DUNEDIN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VI, Issue 26, 28 June 1890, Page 11

DUNEDIN.

Jvxe IS. DE.VR ehurches are in the lull after the storm of Exhibition gaieties baring what the boys would call an txjiinuvu,, St- Pauls prepared a very inviting prograinnierincluding a sale of work, a series of tableaux, instrumental muse, recitations, and a farce. Please 7.. imagine that one ordinary au.benee was asked to eniov all this in one ordinaiy evening. Not so. The m details were spread over two arteraoons and two even'iFri.iav and Saturday last- Il young ladies have a Since of looking pretty anywhere it is in tableaux, tor. as M*a fancv dress WI. there is a chanee of being .-omebody eU This sounds very much like an Irishmans comph rXt but I think I wiH let the doubtful sentence remain, for do we not from infancy to old age desire to be somebodv else' Even as little girls we swell out our iXmiv skirts with hoops, and. adorned as tancy and the matenai available prompts « play ladies, proving that we are not content to be little girls, while with a belt and «>f dax the boys are mimic heroes. For that matter I Oppose we -ro on Deming to be something we are not all ..nr lives, but unfortunately - others see os as we are. A rirl in a tableau may look as pretty as ever she ean without iirina rise to scorn and envy, because she does not mean it w be" understood Am I not charming t but • " asn t the princess in the fairy tale lovely r As usual I have got to go a long way back to begin at thi beginning- The sale of work was held m the schoolroom, made beantitul tor the occasion. and the little -tails were very tastefully arranged with dozens ot man els of women's work. Whenever I look at a crazy counterpane -w a pair of knitted curtains a feeling of awe and wonder comcsover me, and my whole being is absorbed in adimrati‘>n for rhe human mortal who did it- I try to do it sxitch bv stitch in mv mind. I picture the patience, appreciate ihe 'kill but—do it I I would rather undertake a fourteen volume novel, ft is easy to work out a mystery of human life but to work out a mvstery ot complications or silk and velvet, if I had to : do or die.' I think I would rather die. However, the ladies of much skill and patience were there alive and well, and ought to have relt proudof thesuceeseof their efforts. In attendance on the various stalls were the Misses Simmonds. Statham, .'•pence. " illianis. Haggett. Gibson. McLean. Macdonald. Irvine, Leßrun, Collin Rehberg, Baldwin. Moore, and Mesdames Edwards. Statham, Eva, Towsey, Powell. < iibson. and Spence. During Frida v evening the Xlisses Muir. Statham., 11 a in. and Rehberg contributed some capital music, and Mr A. Vonn z kindly gave a very funny recitation followed later by a song. The Srst tableau represented a maiden asleep and dreaming. - Dream Faces' it was called, and in a cloud above her were a cluster of pretty girl faces. The second half of the dream gave a group of men s faces. Hot at all good-looking—except the ugly ones. There is another Irishism for you. for to my mind handsome men are not n.-»i-l.mking' for over every feature you see written. ■ Admire me: see how handsome 1 am, while a plain man, like a plain woman, by his absence of self-conceit and an honest kindly expression, is very often good-looking. You have frequently known people whom at first you thought plain, if not ugly, and after a time, so sweet the play of their expression, you have forgotten that yon ever thought them p lain, and have felt quite surprised to hear anyone else say so. The next tableau was a scene from a fairy tale, 6 The Princess and the Swineherd.’ Miss Power made a very g»»I-looking princess, handsomely attired in silken robes. The grandmother's story represented Miss McLean a maiden, clothed in white at the feet of her grandmother. ‘ Where are you going to. my prettv maid ’' was very nice. Miss Fodor looking eharming as the milkmaid where her answer is * Going a milking, sir.’ amt all indignation and scorn in the next scene. ‘Nobody axed vou.’ Miss Ihvvie was Juan of Arc in the next, and with limelight effects was represented as burning ar the stake. I will tell you a very good way to get through an hour of a winter's evening with almost as much fun as playing consequences, and that is by writing a story compiled from the titles of tales and songs. A var reading comes in handy upon sueh an occasion, and there is great amusement in the readingofthem and comparing notes. I will doa short GEenow to illustrate my meaning. • I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls,’ • All in a wild March morning,' • Love’s Young Dream.' - Too strange not to be true.' ■W$ Two.’ ‘ Vnraveiied,’ ‘ xiy Little Girl," • Whispering.' ■ I lore you so,’ ’White Wings.' - Lifted,’ ‘My Vow.' ‘ Heaven ward,' -The A ision. ■ A anished,' • She,’ ’The AA'oman in White.’ ‘« lone,' ' Never Again.’ • Galled Back.' • The Gates of the West,' "Faded, ‘This is my Dream.’ By the time you have allotted each title of a work or song to its author you will find an hour has flown. AA hile church socials are so rife I must tell you, if you have not already heard, of a new way they have of conducting a social in America. Instead of the dreary tea-meeting ttat is a trial to the faith and courage of the most indefatigaole Christian if it occurs oftener titan once in a lifetime, the Americans have discovered a new way. and one productive ■•r a good .leal of amusement. There is no charge made . >r tickets, but each iady who attends brings a basket with per card and a dainty repast for two inside, and these ■v~kets are (landed in and p.ut up for auction by ami bv yhen all the contributions have arrived. The tun now pegms, for the gentlemen, not knowing to whom the baskets 7 *'?-• begin to bid, and the baskets are knocked down to tae highest bidder, the condition being that the purchaser iiiu-l take tea with lhe lady whose name is inside. A man might purchase the basket of his mother, but there i' just as much chance of him purchasing the basket of another mother's very pretty daughter. Dunedin is ambitious to sweeten the earth. As this mav require a little explanation. I may add. with Mr Micawber, tn snort, to grow beetroot to make sugar. That the soil of i unedin is presumably fitted for this sweetening process, twelve samples sent to France for analysis has borne eri-

denee, and it onlv Mr Joubert can bring the cautious Scot to have faith sufficient to invest £2,000, the sweetening will forthwith begin.

Maude.