CHIT CHAT

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1212, 24 May 1895, Page 13

CHIT CHAT

By “ Aunt Ellen.” Owing to the Mail going to press a day earlier than usual, owing to the Queen’s Birthday holiday, I have to exclude quite a host of interesting items. • To oblige a subscriber I insert the wedding notice which appears below, but in future such notices must reach me much earlier than a month after the event, or they will have to be deposited in the waste paper basket: —At “ The Vines," Turakina, on the 24th April, a very pretty wedding was celebrated, the contracting parties parties being Miss Eliza Clark (only daughter of Mrs P. Clark) to Mr /Robert Cameron. The bride looked charming in her pretty weddinggown of cream silk with orthodox" veil apd orange blossoms, and was given away by kfr Charles Garqerop, of Eotomapua." The bride was attended by Miss Eanpie McDonald and Miss Minnie Cameron, Masterton, who wore very pretty dresses of pale blpe silk, apd diamond and soppbire brooches, the gift of the bridegroom. Mr G. C. Cameron was best man- The ceremony was performed bytheßev. J. Boss on the verandah, which was prettily decorated by some of the bride’s many friends. Her going away dress was brown and blue tweed, with toque to match. About 40 guests sat down to the wedding breakfast in the Town Hall; thence the newly manied couple left for Wellington en route for for their home “ Snowdon," Wairarapa. The presents were numerous and valuable. Mrs Elizabeth Morris, of Llanelly, who recently attained her 104th birthday, received from the Princess of Wales, the following letter :—“ Sandringham, Norfolk, March 4.—Miss Knolly is desired to answer Mr Evans’s letter to the Princess, and regrets to tell him that ever since Her Boyal Highness’s gift to Mrs Thomas (the Burryport centenarian) was announced in the newspapers the Princess has been so overwhelmed with applications for money from all the poor old women in the king-

dom who have attained the age of 100 years that all further donations have been obliged to be stopped."

A pleasant story is told in the Daily Telegraph of the Duchess of Teck, who, as is well known, is given to wandering about Richmond making acquaintance with the people. In the park recently she came upon some woodmen who had a cheerfully blazing fire ; and addressing the eldest of them remarked upon it, adding that it seemed just the sort of fire to roast potatoes. The man, who did not know her, replied that it was, but . unfortunately they hadrno “ taters." Shortly afterwards a servant arrived with a bag of potatoes and a supply of butter and salt, wherewith the woodmen made merry, delighted to find that their visitor was the Duchess of Teck.

A lady correspondent writes in a home paper :—“ Do you think the day will ever come when a woman’s costume will be so arranged as to admit of sensible pockets ?" was asked of one of the fashionable WestEnd tailors the other day. “ Instead of women coming to dress more plainly and sensibly I think the tendency is quite in the opposite direction," said a dignified dressmaker. “From seven yards to ten yards of hair cloth interlining a wide skirt scarcely makes the weight wholesome or endurable for a delicate women, or even for a strong one, to carry about with her, and the sleeves have each five yards of cloth in them—that is of silk or costly material that does not come double width. Some of our customers like pockets slipped in somewhere in anon-conspicuous place and some don’t care. As for ourselves we are indifferent. The skirt hangs better without a pocket. Still the habit many women have of sticking the handkerchief up under the corsage spoils its shape." “ Women always, with the few exceptions which go to prove the rule, will sacrifice convenience, even comfort to appearance, and I presume they will continue to be helpless in the matter of pockets," said another authority on woman’s dress. “In the winter they nearly always have some kind of pocket in their jackets, coats or capes, but in the summer they are absolutely without any receptacle for the little trifles they like to carry about with them." “ Out of town women shoppers seldom trust any amount of money in their purses they carry in their hand," said a young saleswoman in the cloak and suit depart of one of the big shops. “ They select the garment they want and then ask to be shown to the dressing-room that they may get from some secret hiding-place in their dress the amount they wish to invest."

The wedding of the young Count Castelland, of France, with Miss Anna Gould, daughter of the late millionaire, Jay Gould, created a great sensation both in Paris and in New York. A description of the wedding was cabled to Figaro, from which the following is an extract: —“ The mansion of Mr and Mrs George Gould, where the wedding took place, was handed over to the florists on Sunday night. Waggons full of roses and orchids coming from/ hothouses situated between Boston ana Philadelphia had been unloaded, and in the morning the walls and ceiling of the Vestibule, the staircase, the saloons and the other rooms were completely hidden under flowers. Marvellous above all was the decoration of the East India saloon. The immense glass placed between the two windows was covered in by a red purple drapery (the ecclesiastical ‘purple’) embroidered in gold, fotrqing at fhe top a canopy qnder which the episcopal throne to be occupied by Monsignor Corrigan, Archbishop' of New York, vyos placed. The path by which the nuptial procession was to pass from the music-room to the saloon of which we are now speaking was marked out by a white satin ribbon fixed to the stems of flowering plants and over the whole length of this path was stretched a canopy of lilies, roses and orchids. The place of the bridal pair was surmounted by an arch entirely made of flowers. At the foot of the staircase the orchestra was installed behind a screen of palms and giant ferns. A more fairy-like scene could not be imagined. An immense

crowd -surrounded the mansion. The police could not restrain it and a great number of persons contrived to slip in among the iuvited guests, who numbered 200." Miss Gould possesses a fortune in her own right amounting to seventeen million dollars and of this she has settled two millions on her husband.

A form of annoyance which every heiress has to go through is that of being proposed to by a certain number of impecunious men, who make it a regular business to offer themselves and what they style tbeir hearts to every woman of fortune who comes in their way. They appear to forget that they are well known as fortune-hunters, and that the history of their proposals is, probably, the first thing that is told about them to each successive Miss. There is one young man of rank who has proposed to every heiress who has appeared in London during the last eight years and has been refused by all. One of the more recent objects of his attempts, a young lady from America, says that after he had proposed to her three times she asked him how much he would require per annum in exchange for a written promise never to propose to her again.

The woman with a loving heart is sure to look upon the bright side o f life (says Harper's Bazaar) and by her example induce others to do so. She sees a good reason for all the unwelcome events which others call bad luck. She believes in silver linings and likes to point them out to others. A week of rain or fog, an avalanche of unexpected guests, a dishonest servant, an unbecoming bonnet, or any other of the thousand minor inflections of everyday life, has no power .to disturb the deep calm of her soul. The lovelight is still in her eyes whether the days be dark or bright. It is she who conquers the grim old uncle and the dyspeptic aunt. The crossest baby reaches out its arms to her and is comforted. Old people and strangers always ask the way of her in the crowded street. She has a good word to say for the man or woman who is under the world’s ban of reproach. Gossip pains her and she never voluntarily listens to it. Her gentle heart helps her to see the reason for every poor sinner’s misstep and she condones every fault. She might not serve with acceptance on the judge’s bench, but she is a very agreeable person to know.

The Rev Horace W. Klingender, curate at Taradale, and son of Mr W. Klingender, of Patea, was married to Miss Rachel Thomas, daughter of Mr Rees Thomas, Upper Tutaenui, at St. Andrew’s Church, Bulls, on on May 15. The Rev J. D. Russell performed the ceremony.

Mr J. G. Swan, son of Mr G. 11. Swan, Mayor of Napier, was married to Miss M. Anderson at the Napier Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon week. The church was crowded. Dean Hovell celebrated the marriage. The bridesmaids were Miss Bessie Anderson and Miss Frances Miller, cousins of the bride, and Misses Lily and Ivy Swan, sisters of the bridegroom. Messrs Harry Swan and Maginnity acted as groomsmen, and Mr W. Anderson, brother of the bride, gave her away. The bride wore white surah silk, with an elegant train and veil and orange blossoms, and carried a bouquet of white chrysanthemums and maidenhair fern. As the bridal party left the church Mr W. T. Sharp, the organist, played “The Wedding March.” The breakfast was served at the residence of Mr Swan, sen., Dean Hovell proposing the health of the bride and bridegrqqm, and the newly-married couple then left for Waipukurau en route to Wellington for the honeymoon. The list of presents is a long one.

In a recent Sydney Morning Herald, a wife advertises that she will not be responsible for any debts contracted by her husband. The new woman!

Two of the Christchurch Cathedral choir boys happened upon a supposed larceny of books on Sunday morning. They found half a volume of the New Zealand Hansard and some other books stacked against the Cathedral wall, and covered with grass. It is stated that California is flooded with Japanese, and that fully 10,000 were employed last year on farms and vineyards, displacing white labour.