NOTES AND NEWS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 135, 14 July 1914, Page 4

NOTES AND NEWS.

Miss "Wright, Beverly Road, Timaru, is visiting Christchurch. Mrs Sidney Williamson, Christchurch, ia staying at Beverly House, Timaru. Dr and Mrs Thomas (Timaru) arrived in Christchurch last night. Mr and Mrs Hugo Friedlander, Ashburton, were passengers for Wellington last night. Pinckney has returned to Christchurch from a visit to Mrs Barker, Nile Street, Timaru. Mrs E. J. Le Cren has returned to Christchurch from a visit Co Timaru. Miss L. Holmes (Dunedin) is. visiting the North Island. Dr and Mrs Bamford, who were in Christchurch last week, have returned to Auckland. Miss* Pyne is in Wellington for the races, and is staying, with Mrs Algar "Williams. « Mr and Mrs Westenra (North Can- . terbury) are in Wellington for the races. Mr and Mrs Jessop (Christchurch) are.* staying at the Empire Hotel, Wellington. Mrs John M'Pherson has returned to Dunedin after having spent six months in the North Island with her husband, and" visiting her daughter, Mrs Mazen- , £arb, of Wellington. Mrs Gower, Burns,. who went to Timaru for the Orchestral Concert, was the guest of Mrs Westmacott, Nile Street, while there. She returned to Christchurch yesterday. Amongst those who left for Wellington last night for the race festivities this week were Mesdames Elworthy, Bowen, Wright, and Grigg, Misses Sin-clair-Thompson, Parsons, Helmore, Gould, Rich, Johnson, and Bowen. Miss Melville (Auckland) arrived in Wellington on Saturday to attend the Municipal Conference, which opens today. Miss Melville is a sblicitor practising in Auckland, is a member of the City Council—the only lady in New Zealand who occupies that position—rand is a, vice-president of the Civic League in Auckland. She is staying at Cstulfield House. A very pleasing ceremony took place on Monday evening at Gill's, Confectioners, when Mr H. T. Gill made a presentation to his late nfanag'eress. Miss Doell, who is leaving to get married. The .presentation was made in the presence of all the employees, and took the form of a handsome silver tea service. Mrs Cotterill, Mrs Courage,, and Mrs Killian gave a' skating party at the rink yesterday afternoon. A dainty tea was served during an interval in the pastime. Amongst those invited were , Mrs H. Harper, Mrs Pyne, the Misses Pyne, Mrs Deans, Mrs H. A. Knight, Miss Neroli Knight, Mrs J. Anderson, and Miss Anderson, Mrs Nanearrow sad Miss Nancarrovv, Mrs Lane, and Miss Rich, Mrs Symes/sMrs Blunt, Mrs C. Nedwell, Mrs Cordner, Mrs and Miss ~ "Wilkin, jMrs Godley, Mrs C. Wynn-Wil-liams, Mrs and Miss Hanmer. • Lady Stout and Miss Pullen-Buvry had every reason to be pleased with their meetings yesterday. The meeting held in the lecture room of the y.M.C.A. building in the afternoon was closely packed, a number having to stand along the walls and at the doors. != ~ v 7'™"'Xt-.th e Alexandra Hall in the evening it was just the same, for although a considerable amount of extra seating accommodation was brought in and distributed about the building, there were still a considerable number of people who were forced to stand. Lady-Stout who, although a militant suffragette, de : scribed herself as "nothing so dreadful to look at,'' and said modestly that she thought she might "pass in a crowd,"' looked very charming in a gown of soft violet velvet, and old lace. Miss Pul-len-Burry garbed herself in black.

The season of Twopenny Opera, at the Royal Victoria Hall, Waterloo Road, London, has, just come to an end. For this modest sum such musical treats as "Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rustieana" have been enjoyed by the costers and their friends, and apparently they have thoroughly enjoyed them. Speaking of the woman of totdav, M. Knot, the well-known French writer, says:—"With the Avoman of yesterday has disappeared several Old World aotions, that of beauty above all others. Physical beauty, a rare prh'ilegc, and »ne independent of our will, is yielding to intelligence. The modern woman worships at the shrines of thought, of energy, and of health. She often replaces, and nearly always completes, the supremacy of features by elegance, -which is the supremacy of taste, wit, and % intellect. Those divine levellers of the fate's injustices, frequently replace absent beauty.''

In a recent discussion at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, on the stronger hold women have on life, one of the theories advanced was that the essential cause of death was a wearing out from overwork of the brain cells. Women might be just-as brainy as men, but they did not work their brain cells as vigorously or as continuously as their male relatives. If they did there would

not be so great a disparity in the length oi' life of the two sexes.

The Women's Imperial Health Association has a caravan aptly christened ".Florence Nightingale" touring Cambridgeshire, and making quite a stir among the farmers' wives of the district. The care of children, hints for their upbringing and clothing are taught, and the staff are everywhere hailed as benefactors, and lavishly entertained.

Fearful and wonderful indeed are. some •f those new brocades which claim to

have been inspired by the weird dreams of Futurists and Cubists, writes a London exchange. In their crude colouring they go far beyond even those extraordinary combinations of inharmonious and positively jarring shades which were

christened very apfty last season ".Bulgarian atrocities." Violent and distressing as these colours seemed to be at the time, however, they pale into positive insignificance by the side of the extraordinary effects in bright crimson and yellow, purple and magenta, blue ' and green, which are being offered just now for our admiration, jumbled together anyhow, with a gay disregard of coherent design, although it is possible sometimes to be able to discover something which bears a certain resemblance to an apple or a plum, in the midst of a background of absolutely meaningless twirls and scrolls. Apiart altogether from their invariably violent colours, the designs of these Futurist brocades have a certain air of grotesque barbarity about them which seems to appeal to certain tastes, otherwise they would scarcely be manufactured in such variety and actually sold and worn, as they undoubtedly are at the present moment.