"THE LADIES COLUMN NOTES BY THE DUCHESS"

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 43, 9 July 1881, Page 476

"THE LADIES COLUMN NOTES BY THE DUCHESS"

— There were about forty people at the Choral Hall Skating Rink on the 28th inst. Mrs Whitaker and the Misses Whilaker, Mrs Nathan, Mrs Laurence Nathan, Miss Montefiore, Mrs Tom Morrin, Mrs Fairburn, and Mrs Isaacs were among those present. The corridors were again in full swing ; what has become of the law of the Medes and Persians?

— Another pleasant Cinderella dance took place in the Albert Hall, Mount Albert, on Thursday the 31st inst. The* only drawback was that it was too crowded — all the elite of the town and suburbs having crushed there on this occasion. Young ladies were elbowed about in the mazy waltz, a few little feet were come down upon by larger ones, and some little squashing and rending of dresses took place ; but, as there were few trains in the room, in fact only three, the damage was not so serious as it might have been. In spite of all this, there was a hearty spirit of enjoyment visible which atoned for all contretemps. The supper was excellent. Mrs Greenwood wore pale blue satin trimmed with ruby coloured velvet and white lace. Mrs Tom Morrin, old gold satin made with basque bodice ; the front of the skirt was pouffed with alternate rows of deep white lace and guaging ; hose and gloves to match. Mrs David Criuckshank, pale blue silk trimmed with a lighter shade of blue. Mrs Ching, pink silk trimmed with black velvet. Mrs Motion, black satin trimmed with beaded fringe. Mrs Heather and Mrs Waterhouse, "black silk. Mrs Montefiore, Avhite silk trimmed with silver braid and beaded fringe. Miss Nathan, pink silk trimmed with Avhite lace. Miss Jenny Isaacs, blue plush bodice and overskirt, jiipon of white. Miss Blanche Churton, niuslin of salmon pink with maroon scraper, laced up the back with maroon cord. The Misses Walker, cream silk, made plain. Mips Ruth Fairburn, white gauze with satin stripe. Miss Goldsboro, white dress trimmed with crimson. Miss George, pale pink trimmed with black lace. Certainly the handsomest dresses in the room were those worn "by Mrs Tom Morrin, Miss Montefiore, Miss Nathan, and Mrs Greenwood. There was a '* jam " in the dressing room which nearly ended in the ladies having to stay there all the evening, exit or egress "being impossible, until at last an Auckland Arnold Von Winkefried opened a gap and cleared the way.

— I was glad to seee, on Wednesday, last week, that people can assemble in crowds and show a real heartiness and interest in something beyond the good ship "Pinafore." The earnest upturned faces which filled the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the opening services, and the solemn and reverend silence maintained, proved, beyond a doubt, that true religious feeling prevails among a large proportion of the citizens of Auckland. The service was a most impressive one, and the building the finest specimen of ecclesiastical architecture within this provincial district. The clergy in their white surplices, with the white, or violet, or scarlet badges of their various colleges or degrees upon their shoulders, filed one by one out of the vestry, with the imposing figure of the Bishop, in his robes, at their head. They were met at the entrance to the chancel by the Incumbent of the parish and his churchwardens and vestrymen, and the processional march round the church began. On their return, the clergy arranged themselves in two ranks on either side of the altar, upon which was placed two large vases filled with choice flowers, and in the centre, two smaller vases of flowers and the communion plate. The altar cloth, designed in white and scarlet, is the work of Miss Cherry Connell. The Bishop's chair was placed in the central space, and the deed of consecration read in a very low tone by the Chancellor, the Hon. W. Swainson. He then presented it to the Bishop. The Rev. W. Calder, on bended knee^ held the inkstand while his Lordship signed the deed, which was then laid on the altar. The Rev. Mr Edwards, of Ponsonby, intoned the service, and a most efficient choir sang the chants, hymns and anthem in the perfect manner in which church music ought to be sung, and with an utter absence of all straining after effect. The Bishop's sermon was plain and simple, enjoining on all present the difficult lessons of unity, peace, and love. Some of those who sat there on that morning had seen the ceremony of the consecration of St. Mary's, Parnell, and had listened to the burning words of Selwyn, on "that memorable occasion ; he looked on a less magnificent building, on a smaller congregation, but no doubt he saw in spirit those crowds "which on Wednesday, last week, filled St. Sepulchre's — the first fruits of the young disciple who sat at the feet of Coleridge Pattison, "his own son in the Faith." The collection for the morning and evening services amounted to close on one hundred und fifty pounds. Yet still a great deal remains to be done, and there is a large debt upon the church.

— The soiree in connection with the new Church of St. Sepulchre's was held, on Friday evening, July Ist, in the old church, now the school-room. The building had been entirely dismantled, only the pulpit remaining intact, and into this clambered during the evening a crowd of children with bouquets of flowers in their hands, whose pretty, fresh, young faces looked on approvingly as the various speakers made a hit, and Avho applauded loudly Avith voice and hand, and waving of the aforesaid bouquets. The room "was decorated with a profusion of flags and bunting, and the long tables with their snowwhite cloths, and glittering silver and china, interspersed with vases of flo Avers and ferns, formed a pretty coup cPceil from the door, as you entered. The fare Avas excellent. I have been occasionally to soirees Avhere the cake Avas doughy, the sandAviches salt, and the tea execrable ; but this was not the case on Friday. All Avas of first rate quality, and well served. A really drinkable cup of tea was to be obtaiued.

It was ludicrous to observe the backs of the' numerous gentlemen (husbands for the most part), each with a tea-pot in his hand, earnestly striving to get his own particular one filled first from the large urn. There were lean backs and backs fat, long backs and backs short, all huddled up together Avith bent heads. There is a great deal of character in a back. Tea being over (Avhicli occupied until eight o'clock, so many relays having to be served, as the building Avas quite full), speeches became the order of the evening, and they were all a little above the average speech of such occasions. Mr Pierce made a few good hits. As -for example, when talking about outlying districts he said that lie himself had never got any further than the Whau, which of course caused a roar, and the children waved their bouquets frantically. He Avas rather rough upon the Bishop without intending it, but that worthy sat upon the platform smiling serenely and nowise moved thereby. He Avas asking someone to come forward andinake gravelled paths round the new church, and plant trees, etc. " I remember," he said, " Bishop Selwyn and Archdeacon Lloyd, with a donkey cart, making and laying out the Avalks in the cemetery. They took off their coats and set to work manfully. Now, our Bishop here Avould never take off his coat ; he is not that sort of a man," at Avhicli there Avere shouts of "Oh, oh, oh !" from the audience. The salient point of Mr Garland's speech Avas that, from the small beginning of thirty pounds, the Building Fund had grown in seven years to thirty-three hundred and thirty. Then MiNelson (avlio, by the way, looks very ill) began by claiming a paternal interest in the new church, as # its most active, indefatigable, workers sat 'originally under the shadow of St. Paul's, which is undeniably true. Mr Tebbs f olloAved by requesting to be allowed a maternal claim, as he belonged so lately to the church of the mother country ; and in many ways his Avas the best speech of the evening. Then came Mr Gulliver, whose spare form, pale cheeks, and otherwise ascetic bearing, told tales of having " burnt the midnight lamp." He, schoolmaster-like, took us back sixteen hundred A r ears to the amphitheatre of the Colliseum and the blood-stained sands of the arena, and I thought his story, though a Avell knoAvn one, too pedantic for the occasion. Mr Calder, declaring first that he Avas neither a grandfather nor a grandmother, proclaimed himself to be a finder of faults. There had been too much buttering up, he said (which was very true), and he Avas the hair in the butter which had to be taken out. His speech procured for him such a vigorous and prolonged applause from junior portion of the audience that he Avas recalled tAvice, and each time uttered something more outlandish and ludicrous. Having thus run through all the relations, paternal, maternal grandfatherly and grandmotherly, the beloved incumbent of the parish closed, the list of speakers. He said he Avas quite sure that many not present in the body were present in the spirit with them that night. The late Bishop of New Zealand, the martyred Pattison, Archdeacon Lloyd, and the present Bishop of Melanesia. To these absent ones they, m a great measure, owed the splendid church to build which so many of the people of St. Sepulchre's had made sacrifices of self-cle-A r otion. These various speeches were interspersed during the evening with a concert, which I did not think as good as the talking. One of the pianoforte solos sounded very like the tuning of a piano, and one of the lady singers ought never to sing a solo in public. The best song of the evening was the duet between Miss Fentbn and Miss Connell. Why did so many ladies monopolise the singing and playing ? and Avhere were the gentlemen ? Above all, AA r liere were the Messrs. Harker ? The singing of the Evening Hymn brought to a close aoout 10 o'clock a very pleasant and successful evening.

— Great fun is being made, at Home, of the new testhetic garments. The men, in the society journals, declare that women are wearing bolster cases made of mauve silk, and bathing goions made of brick-dust flannel. — Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard To get her young lady a cloak But when she came there, from that cupboard so square, Sho took out both a " cloak" and a " poke." So old Mother Hubbard, from that dreary cupboard Equipped her young lady forbyc But the men stared aghast! for that poke and cloak ■ vast Had made of a woman "a guy." — It is a curious fact that the most artistic, aesthetic and fashionable dresses worn by women, have been designed by men. Worth, for instance, employs designers who are all of the male sex. Paris fashions many years ago were set in the " Parures" of Gavarai. In the present day, the Hon. Louis Wingfield designed the costumes for " Masks and Faces. " Mr Alfred Thompson plans the dresses for operas and ballets at the Alhambra, and Mr E. W. Godwin makes careful costume drawings for Mr Wills's " Juana" at the Court.