Gossip from Sydeny.

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 847, 29 September 1916, Page 18

Gossip from Sydeny.

Deak ChbistabeLj ' , CONSCRIPTION, and "Shall we take our share of the war?" is , . the chief topic ,of conversation. (Wer the breakfast egg, or the four "o'clock crumpet, it divides the attention of Australian women. Unfortunately it has become a party question. , Prime Minister Hughes, a second Samson, is pulling down the '-'Labour" (?) 'Walls about his ears. Above party, he knows better, perhaps, than any man in Australia the octopus grip of Germany. .*.* * . * At the great meeting in the Town Hall, a dense mass of citizens 4000 strong cheered "Billy" to the echo. For or against,the, organisation that will enable" us to lash the shirkers into action ? - - With- s thundering applause there came a mighty "Yes!" Seven hands went up against our fight for no mean place in the armed camp of nations. Lord Mayor Meagher having solemnly counted the ignoble Seven, : said ''The Ayes have it 1": ~

Our Prime- Minister, always magnetic in his hold of ah audience, electrified his listeners with the passionate appeal: "W« must-help to win this war —or shelter meanly behind the untold sacrifices made by Britain and our Allies. Democracy and the cause of Labour are fighting for their very existence! How dare they (the Trade Union officials) tell me, and those who stand beside me, to let others fight for. us!" Women waved their handkerchiefs and made womanly efforts to give faint treble cheers. The organ roared, "Britons never, never will be slaves!" Men tossed their hats on the end of their sticks and bawJed in every key, -'Rule Britannia 1"

Outside the , Town Hall, the redr'aggers; Avho know no tie of race, and own no country as theirs (which is fortunate for the country) held their meeting in a . side street. Their fury went up to the.peaceful dome of Heaven, in breath' that counts for nothing. Part of their wrath was due to the failure of. their attempts to wreck a' meeting of decent citizens. Armed with boxes of soldier-ants they made an attempt to rush into the (then) packed

Town Hall. Their amiable intention was to distribute these always venomous ants —infuriated by captivity —amongst the men and women inside. Baulked bv the officials at the doors, they opened their boxes ,and -.flung the conterjts amongst' their innocent neighbours on the steps. A-few people were bitten. But the Great .Plot failed. Redraggers could only call upon their gods for help, from adjacent gutters.

The Gonsalez Opera Company has a real live Count named. Ercole Filippini in its list.'- He is a tuneful singer and fine actor in the emotional Italian manner. He turns up the whites of his eyes m a way that would make him the envy of small boys who delight in such antics. Like other principals, Filippini .is a most merry and good-humoured fellow. In "Faust,", for instance, we- had the inspiring spectacle of "Faust" shaking the devil,' Mephistopheles, warmly by the hands.. This was towards the end of the evening,in response to loud applause. Your, genuine Italian opera is —fortunately perhaps—quite devoid of any sense of absurdity. Therefore, dead (stage) bodies immediately arise to take. an encore.' Sydney is getting a great deal of charming music at bedrock prices. We shall be very sorry to say good-bye to tenor Cappelli and his friends. The news o£ Mr. Bernhard Wise's sudden death does not surprise his Sydney friends. Only the most extraordinary will-power and remarkable. brain could have enabled him to fight an illness which altered his appearance so sadly. Physically, a wreck of the oncehandsome barrister . and K.C, he continued to fill the office of New South Wales Agent-General in London. Now that he has passed away, Sydney people like to. rememberer. Wise in the early prime (and promise) of his life.

A good deal has recently been written, about farming as a career for women. It is rarely mentioned, however, that women, even more than men, require a little capital at their backs. At the recent Women's Exhibition, a demonstrator named Miss Farran got enthusiastic press notices. Rightly so, as far as her pluck is concerned. _ With a sister she makes a living (nothing more) out

of ten acres of land near Moss Vale on our southern highlands. Through lack of capital, these girls are unable to hire the necessary labour. Only young women as strong as they could rise at 4 a.m. day after dav, and only rest when they go to bed at night. Their own domestic duties add to the outdoor burden. One fears that less physically capable girls here are likely to try and follow the two Farran farmeresses owing to misguided booming of women on the land. «r * ■*■ » One of pur pretty and musical society gii'ls, Miss Dora Alexander, is engaged to a proseprous Sydney bachelor. Mr. Leslie Walford. • Another pretty girl who belongs to the same butterfly set, Miss Thelma Maddrell, is ■ to maivry Mr. Yenour Nathan this week. He is also a wellknown bachelor in comfortable circumstances. Miss Maddrell belongs to a wealthy pastoral family, and is a leading amateur in vaudeville shows for patriotic funds. * * -* «• Conscription ? Well, our eligible bachelors don't all get into khaki, .as .you may l>ave noticed, under the weak voluntary system. * * * * Mrs. David, wife of the popular Professor, who went to the war with the Miners' Corps, tries to divert her mind with endless Causes. A bundle of nervous energy, she became seriously ill, when there were grave doubts of the 'safety of an Antarctic expedition her husband was with a few years ago. The six o'clock early closing brigade owes much to Mrs. David's tireless exertions. Just now,. she is presiding over meetings to organise an inter-State women's magazine. It is to throb with Good Works and the Feminist cause. By some miracle it may pay its way. At present it is in rfebukras form.

The French concert organised by Mrs. Harry Austin was a brilliant success. The French League of Help, of which the Premier, Mr. Holman, is president, will get a handsome cheque, possibly £700, as a result. Mr. Holman, always a. pithy speaker, caused some amusement by his remarks in the interval. "1 find," said he, "that lam still president of the French League. Having recently been expelled from so many other bodies (Trades Union executive thunder bolts) I thbught this might have been included in the general ruin. I am happy to say it is not so 1" ' '-. , * .*■■■.». { As a fact, Mr. Holman was recently decorated with the French Legion of Honour as a recognition of his services to the French, both here and in. New Caledonia since the war. A brilliant French scholar, he is more in touch with J off re's compatriots than with a more matter of fact British community. Dufault was in fine voice, and his singing of the "Marseillaise," with . organ accompaniment, was a thrilling item. *' .' . * /* * Miss Eileen Collins, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Collins, of G-isborne, New Zealand, was recently married over here. The bridegroom was Mr. Harold Hunt, of Melbourne. * .*■*'#' Engineer-Lieutenant "Wells, of Christchurch, New Zealand, was in London during July.

Mrs. Godfrey BurnelL of Picton, New Zealand, was to have "left England for her home town a few. weeks ago. "* • * * ' *

Mrs. Hastings Bridge, , of Christy church, New Zealand, spent the end of the English summer in Surrey near her widowed daughter, Mrs. Burrows. You will remember that Captain: Burrows was killed a,t the front soon after his marriage..

Captain Robert Mitchell, R.A.M.C., who fell early in July, married some years ago a Dunedin girl, Miss Emily Gillies. On July 3 he organised and led a. rescue party to. bring in the wounded men,' x who were in the No Man's Land—France. Wounded at the beginning of this gallant exploit, he' persevered till he fell, fatally wounded.'

Did you know that a former Wellington man, Lieut. Charles Laing, Royal Scots Fusiliers, has been awarded the Military Cross? His father, Mr., Montague, Laing, is a managing director of Sargood, Son, and Ewen. Laing. junr., was a great light in the rowing world before the war. ■ ' '■'•«'■# # # Waists are slipping up under the armpits in evening frocks. At least they, are two or three inches higher than last season. Fussy, diaphanous babybodices, very charming on the young and slim, emphasise this Josephine style. A yard or two of tulle,, in the same colour as the frock, is worn like a ; scaxf, loosely round the neck and shoulders. It has a cloud-like effect/that reminds one of Greuze's portraits of young. girls. . ■' ' ' ' Yours discursively. Bona.