THE SOCIAL SPNERE

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 1182, 24 August 1901, Page 6

THE SOCIAL SPNERE

By Muriel.

My Dear Muriel,—

THE beautiful weather, Jean Gerardy, and Sheridan have been

the chief topic of the week. The first subject has been a very pleasant change ; the second (Jean Gerardy) gave even more pleasure than the sunshine, for the niu's.ic lovers of Auckland have seldom had a greater treat than this wonderfully clever young violiniste gave them. After going twice to hear .huft,::l could not reiist eve a the matinee, and at all; Ins concer m I saw tke same facesr fcntf ihany lon g-batoed geiatiemjen faton i'sfc sure weije real artifc*B)fetf,tfin rapt adotatiota: On] the first night/ ;M&siMetint sang, and. ijuite sra-paased herself- in her song "To Hear the Gentle Lark." I don t think she has ever been heard to better advantage. Gerardy himself was worth going ihiles to hear. He is not only nice to listen" to, but to look at, also. Quite a fashionabje crowd assembled at these concerts, but, owing to the- cold, opera cloaks pre- 1 dominated, It is a great pity better arrangements are not made for procuring tickets on these occasions. At the first concert there was a terrible, pushing crowd, and it's a wonder no accident occurred; -the struggle to get to the ticket window, and then fight your wajr to the entrance door, being most trying. . : , '

Sheridan has alao been having his share of admiration; drawing full houses night after night, and I must own I did enjoy a good, hearty laugh at "When the Lamps are Lighted," but _on Saturday night, in "A. Trip to Chicago, I laughed till I cried. Of course, Sheridan himself is the life and b'oul of both plays, and he must find it hard to sustain such heavy rfiles night after., night. In the "Trio, to Chicago," one of the actors Haimiade to ilay'fl feel siic^/a iolly ass !" I wonder if he thought he looked it, because he did. Miss $arnes, as "Lulu," was very taking, and the scenery was splendid—altogether, if any have not already been, those who want a good laugh should go, One improvement I noticed was that ladies, old and young, removed their hats. The pit occupants, who have been' so much discussed lately, made some really witty and not unpleasant personal remarks, and caused some laughter, too.

.^f +• r _ *» On \Vednesday last, Mt and Mrs" E? W. Alison celebrated their silver wedding at their residence, Lake Takapuna. "Loohaber" is undoubtedly an .ideal home to entertain one's guests at, for who is there among us o^d ofttden ? There is always a charm aoovjjt it which appeals to anyone with a* aftistic eye. Therefore, it was with gieft^ pleasure we wandered roa^the gard*n, admiring the flowers^d i^j yiew-'which we every now and tfi«Tn' cftu^t a glimpse MthNwato tlmtr»es. Mrs. Alison mjJMtt^jrefr cßasj^^ hpspss, and ma asststed "tier daughter, During the afternoon, several of the guests rendered songs in a delightful manner. Those who did so were Mrs A. Tayler, who sang very sweetly; Mw Sydney Nathan, Mrs Dr liaurie, Miss Gert. Levy, who sang a caon song very charmingly, and Mlhs M. Niccol gave one or two px«tty recitations. Most of the guests wore tailor- made costumes, but some that I noticed more particularly were :— Miss Han«a, pretty grey and white, black h*t ;• Mrs A. Tayfer, black costnme, becoming hat of violet ; Mrs Odium, bro^i silk ; Mrs , A^uqiji rx h«(idM>faA iblac!^ silk ; Mrs B*ume ; (fteh.^tbtrk' i green costume ; Mrs S. Nathan, black ; >«&a#. black ; Muis, Miss .Copper, violet grey costume, very

iietty Jjiat , ; J »*& % m^m looked ejseedijmjly ; si,«j$ v &' Mfk^fe-ail^Virhite : m& ASbou, r£d m^ ;; nTpuke^ tery ■pretty silli y laee tcbUkr j, J ;Mjßs i&J&i mvf WueJEtdn. ctestutne/pretjjy-hat of rrid ro«es; ? ; Misß A. Betiry, njifvy Blue : Mw Myers. ' Miie v^oß^Bine trirawed with black braid; ' ■ IQI6 'other guests' w>re Me^uirtßfe ;^&^'KT«itf*ASh^onp^ Goldie, J.. Bon^ Col.Bttrtbjvßlo.m--field and Jaeksoj|; Misses CUlpan, Campbell, |Ceith, Colpwaijand Mrs W. J. Ralph. V««y'^eWjO;f ', it^e guests left a bunch,, of flowers and a e'onviction thufc tJ^ey-haa spent a real jolly afternoon, ( V „.->...■■"

■ ••• ••• . '?•-. . • •••. ■ . ■ Ob Wednesday evening the last of the Lake Takapuna At -ftdmes was held in the hail, and passed off very well, reflecting great credit on those who had; got it ti£l Euchre was not kept up very late, onTjf fifteen games being played, but I think one and all were glad^sfcart^ripjitg, as the .night was exceedingly cold. /Eba pleasure of these evenings * hag" beett much - en"-*' hanced by the kindness of those who supplied the- music. . n T.he .prizes, were! ,won by Miss E. Kirk and Mr Guy Pierce, ~As' there was a seftrifeity of men, •not an Uttcwmni^n^eu^^e"ltt'4L|i«k- ;! land, <meo>r two ladie* played gentlemen. There were a few very pretty ! blouses worn, notably, jl.,Mjss Gordon, scarlet silk, white. kcp jgpke. ; Miss K. Pickering, dainty v heliotrope silk ; Miss M. Ffate*, Very pretty pink silk ; Miss AlSjion, re^silk blouse ; Miss Pierce, blue silk^.Miss Keith looked very nice iff -i white lace dress; Miss\ ]Svans- ..pink blouse; Miss Nicoll, blajß silk "blouser.; Miss Nicoll, white s^k^ Miss Aw Berry, blue silk ; Miss Jftcksony^pretty white lace blouse. , ,","""

- One of the nicest. dances of the year was the Parnell Lawn Tennis held in the Oddfellows' ' Hall on Thursday evening. The three necessaries (from a woman's point of view) to make a dance a success are— plenty ;of 'men, a good floor and a nice supper. As all three were quite up to the mark, you can have no difficulty in realising how enjoyable it was., JJy <the way, the supper was superior i;o most suppers even at private houseß, the dainty little dishes of savories being especially appreciated, and, as one of the partners said, "ai any rate the Parnell girls coß|i^^p^r;-; -T^he floor w » 8 sVP^^^W^^^i^ev^rjone seemed the ttressJ^^br^TJ^^BFettier- tbi&u any I, has?a > nssMs -p»«rhere"- this season; liiSM^^din^Ge^rge e^id her younger *^^^i|te^Qokia(l- rparticularly^^U/^aßrß^i^ and,;-&tis ; Miss Ireland, 7 y&psk •handsome black satin ; Miss Lusk loofetJa^so^ charming in black and white, tfeat X wpnder she ever wears ; anything else i Miss D. dainty aatin overdress of white chiffon $ t Miss J^eiti ton, black and turquoise blue ; Miss Gillies, reaUy haudsome gown of pink satin let in with pannels of creme jewelled lace. Amongst the chaperons I noticed M? 8 'fW**^ G*o^ge/- v««ri»g» a beautiful cloak of black and gold satin ; Mrs Lees, black ; Mrs J. Kenderdine, black, pretty real point 1 ' ;•■>/-■<■■. -^...>- --1 ■ ■•%:-y\ -^c-^ - .... ■ The engage?^HH^h^itonbunced of Miss Emily Clapßcott to Mr Thomas, of Wausom, Fiji I believf they are to be married in October, and that Sydney wiirbej^ir future home. iuS, '$^.sj®r '■*3fe ronpß - ever » ".' r 3|^'ttJ|. . . Nina. ' W. Alison, of " Lochaber," Lake Takapuna, have celebrated their silver wedding during the week, and the happy, couple, who are very highly esteemed and respected' by a very large circle of friends, were .the r««e«>iwts of shpwejr*, ,o|;^good faßhes -"fbt- their iuture" welfare and -happiness, Puring the weekj Mrs Alisoniiasentertitrnea'aiherTesidence numerous - lady friends at a series of most enjoyable "At Homes," when music, etc., passed the time most agreeably. Splendid wedding breakfasts were served, at which the cus--tataary-ttfftfttffrtt-e duly honoured. A very sttcfeiofef&r progressive euchre party was also given on Wednesday assisted her mother in receiving and

; eatef tiMs t& ite dtflfer^iit; fuadtionsqm. 1 both ladjes were charming tdstesseß. ' i ' > '~" :'■ ■'"'■■ -■' • ' '■•'.■ '

L -';& i^SJ?,?^^ a*^ Iriends assembled m the Coro" mandel last week to. witness' tHe marriage of Was, P^n^oan, s»iond dktlglltdr of Ml«wmeß Permian/ formerly manager of the Bay View Mine, arid Mr Moyle, iWialgamatpr to the Four-in-hand G.M..CO, The Rev! T. A. Nome officiated.

. .. „•••■ ... ■ ■*,-■■ :. - . -The very, artistically-arranged and beautiful, bpuquets carried hy the bride and bridesmaid at the marriage, of Miss O'Sullivan and Mr Maurice Jfoley (an account of which appeared in last; week's Observer), were made by Miss Wheeler, florisjb, of Queenstreet. • '

•••••• •—I On Thursday evening" last, one of the most successful dances ever held in Waihi was given by the Mesdames Gilmour anil Meyer aifl [Miss Clarice xn iLawless's Waihi Halj: !wKicS T was kindly lent for the occa£u# by Mrs Lawless. The function celeßrated jbhe "irfSS? Wrthdays of the hostesses. $£*{ lva ? v^ and^ Mr s Clarke Are old -Waihi residents, Miss Clarke being the ddnMteTrof MrT, P. Clarke, manager of the^attery, and Mrs Gilmour the favourite Waihi Hospital nurse. Mrs Meyer, who has only recently come amongst us from Adelaide, by her kind and pleasing manner has at once become a great favourite. The ball was: beautifully decorated with nikau palnis and ferns, and the youug ladies deserve the greatest credit for the originality of the decorations. The stage was fitted up as a drawing-room and too much praise cannot be given to the Misses Clarke.Gilmour and Lawless who carried out all the work of the decorating and also attended to the floor, which was pronounced perfect. One most pleasing feature of the decorations wa| the' tiny nooks arranged hers and there with palms ferns, etc., .ijtaa.' they were hugely patronised airtiie evening. The scene was very gay^, the, beautiful dresses at the ladies Showing up well against the greenery. _ Dancing was kept up till after three o'clock, when the guests took their reluctant way homeward

The supper was set out most daintily in the large dining room of Mr Lawless' hotel, and? about seventy guests sat down to a delightful little spread and did full justice to the delicious viands. The birthday toast was proposed by Mr Benge (our worthy schoolmaster of the district), and responded to by Mr Meyer, wJio also in turn proposed their gratitude and the health of Mr and Mrs Lawless, and spoke of the kind manner in which they assisted to make it all such a success. The toast was responded to by. Mr Hopkins, who said that since he had been in Waihi the names of Mr and Mrs Lawless have been synonymous with hospitality and good cheer.

The following dresses caught my eye amongst the various costumes •— fba Clark, black brocade, Maltese $ace ; Mrs Moore, black grenadine tepe trimmings ; Mrs Gilmour, black Silk., jet and black lace trimmings • $trs Lawless, tacked pink silk blouse fi&.tyack merveilleux skirt, diamond . ; Mrs Meyer, green /silk, with $. .trained under«kirtu'«t djirk . green *olvet, Pietov^^^p^xaiaraond |nd pearl coßa* j^^mSSmii^ black £61vet and Linienck lace ; Mrs Hazlett .yieux rpse silk jinder black grenadine • mta Gooch, black Baerveilleux with ' net sleeves and trimmings ; '. li JJw Langford, terra-cbtta silk crfpe ; Mra Hopkins, pretty wJbite satin and .chiffpn, pearl trimmings V Mrs Brans/ sWaok Mlk, velvet gained skirt ; Mrs iCutten, shnhip-nink s'llk blouse and 3>lack broche sTcirt ; Miss Clarke pretty pale green frock with chiffon jtrunminga ; Miss Gilmouf , dainty silk and lace, pearl chain ; Miss pale blue, silk, with white ; tucked vest of merveilleux ; Miss :.MoOre, blue silk, diamond and pearl the Misses Forster, black ; Anderson, heliotrope silk, and Pier sister, yellow and green; Miss iM "Quaid, white silk, and bunch of poppies oti shoulder; Miss Banks, very "^u hodk df <ir«>fl?e cpr^etl silk. ••(J|her confections too' numerous' to mention graced their veusN. Th« ,

ball brpke, .up. amongst a chorus of wishes for. a" speedy repetition of the happy event.— (Correspondent).

An exceedingly pretty, wedding was solemnised in Holy Trinity Church, Ngaruawaliia, on Tuesday, 23rd July, the contracting parties being Miss M. Miller, of Pukete, and Mr L. C. Limmer, of Te Kowhai. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. H.- Mason. The bride, who was given away by her brother, Mr R. J. Miller, looked charming in a dress of creme figured lustre, trimmed with tucked satin and creme lace ; she also wore a wreath and veil. The bridesmaids were Miss A. Miller, sister of the bride (who iooked lovely wearing heliotrope, trimmed with white silk) and Miss J. Sullivan, attired in strawberry cashmere, trimmed witli creme silk ; both wore hats to match. The bride and maids carried pretty bouquets of white heather and maiden hair fern. Mr F. Finch attened the bridegroom. The wedding breakfast was held at Mrs Miller's residence, Pukete, at which the customary toasts were proposed and responded to. The eventcaused a good deal of interest in the Pukete district, where the bride was well known and highly esteemed. The presents were numerous and

costly./ In the evening, a very enjoyable party was held in honour of the happy event.

The man of the "right colour" is cock of the walk all right. Ajtropos, at the Christdmrch election, a scrutineer calmly turned up as a certain booth opened, reported himself to the deputy, and, airily remarking, " Well, good day — I'll lie back at seven o'clock," went oft".