Gossip from Sydney.

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 867, 16 February 1917, Page 10

Gossip from Sydney.

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Deab Chbistabbl, — THE nurses at St.-- Vincent's Hospital wanted .to show us what they could do to raise money for/ their new Nurses' Home, so. last Wednesday night they entertained about a thousand people at five shillings per head at a progressive euchre party and a pierrot entertainment. It was that latter that -made us all gape with wonder, for whoever would have thought the demurelooking nurses had so much talent among them! Nurse Ahearn was the ringleader of the fun as "Charlie Chaplin," and the other dozen nurses were garbed aa pierrots and pierrettes. They sang; danced,, played the 'cello, violin, and piano capitally—in fact, ; there wasn't a mediocre performer among them. Nurse Hutchinson danced several solos most artistically, and-another, feature of- the evening was a minuet danced in Court costume. . ' • .-'.••#. » '.*.'•»; The entertainment was a "complete surprise to everybody, and .so.well did all the_ nurses acquit themselves that - one began to think they had' missed their vocation. Among the audience were Bishop O'Connor and. Bjfh-'P Gallagher, besides" innumerable Fathers, who were as delighted as anybody at the cleverness of the nurses in providing a show all ;by themselves, and '-' • even when one of the her excitement executed a Catherine. wheel, they forgot to be shocked. The onter- * tainment resulted in £700—not top bad .these times, eh? -'■_.■ - On Wednesday evening. the prettiest , Wadding of, the; week was celebrated at ' St. James' Church, when JRosie Rooke,. : a; beautiful tall fair girl, daughter of /Mr. and Mrs; James Macartney Kooke, 'of Manly, was married to Mr. Robert Buchanan Donnell, of. Adelaide. L The bride was exquisitely garbed in white, . cachemire de sole, the skirt being slightly draped, and the long court train of white tulle was finished wijtfi thick ruchings of ribbon. Her .veil, also of.tulle, fell, from a x wreath of, orange blossoms. A lovely bouquet completed the costume. Her four bridesmaids' were all fair and of the same height, and were dressed.ih dawn pink chiffon, and wore chic black sequined caps, with jetted tassels. They

were Misses A. and O. Rooke, Isabel Netzer, and O. Donnell. _ • _ #■ '■ ' '■ * - a * The reception after the ceremony was held at the Hotel Australia, coversat the bridal banquet being laid for-a hundred guests. The presents which were on view, were lovely, and twenty, cheques were received. Alter a honeymoon in Adelaide the -bride and brideoroom will leave in March for home at Singapore. a '■». «• ■» - A floral wreath suspended between the funnels .of a P. and O liner on Wednesday last indicated that an officer attached to-the boat was being married It turned out to be Lieutenant Cyril B C Williams, who was very quietly married to Miss Frances Muriel, ■ second daughter of Colonel Burns, of <-Go-wan Brae," Parramatta. It was one of the quietest weddings on" record, asj a brother of the bride was recently killed in action. Th« dvawing-rooni of Colonel Burns' beautiful home at Parrama,tta was the scene of the ceremony, and tne bride, who was unattended, was given awav bv.her father. . Lieut. Williams, was'some time since wounded inaction and returned to Sydney as an officer on a P. and O. liner. * -.'■*. ■■'•'* " *:. -.-■.' For the first time in my life, Christabel, I attended the celebration, of a o-olden wedding last Tuesday evening. These days the fiftieth anniversary of a wedding is rather a novelty, so I rushed this I can assure you. The hero and heroine are Mr. and. Mrs. fc>. Ackman, a well-known Jewish family herr>. It was fine to see the old couple (who really don't look very old) as happy as a pair of children. The rooms were all decorated in white and gold, and in a large marquee on the lawn over a hundred sat down to the banquet. The golden bride and bridegroom sat under a floral bell veiled m gold tulle, and the number of gold presents they received proved that they hadiit lived through fifty years of married life for nothing. Rabbi.. Cohen was chairman, and said all kinds of beautiful things about-Mr. and Mrs. Ackman. '.*•.... "■* '-. ;"'■ *■' '•• ° '■: - News comes from London that Mrs. Burrows,- widow of the late Captain Burrows, of New Zealand, is driving a car for a London doctor.

Passed out this week, tenor HenryBra cy after nearly twelve months' illness. The last time I saw him, which was just before his illness, he was looking as trim- as ever in the light tweed suit he usually favoured and straw hat, and although he was 'overseventy when he died, no ( one would then have given hint more'> than fiftyfive years. He was wonderfully prerserved, and it is only about eight years since he made, his last appearance as a singer. Shall we ever forget his sing- • ing of "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes?" No tenor ever sang it quite like Henry Braoy, and certainly none that I remember ever looked so hand-, sonie. when singing it." His wife, Clara Thompson, is in America, but one of his sons, who is in business in Melbourne, came over for the funeral. « • "■» _.r' *' Among the engagements announced this week is that of Gladys, the pretty elder daughter'of /Walter Baker, the well-known actor, to Lieutenant Elgar W. Opie, A.1.F., Military Cahvp, Royal Park, Victoria; also Miss Nita, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. T. DowdalL, of "Fairleigh," Waverley, and late of Palmerston North, New Zealand, to Mi-. Herbert J.- Bradbury, late of Kempsey, and'now of Mosman, Sydney. .«.■'.;• """■...*''■■■ -^ An exhibition of children's work culled from most of the State schools in New South "Wales is being held in the Education Building, and an, hour spent here is quite an eye-opener. A little lad of seven shows the landing of Captain Cook in;plaster work, and the way he has modelled•- the . boats and figures is almost uncanny in its precocity. As for the work of the girls, it. is beyond all praise. Stencilling, drawing, leather. work, and needlecraft * are all equally creditable. This is the second exhibition of its kind, the idea being- that of Mr. ; J. Dawson, M.A., who takes a great interest in the work of the State school children. a ';"«_' 0 » There is also a section of teachers' work displayed, and it is really, wonderful to see what is. expected of these teachers nowadays,■.' Their 'accomplishments must be. varied indeed. Itis no child's play to be a teacher in a highclass State school. -■„... «... ..-■'•'■ '•-' « "..' Yesterday I visited one of our leading houses to view the very latest fashions for the coming autumn. - The first thing' that caught my'-eye-was the new Garibaldi shaped coat- —or rather blouse. The skirt to go with this costume (it was in wine coloured velvet) was very full, and the blouse coat washeld in at. the waist with an elastic, and was also ..very full —in fact, just a facsimile of the Garibaldi blouse worn over 'fifty years agio. . .""*..'■ • . ■/"•'■- » Most of the coats are how buttoned up to the neck, and are generally finished with skunk or other fur. A charming garment is what is called the Chemise frock. It is fashioned in perfectly straight lines. The model I saw had the skirt in navy serge, closely kilted, the top part, which reached to the hips, being of blue satin. A loose sash worn round the figure (not the waist)-carried out the very girlish appearance of this latest thing in costumes, which I.must not forget to add was fastened at the back. »'■"•»" *.-.•- , A striking feature in evening dresses is the length of the sleeve'; You may have the. corsage cut square, oval or round, but the sleeves must hang right over the wrists. Strange freakish fashion, is it not ? . Why should the arms be covered and the mom delicate neck be left bare ? But there you are : you must wear the long sleeve or else look dowdy. One thing you will be sorry to hear, is that the unbeautiful "fish" train has made its appearance again, and evidently means to stay, for already I have seen it upon several occasions. I never could endure that fish train, which always looks as if it did not belong to

the dress at all, but was simply caughtbv an exposed hook arid trailed afterthe frock because it didn't know whatelse to do A well-out train is a thing of grace, -but the fish-train I Oh, no. We are wearing the sweetest littlenecklets of coloured beads similar in shape to a rosary bead. They are made•in all colours, and are scented rose, heliotrope, lilac, or any. perfume desired. lam told they are inade from the leaves of flowers tightly compressed, and then made into the rough surface, beads. Others say they are made of carved wood. However they are fashioned, they are very dainty arid inexpensive, and as they have the latter virtue one can have a "different necklet to ; match every . ■'•".-. : ." "*. . . '•*-' ■.'•_" .' *■■'■. ■*..'-'■ -■■:•:' A certain bank manager here was so 1 scandalised at seeing the.gii-1 clerks arrive at the bank with skirts many/ inches above 'the."ankle that he hasmade a rule that their dresses must: "be a certain length" or that establishmentwill know, them no more. I don't blariieu hi'm, Christabel,. for really the abbreyiA . ated -skirt was getting beyond bounds. . Yours discursively, ."- - .I&ONA. -