FEMININE FANCIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 147, 11 April 1908, Page 7

FEMININE FANCIES.

The Polo Tournament has been responsive for vari.ous dinners and other parties m honor of the visitors. On Wednesday evening week Mrs Walter Strang gave a large dinner at the Grand Hotel, and after . the dinner took the party to West's Pictures. On the same evening Mrs J. G. Wilson, of Bulls, had a small party and Mrs R. Levin gave a dinner at the Empire Hotel, talcing her guests afterwards to the Opera House.

Our sisters m Fogland seem determined to get the vote, if energy and enterprise count for . anything ; and have used some extraordinary schemes to bring grist to the suffragist mill. One day four • elegantlydressed ladies took their- stand on the railway station, each armed with a box labelled "Votes for Women," and bailed up -the crowds of fashionable women who went^ to Kensington, High-street, to view the spring fashions . Some of the few people who dropped their coin into the' collecting boxes recognised m the collectors four distinguished women writers, Miss Violet Hunt, . Miss Sinclair, Miss Clemens Housmann, and Miss Evelyn Sharp. At the Liv-erpool-street station, the Brompton Tube, and Notting Hill .. Gate, there were more collectors , who all worked with enthusiastic zeal. At the headquarters of the Women's Social and Political Union fresh plans were matured quickly. One lady, who is "the possessor of a very fine voice, ■ said, "To-morrow night I am going to sing outside the West, End clubs. I shall try Pall Mall and Piccadilly, and possibly the West End squares,, and of course I shall take collectors with me." Several announced their intention of singing m front of the theaters, . and other means adopted were o-igajn-grinding, crossing-sweep-ing, a*nd boot^blacking. The street artists are awaiting fine weather to begin their' efforts. - One enthusiast was living on, prison diet for a week, devoting the difference iv cost between that and ber ordinary teres to the fund. The ;ob ject was to raise £1000, but a quarter of this sum was realised .on the^' first day. Several thousand collecting cards were distributed . among the various branches of the Union all over the country.

I saw the other day that Tom Price, Premier of Soujvh Australia said that "since the women of Australia had, had the vote they had greatly purified Australian politics, for women would not vote for immoral men. Tom Price made a great mistake, for the women of Australia'put Mr Joseph Carruthers and many others, too numerous to mention, into Parliament. Wo women are not so well politically educated as, men and we are too apt to ■believe, thd candidate's;. promises. Whereas the men have ho faith m promises and they look at his past career (minus the morality) '' and sec if he \is a man who can and does stand by his. word. And, again, we put, too muclf faith m the temperance mam. To shut up all the hotels is to tamper with men's freedom. You cannot make men abstain by Act of Parliament. Moderation is good, but we shall never breed a nation on ginger beer.

Mr and Mrs G. B. Russell left here last Friday- for a six months' trip to the Big Smoke and America. A series of farewell afternoon teas were given to. Mrs Russell by her Wellington friends.

Mr James Adamson, M.A., LL.B., Edinburgh, the new Dean of the Faculty of Law at Victoria College, arrived m Wellington by the Warrimoo. He will taJce up his duties immediately. Mr Adamson-is a bachelor of 37 years and -has had a brilliant career m the Law classes, and gained the degree of Batohelor of Laws "with distinction" m 1806. We opine

that Mr A damson will find he need not spend his -'spare time by his lonely'fire unless it is by inclination.

Surely, the outrage committed m the Kelburnei district will lead .to more police supervision m that neighbourhood. If we are not careful we shall have that scoufge called "Larrikinism" amongst us" Larrikins are noxious weeds, and grow a,pace. Sydney was and is at times terrorized by them. Only as far back as last Christmas they fancied a little sport such as roast policeman, and 'that unfortunate man was almost done to a turn before he was rescued. This type of creature cannot be too firmly or hardly dealt with ; they are usually cowards who dread physical pain as much as they like to inflict it on others. . There are also some grave complain ts, made as to the conduct of the human parasites m. connection with the Botanical Gardens. Women and children have been insulted by the human weeds, who are a blot on tbe face, of nature.

Miss Eva Champion, the New Zealand contralto, who is ibeing financed by the Girls' Realm Guild to enable her to study music m Fogland, leaves early m May. Her friends and sympathisers are requested to contribute a silver coin, from 6d upwards. Well, it is a much more sensible idea than giving her a travelling bag or a bangle, and m the event of the climate not agreeing witb her, would help to defray her expen-. ses back again 1

_. Strange things happen; m .Sydney. Here is one of them. ; A double wedding, ithat of a grandmother of over 60, arid her eldest grand-child of 18, both were married to relatives of the same . name. The white-haired lady and the girl m ber teens made • a striking contrast, and the friends held divided opinions as to which bride looked the best. '■;■•■» a ■ ■ ■ . m

Yet another mishap occurred to the Wedding Flora this week*. Thefcridal party are all ready to proceed to the church, and the bouquets have failed to turn up. They 'phone up the florist who has the order to know* the reason of the delay. .The answer comes back that they are even now on. the road to be delivered. The bridesmaids cluster round the window to watch the approach of the messenger. Alter , three-quarters of an hour's wait they think it unsafe to keep the bridegroom waiting any longer, so proceed to the church without the. flowers. En-quiries after result m the news that the messenger had bungled the address arjd left the flowers at a house where there was a funeral m progress, so' those flowers went to church. an.yway.-

The special correspondent of the Christchurch , "Press" in' Sydney has been interviewing Mr Philip Newbury, the' well-known tenor, on the subject of 'colonial singers and musicians at Home. It is for young Arnr old Trowell, the Wellington 'cellist, son of Mr Thomas Trowell, that Mr Newbury reserves his great- praise. So far as colonial musicians are concerned, "he is absolutely, prodigious" ix his verdict. ■ Indeed', he goes so far as to say that Trowell is the greatest Living virtuoso on the 'cello.

Ihe pervailihg' note m the winter scheme of color is violet, whilst that for the coming spring is geranium pink— and neither of these colors can be treated with impunity. It really seems absurd for there to be any special color, because each woman should ha-ve enough good taste to choose the color that is most becoming' to her generally. , It is only one w^pman out of ten that can stand any shade of violet, and for those that have a tendency to embonpoint, there is nothing so suitable as black, and one can always wear it. Now is the time- to think about cream lace on the bodice to relieve tea gowns, and that gives us a very large scope. A tea gown is such a comfortable garment for winter afternoons, and can he as elegant as one wishes or can afford. lln some cases it is hard to tell where the tea-gown leaves off and the dinner-dress begin,s, espec„a_]ir if made m the Em>pire fashion, and those long, graceful [inds suit all. Velvet is the most suitable material because one can get such nice, soft tones m all colors aiid beyond a little lace it requires no other trimming.