LADIES' COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1670, 24 November 1883, Page 27

LADIES' COLUMN.

I'm twrld wa# tad. — ihc >jardtn wot v nild; AtvA man, At Bermit tightA — Sill woman ttnlftd. , -Campbmll.

Society and Fashion Gosiiip. —A singular man of Sullivan , county, N.Y., has eloped with hi mother-in-law. % —There is a tendenoy even ia Paris to wear lower and broader heels on walking shoos. Many ladiev have adopted the broad, low English heel. _ — An Englishman recently bequeathed his two daughters their weight in £1 bank notes. One of the girls received £54,200 and the other £50,344. — A young woman in an Ohio town has married her brother's wife's father. When last seen she was busy with a compass and a dictionary trying to study out what relation she wad to herself. — -Five hundred yards of narrow ribbon which is scarcely more than braid in width are used on a single dress in rosettes, bovrs, aud loops that form a fringe of which the whole vest and tablier are made. — Dressmakers are now employing padding just below the waist line in every dress. This does away with the necessity of a bustle, aud most ladies find it more comfortable as well as more convenient. — Hata are ornamented with long rich feathera falling on the shoulders, either plain or shaded, ana the velvet bows are decorated with metal or enamelled pins and "other ornaments. —The thatched bonnet is a summer novelty. It is made of grey porcupine straw with round high crown and clinging sides that are covered with bunches of grapes, berries, or plums, and edged with rows of pointed lace. —Mantles are made short ,and puffed, and raised at the back, but are considerably tight oned over the shoulders and chest ; in fact, the more they restrict the arms the greater is their elegance. — Miss Fortescue, who is about to marry Lord Cairns' harum-scarum son, is the niece of Tonniel, the clever cartoonist of Punch. The young lady is bright, c ever, and is able to earn her own living. That is more than can be said for the young man she is about to marry. — The tiniest of bonnets are those that will be most fashionable this season, largo shapes being reserved for the few ladies who cannot be persuaded to wear Small chapeaux, either because they find them unbecoming, or simply because they do not like them. — Straw hats are to be very much adopted by young ladies, principally white, iv the finest makes, trimmed with flowers matching the toilette, the turned up brim lined with fluted satin, and the crown draped with fancy gauze, amidst the. folds of which is placed the bouquet or spray of flowers. — -Low shoes are universally worn this summer in tho country and at the most fashionable hotels. Patent leather ties are considered in the best style, and the'ao may have tan-coloured or blue kid tops with only tips of the glossy leather. Low heels are ;u bettor tuste than the curved high French heels, and of course are much more comfortable. — Flowers are decidedly in tho ascendant as ornaments, ladies having discovered that they are more in accordance with summer sunshine than feathers. There are, therefore, the daintiest of bouquets, sprays, wreaths, and c on capotes composed entirely of flowers, specially prepared to meet this feeling. — The latest society novelty in England ia a new method of playing cricket. The first fashionable game under the new rules was played recently at Warminster. Eleven gentlemen played against eleven ladies. The gentlemen bowled with their left hands, and batted with broom handles. The ladie3 used regular bats, and caught with both hands. The game ended in a. tie, and is said by the swells who attended it to have been " jolly and exciting." — At a recent woman's rights meeting in London, a letter from Mr Fawcett, member of Parliament, was read. In this letter Mr Fawcett offered the following suggestion : — " What is happening ir! other countries may warn us that the efforts made a few years since to impose further restrictions on the labour of adult women may be renewed, and in view of the extreme difficulty which tens of thousands of women now have to encounter in earning their own living, 1 cannot help thinking that they should have'an opportunity of giving effect to their opinions on those subjects before ajiy further impediments are imposed upon their industry. — Among those who received the distinction of the Legion of Honour on the occasion of the national fete was Mme. Frary-Grosse, who served her country with touching fidelity and devotion during the " terrible year. " She attached herself to the ambulance in 1870-71, aud formed a small hospital of her own, nursing the sick and wounded._ She went under fire with the men, and distinguished herself in action. She was mentioned in the order of the day by General Ducrot, and after the war her name waa put forward by those who had seen her at work as a worthy recipient of an honour which was bostowed right and left on men who had never drawn a sword or nsen a shot fired. The difficulties of conferring the red ribbon on a woman wero so great that Mmc Frary-Grosse was pa^sQd. °ver fee, and fgain* — TorMd etoWiß^s have lately aburaed

almost fabulous priced,' b'e6a\ise they are considered more chic than silk for day wear. They have, however, a great defect, wb'oh'fe to' form wrinkles on tbe ancles, and they Ci v nrfot bfe drawn so tightly as silk, consequently tba? are not nearly so becoming to the feet as either' silk or Balbriggan stockings. Striped stuckings aro no longer fashionable ; on the contfary, they are considered very vulgar. What ia very fashionable, however, aud necessarily in good taste, is gold or silver " dusted" silk mocking*, aa if sand of gold were scattered over a black silk stocking, or a shower of silver dust dashed over a blue Btooking. Of course these are only worn with evening dreaß, though we vef no doubt; we ohall Boon see them with walking costumes ; and thus a very pretty fancy becomes vulgar by being worn oat of time and out of place. a "Nobody," says Nym Crynkle, appears to 1 have noticed one effect of the electric light-^ifc I is going to make brunettes fashionable again. The white glare is, in a colour sense, death to the blonde. The pinkest »f them take on little shadows under the eyes, and purple tints come into their lips, and their cheeks get aahen. I am speaking now of a natural blonde. The j effect upon the artificial bleacher is simply | cadaverous. But the brunette sparkles under !it like the evening star. What a dreadful atate ; of existence the dear enamelled will lead when they can neither go out at d«y or night 1 I suppoao you know that tho hot Him heats the facea of enamelled women, gets hot enough'to blister the fleah underneath, which would pplit the artificial covering. If, then, the elec.trio light shnta them iv at night also, they might as well be enamelled all through in the old Egyptian style, and pul into a sarcophagus. — The fashion of arranging the hair quite on the top of the head ia gaining favour, and to many heads and youthful faces is most; becotn ing. Some of the fanciful large hats, copied from old pictures, are made for this stylo of coiffure. Other hatß and bonnets are made so ■hort at the back an to necessitate a good show of hair. Good Bized hairpins in tortoiseshell, with the tops encrusted with sparkling paste, are fattened into these plaits and coils. Combs especially of cut steel, are again to be seen. Many young ladies arrange their plait of hair round the top of the head from the sides, just where the fringe of hair commences. Narrow bands of velvet, cut steel, or pearls are worn over the head in the evening, and, for very full dress, a tuft of feathers rather to one side : hut the fashion of wearing but little in the hair still continues, except in the case of diamonds, when they are exhibited in the shape of sprays, stars, and pins. — The Queen. — Fifteen years ago Maggie Summerfield, a very pretty girl, waa connected with Afrs Drew's Arch street Theatre as a ballet dancer, as waß her sister. Both gained great reputations as dancers, and were known in all parts of the country. Maggie Sximmerfield was always a favourite. Both girla wero respected for their many virtues, and their friends at Philadelphia were numerous. Among Maggie Summerfield's admirers was a young man whose father waa the senior member of a prominent firm of manufacturers of chandeliers and gas fixtures of this city. He paid her constant attention, and it became known that the young people were engaged to be married. The younpr man's people objected to the match because Miss Summerfield was a danseuso. He argued, but the family H stood firm, and their decision was irrevocable. Their next move was to overcome his passion. They believed it to be but a passing fanoy, that might be obliterated by travel. The disconsolate young man was sent to China ; but before starting on his enforced journey he saw his sweetheart, and they exchanged vows of constancy/ The young man spent fifteen years in China and made a fortune of 100,000dbl. A month ago Miss Summerfield concluded her season with a wellknown company and came to Philadelphia to spend the summer. Her lover returned to Philadelphia last week, married Miss Summerfield, and they^ are now atj the seashore. — Chicago Timea. — Here ia rather a good story, hailing from the Continent. A Belgian bridegroom, not many days ago, being about to start for Paris on his honeymoon tour, was informed by his bride that she thought of concealing several thousand francs' worth of lace about her, hoping by its sale to pay the cost of their journey. The bridegroom was not, however, smitten with this frugal project, and pointed out that there were custom house officers and a female searcher at Ercquelines, who were sometimes •struck with an unaccountable fancy for examining passengers' pockets. This he said, being a timid man, and his bride, to hnmour him, promised to give up h^r plan, but, of course, she secreted the lace all the same without telling him anything about it. As the train approached the French frontier the husband reflected that if his wife were not searched his fears would be mocked at as huving been groundless, and he would start on his married career }vitu his prestige impaired. This was not desirable. Tho rather was it essential that he should from the outset aaseit hia infallibility. So when the train stopped at Ercquelines, and the passengers alighted, the Belgian bridegroom left his bride's side for a moment, and sliding up to a custom house officer whispered, "IthinTvif you search that lady yonder you may find seme lace." The officer winked, and the happy bride wa3 accosted with an itiviLation tp walk into the female searcher's room. She turned pale and tottered, but was led away, and five miuutes later dismal sounds of hysterics were heard. Then the officer reappeared, and said to the horrified husband, ' Thank you, sir, it is a good capture. The lady will go to prison and half tho fine will go to you." " May I?" When she was asked to express an opinion on some trivial matter she looked timidly round, with her clear eyes upon each of the masculine persons, and said : •'May I?" Hera we had the i\ y and the oak reduced to practice. Every man in that group grew an inch or two in stature and in girth without knowing it. A new magnanimity stirred in him and he cried ; " Certainly, certainly !" I have met that "May l" woman a good many times since, and she always walked ovo* tho stoniest places of life with aylph-like- comfort, for all the masculine persons put their necks down for her to step upon. She is the superb phantom of the social circle, the mistress of the mob, the empress of the nasculine persons' everywhere. Your ordinary masculine person doesn't want to be conjured. He wants to be cajoled. And in every set of pretty women who tyrannise with their black eyes, and coerce with their saucy conduct there is one grey-eyed " May 1 " creature who quietly locks up all the men's hearts ; and then, in her own sweet and docile way, tortures, and pawns, aud burns them afterwards, without so much as a protesting squeak.

Don't ask me to name them all. I have one in my mind now who clung to an observer with the delicacy of a tear and the sweet softness of an odour. But she put 200dol. a week in the bank and always said to the receiving teller with a winning pathos : " May I?" And tno receiving teller, feeling a thrill of

masculine sympathy, always- responded with an assuring " Certainly." Such superb women are created to keep alivft the Masculine ideal of women. It would utterly die out if men could not ge> at intervals acd refresh their memories with tb« angelic impalpable character, set like a lambent flame on a moat palpable physique. I admit© the " May 1 " woman, She not only wears an expression that, as Emerson says, appear to b&.lo"oking for something better fchau she has ever found- but her innocent conduct ' always assures us thai she has found something better thas the ever locked for.-— -Kaw Teria | World.