BREEZY BITS FROM SYDNEY CITY.

NZ Truth, Issue 81, 5 January 1907, Page 6

BREEZY BITS FROM SYDNEY CITY.

Feminine Fads, Frills, Follies, Feathers, Flowers and Furbelows,

(By "Mer

The season of <3eese and Go6d-fill to ! Men passed over joyously, and the day of indigestion and repentance arrived m due time. Judging from the festive air that pervaded the Sydney streets, and the perspiration and contented smiles of the business people, the wave of prosperity that struck Sunny New South Wales, some time ago has remained at high tide ever since. Was there ever so much gladness m the world before ? There was much money, spent on frills and furbelows, jewels, toys, and nicnacs. The mammon of unrighteousness was never idle for a moment. *• » ■ Persons who provide, amusement for the ungodly are reaping a golden harvest. By the same token, the glory pilots raked m a full share of the ponce en Xmas Day, and even the bands of strolling music-makers, who played "Christians, ,, ..Awake, 1 ' . and "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," ,'i-nr stead of "Don't Make Those Scandalous Eyes at Me," made much" sold hay during the Xnias festival. We are not an irreligious people, but we object to an overdose of ■ cant -.and -the rule of Judkins and similar manfreaks. ' "Parsifal," a mystery drama written round the Legend of the Holy Grail, is the evening attraction at Her Majesty's- Theatee. Tittell Brune ! plays Kundry, and is redeemed from ; her evil life "by the love of a perfect' young man. It is a truly idyllic story. and "Parsifal" is too beautiful for words— on tlie stage ; 'but m real life we are apt to call such saints prigs, and watch them ever so closely. And, most times,, the watching repays the trouble, especially if you are searching fpr purple incidents I to fill up a Frenchie story, and keep up Your reputation for 'azure audacities and inherent naughtiness. * • ■ « Our fashions are light arid airy, but I decidedly rakish. The dress is q,uite an afterthought. It is very, shimmecy and summery, and has much .inserjtion. The petticoat and- bodice] are the real costume. They are cobwebby lace, and trimmed with ribbons. Blue ribbons for the young and innocent, pink for the frivolous, scarlet and purple for- the very, very naughty. And unless you wish to be mistaken for a Martianess, you niust wear -a huge ! mosmiito net-like veil, liberally sprinkled with same sticky substance resemblin? sago afloating down your back. At night, m the moonlight by the sea, you wrap 1 this round your classic features, and turn your eyes on your ownest, and try to look like one of Mrs Henry Wood's sheeted e^hc-st heroines. If you do not £&t a bite m this fetching summer costume, I can only advise golf or ballet skirts.

But the side, shows are many. One plump concert singer looks like a quarter of beef i>n her diaphanous attire, and yours truly finds herself afraid to breathe lest the air concussion should cause the stitches of the lady's blouse to burst, and leave her posing ■ as Venus without even a coat of whitewash-.

The 'gilded wife of Mummer Willoughby, of "The New Clown" Show, is leading the fashion m extra swell clothes. Groomed m grey as tight fitting; as her own cuticle, with her brightly tinted hair dressed G iftson fashion, and a moss-green, hat on her ear. she created a sensation m Pittstreet the other afternoon. The shes trir>Ded round to .admire : and wonder who the tip-top frocker was. Of course.one little tabby said it must be very uncomfortable to (tuck a 25---waist into a 19-inch corset. Some girls are very, catty, ■ ■

Premier Carruthers played my lord bountiful, and announced -the reduction of railway freights and rates, the abplibion of school fees, and rebates oh municipalities . as his Christmas gifts to the taxpayers. Needless to say, our country cousins will rejoice at the reduced 1 railway fares, and paterfamilias and "the mother of ten" will shout "Hurrah !" because of -the abolition of school fees' Threepence a head is a considerable item when the quiver is full. Education is now free and compulsory m New South Wales —a boon that the youthful Bananalanders have enjoyed for many: long yeaa-s. .

While on the subject of schools and fees, I may mention that the hand that shanks the kid . does "not ttemble when it; receives its monthly screw. The school teachers '..' and school manns, at their annual convent-ion, complained that their salaries were not m proportion to their great qualifications and manifold v duties. Apparently, modesty is not the saving ra-ace of the kid educator. That talkative person can blow his own trumpet with the vigor of a sock-and-bus-fri-n actor cha'\

Concerning voting. All the defeated blame the apathy of the electors for their downfall, and worthy gentlemen, from Sir Harry Rawsbn down the social scale to the Domain Diogenes, -are assuming the perpendicular on the slightest provocation to affirm that it is the whole duty of man and woman to vote. Mrs Molyneux Parkes, who is- rather a oeldbrity m a ■funny .sense, and affords much amusement to men and women by her platform utterances, suggests that electors who fail to record their votes shall be severely punished. Of suoh is the kingdom of petticoat govvernnient.

I'm afraid the shrieking sisterhood m -Fosland will get precious little sympathy or moral support from Australian women. We did not brawl and quarrel and fight for the franchise, and though the great majority of women accepted it as their right, and were glad to get; it, I doubt if they would have rioted if it had been denied them. Miss Rose Scott, to whom all the credit of the franchise m New South Wales is due, would have said, m her hesitating, small voice, "I think we should have a de*

:rie May.")

putation to Hie Premier," and so on. None of the women's leagues ssem at all anxious to 'take up the cause of the brawling suffragettes-, and £yen the knowledge that 'Augusta McDougall, of this State, has been fined, a qiuidtet for creating a disturbance m the British talking shop, does not disturbs their equanimity. •■■ • « ' The latest escapade of the suffragettes—sounding a policeman's whistle and drawing all the Bobbies from Parliament House doors and then rushing its sacred portals— is strongly reminiscent of a Chowder Bay push on a wild jag. I'm afraid rabies must be very virulent m the old r ome land at'tha present time. • « ♦ Some persons achieve fame, and some have it thrust upon them, but the individual who manufactures puce pills for boiled people is blessed, by the "gods. A leadiQe. 1 light of -the^pink, pills and bile beans business lefct- an' estate sworn for probate at £1,300, 000, and his nephew, who died at Pennant Hills, Sydney, at the age of 36, : left £G&,953. Dr. Rarnado's home for boys benefits by £10,000. . * ■ ' *■ ■* There is an old saw about the Whistling woman and the crowing hen, but m these days woman is forgiven a 'lot it she is young and presentable. Aileen Neili, a 20-year-old fdamsel who can whistle "II Baccio,'' v'The Spring Son?," and all, sorts of operatic airs with the ease of a canary, visits the Downs to perform at some Caledonian sports. Once Alteon purses up her lips, even the most censorious critic of the whistling woman, will be converted. .»* * . . We've heard so much about the superfluous woman that' it is a- treat to find that, "the scarcity of girl" is the question of the moment. In Maoriland, boot manufacturers are asking for the immigration of girls to work 'in their boot factories, and m Sydney the cry .'is for domestic servants. Just because the girls took" a few weeks, off graft for Xmas, the ok! .daones threaten to swamp the. country and city, with, girls from 'Ome to teach the local Mary Ann a lesson. Interviews wjth hotelkeepers and the better, class •of boardinghouse keepers do not bear' out the complaints about the scarcity of maids. These . people, who keep ser T vants for special work, pay them fairly, feed and lodce them well, and give them certain hours off, find no difficulty m getting servants. Some of them have hundreds of names, on their hooks. It is the suburban'missus—the sort that count the potatoes and photograph the joint — that find the maid such a vanishing lady. "Mary Ann" objects to the" Missus putting on frills at' ithe expense of her "little Mary." '

We have a queer and cranky set m Sydney looking for converts to' their particular ; form of! religion. They call themselves "Christian Israelites." Their* headquarters are at Brenton Harbor, U.S. of America. Mary and John, two long-haired, miserable-looking creatures, started the Sydney campaign, and now Frank; and Lulu have joined them. Both men and women allow their hair to grow long, and wear it a-hanging down their backs. Makes one feel inclined to send thami a box of hairpins for the New Year. The two most prominent features of the new religion are the abstention from meat and niatrimony. Both are sinful, according to the "Flying Rollers," the name the ungodly have be^ stowed upon these half-demented' creatures. The funny point is that, though they travel m couples, the bond between them is purely brotherly and sisterly, which shows the advantage of having a saintly character when you go a-globe-trotting with a male .creature that is not your husband. They preach "no death, but life of the body and the spirit on this planet when this- planet shall be redeemed from, the curse of sin and return to jits Eden state." * •» ■ • Santa Claus put this poem m my stocking. It rather gives away my ancientness, but reincarnation twaddle is fashionable m 'igh, sociaty at present.

FASHION'S PHASES

When first I whispered words of love, . When first you turned aside to hear, The winged griffiii'-flew .'above, The mammoth ' gayly gambol'd neat ; ■I wore the latest filling m skins, Your deck-leaf dress had just been mended And fareened up with fishes' fins— The whole effect was really splendid. i Again— we wandered by the Nile, j In Egypt's far, forgotten land, And watched the festive crocodile Devour papyrus from your hand. Far off across the land we saw The trader urge his flying camel ; Bright shone the scarab belt you wore, Clasped with a sphinx of rare enamel. : A-gain— on Trqjan plains I knelt ; Alas ! m vain I strove to speak | And tell you all the love I felt In more or less Homeric Greek ; . Perhaps my helmet strap was tight And checked the thoughts I fain would utter, Or else your robe or dreamy white | Bewildered me acd made me stutter. Once more we change the "mise-en- | scene" ; | The white road curves across the | .-■ hill; Excitement makes you rather plain. But on the whole I love you still. As wreathed with veils and goggle's Wu-., And dad m mackintosh and leather Snug m our motor built for two We skim the Long Bay road together.