Cats Whispers

NZ Truth, Issue 1198, 15 November 1928, Page 18

Cats Whispers

Hillside Homes ! TITIRANGI, > where the Auckland golf championship girls are smiting one another hip, thigh and all over the place, is really a gorgeous spot when one gets out to it. A few years ago, it was a scenic goal at the end of miles and miles of absolutely unforgivable road, but something has apparently been done' m the matter; for people not only live 'there now — they ask their friends home to tea. Witness the cheery "At Home" which Mrs. Carr Rollett gave .to her many friends, the guests of honor being our old' pals,. Miss Melville and Mrs. Maguire.' .'.'..,' . Mrs. .Carr Rollett wore an .apricot chine dress to . match - the-dainty Iceland poppies with whicli the ■gathering", place was bedight. # But' more attractive even tha,n these gay, trap pings of civilization are the hiige< kauri trees which Titirangi people have readymade m their own backyards. The moment yon arrive at Titirangi, you are . firmly seized by the buttonhole and commanded to "Come along out and see our view." And the. .view is, worth seeing-r-ail . Auckland ..city, both sides of .the turquoise harbor, and, most attractive of all, the, green glades of New Zealand bush, where the kauri, giants still reign supreme. -\ -. I ''„ * '#'./■'■»'■ Everybody's Little Pal ; .- THE sort of- "girl, friend",, everyone would like- is Annie Croft, leading, lady of "The ; Girl Friend" arid "Hit

the, Deck;" fwc p.lays which have brought .a . b r.o'a-ti smile to the face ,oJ Auckland city. ' ' ■ Apart from hei clever stage presentations, Annie makes for herself c host of friends bj her championship of that much- criti : cized person, th« modern girl. As modern as ypv please is Annie But that doesn't stop her from having the little graces of i sympathy and M un d erstand- SJS ing which &jtß gave charm Kgi to the woman mH of an older WgE "I love the girls who have the gift' of feeling," she says; "they are the humans who will get most out of life and will radiate happiness wherever they are." And behind the laughter m Annie's plays is a deal of tenderness and human sympathy. You will find the plays light and whimsical affairs and the player herself, a versatile young lady, particularly m her part of Kitty Brown. An-

nie is about five feet nothing of daintiness, has arched eyebrows, twinkling eyes, and the many other feminine attributes which make the old world go dizzily round. „ #■■.• • * : Feet First ! THE cry of mankind penetrates dolor - ously to those high places wherein women sit, sipping morning tea — or, if they're modern girls, the morning-after-the-night-before cocktail. Why can't women (says he) look at their feet?; The woman of to-day is top-heavy. She spends fifteen guineas of her husband^ ill-gotten, gains on a fur stole arid fifteen shillings on a pair of sandals. And her . shoes, are not only cheap; they are unsuitable. ' On the few rare occasions when she does really bother- about her footwear harmonising with the, rest of her cos-, tume, she buys light-colored shoes which cheerfully,-." inevitably and hideously, "spot"' the first time a drop of rain looks at them. - ; ■.-.».' There's, lots of character (the irate gentleman continues)' m shoes. They; should be chosen for • neatness,- com-, fort, suitability .and 'beauty.' Xnd :they should be kept as weil-grbpmed as the fair wearer's Eton ' crop/not. ; dusted over with a velvet pad/ ; : One can rea d almost the .entire past, present and future of a Svoman. ■from hdr shoes.',. , . ... J . ■.'.: j . .'•"• Does she .wear the ."fancy;- footwear" which rejoices m : bits .<' of • imitation snake or lizard skin?' -Her ' mantelpiece will proan beneath' a , weight of , unsightly "junk" and she will. spend, half her time .buying furniture at bargain sales. ■ ■■ '■ . '.. ,' : ••■' ',' ■' ' ■ •■/' ':■'.'-•.. Does she totter about .on' Baby Grand heels?, She niust. have 'something to stiand on, since she's lost her dignity; Does she wear cheap ; shoes, under, the delusion that np, man ;cpuld remove his eyes from- her three-guinea hat? She Trill probably indulge also.in'chesap face-powder and frightful face-cream. Since (concludes, our long;-suffering oynic) women must, and . w ill have large feet arid long legs, the- very least they can do is , to keep an eye on the scenic effect of such appendages. Feet first!

Bells and Bouquets A WEDDING group that looked as though it nright have been copied from an Early Victorian valentine was that of Marjorie Hayes, only daughter of the R. B. Hayes ■ house, Karori, Wellington, on whose finger Leslie Elsby, of Cheshire (no relation to the cat), placed the 1 ring. Marjories dark curls were concealed beneath limerick" lace, and her dress was of white satin, made with long sleeves and outlined with rhinestones at the waist. • The lasses who bore . the. bouquets wore shell-p ink net gowns, Victorian style, all frills, as to the skirts, ' and surmounted with crinoline straw hats, tied under .tlie -chin with .ribbons m a very fetching way. • The small girls, whose respective jobs 'were train-bearing and flowerscattering, wore high-waisted frocks and pink net • caps with side-peaks. ' Marjories dad is one of the Treasury boys and has a nice home named "Ventnor," where • the reception was held. Pink tulips did their stuff m tile drawing-room, and Mrs. Hayes looked very well m a champagne-colored ensemble with fur cuffs and collar the same shade. ■ „*-'-. '.' * ■■• ' '* That Certain Party RATHER a. nice little election -time ■ story is told concerning a nervous lady canvasser who fared forth alone into the wilds where dwell, the people of uncertain votes. A rap at a tumbledown "door- brought forth a stalwart lady who, standing with arms akimbo, glared ferociously at the canvasser. . "Excuse mo, madam 1 ," stammered the nervous one. "but what party does your husband belong to?" ■ "I'm' the party he belongs to," came the stern reply; and a door Klammed. On With The Dance A NOVELTY to be used m conrfec- ' tion with the Dream ot Fair Women- Pageant is a succession of

classical dances, arranged by Joe Knowsley. Lots of moonlight and roses are to make their appearance, and the costume's will range from Greek effects to the powdered wigs and full ballet skirts of the little, French ladies who made eyes . at the bold kings of France. . I The dancers are, m the main, to-be children, and Joe, who has himself taught them to step out, promises one or two sensations. One of these is a little girl from Wellington College, Marlanna. Hekita, who is to be solo danoor m the Cleopatra tableaux. Each Queen will have her specially arranged' music and dance effects,, and the costuming will be the producers peak effort. „• Three men ' are also taking part m the dances, and are at present busy doing biceps -flexing stunts — for the male dancer leads a .strenuous life. Grace and classic posturing -is, however, to be the keynote of the dances

m which the children will take part, and the effects should add considerably to the charm of the pageant. The Queens are only the central figures of a coterie that promises to be brilliant. *' <* * . Shavinp; Without Swears MEET Miss Nita Crane, Wellington's lv one and only girl- barber, who according lo her father, owner of the little Cuba Street saloon m which she works, is as nimble with the tools of her trade as any man he's ever seen. Haircutting, not to mention shaving, runs m the s family. Nita's, great great grandmother- — who hasn't been dead so many years — must have been a pioneer with the shears and scissors, 1 and she was ' also an expert "hairworkec," which means that she used to plait people's curls for bangles, locket-cen-tf'es, *uid lall the queer keepsakes beloved by our sentimental ancestresses. I ■ That part of .the trade Nita leaves well alone, but she will shave, massage, cut hair, shampoo' and persuade whiskers to grow against any man barber m the town. She has not always- worked uncle her/father's .-kindly eye. On leavin;. j Wanganui, her home town, she work - { ed her way all over, the North Island by; virtue of her agile scissors. At one saloon, Avhere she worked for nine months, she recently had- an offer to return as permanent assistant for a •wage: 'of- £5 10s. a week^ — which shows that the trade 'his its attractions for the young and fair. ' Nita likes the work— very much so. As /.well as being a perfectly capable assistant to her father, she's a "draw" m that even the most hardened bachelor likes to have- his week-end growth shaved off by a razor held m light and careful fingers. Lots of the customers come back for .more,- and ' many of them don't forget to bring bunches, of flowers and pretty speeches, too.. . . Nita intends to work her way over to Sydney and throughout Australia m the same manner. But she's New Zealand first and doesn't intend immediately to leaye her Wellington'customers to the mercy of the sterner sex. ■ ' V. ■..■'■ ■:,'••'•.. ' Another, usually masculine art of which 'the /young lady is mistr-ess is that of billiards.. She's a crack player, and. is quite happy' in a saloon,. .which has a billiard parlor attached.