NEWS ITEMS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 27 November 1908, Page 7

NEWS ITEMS.

Some of tho accounts given in foreign newspapers of the reception of the American fleet in Sydney are as extraordinary as they are amusing. Dates, names, and events are .wonderfully mixed up, and the "yarns" that are foisted upon unsuspecting readers reveal extraordinary imaginative powers cm the part of the writers. The following from the-report published in tho Peking and Tientsin "Times" of what occurred when -Admiral" Sperry's squadron will be read with keen appreciation in Australia:—"When Admiral Sherry on the flagship Nebraska entered the harbour he was saluted by a. roar of guns from the secret fortifications'.'- Immediately tho' people let free thousands of native eagles. The booming of the guns <3rove tho birds seawards, covering the ' remainder of the fteet, and producing a most extraordinary effect, which was hailed with uproarious cheers from the seamen of the Yankee fleet."

During a performance of "She Stoops to Conquer" at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, recently, there was an incident which upset the even flow of a love scene, in which Mr Gaston Mervale and Miss Winnifred Gunn were taking part. The young ga^ant, in a costume of the period, was sitting on a table pouring into the willing ears of the adored a tale of love. In imprinting a stage kiss Mr Gaston Mervale's wig came in contact with a lighted candle. Mr Mervalo loved on in stage fashion while the flame played it , ~ently about his wig. A hundred voices ■ shouted . a warning from the theatre, but both Miss Gunn and Mr Mervale, with true artistic detachment, continued their linos. The call became louder, but although Mr Mervale gave some indication that he heard, he declined to heed. The musical director, Mr Wynne Jones, stood on his rostrum and beat time quickly, at the same time calling across the footlights. Miss Gunn took in the situation, and, wheel'ng Mr Mervale round, extinguished the flames with her handkerchief. Then she returned to the kindling flames of affection in tho part, but her next' words were lost in tne cheer 3of the audience.

By one of the characteristic somersaults of fashion, the enormous hats which women have been wearing this year, and which have been a daily source of inspiration to masculine satirist® (says the London correspondent of the "A^e"), are to bo replaced by diminutive toques of the pork pie variety. A mandate from the Rue de la Paix has settled the matter, and the freak umbrella hats, many of which measure 70in. in circumference, are to disappear in the course of the next month or two. They nearly raised a riot at a Paris theatre; a pos^e of gendarmes had to be called in to preserve order; and a lesser incident, provoked in the samo way, has been witnessed in one of the London theatres. It appears that the chief reason why women have been disinclined to take off these monster haits when begged to do so is that there is no place in which they can be safely stored, the accommodation in the theatre dressing rooms being invariably small. But such headgear can always be loft at home, that is the natural reply, and the theatre managers now say that most women are beginning to realise that the wearing of a troublesome hat at public r.erforman'ies is a mark of vulgarity. One*> this becomes generally recognised, the middle-class women, who are at present the worst offenders, will follow the example of "good form" set by those in the upper class, and the prolonged trouble of the matinee hat will finally come to an end. As the more efflorescent specimens of tho nart wheel hat have cost from 15 to 20 guineas each, the husbands who have- to pay milliners' bills will b© relievfid by the impending change of fashion in tho direction of something simpler and cheaper.