NIGHT WEDDING

Taranaki Daily News, 23 December 1929, Page 17

NIGHT WEDDING

THOMPSON - —DEATH. A popular night wedding ceremony was performed by the Rev. Young at St. Mary’s Church, Hawera, on December 11. Mavis Death, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Death, Lake Road, Hawera, was married to Eric Thompson, eon of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, Fraser Road, Hawera, The chureh, which was beautifully decorated, was filled with relatives and friends. The bride, who was given away by her father, was dressed in a frock of ivory celenese, satin, with a tight bodice which ■ was finished with silver tissue sash and petalled skirt over a silver lace underskirt. Wreaths of orange blossom kept in place the finely worked veil, which trailed slightly, to the ground. The bride’s attendants, Miss Isobel Silson .and ..Miss Violet Deathj were attired in frocks of' Princess Elizabeth blue georgette, with V-shaped necks and long bodices, the skr fwo sichhtiETA long bodices, the skirts of which were finished with flounces at the right. Caps of gold lace with posies of blue were worn. Gold shoes and stockings to match completed their ensemble. Little Misses Joy Winks, cousin of the bride, and Noeline Death, sister, were flow’er girls. They wore frocks of lemon georgette with frilled skirts. They too wore caps of gold lace and blue posies with shoes and socks to match. The bride and her attendants carried sheaves instead, of bouquets, the bride's being of cream and pale pink while the bridesmaids carried pale blue and lemon. The flower girls carried posies of blue and lemon. The bridegroom was attended by his brother, Mr. Jack Thompson, as best man, and Mr. W. Ritter ag groomsman. After the ceremony over 200 guests assembled at the residence of the bride’s parents, where the wedding breakfast was partaken of in a large marquee erected on the lawn. After the hohouVing of the toasts, dancing, cards and musical items occupied the remainder of the evennig. The bride’s "going-away” frock was of blue celenese with hat to match, worn with black satin shoes. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson travelled by car, visiting the Chateau Tongariro and then Ta”yo and ofli A r pkccs of irterrst

THE SILVER FOREST.

A DAY IN BIELOWIECZ. (By E. M. Almedingen.) Bielowiecz! Once the home of the “zouber,” fiercer, rarer and bigger than any bison! Bielowiecz, the Imperial hunting enclosure, with its graceful jewel of a hunting box, its carillon of silver trumpets, its army of stalwart green-clad keepers, their faces mostly scarred, for the “zouber” rarely had an amiable disposition. But Bielowiecz is more than this. It is a forest of white and silver glories, as its’ name denotes, for there the silver birch has come into its own as in no other place in the world. •

When you go to spend a day in Bielowiecz, you don’t think of the*vanished hunting grandeur at all. You go to spend a few hours among the silver birches—and the time is not spent in vain. There is a long, broad avenue leading up to the official enclosure, and the sand beneath the wheels of the carriage gleams green and silver under the delicate leafage of the trees. When you throw your head back, you imagine you are being driven down the nave of a gigantic cathedral with silver and green inlay on its ceiling. There is a wall running round a part of Bielowiecz —a friendly white stone wall—but you don’t . want to concern yourself witli walls and houses on such a day. You leave it behind you and plunge right into the silvery thickness of forest until no sound is heard except your own steps and the bird lilts in the tall swaying branches. You go on } secretly wishing that the vanished “zouber” might thrust his dark shaggy mane in between the silvery trunks. In Bielowiecz the queenly trees stand two and two together, so jealously close that a rabbit would find it difficult to squeeze through. “Two faithful lovers never apart,” say the wise folk round about Bielowiecz, and you sense the truth of that old legend. So much love lives about Bielowiecz —quite soothing love, the kind that does not hurt, but heals instead. Silvery and regal close the trees around you. If you listen well, you can hear a love-song in the rustling of their branches. For you know that all trees have something more in them than just root, trunk, branch and leaf, and a silver birch has love, delicate as the colour of its leaves, strong as its proudly unbent trunk. But' you have wandered far enough and there is a whistle somewhere behind you. You pretend it is an Imperial triumpet summoning you to the presence behind tile white walls, and you go back, but not before you have pressed your cheek against the cool soft silver bark of a birch tree. GOOD HEALTH BY SIMPLE MEANS. POSTURE AND HEALTH. (By H. C. Aylen.—Special to News). An awkward figure is largely due to wrong ways of sitting and standing. Incorrect posture also • has an effect on the health, for it causes the trunk of the body to become compressed and, as the trunk contains the heart, lungs, liver and so on, you will understand that any distortion of the body means distortion of some of all of these organs. The girl in the school-room often gets into bad habits of sitting. She lowers one shoulder, or stoops at the shoulders and waist, and in such an attitude the chest is cramped. The correct way of leaning forward to write is to bend from the hips. A girl is apt also to sit on the edge of the chair, whereas the right way is to sit on the’ whole seat with the lower part of the back against the back of the chair. When reading, the head should not be bent down to the page, blit the page should be raised until it is in such a position that it may bo :'rcad with ease. , ■ i Avoid lounging or lying partly oiiiyour spino in an-. easy chair. Sit straight against its back. If you are very tired, lie down and relax every muscle until the fatigue has passed. A crooked back, prominent hips and elevated shoulders are the results of arm chair lounging. And it is useless to think that bad posture habits can be cured by strenuous gymnastic exercises. They cannot. OTHER BAD HABITS. Another bad habit is that of sitting with crossed knees. By sitting with knees crossed, the body is thrown out of line, pressure is put on important nerves and blood vessels, and circulation is interfered with. ; Again, many women stand on one leg, | causing one shoulder to be raised above the other. ■ The'correct way to stand is with both feet close together, thus form? ing a steady pillar for ho body. Try this posture and you will find you can : stand for hours without fatigue. . ) WHEN YOU SLEEP. While .the main thing to do when you wish to sleep is to relax, the best position in sleeping is upon the right side, with the right arm flung rather to the back in order no to cramp the lungs. Flex the neck, the arms and the legs, so that the whole body is thus relaxed. ENGAGEMENTS. The engagement is announced of Leila Eileen, third daughter of Robert Burrows, Egmont Village, to James Isaac-, eldest son of the late J. 11. Olsson, Waitara. . * * «= # Tlie engagement is announced of Joyce, youngest daughter of Mrs. M. Divehall, Stratford, and of the late Mr. Divehall, to Leslie, youngest son of Mr. and Airs. J. Kemp, Alahoe. * * * # The engagement is announced of Jean, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. Alexander, “Aotea Roa,” New Plymouth, to Hugh, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. F. J. McDonald, of Morrinsville and late of Waverley.

The engagement is announced of Charles Patrick, younger con of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Wade, of Brough, East Yorkshire, and Doris Maude, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Vaile, of C.’adf* IPdl. Anck’a-d

RECOMMENDED RECIPES.

SOME COLD SWEETS. Banana charlotte. —One cup milk, 2 teaspoons gelatine, 1| cups powdered sugar, 1 cup banana pulp, 1 cup whipped cream. Scald milk in double boiler. Stir in gelatine previously dissolved in a little cold water and powdered sugar cool, add mashed banana pulp and whipped cream. Place in a cool spot to set firmly. Unmold the shape, and serve with the following sauce:—

Sauce: Quarter cup milk, I cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, | cup whipped cream. Bring milk to a boil. Add sugar and egg, which must be well mixed together before being added. Set aside to sool; then add vanilla and whipped cream.

Banana dainty. —Four very ripe bananas, J tablespoon orange or lemon juice, 2 cups whipped cream. Skin and scrape the bananas. Put through sieve, and strain. Add sugar and orange juice. Mix very lightly; then fold in the whipped cream. Serve in glasses, and garnish with sections of orange. Serve six persons. # * # #

Caramel Cup custard.—Scald two cups of sweet milk in a medium-sized eancepan. While it is scalding put into your frying pan one-third of a cup of brown sugar, and melt this. When the sugar resembles thin peanut butter pour it into the hot milk, taking care that the milk does not bubble over the top of the pot. It is liable to, because of the extreme heat of the melted sugar. Now cook the milk a little longer until the lumps of sugar are melted (for the melted sugar is apt to lump when it touches the milk). When the sugar lumps are about all melted turn the mixture into • two slightly-beaten eggs, which are in a bowl. Add | teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and | teaspoon vanilla. Now strain the mixture into four or six individual cups.

Coffee Jelly.-—Half packet gelatine soaked one hour in half cup cold coffee. Add one quart strong coffee and one cup sugar one teaspoon vanilla. Cool in a mould, letting it stand on ice overnight if possible. Turn out, and serve with heaped whipped cream.

Pineapple snow. —Half tin pineapple. 3oz loaf sugar, loz of gelatine, whites of 3 eggs, wine glass of sherry. Dissolve the gelatine in some of the pineapple syrup and a little water. Cut the pineapple into small pieces. Add to the syrup with the sugar, and simmer for ten minutes. Add the sherry, and allow the mixture to cool. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and add the mixtures, and whisk until nearly set. Pile roughly in a shallow glass dish decorated with small pieces of pineapple, and serve. This will serve five or six persons.

Strawberry cream. —Soak II tablespoons granulated gelatine in quarter cup cold water for five minutes, and dissolve in one-third of a cup of boiling water. Add one cup strawberry juice, and sweeten to taste with

ered sugar. Set bowl containing this mixture in a pan of cold (iced if possible) water, and stir until mixture begins to thicken, then add three-quarter cup of eream beaten until stiff. Pour into the mould first dipped in cold water. Chill. Serve with fresh strawberries. * « * « Prune flummery.—Soak overnight 11b prunes, cover with water, sugar to taste. Boil until tender. Take out the stones, and chop to a smooth paste. Allow to cool. Whip the whites of four egge to a stiff froth, then mix with the prunes, and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. Garnish with whipped cream. A thick slice of orange cooked with the prunes gives a piquant fln-C’-r

ARCHDUKE AND AUCKLANDER.

A ROMANCE OF THE PAST. TRAGEDY" OF AUSTRIAN THRONE. Tragedy, dark and dread overhung the royal house of Austria, long e’er the war passed it into the shadow which hides this Hapsburg dynasty. To have met, admired and been the friend of an archduke of the blood royal is the happy memory which Mrs. Stuart Boyd, president of the League of Penwomen, made absorbing and interesting at Auckland last week, when speaking to the members on “The Most Interesting Man I Have Met.”

In the years of her girlhod it was the dream of Mrs. Boyd to visit the Balearic Islands, situated in the Mediterranean between Spain and the African coast. She said she could give no reason for this wish, unless it was the breath of romance which the islands carried with them. Time passed and it became possible for her to write a book, which was to be illustrated by Mr. Boyd, about these romantic islands. A very favourable contract was signed, and then she began to look round for some information. This she found consisted of quite a small number of books, one of them written by Charles Wood, son of Mrs. Henry Wood, the novelist. This spoke of the Hospideria, which had been established in the islands, where it was possible to stay three days and three nights free of charge, and which was the gift of a member of the royal house of Austria to visitors.

Mr. and Mrs. Boyd sailed for Majorca, and found that things had not changed during the twenty-five years since this book had been written. They took a house, and later hired a mule cart, and, stocking it with provisions, set off to see the island. One of the places they visited was the cove where George Sand and Chopin lived together, and where he . wrote some of his most beautiful music.

The Hospideria was still there awaiting them. The beds were made by the servants in charge; all the visitor had to bring was his food. They were told it was the gift of the Austrian Archduke, who lived nearby on his estate, where he had retreated after a great 1 tragedy. A legend of the Austrian house was that if ever a woman really and truly loved one of the princes of the blood a dire fate would befall her. As a very young man the prince saw and fell in love with a very beautiful princess, and they were betrothed. One evening she was wearing the flowing voluminous muslin gowns of that day, when her father, watching her from the garden, suddenly saw the clothes blow into a light, and before he could reach her she was burned to death. The Archduke threw away everything and began to roam the world. He travelled widely seeking surcease from sorrow, and even included New Zealand and Australia in his voyagings. On one of his yachting trips lie discovered the Balearic islands, which are very beautiful, and being an artist of no mean ability, he fell in love with them and bought estates.' It was' one of these houses which he had turned into the Hospideria at which they were staying.

Mr. and Mrs. Boyd heard a great deal about- the archduke on this occasion, but did not see him. On returning to London, their book, “The Fortunate Islands,” was published with success, and they determined to make Majorca their winter holiday home. Some time after Mrs. Boyd received a letter written by the archduke, speaking in admiration of the book she had written and asking them next time they came to the islands to pay him a visit. He also spoke very highly of the illustrations done by Mr. Boyd, of which, being an artist, he had great admiration, and saying he was sending them some of his books on the island. They came in a large case. They were beautifully bound and illustrated by the archduke himself. On their next visit they made the journey to the Hospideria, and when approaching it their innkeeper, who, was driving them, suddenly pulled up his mule and leaping nimbly from the cart stood bareheaded, with bent head, while he murmered, “The archduke. He approaches.” Mrs. Boyd said that she would have liked to assure her hearers that he looked royal, but although his suite, of twenty-five, which always accompanied him to the estate, all wore white, the arehdlike : himself wore rather dreadful garments, quite, in fact, shabby, and he was carrying a very large white sun umbrella. He was very 2 kind to the visitors, and showed them over the castle, which contained, a church, which had been founded by a Spanish noble, and where service had been said every day without break for six hundred years. One of the things which she noticed and was intrigued about was a ring on his hand, which was always covered. One day, when watching him painting, she saw that the silk had frayed, and said that when she came next she would be able to see what the ring was like. He said nothing, but next day it' had been recovered.

The only time in. which he referred to his rank was when he took them through a monastery high in the mountains. He casually said in conversation that no woman was ever allowed to set foot within its walls, Mrs. Boyd said, “But how can that be, for I have?” He drew himself up and replied, “I am a royal prince of Austria.”

Tragedy followed him always. He met and had an affection for a beautiful and original minded girl of the island, and for her built a white house, with everything white, : even to the terraces, which were edged with scarlet carnations each time they saw it. Quite suddenly she fell ill/ Once more the curse had fallen. Her name was Katelina Omar, she loved the prince, and the disease was leprosy. He was the Archduke Ludwig Salvator, of Austria, and his elder brother was the archduke 1 whose tragedy as Johan Orth still thrills the world. His grandmother was the elder sister of Marie Antoinette. Then fell a stroke again on his house, when Ferdinand was assassinated, and Mr. Boyd read one of his letters in which he spoke of the fine character of the slain prince, but even this did not bias his fine mind, and all through the war he managed to get letters sent to his English artist friends, and never forgot to mention Mrs. Boyd’s soldier son, although he knew that he was in •the army fighting against his own people. ■