea constables. No such Unpopular < -event, from a politician's point.of view, is at all likely to occur with the elections in the air. - * * * * The eccentricities of fashion here, to which oversea visitors take so much exception, are only a passing phase. They are in_ too inoonsiderable a minority' to be seriously accepted as modes for the many. Curiously enough, the very climax which I suggested as almost oertain to occur to the tuft-skirt ladies in Sydney ■streets eventuated the other day. There are two or three versions of the story, and more than 20 guesses at the personality of tie fashionably attired .' 'ladies" who were mobbed in Martin-place. They bad, acoording to one account, just got. out of a taxi when a few idlers began' to follow them. • • * » • Martin-place is -the great central thoroughfare that flanks one side of the <5.P.0. At the time, its space was congested by the huge white plaster pillars that formed part of the fleet decorations in this portion of the city. It was about mid-day, and crowds of idlers were sauntering round to view the sights. The X-ray ladies, alarmed at the interest their want of riothing excited in the crowd, began 'to ran. Thia was their undoing. In fiye minutes they were mobbed by two or three honored curious sensation-mongers. One inoffensive citizen who chanced to be passing, told me that he was.swept into the vortex, and -

then pushed forward in wild rush of men, boys and women,. who. had, with little children, been flung between the elbows of the mob. He had a good hat banged into the .middle of next week, and very nearly had his coat torn off his back. When the police broke •up the crowd and rescued the damsels in distress, my acquaintance arranged his attire and. inquired what the row was about. The exasperation of not seeing even an inch of silk stocking after so much excitement must have felt like being vaccinated all over without success. .' " « ♦ » » There are conflicting accounts as to the height of these X women's offence. One'eye-witness declared that the skirts werq' slit well above the knee. A policeman who took part in the' rescue gallantly remarked, that he considered them .very nicely dressed. By this token we have proof positive that the causes of the uproar were young and good-looking. Anyhow, they are not likeljr to X-ray m our main thoroughfares again.

One forecast of fashion, foreshadowed early in August from a glance at some Paris models, has become a universal craze. This is the cut-away coat of a contrasting colour to the skirt. In the autumn these coats were only of a different material—now they are entirely a thine apart from the skirt. Floral silk muslin, particularly with a black background, is a favourite coatee to wear with flimsy voile, ninon, or thin silk skirts. These upper annexes are either bound in a narrow half-inch of black

satin, or in a colour to match the design on th© muslin. When the coat is bmlt of something stouter, a Vivid shade—all blue, or red, etc.. is used in the most daring fashion. Miss Sheila Chisholm. a slim young beauty with dark eyes, • wore a coat of sparrow's egg green with a white £kirt on the last day of the big race meeting. She looked like a slender ladybird herself, dad in joyous tones of spring plumage.

The vulgar glimpses of gem-bedizened heels that tripped across Randwick lawn at Easter were denied us at this carnival. They belong to the slit-skirt fraternity—and oblivion. E'er wearing with light frocks the Sydney Bummer girl is much addicted to white, shoes. There is nothing new about this/ of course. But our girls have become so tall and athletic during the last few years that they are secretly rather troubled about their feet, which have grown or spread to match the frame they haye to- support. Last sear son, laced' shoes were so, fashionable that they annihilated the neat buttoned Epeo'ee. Very few laces, however, ate made to stay tied. They are so clever at untying themselves that one recalls the small child who said-. "Mammy, do my laces hate being laced.' and is that why they fight the knots I put in them?" This year buttons have returned to favour. "White buckskin 6hoes, beautifully cut, with three buttons, shod all the best looking feet at Randwick. And this/in spite of the-rivalry of gold, bronze, or coloured shoes with Louis X VI. heels.

Quinlan's Grand Opera Company bi-ings us some old favourites, a few new ones, and three or 'four _ artists who are a long way behind Tenor John Coates and Soprano Agnes - Nicholls of last year's , opera season here. Perceval Allen, the soprano who now ' takes the heavy Wagnerian roles suns in 1912 by

Agnes Nicholls, has~ a very firm voice/ and is an actress of some distinction. But she is not so gifted or so eraceful an artist as Miss Nicholls. Stiff we must be thankful for large mercies in the very plump person of Perceval Allen. L- Opera is an expensive business, . and _w© are lucky to get such, a good all-round company in Australia. As Elizabeth, in "Tannhauser 3 ".Misg Allen wore the usual flowing white robe and pastel coloured train that always accompany'this worthy jady through the first- part of her prayerful grief over the ■ backsliding of Tannhauser. .Wagner has' made Elizabeth rather too worthy. ' She is essentially the 13th. century exposition of every female virtue. One wonders whether she could have refrained from saying "Amen" if one of the court ladies had suddenly gone mad and dragged her off the throne chair by the hair of her head. * * m . ■* . . The German conductor of the Wagner,ian operas, Herr Eckhold, seems to melt into the orchestra as- the performance goes on. His. whole being is so merged m the music that in. the lalf-light there appears to be only a baton and some whiskers waying in the- gloom. He and his orchestra are the finest Darts of the Wagner nights. Mr. Boberfc Parker, the tall Canadian baritone who was so popular here last year, is still one of the Quinlan .Company's best all-round artists. Parker has a-very fine voice, though it bejgins to show signs of overwork. He is a man of charming personality besides being a clever actor. On the whole, he is the handy-man of the combination. As Wolfram in "Taunhauser,'' he 6ang the immortal "O Star of Eve" with exquisite art and tenderness. I believe, he is the sort of versatile person who would, in an emergency, darn his own socks. as well as he sings the heaviest Wagner role. Yours discursively. Bona.