FEMININE INTERESTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18491, 5 February 1930, Page 11

FEMININE INTERESTS

SOME PERSONAL NOTES. Blue and Silver Theatre: At the Duchess Theatre, says a London writer, we all first sat and talked in the silver-painted armchairs, covered in blue and silver-striped brocade, that form the stalls, the dress circle and the upper circle. Then the orchestra struck up ‘‘God Save the King” to mark the official opening, and the curtain—an impressive deep blue silk one bordered by a gorgeous patchwork design in mauves and purjles—went up to reveal a picturesque but shattered chateau scene which was to be used in the new play “Tunnel Trench’* the next week. But that was not all. A long buffet laden with good things extended the whole breadth of the stage, and it was not long before the assembled company led by the pretty Ranee, in a slim black dress and closely-fitting cap of open-work face-patterned felt, mounted the temporary wooden staircase from the stalls to the stage and sampled the inviting refreshments. The craze for labour-saving has extended to modern stages, and I was shown how, instead of the old method, where several men were required to raise and lower the different scenes, this work can now be done by one man from the stage level. All the scenery is counter-weighted, making it possible for a child to lift a set weighing two tons. The arrangement, too, of having the boxes situated at the back and above the upper circle is unusual. The Royal box, a spacious one decorated in blue and gold, has a charming retiring room decorated in old gold—even to the ceiling—and is lit by pale rose-coloured corner lights. But I wonder whether Royalty will appreciate being so high up, and so far away from the stage. Actress Aviatrix: Miss Beatrix Thomson, the young actress who recently scored a notable

success, playing with Mrs Patrick Campbell in “The Matriarch,” says she is learning to fly, and made her first solo flight at the Hanworth Club. She is, it is thought, the first actress to learn to fly in England, and those who watched her land after her maiden solo flight, declared it to be one of the neatest first landings they had ever seen. Miss Thomson’s friends did not encourage her to fly, as most of her instruction was taken in the afternoons preceding her performance of a very emotional part, and they thought' that eithe(r the tension of flying would spoil her acting, or the strain of acting would unfit her for flying. Miss Thomson discovered that the effect was exactly the opposite. Her success in controlling a Moth actually tightened up her nerves and counteracted the strain of the stage. She says she finds flying the most stimulating experience imaginable, and in the spring, .hopes to buy an aeroplane of her own, and use it for touring. Princess Juliana: Princess Juliana, of the Netherlands, is really the most progressive of the young Royalties of Europe. She followed a course of study at the University of Leyden, specialising in history, a subject that is an excellent preparation for the duties she will probably have to fulfil in the future. Not only was she an attentive student, she was democratic in all her ways, making friends with' her fellowstudents and living in the simple way they did themselves. No doubt the example of the Princess tends to encourage women to play their part in the welfare of the country. They are among the most progressive of the day, and periodically comes information of new developments of feminine activity. Women of the Dutch colonies, too, have good work to their credit. The first native woman doctor in the Dutch Indies has passed her final examinations with distinction. Novel New Year Party: A very novel note was struck at a “men’s New Year party,” * held at a well-known restaurant in Sydney. The host invited about sixty of his friends. The invitations, which also formed the menus, were in the form of a sectional railway ticket. He invited the recipient to a “personally conducted excursion through the establishment.” To maintain the atmosphere, all the waiters wore con- ! ductors’ caps, cash bags and ticket ! punches. As each item of the menu ; was served the corresponding section of the ticket was carefully punched by a waiter. Every now and then the party indulged in community singing, the words of the songs being specially written for the occasion.

Artistic Couples One of the most artistic young couples in London society are Mr Cuthbert and Lady Eileen Orde. The latter, who is the daughter of the Duke of Wellington, has just finished painting the walls of a bathroom she designed for Mrs Cecil Wills, of tobacco fame. Her husband, Mr Cuthbert Orde, who is a portrait painter, has discovered how to make his child sitters keep still for the half-hour poses he demands of them. Parents and nannies alike are banished from the room, and the children are asked to put each of their hands on a coloured chalk mark, and not to let Mr Orde see the mark. The result is that they are bound to keep still while the artist asks them what their nanny has for lea, and what they like best for breakfast. Mr Orde’s favourite occupation, however, is playing the ukulele and singing comic songs. In 1915, at Armentieres, he was in the first official concert party, and played at 185 consecutive concerto. What the Queen Wore: The Queen is always strikingly handsome in whatever her Majesty i chooses to wear, but I have rarely seen her looking so lovely as she did at the theatre recently when she wore all gold, says a Londoner. The gown was of soft tissue, and made with a long pointed train, and her Majesty’s opera cloak was also of gold, of heavy brocade, finished with a deep collar and cuffs of sable. Gold lace and gold tissue are having a great vogue this winter for evening dress. I remember the Lady Mayoress, Lady Waterlow, wore a golden gown at the first big banquet of her husband’s year in office, and all her maids of honour were dressed alike in gold. It was an impressive and very charming procession that slowly wended its way into the great Banqueting Hall at the Mansion House.

Notable People: Dr. Cecil Greil, who visited Australia recently, had one claim to honour—that she had studied under Freud himself. She has a medical practice in New York, and is noted in many ways as a neurologist, being connected with the Federal Department of Mental Hygiene. Lady Somers, wife of the Governor of Victoria, is perhaps .the first woman vice-Royalty to fly her own ’plane, she having acquired a pilot’s license. Her sister, Lady Apslsy, has the same adventurous streak, for, some years ago, to study Australian life from the inside, she went out to an outback farm, and became a group settler. A great deal is said just now concerning the “gloomy Dean,” but at least he seems to have the gift of making home happy, for his wife stepped into publicity recently to give an interview concerning her “perfect married life.” Once, when someone remarked before her husband that "marriage should be half human, half divine,” she reports him as flashing out: "Wrong. It should be all human, and all divine.” Miss Jessie A. Sanders is said to be the youngest woman estate agent in Australia, for she began business for herself at seventeen, and at twentyone, took out an estate agent’s license for herself. Since then she has been extending branches in the larger cities. A strange distinction is that of Mrs Ruth Crosbie, a well-known zoologist and author of scientific works, some of them dealing with tree frogs. When she discovered a new variety, she became the first woman to have a frog named after her, the new specimen being called in her honour Elertherodactylus Ruthal. Busy Woman: Few people know that Mrs Henry Mond is partner in a publishing house, and as such she has to read a number of manuscripts every year. A reader sorts them, and she finally selects those which she considers good for publication. “I think about one in every three persons writes a novel,” Mrs Mond said; “and they all write about their own lives. But it is amazing the number of clergymen who write romances or books of some kind —mostly novels 1” It is equally amazing how she finds time to do the work in connection with her publishing house, write a novel herself, run an appeal for £IOO,OOO for a hospital, move into her new house in Smith Square, look after her husband, who is a politician as well as being an important business magnate, and see to her three children, Derek, Julian and Karis—which is her schedule of work at the moment. Only by sheer method could she achieve so much. Organisation is very necessary if she is to accomplish anything, and she has her life arranged absolutely to the clock.

Miss Bondfield Entertains: ... . Miss Margaret Bondfield, Minister of Labour in the British Cabinet, gave a Christmas party to about 350 members of the staff of the Ministry of Labour at Montagu House. The guests were of all grades, from typists to employment office managers, chosen by ballot from the headquarters of the Ministry, the London divisional headquarters, employment exchanges, and the offices at Kew. Apart from the loan of the building, Miss bondfield did it out of her own pocket, and quite unofficially, a fact that was much appreciated. Miss Bondfield felt that, owing to the recent accident to her leg, she had not been able to get about and meet members of the staff as she would otherwise have done She therefore wished to meet as many as possible quite and this was the primary object of the party. M.P. as Bridesmaid. Miss Megan Lloyd George is to be % bridesmaid when Miss Audrey Thomas, the daughter of Sir Robert Thomas, is married next month. This must be the first occasion on which an M.P. has been a bridesmaid —a quaint role for a legislator. On thirteen previous occasions Miss Lloyd • George has figured in a bridal retinue, the first time being when she was a child of five, when she followed Mrs Henry McLaren to the altar.

A Girl Cricketer. Miss Nancy Petersen, an eighteen-year-old Cape Town girl, has gained the distinction of being the first woman in South Africa, and perhaps in the world, to take part in a cncket match of senior class. The match was a friendly one between two of the leading Cape Town clubs, but Denis Morkel and Owen-Smith were among the players, and there were others of the same calibre, so that It was by no means scratch cricket. Miss Petersen turned out to & practice atNewlands one afternoon, and asked to be allowed to bowl. The players agreed, but they soon found that it was not quite the joke they had expected it to be, for she managed to disturb the stumps of several confident batsmen, and when placed in the outfield took two difficult 6atches. So she was asked to play in the match. She appeared in white flannels and a cricket shirt, and but for a lock of bobbed hair that would keep flapping over her eyes, might have been taken for one of the men, She bowled six overs, and they cost only nine runs. Her slow leg-break, disposed of two wickets.