ROYAL ASCOT BEST DRESSED RACE MEETING IN WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 187, 8 August 1931, Page 8

ROYAL ASCOT BEST DRESSED RACE MEETING IN WORLD.

A London Letter

This Age, Shallow in its Thought, and Superficial in its Conviction. (Special to the “Star.”) LONDON, June 27. The Ascot meeting opened in very pleasant weather; despite partially clouded skies and a cool wind which played havoc with the flounces and furbelows so essential a feature of the feminine toilette this season, there was sunshine enough to permit the wearing of lovely frocks with comfort and satisfaction.

l lib. sAiub, warned perhaps by the never-to-be-forgotten deluge which rendered historic last year’s Hunt Cup Day, nearly every woman carried a cloak or mackintosh. Fashion this year is in sympathy with the traditional spirit of Ascot clothes—picturesque gowns, large hats and elegant accessories. All the gowns were ankle length and floral chiffons, possibly, most in evidence. No particular shade could be said to predominate; greens, shades of yellow, pinks, blues and reds, lilac and lavender intermingled with diaphanous black and the ever popular black and white. The Queen wore a gown of palest turquoise blue chiffon with touches of ecrutinted lace on the corsage, partially concealed by a long cloak of richly-tinted brocade, and the handsome ensemble was completed with a toque and sunshade of turquoise shot with gold. The Duchess of York wore for-get-me-not blue chiffon, a lacy hat of beige straw and a tong coat of the same colour trimmed with beige fox fur. Princess Mary’s gown was of cham-pagne-coloured silk lace, and was matched by her hat of fancy straw and silk roses. Most striking was the toilet of the Marchioness of Curzon, who chose a magpie effect, her ivory crepe dress showing beneath a long coat of black marocain with a collar of ermine, her black hat having a fold of white on the crown. Very exquisite was the white chiffon frock with cuffs of white fox fur and green ribbons at waist and neck, worn by Lady Caroline Paget, daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Anglesey. Royal Ascot, this year, seems likely to live up to its reputation as the best-dressed race meeting in the world. The Butterfly Qirl. The butterfly type of girl was strongly criticised by Miss E. Addison Phillips, headmistress of Clifton High School for Girls,

Bristol, in her presidential’ address to the annual conference of the Association of Head Mistresses at Bristol. This age, she said, and particularly women, badly needed a second Socrates to convince it of “ the shallowness of its thought, the superficiality of its conviction, the looseness of its language, the abysses of its ignorance. Even among those who work for some hours of the day, as among the leisured classes, we do often find a shallow empty-headedness which finds its chief interest in clothes, gossip or, on a better level, in games—the butterfly type whose conversation is like the twittering of birds, and who show little trace of the education they have received. If only we could supply them -with some enthusiasm, some deep interest, their lives would be nobler, and the lives of others happier. On the other hand, there are the glib talkers. \Vc do, above all, want by the thoroughness, accuracy and sincerity of work done at school to get rid of the loose, slipshod, second-hand and, therefore, insincere, methods of thought and speech which are so terribly prevalent.” Professor J. E. Marcault said that our crowded divorce courts were largely due to the failure to educate fully the emotional side of our children. Excess of intellectual teaching made for emotional repressions. “ The sarcastic outlook upon life, and incapacity for reverence and admiration, that inaptitude for believing in greatness, the search for the interested motive, moral scepticisms, are all due to the incapacity of children to rise to their highest emotional exaltation.” This repression made the emotional side of children incapable of

blending, and made so many couples incapable of living together, as the divorce court showed. Triumph for British Films. Captain Harold Auten, who won the Victoria Cross for an exploit in one of the mystery craft whose deeds were so vividly illustrated in the official “ Q Ships.” has achieved success in a walk of civil life where many have failed. American film companies would not distribute “ Q Ships ” in that country, so Captain Auten, with the permission of Sir Gordon Craig, owner of the film, hired the Cameo Theatre on Broadway and ran “ Q Ships ” for four successful weeks. He also showed “ Mons,” the epic of the ” Old Contemptibles,” and “ The Somme,” as Sir Gordon was determined that the New York public at least should learn about the war. New York was interested and asked for more. Captain Auten knew little or nothing about the film business, but American exgoldiers supported his enterprise. Mr John Maxwell, head of British International Pictures, heard of Captain Auten’s exploits and sent for him during a visit to New York, with the result that Captain Auten showed other British International films over a period of six months. He secured national distribution for seven of these films and booked twelve films to individual States. He also sold the entire output of British instructional short films to the Western Electric Company for a period of ten years. His experiences in America, in fact, have been most spectacular. When he went to the King at Buckingham Palace to receive the Victoria Cross, the band struck up “ Hush, hush, here comes the bogey man.” His Majesty joined heartily in the general laughter, for Captain Auten’s decoration had been gazetted without any details as to the nature of his deed, and at the time speculation was rife. A Carl Rosa Crisis. After paying its way for sixty years, the Carl Rosa Company is at last compelled to appeal to the public. Unless a fund of £IO,OOO is secured by September 30 the company will be unable to carry on. The scheme is to form a new limited company to operate the Carl Rosa at the standard it has always striven to attain. Ten thousand pounds wall put Carl Rosa opera on its feet again and enable the company to start off on its round of the country, where its public is large and faithful. In an operatic sense the provinces owe everything to this company, for opera has been given annually in thirty to forty cities. They have their public, they have the material, and they have an "enthusiastic body of young artists all filled with a working spirit and all keen to keep the Carl Rosa going. Lack of necessary capital and the depressed condition of the country are responsible for the crisis which has arisen in the affairs of the company. The Carl Rosa has never been given to lavish expenditure—they once spent £SO only on a production of “ The Flying Dutchman,” and they have produced “ Gotterdammerung ” after only three orchestral rehearsals —but in the last few years the improvement of the musical play and the wider education of public taste through the wireless has meant that the public demand for the best available standard in opera has widened. An important deficiency caused by lack of capital has been the Carl Rosa’s inability to use publicity and propaganda. Often they have been unable to announce their visit to such and such a town until a few days beforehand. A successful start has been made with the Carl Rosa Society, whose members pay half a crown a year. There are 6000 members now, but when the company gets going again on its big tours they hope to increase that number.