Gossip from Sydney.

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 802, 12 November 1915, Page 17

Gossip from Sydney.

Dear Chris xabel,— THOUGH Cup Week votaries muffled their enthusiasm before the event. returned Sydney-siders saw very little war-depression on the Flemingt-on course. * ■* * * Contrary, to expectations,, the trains from New South Wales carried a record number of passengers for the Melbourne Carnival. The local shops found business quieter than it used to be before a N big racing event. Frocks were more subdued in tone —with exceptions; of course. Otherwise, the war did not affect the Cup "as a . big going concern. It certainly struck a jarring note in sensitive minds ' to see 'lists of butterfly rags, side by side with, the grim lists of our dead and wounded. But human nature is a tough problem, and, on the* whole, the sporting community is' very gener-ous to the war funds.

The Rajah of Piidbkota and his yoiing Australian wife caught most of the limelight at the Cup. They were bix-.ds of passage on their way to the, palatial' Indian residence of which so much..has been written. Very much has, also -.bedh written by Anglo-Indian /scribes ' as to the social status of a European wife in her husband's territory in the land of the giant Himalayas.

The first place in the running as Queen of Allies' Day is held by Mrs. Joynton Smith. Her husband is adorned with the magic M.L.C. after his name. As a keen business man, he has a big say in various hotel syndicates here. Mrs. Smith's gage is a crimson rose. Her followers wear either a rose or a tag of ribbon in the same s'hade. She is a kindly, genial little woman, and so sporting in the spirit in which she helps her committee, that if she misses the Queenship she will certainly be amongst the Maids of Honour. Paddington has nominated this candidate. * * * * The most successful fetes for Allies' Day may be described as the Joynton Smith batch. The third took place this week. They have been held in the beautiful grounds of Hastings House, the Smiths' home at Coogee. Strings of coloured lights festooned; the acreage of garden that slope down towards the wave-washed beach. No more ideal place for a summer night entertainment could be imagined. ■7T * * For the modest sum of Is apieoe, crowds of visitors to Hastings House thronged round an open-air vaudeville show. This was quite the best shilling's worth of entertainment any patriotic evening has provided. One of the bestamateur turns was given by two pretty girls—Miss Meta Smith, the nieoe and adopted daughter of the house, and Miss Kenyon. Beautifully dressed in 'wide floating robes of soft black, their black velvet bodices were made in the Swiss peasant style. They gave a highclass drawing-room edition of the tango, which went far to convince its critics that this former craze can be both decent and graceful. *** * . ' On the lighter side, Sydney has at fast achieved a garden theatre. In the cutting up of an old estate at Darlinghurst, Mr. Edward Branscombe secured the lease of a one-time beautiful garden. Transformed into a charming out-of-doors setting for vaudeville, it is now the home of the Violet Dandies. The clever work which. Miss- Dorothy Gardner, a New Zealander, put in, as producer, singer, reciter, seems to open a new loophole for women's brains.

Hitherto, directing a theatrical performance has tieen a close preserve for men —in this State at least. Yet the late Harry Riekards _ relied consistently on the help and advice of his wife in the actual production of vaudeville sketches. Where dress and effect are_ primary factors, the lynx-eyed She_ is in her element. Probably, it will take years to break down the moth-eaten tradition, that a theatrical producer must have a waxed moustache and a flow of descriptive language.

At a Melbourne dinner to help the Soldiers' Rest Home, I hear that Mr. JL J- Watt, of Maoriland, was a spirited bidder. Jle left £17 as his offer for an Australian flag, and no doubt took the glad rag away with him.

The "Billy" is; no longer on the,crest of a wave of public homage. For weeks the notion of sending thousands of the homelv billycan to the Front, stuffed with Christmas comforts, appealed _ to every other woman m the community. The tin god was the idol of the patriotic # # *

Now comes a slump. Battalion committee ladies fiercely rate the poor old Billy as a space waster. Outside and

inside it is declared to eat up room. "Only square or long flat tins will be considered if the war drags on for another year." In spite of this verdict, one is glad that the homely and familiar billy is soon to cheer our boys in the trenches. Another great advantage, that it can be used to boil water or cook food has been, forgotten in the outcry against the fallen idol. Tired nerves,- jangling under the strain .of packing pyramids of the bushman's companion, may partly account for the recent outcry against our old friend.

The high ruffle which adds a chic note to the present dressing • is a warm change after the open throat and neck wear of last summer. It 'looks a fluffy trifle, but somehow seems to be the item that makes a whole world of difference on a sultry day. • -

' The vice-regal pots. and pans have now been removed from Cranbrook, and transferred to old Government House. Meantime the Strickland menage is summering at "Moss Vale.

Excitement. runs high over the first big, Red Cross meeting which Government House . will ; shelter. IJnder. former vice-royalties, we lived in the piping times of peace. Lady Edeline , Strickland comes down from, the country house for the gathering' as its president. November 24th, just after Allies' Day thrills are settling down into bank accounts, has been chosen _as the date. It will be an almost historic occasion.

The first annual meeting of the Red Cross since the war gods showed their tusks, will have as its objective the nomination of a new committee and a new executive. A tough fight to keep politicians in the minority on the executive will cause feeling to run high.

The New South Wales Australia Day Fund of over £750,000 has caused intense heart-burning. Whether too much money is more troublesome to handle than too little is now a problem. However, an apparently fair solution of the disposition of the money is in sight. The great, if irritable, meeting in the Town Hall recently has cut at the most knotty questions. ■ * * * •* Captain Kerr-Pearse, who has been oil. vioe-regal staffs for years, is now standing in attendance on the Gover-nor-General. It seems a tame kind of billet for any able-bodied _ man while Britain wants every fighting arm she can get. *_*■»* A big concert on Allies' Day—or the evening before —will have the novel scene of a coronation. The Queen of the. Day ballot will then be settled, and Her Majesty will be acclaimed in the Town Hall. Yours discursively, Bona.