SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19131, 24 September 1925, Page 14

SOCIAL NEWS.

Lady Lockhart and Master Bruce Lockhart, with Mrs. E. H. Reid, are on a visit to Okoroire.

The Misses Tucker, of Gisborne, are on a visit to Auckland and are staying at Stonehurst.

Mrs. Cummirig and Miss Gumming, of Maritzburg, South Africa, are the guests of .Mrs. Martin, Claude Road, Epsom.

Mrs. I). Jphnston, who has been staying with her sister at the Thames, has again jtaken iip her residence at Stonehurst; ' 1 '

Miss Margaret Stoddart, the well-known water-colour painter, o! Christchurch, has been painting in Tahiti. She also spent some time in Sydney before returning to Christchurch.

Miss K. Lovell-Smitli, who was one of the delegates to tho recent Women's National' Council conference in Hamilton, has been staying at Rotorua for the past few weeks before returning to Christchurch.

Mine. La Maziere, well known as a journalist, has founded a uninue club, the Soroptimists, in Paris. This club has a membership of 92 women, each representing a different profession. The vice-presidents' are a well-known specialist and one of the best-known barristers of the Palais de Justice. 1 Mme. La Maziere is a Knight of the Legion of Honour, one of the few women of her age who have won that honour.

New Zealand still holds its place in. the affections of past Governors and their wives. Writing to a friend in Wellington Lady Liverpool recently expressed the hope that she and Lord Liverpool would return to New Zealand next.year. "It would be lovely to see everyone again," she wrote, " and tread the streets of dear old Wellington. I wish it were nearer. Ido not think that the English papers are half as good as the New Zealand ones." v , ,

Mrs. P. Oliphant, who is retiring from the position of chairwoman at the St. James' Free Kindergarten, entertained her committee to afternoon tea at the Lyceum Club on Tuesday. . The teatablo' was prettily decorated' with golden flowers, and at each plate was placed a posy of ,„violets for the guests to wear. Daring the afternoon songs were rendered by Miss Lois Evans, and a pianoforte solo was given by Miss Margaret Oliphant, who also played Miss Evans' accompaniments.

Twenty-five years of untiring service to the community of New Plymouth, through the medium of the St. John Ambulance Association, was recognised last week, when Mrs. E. Dockrill was presented with the diploma of an honorary terving sister of the association, one of the highest honours of the association, by the GovernorGeneral,. Sir Charles Fergusson. The function took the form of a reception organised in Mrs. Dockrill's honour by the New Plymouth centre of the association in St. Mary's Hall.

The Duchess of Beaufort, who is a daughter of the Marquis of Cambridge, Queen Mary's eldest brother, is a great favourite of Her Majesty. She was Lady Mary Cambridge when she met her husband, then the Marquis of Worcester, in the hunting field. They were married in, 1923 and have no children. The late Duke of Beaufort broke the entail of the Beaufort estates with the consent of his son. In tho event of no male heir the title only will go on the death of the present Duke to his uncle, Lord Henry Somerset, the poet and song writer, who lives in Florence. He is a widower. His only son is Mr. Somers Somerset.

It seems that there was an error in the recent blowing of loud trumpets announcine that light stockings were a dead fashion among well-dressed women, says a writer in an exchange. While it is true that there has been a certain revival of favour for black silk hosiery for some occasions, women still cling to pale shades, and.some of the newest stockings of all are lighter than any yet Seen. So, at least, a (stocking; expert tells me, though I am well aware that some folk will want to argue the point. Among these new light shades is one called ''atmosphere," while others rejoice in the titles of "toast" and "bran"—-all of which names ao-e more descriptive than absurd, when you come to think about them.

"My experience is that the average modern girl is* a credit to her parents." So writes the. Rev,'E. L. Macassey, vicar of East Grinstead and senior chaplain of the Home Counties Division T.A., defending Miss 1925 in his parish magazine. "It may be added that the modern girl shuns the middle-aged sins of gambling and intemperance," he writes. . "She gambols,, but does not gamble. She dances, but does not drink. She responds quite.remarkably to the appeal of religion. It seems a pity that when some clerics reach the roaring forties they should launch out against "the 'modern girl,' instead of grappling with the evils of our day," i<; the vicar's parting shot at a critic of modern women.