CHIT CHAT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1103, 21 April 1893, Page 14

CHIT CHAT.

A very popular wedding took place at Greatford, Rangitikei, last week. My Marton correspondent writes :—‘ On Tuesday a very smart wedding came .off at the pretty little Greatford church, when Mr Alfred Cox, son of Robert Henkison Cox, of Patey Bridge, England, was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Mabel daughter of the late Major Willis, of Woodendean, Rangitikei. A perfect host of friends from all over the Rangitikei and Manawatu were present. Mr D. G. Riddiford, uncle of the bride, led her to the altar, where she was given away by her mother. Mr H. P. Lance was best man. The bride, who was dressed in white Liberty silk, with veil and wreath. The ceremony was performed by the Rev Innes Jones, of Bulls, and everything went off well. From the church the newly-married couple and a large number of friends adjourned to Woodendean and partook of afternoon tea and wedding cake. During the afternoon Mr and Mrs Cox were driven off to their temporary residence at The Ridges, Tututotara, lately occupied by Mr and Mrs Wilfred Taylor. Mr and Mrs Cox have the best wishes of everybody in Marton and the district generally for their future happiness, for they are both very popular with all.

The Rangitikei Advocate reports a wedding which took place at Awahuri last week, when Mr Frederick Mann was married to Miss Louisa Lucas, second daughter of Mr G. R. Lucas, a well-known settler. The marriage ceremony, which was solemnised at the residence of the bride’s parents, was conducted by the Rev Mr Thompson, of Palmerston. The bride was given away by her father, Mr G. R. Lucas. Mr W. Lucas acted as best man. The bridesmaids, Misses Rosie and Frances Lucas, were dressed in white. The bride wore a dress of cream cashmere, trimmed with lace, also a veil and orange blossoms. She carried a very pretty bouquet, as also did the bridesmaids, the gift of Mr Weightman, which helped, with the pretty dresses and happy faces to make a charming picture. Afterwards a large party of friends sat down to a pleasant repast.

Mr ‘ Sydenham ’ Taylor—dear old gentleman, how we all do like to see him waggle those famous fingers of his in the House —made a speech at Christchurch last week. On women’s questions it is interesting to know that the old gentleman favours giving the franchise to women who have to work for a living or have no one to depend upon. He also favours the direct veto re liquor traffic. How about Bellamy’s, Mr Taylor ?

During the course of his address on the growth of the Otago University, Professor Sale made the following remarks : —‘ It deserves to be mentioned that all the classes in the University have been open to women from the outset. Since 1872 women have been in regular attendance, and their numbers have increased from year to year. Last session 35 women were enrolled, two in the faculty of medicine, and the rest in the faculty of arts. Since the commencement twenty women have obtained the degree of 8.A., ten have obtained the degree of M.A., and nine

have taken honours. So far as I am aware, this university was the first in the British dominion to throw open its doors to women as widely as to men.’

Referring to the professor’s remarks the Otago Daily Time* says : —‘ We must not omit to follow Professor Sale in according honourable notice to the position, adopted by the Otago University and the University of New Zealand in regard to the academic treatment of women. Oxford and Cambridge, while admitting members of the superior sex to their examinations, shabbily refuse them the titular degree. Miss Fawcett is allowed to beat the senior wrangler, but not to put B.A. after her name. New Zealand has nothing to do with such an anomalous and illogical policy, and to her belongs the honour of having conferred the first academic degree ever received by a woman.

‘ Florence,’ the writer of the Ladies’ Pages in The Sketch, the new illustrated paper which was so highly praised by the Mail last week, says :—I have a confession to make, one that requires some courage in the telling, and it is this : I am at this moment wearing a crinoline ! As a matter of fact it is simply a full petticoat, specially made and shaped of course, with two steels run round the edge, at a distance of about two inches apart. When another petticoat is placed over this, the dress hangs to perfection, standing out very slightly all round, and so keeping the weight from the ankles, and saving the skirt, to a very great extent, from catching up the dust and dirt. I am simply delighted with my new possession, and only wonder how I have managed to get on so long without it.

‘ Florence ’ may be quite right in her praise of the * steeled petticoat,’ but I notice in the ladies’ pages of another English paper that H.R.H. the Princess of Wales has sternly set her face against steels, and refused two petticoats made that way which had been sent to her by her modiste. And as the charming Princess is the supreme arbiter in the English fashionable world, it is hardly likely that steeled petticoats will ‘ come in ’ to any appreciable extent.

A peculiarly sad feature in connection with the recent wreck of the Anchor liner Trinacria, which w r as wrecked near Cape Villano, close to where H.M.S. Serpent came to grief, is the fact that the four passengers on board, who were all lost, were ladies going out to Gibraltar to carry on mission work among the British soldiers there. It is a curious fact also that several of the victims of the Roumania disaster were also engaged in mission work.

What is Japan coming to ?• From being one of the most exclusive and backward of Eastern nations she is rapidly becoming the most progressive. In February, I read in a London paper, the first Japanese lady lawyer, Madame Tel Sono, arrived in England with the intention of collecting funds to establish a Christian school near Tokio, for the education of high-class girls and women. Up to the present the education of Japanese women has been almost unknown. They were only looked upon as household drudges, and as only an inferior sex. All this, however, with the entrance of Western ideas, and the introduction of schools for females, will be altered. The Japanese women will be freed from the old bonds°of ignorance.

The sixth annual meeting of the subscribers to the Queen’s Fund in Napier, a fund started in the Jubilee year for charitable purposes, wa3 held at Napier last week. The report stated that there were 175 subscribers to the fund as against 130 last year. The total receipts for the year were £305, and the expenditure <£66 less. The chairman, Mr Swan, M.H.R., said it was satisfactory to note that the number of subscribers had increased, a fact which ai’gued well for the future of this most useful and praiseworthy

institution. This was the sixth time t4ie friends and supporters of the fund had met. When it was first established it was thought by some to be but a mere fad for the time being. The fund, he believed, was suggested by Lady Jervois in honour of the jubilee of the reign of Her Majesty the Queen, and he was pleased to say that it had not had a short life, as was predicted by some, but was still progressing most satisfactorily. For his part, he knew the good that was done by the society, through having been so long connected with the administration of charitable aid in the district. He could therefore speak with more assurance than could others who had not had his experience, and he was pleased to testify to the value of the work that had been done and that he hoped would continue to be done in the future. The society had been the means of alleviating much distress in a quiet and unostentatious way, and the recipients had been saved the hard experience of having to apply for public charity. The following officers were elected :—'President, Mrs Hindmarsh; honorary secretary, Mrs Tabuteau ; honorary treasurer, Mrs Randall ; committee, Mesdames H. R. Russell, J. N. Williams, Lowry, D. Potts, A. R. Lascelles, Ormond, S. Williams, Blythe, Lang, Provis, Swan, Jardine, Cohen, Fox, and Faulknor.

A very popular wedding took plaoe at Napier last week when Miss Annie Ridgway was married to Mr Norris, of the Telegraph Dept. The ceremony was performed by the Very Rev the Dean. Mr Norris is a well known cyclist and amateur athlete, and is very popular in Napier.

Witty, sensible Mr Labouchere writes in Truth: —I hear nothing more of the Anti-Crinoline League, its members having apparently perceived the absurdity of taking vows respecting the width of their petticoats. Fashion in female dress is often absurd, but a sensible woman adopts it nevertheless, because singularity in dress is more silly than dressing according to the silliest fashion.

My Masterton correspondent writes : The very large number of marriages which have taken place recently and are to take place at an early date in Masterton must surely be an evidenoe of increasing prosperity. For the quarter ending March 31st, the number was more than double that of the corresponding period of last year.

How many of us, when using some of the delightful perfumes now sold know how and whence these ‘ sweet smellings ’ are extracted. Here are a few bits of information on the subject : Six methods of extracting perfumes are known. The first is expression by means of a special press, which is applicable without too great loss to fruit-skins rich in essential oils, such as orange and citron peel, previously grated. Another method is that of distillation, which consists in heating flowers with water in a boiler. The essential oil is volatilised and is condensed with the vapour of water in a worm and a Florentine receiver. The water usually goes to the bottom and the oil floats. The oils of neroli, rose, patchouli, geranium, lavender, caraway, &c., are obtained in this way. The process is not applicable to the delicate perfumes of the mignonette and the violet; and for them recourse is had to maceration of the flowers in animal fats or mineral oils, which have the property of absorbing odorous substances, and are then washed in alcohol. The flowers are usually heated in the fat or the oil for a variable number of hours. For perfumes which cannot endure a high temperature, the petals are placed between frames of glass coated with fat. This is the process of enfleurage. The pneumatic process, which consists in causing a cur--1 rent of perfumed air or carbonic acid to be absorbed by coatings of lard on glass plates, appears not to have given satisfactory results. Another procees consists in dissolving perfumes in very volatile liquids,

like chloroform, naphtha, ether, or chloride of methyl, and volatilising* the solvents, which can be done at a low temperature in a vacuum. The last method has given very satisfactory results in the extreme delicacy and great acuracy of its returns.

Here is a novel idea as to the origin of the waltz. A young African traveller claims to have discovered that the waltz was the creation of neither a German nor a Swiss, but of the ostriches of Africa. He asserts chat every morning at sunrise these amiable birds assemble in groups, and begin a regular and graceful movement which is none other than the waltz. I must say I think more of the ostriches than I did, for the originator of the best of dances is deserving of great kudos.

The Mail’s London Correspondent writes: —A marriage is arranged between General the Hon William Feilding, brother of the late Earl of Denbigh, and Miss Leighton, daughter of the late Sir Baldwin Leighton. As General Feilding, who is well-known in Australia in connection with the abortive Transcontinental Railway, was born as far back as 1836, he will be a somewhat elderly bridegroom. The bride is not very much his junior.

The pronounciation of ‘ blanc mange ’ sadly troubles some people, I clip the following from an English paper : ‘ Ten persons at an hotel table ordered ‘ blanc mange ’ for dessert. No. 1 called for blammange. No. 2 for blue monge. No. 3 for blanc mange. No. 4 for blon mong. No. 5 for bla mong. No. 6 for bluemong. No. 7 for blanche mange. No. 8 for blammong. No. 9 for blang maunch. And No. 10 for blanmonge.’ At the Grand Lodge session of the Good Templars at Auckland, the following letter was drafted to be forwarded to the President of the Women’s Franchise League: ‘ Madame, —I have been instructed by our Grand Lodge to convey to you our sympathy with the demand you are making for the enfranchisement of women in the Colony. For over 30 years our Order has extended in every way equal rights to both sexes, and we consider that there should be the same principals in our political affairs. For our important social and moral reforms our hope, is that your League will succeed in its efforts, and join hands with us in driving from our midst the worst form of evil which afflicts the community.—Yours respectfully, R. N. Adams, G.C.T.’ The following amusing verses recently appeared in a London paper:— ‘ Why weep ye at the dirt lady ? Why weep ye at the dirt ? You would not fear to face the mud In our divided skirt. And our divided skirt, lady, Is comely to be seen’— But aye she let the tears down fall For frocks with crinoline. ‘ Now let this foolish grief be done, And dry that cheek so pale ; Put faith in Lady Harberton, And leave off gowns that trail In puddled streets or crowded ball, Your dress will still be clean But aye she lets the tears down fall For frocks with crinoline. ‘ No gloomy stuffs of brown or black Shall you be bound to wear; Satins and silks you need not lack, Nor laces rich and rare ; Your gowns shall be the best of all, And pictured in the Queen ’ — But aye she lets the tears down fall For frocks with crinoline. The Short Skirts Leage met in its pride To greet the convert fair; Matrons and maid sat side by side, A Peeress filled the chair. Yet each at other looked askance. The lady was not seen: She’s o’er the Channel, off to France, For frocks with crinoline.

I hope the Wellington girls will never take to ‘ spats.’ Here is what a London paper says on the latest craze :—Girls are acquiring a habit of wearing brown ‘ spat ’ gaiters in London during the wet weather, and it is to be wished that they would not. In the first place, this particular kind of gaiter is no special protection. It does not prevent the wet from penetrating the boots, nor does it keep the mud off the petticoats. Quite as much protection could be obtained by wearing real gaiters above the boots, or high boots merely. In the second place, these ‘ spats ’ are hideous. They enlarge the feet and ankles to nearly twice their real size. They never fit exactly, but always fall over the ankles, in folds and rolls, that