SYDNEY SIDELIGHTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6623, 12 September 1908, Page 12

SYDNEY SIDELIGHTS.

NOTES ON NOTABILITIES. (By Ida Sored.) Sydney, Sept. sth. A great temptation lo quote Kipling's ‘■Recessional” besots me. “The tumult nnd tho shouting dies, the Captains and the —Jack* depart; Lo! nil our pomps of yesterday is one with Ninevnh oml Tyre.” ‘Macks” rather spoil tho quotation. ICi"gF, it should bo, but wo had no kings at our welcome to the White

•Sleety Carnival. Otherwise the lines describe the gonc-ofl or going-offnoss of tho festival aspect of our two principal cities and their peoples. Tho Northcotes ore going oif by next Tuesday’s boat from Brisbane nnd will chance upon their ]«to guests Admiral Sperry and Company at Singapore. Aleantimo Melbourne and Sydney are by farewell gifts adding to Ln-dy Northeot.o’s already huge collection of Valuables. She has been th© cleverest n.nd most capable vicc-rogal woman ever loaned io this country by the A lot her Country, and her inauguration and working up of tbo Women” Work Exhibition aiono entitles her to our bo»,t in the way of Australian gratitude —lo fray nothing of .Australian gems.

Personally she was not as well loved as th© Into* Lady Rawron, hut then none had a chance to know her personally, from tho usual meaning of the word. Her aloofness and that of 'her Lord was said on good author:! y to be duo to the o\pr«*s command ol the King. The Brss*eyv?, the J lopetoun s—ho pa rticul arly,— r.rd Lord Beauchamp during their respective reigns, had drifted info chuniiness with certain sets, or favoured persons and the King, who has grown vigorously careful of d’Vrp-y with v-enrs, had a heart to heart talk with the Northcotes five years ago belo.c taey iciv lae old world for this now one. They lived up to the Royal injunctions but it must have been dull for the poor Lady. She dared not have friends and was always ca grande tenue so to speak. _ The only persons she took a personal private interest in were musicians, She herself is a good nianiste and she frequently en-tr-rlalned privately singers, pianists and rioUniffts at Government House. Lord Beauchamp used to cultivate the literary teik of Sydney. «»«.*««

In suite of her hundreds of up-to-date frocks "and hats Lady Northcoto was tno simplest of dressers when she was not facing the public s.t some function or other. Almost any morning she might be seen in the gardens of Government Rouse (directing the gardeners or doing a. little wort on her own account) in a khaki shantung or some equally plain, short frock and on old wide brimmed Panama without on atom of trimming. She has been faithful to that old Panama for rears. I shouldn't he surprised if she took it with her. And if only for the soke of the drees-reporters I should think ehe would have had, if she had stared say longer, to lay aside the sap-phiTi-biue velvet coat she wore so persistently for several winters at Tow-n Hall ®r out-o!-dcors functions. Like a good many women ehe iicca.ee attracted to certain garments that eminently suited her and the long sapphire velvet with the cable border did suit her. With it she always carried a muff of the velvet and rable. lined with white satin and , frilled with some wide costly lace. It was in this cost and muff and an unpretentious Httio toque of blue velvet lh»t she made her Inst .appearance last Tuesday at the Town Ifni] ns the central figure in a. huge crowd. On behalf, of las women of N.S f .W. the Lady Ksroresn prevented her with an address. —a’beauiii'ul thing—of water colour sketches and silver and velvet-c-ovcrs, and a preeentalion. This was a handwrought massive IS-carnt gold vase, the body being omljosscd with sprays of the war Mali and the front bearing Lady Norlhcote’s monogram, A.S.N., set in Australian tourmalines and zirrone, surmounted bv coronet set with Australian whole pearls, the observe carrying In raised letters N.S.W. in monogram form. Round the inside rim the vase is engraved: "Lrom the women of N.S.W.. September 3, X!5?8.” The ornament stands on a raid-mounted myall plinth, tho j whole being fit toil into a handsome green- ] lined morocco cnee.

Around her Excellency on Ihodais were the* "useful” women of Sydney Society. Lady Bariev for instance, wife of Chief Justice Parley. This lady is a sialci * v lvolf Bold©rwood” Brown© and has a typical grend© dame aspect. There arc rncnv of that aspect;—in the leisured Sydney ela*s. Lsvryc, rtrong-faerd. Mid hook nosed. They ftlwarr; remind ms of Born mi Centurion or Susie Vaughan in certain roles. .Mrs Rugh Dixon i© another rho is to Cm front where wealth and preen tivo ability are required. She wears the ‘nest eal'juiions honnefs, but the most ©up orb furs, and rushes into the, middla of titing? in r. rnaynifice.nt motor. P-r home palace-like, yet she and her husband (and they a,rc not really old people ycd) began their married life in -n numbls' cottage. Tobr.vco is tueir wealth producer. She ptf.itfd the _ Women?’ i-l ranch of t.ie British Umpire League here and when she- f;oes> to I/ondon whirls around with the Duke and Duchess of Bale Ale and Lvrd Noirsoo end eu«h-iikc.

Arother kdr, large, white-haired, and commanding who has come to the front of recent years is kits J. T. Toohey. Beer 1 ? at the bivck of her wealth. She rrr.s the second wife of a brewer named Tocher end. is no// hk widow. At the fserthrote prefrsntfttion she wan a picturesque figure in a. black Liberty Mtiin, with a a.V.ier blue ostrich feather boa and a blue hat. A new ZeaUndc/ present told me she had a brother a priest in Auckland. jDr feg&u his name. uDcccired Brewer Tocher left by his first wife four welldowered children who .are to lose their inheritance if they marry out«ide the R.C. < “iiurch. The eldest of three daughters consequently went to Jlngland re-urn rears ago and entered an enclosed order of nunc. The two other girls are a rather smart little pair. If it weren’t

for the religious clause in their father * will some naval Johnnies with an Bnglisa Un i versily-bleat would probably have, annexed them- All the moneyed Sydney girls marry penniless o flic ore ol British cruisora.

Lndv ■Barton, wife of the famous ‘‘Toby’' of the Federal High Court was another prominent at iho presentation. She, an anxious, worried-looking: lady who keeps her figure, is n model wife to a brilliant erratic genius. Ilor oldest daughter is iilxuit to bo married to an. Equity Court barrister. A good comnlexionrd girl sho has some of her fa* ther’s brains as well as his reniarkablo upjx-r Up. You know "Toby Bartons upper lip, don’t you? It is the deep joj to the caricaturists. Large yet thin, and pointed in the centre .and looking alien, to the lower lip. Miss Barton in view of the possibility of having to get her own Jiving, learnt shorthand, typewriting and dressmaking* Sir Toby it is true gets .£3OO a year but some how everyone lives up to every pound of ones income and a Federal High Court Judgeship carrier no pension, whicl) fact eccmS' unreasonable.

There was a curious absence from tho Nortiicote presentation of the smart voung married woman and the smart widow who isn't young but is always in the whirl of youthful gatherings. Mrs Sydney Burdeldu is this State's pet fashionable and cvcr-gieou widow. She has tUft figure of a slender twenty-year old, ami biggish grandchildren. She kept her beauty—prcttiucss rather—till into the fifties and its a fairly well-known secret that if she. would not have lost her income bv so doing she would have movriod LoVd Richard Neville when he waa in Australia on tho stall' of the. former governor. Now he's back again ami folks are vowing Melba will marry him, lie and tho star have been groat friends for years and he could not afford to marry other thau a rich woman.

Tho Five Wives, or the Five Albatrosses as Sydney calls tho American ladies who pursue or go ahead of the Fleet and meet their husbands at tire various ports nro back hero op route to again pick up their sailor boys at Singapore. Mrs "Monty” Sovorn is one of their last entertainers in Sydney. You know her name through the Society papers don’t, you? She is never "out of things.” Mrs .Monty is the youngest child of the late Sir Alfred Stephen, C.J., who was tho proud father of seventeen children. A plump, not to say, ''tat” lady, pretty and with tiny hands and feet. Her bus* bund is a Maorilander and used to live in Wellington, where I am told ho wajv In a bank.

Not many hours after tho Governor* General and Lady Northcoto's departure tho "Powerful" will laud tho new rulergeneral at If arm Cove. His suite will rejoice tho Sydney gild’s heart. Captain Homo—ho is a Queenslander who loft here when a lad—has been described to me by a man who was at the samo university with him as tho handsomest man ho over saw-. One of thoso rare birds who boxes, rows, sings, crickets, rides bettor than tho best—best Amateurs 1 supx»Mi. If ho flirts os well ns ho bats perhaps he'll bo too clever for us.

Ho is only one of a largo, able, and ornamental staff. "Dicky” Neville tho Lord is always hero picking up old friends and flirtations.

* • . e Tho "Lone Hand" Beauty Contest Is said to he ended and decided. Namo of the winner for tins Wtato has net yet been published but "Akonohi" of Lhii •TJullotm" who was one of the judges tells me she is a tall dark woman, tho wife of a doctor, fund not by any means in her teens. Soiao’jovely ''kittens” camo up lor criticism at the judges mooting but ''Akeneiii" says that though hair and colouring and eyes and many other points wore AX. tho ''111110115” didn't know how to carry themselves or make tho boot of their charms. The selected beauty ior Victoria is in a draper's sUop and is said to run Miss Close, the English iieauty-wiiiner level. Since her selection tno eiiop she’s in has been doing enormous bn.-miess.

Marriage of Miss Dulcie Deamer to Mr Goldie at Perth .was a surprise. BrideGioom was a press agent lor J. C. Wib liamsftn, but has gone to act for M.ra iuigh ward in India. A norvoui> little man hlr Goldie and, until they taw the pair were married, in an K.G. Church ms Sydney compeie* wore under the mi■pie.%loll that ho was a Hebrew. Vossibly ho ’verted. CHAT WITH CORRESPONDENTS brother. - -I have no doubt that too lime* water would beneht your'liitlo boy, still I think you had better consult a doctor. ion can easily make the lime-water at home. Tano a lump of' unsiaked lime, the size of au egg, uud pour over it a pint of cold water which lias been previously boiled, tttir the lime, and allow tho mixture to .settle. Pour oft tho clour part at-tho top and use if: as required. The water will only dissolve tno right amount. Thanks for good wishce. Nita.—You might use cither sateen, alpaca, silk or satin for • tho domino. There is a regulation pattern for tho garment, but most people content ihemvelvcs with a very unlovely semililting affair, made on the lines of a mcMift" gown or nightdress, gathered into a yoke, and with a hood attached, A real domino is made somethin" after the style of a Japanese kimono, with hood attached, and is a rather grace, lul wrap. Inquirer.— Write to a bookseller. Never heard of the book you mention.

Removing Ink Stains.—Oxalic acid will remove both copying and ordinary ini: if sulbcuent Urno lx: given for it to pciK’-. prates the fibre of the cloth or paper. The oxalic acid should afterwards be removed by washing for about an hour in clean, and u poir-uhe, r>oit water.