FEMININE FANCIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 145, 28 March 1908, Page 4

FEMININE FANCIES.

The attendance of the public at the Zoo concert was very poor, and altogether" the hall presented a cold and cheerless aspect. It was a wet. night, but I think it was that people were not so keen on the education to be derived from populating our Zoo and not the inclemency of the weather that caused such a poor attendance. Besides, suppose the lioness we purchase should belong to the new cult of femininity and refuse to undertake the responsibilities of motherhood ? Then, our good music and services, to say nothing of our good money, would he literally thrown, not to the dogs, but- to the lions. There was a good programme provided. The opening number was an organ solo, "Romance m D flat 1 ' (Lemaire) by Mr Horace Hunt, Mus. i Bac, who, also played "March Funcbre et Chant Seraplique." Mr Arthur Ballance sang, "My Fairest Child" (Alfred Hill), the violin obligato being played by the composer. He was recalled and sarar "Time was I Roved the Mountains" (Lohr) . Mrs C. G. Worsiey sang "Mon Coeur S'ouvre a- la Voix" (Saint Saens), a beautiful air. Miss Gertrude Hunt, who is new to Wellington audiences, ! sang Tosti's "Good-bye," and as an encore, "Good-night, Beloved" (Noel Johnston). She has a good voice, and when she .can. overcome the nervousness that was most apparent, cannot fail to do well. ' Miss Hunt also sang m (Woodford-Finden) duet with Mr Ballanco, "Kingfisher Blue." But the most popular item of the eyening was the "Waiata' Poi" song sung by our versatile Alfred himself. Until now we were unaware that m addition to his other musical talents he whs the owner of an excellent tenor voice. He sang with' a verve and abandon that , carried all before him, and was applauded to the echo. Miss Minnie Caldon was; recalled for her rendition of "The Links O 1 Love." Messrs Serl, Carr, Warren am? Halley sang "Beauteous Clouds" (Wernier) admirably. Herr i Max Hoppe gave as violin solo's an "Andante" (by Hunt), and "Hungarj ian Dance' '.(Eichorn). , The accompaniments were shared by Miss Amy Remmirigto I,'1 ,' and Mr Hunt. • ■ ' . "■ In a swell "boarding-house m this town public opinion is very- much exercised as to the behaviour i of three of. its principal inmates— a man and his wife and a single gentleman. Married lady and single geni leman are continually' together under oil and every circumstance, whilst the husband hovers conveniently m the background. ; And the others are worried' to distraction wondering if he (the husband) knows— or how long it .will *be before he will know. The problem ha : d not been solved when this went to print. ■■■'■*■ ■'- -. ■■• . ■ ..- * ; Heard quite a touching little piece Of romance m connection with a singer of renown.' Her husband is very attentive to her; and- on concert nights always presents her with the bouquet' she appears with in' her first turn. Now, this 'is not done for effect, because no outside knows of' it ? except present scribe.. I know it is the .fashion m these days to latigb at sentiment, but wayi down m our hearts it, still lives and will continue to live, smother it as we will. The people of Blenheim do not enthuse as much over Clara Butt now as they did before she gave a, concert there. And the reason is this. Madame required a private sittingroom ,m. the hotel, and to oblige her the host had determined to turn the commercial room into a private apartment pro tern. Madame inspected the apartment and then swept- into the general drawingr-room of the establishment, which was rather crowded with visitors who had come, from long distances round about Blenheim for the express purpose of hearing the great contralto. This apartment evidently found more favor , in Madame 's ej r e, so with, a majestic wave of the hand and m a tone audible to. all present, she said, "Turn .these people out ; I will have this room." This was more than Mine Host could stand, even from Madame, so he politely but firmly told her that he' could not comply With her impudent request, arguing that these people would patronise his hotel again m the natural course of events, whereas she (Madame) was a bird of passage who mipht never alight there again. Then there was more trouble at the railway station when Madame ascertained that the train was to, carry beside her august self a truck load of pigs. Madame absolutely declined to travel m conjunction with humble but very necessary animals, therefore, the pigs were left behind. Now. a law suit is pending owing to the inconvenience caused, by their non-arrival and the damage done to pork that was left all night m a truck. That station master is now dubious as to whether it was policy to carry the singular instead of the; plural. *•- * . Mr C. Wilson, Chief Parliamentary Librarian, has returned to' Wellington from a holiday visit to New South Wales, where he niade'a short stay m the Blue Mountains, .and <■■ feels much benefttted by the- change. One of! the prettiest and Quaintest Weddings ever celebrated m Wellington was that which took place, on Saturday afternoon ' last at St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral, when MissGrace Rilay, only daughter of Mr A. D. Riley, was married to Mr Erskine Nicol. The Rev. G. P.*Daveys performed the ceremony, and the church was decorated with flowers for the | occasion. The bride's gown consisted of white muslin trimmed with Valencienes lace and insertion made over ' silk.. She wore a beautiful wreath and' veil and carried an oldfashioned little posey of white flowers, and a granny bag of white satin. The bridesmaids were Misses Charlotte Richardson, Kathleen Stott, and Eva Kennedy, and their frocks were of white muslin trimmed with guipure lace, finished off with heliotrope tassels and girdles and long*' ends of white satin ribbon. They wore heliotrope . hats with long white] plumes and heliotrope shoes and ' stockings, and instead of the usual bouquet they carried granny bags of floral silfc and long handled white with heliotrope borders and 'chiffon frills. The youngest bridesmaid, who walked before the bride, carried a posey.. After the wedding

a reception was held at the home of the bride's parents m Willis-street, nearly all the guests being unmarried people. Amongst the guests were Mesdames Stott, Maclean, MacEwan, Nelson, Simpson, and Bristow* • * .. " ' Re the servant problem, the lady, writer of the " Bulletin" says :—Ai friend of mine, living art Potts Point (I mention the locality to prove that it is a place of no inexorable dintance from the city Saturday-night crowd and the music halls) advertised for a housemaid. She pleaded m the "wanted" column for three days but got no applicant. Then she determined to abandon the quest for the golden girl, and advertised for a young man, to assist m housework. Twelve men appeared for the billet before 9.50 a.m. following the appearance of the advertisement. Th* sentence really deserves italics, for it» suggests a startling state of affairs. Women are deserting domestic service and taking to men's work and men are flocking into women's domestic domain. My friend tells me that the majority of the applicants were under forty, they were very presentable m appearance, and had undeniable references. The thirteenth man ■—he called too late >to have a chancy —was 35 years of age, and also had capital references. He. had been doing housework for some time, He kept the garden and yard iai. order, scrubbed, swept, cooked the meals, waited at table, took the children out. walking, and on washing days put the clothes m soak for the wash. An-d the wage he asked was (Js a week ! Most of the twelve men who preceded him asked 6s or Bs— none more than I.os a week. The man who got the place has proved a treasure to the hitherto worried lady. He is *o quick, quiet, and thorough m Hs 'his work. The damsd problem r.o longer interests my friend. If h^r parlor-maid leaves she says she'll get a parlor-man. The thirteenth applicant would have been just him she thinks. . .-■,;:• • ; "" • ■ ■'* Some wag • suggerted that Mr Jimmy Djkes, should have been nn the Zoo concert programme as the •'lion comique." Perhaps Jiiftmy would get ''savage.'* * .. • •■ -' One of the "old barks" at the Irish concert the other evening came' m fairly well charged after the interval and started applauding an iteui when the rest of the audience had finished Seeing people glaring at him -he im, mediately crossed himself,' 'evidently thinking he Was m church. / Rev. Mr Bates said m Ms speech at the Zoo concert that Friday was th<> windiest, day we had had for quite a time. It is a pity it was not ra ; sf <l a little more for the lion. Wo r lf- erespecting lioness will let -herself l 0 for £30. . What was the" watchman at tne Museum; doing when the firemen broke vn. It was a false alarm, but 'if a fireman can break m what sort. of a soft job a burglar Would have. Fancy a valuable State collection .that has cost the country some thousands, and could m some cases never, be replaced ,i being at the mercy oi a. watchman^ who must evidently . be stonedeaf, or else at the first noise w6uldhave opened the door, and so have saved Hhe country the expense of a new lock. I wonder if the Government would he too proud to taVe this hint— supply the watchman with snuff. . . • ■ Mr • Laurie, superintendent' engineer of the Koi "Guam Steamship Company, of Penanar, and Mrs Laurie 'a" daughter of Mr Samuel Gilmer of ihe Royal Oak Hotel) arrived m Wellington per the Maheno 6ft Wednesday last. ■ <■' • ■ • * • ■ Mr K. F. Travers. fpr 35 years en the staff of the Wellington " Harbor Board, has been 'granted six mo.n+hs' leave. of absence, and leaves Wcl'in^toh on Thursday by the Arawa for England. He was the recinicnt r-f a presentation from his fellow-em-ployees on Saturday.