THE SOCIAL WORLD

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1358, 4 May 1916, Page 28

THE SOCIAL WORLD

A-nnouncementß of engagements and contributions of interest relating to weddings and social gatherings should be sent to lady Editor, “Sporting and prawatin Beview” Office, Auckland. In all cases the writer’s signature and address must be attached (not for publication). Photographs of wedding groups will be reproduced by arrangement.

Item from Egypt: The engagement is announced of Major Harry White, D. 5.0., N.Z.E.F. (Auckland), to Sister Dorothy Rose, eldest daughter of Mrs. Rose, of Christchurch.

“The war hasn’t touched America a bit,” said Madame Melba to a Sydney interviewer. “What are the sympathies of the people? Intensely proAlly. Although there are some big cities, whose names I won’t mention, where the sympathies lie the other way, the great majority of the people are against Germany. But, of course, the country is faced with the impossible problem of the millions and millions of citizens of German birth or parentage who are scattered everywhere.”

The engagement is announced of Miss Gwendoline Corliss, daughter of Mr. M. C. Corliss, Superintendent of Telegraphs, Wanganui, to Captain T. Proctor, of Sydney.

The marriage took place recently in the Unitarian Church, Wellington, ,of Miss Mvrtle Oakley-Browne, second daughter of Mr. James OakleyBrowne, the well-known journalist, to Mr. J. Fletcher, of Roseneath, Wellington. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Mr. Ha'e. The bride, who was given away by her brother, Mr. H. Oakley-Browne, wore a pretty gabardine coat and skirt, with a picture hat. Miss Eva Oakley-Browne (sister) was the bridesmaid, and wore a saxe blue costume, with a white hat and white fox furs. The best man was Mr. J. W. Black. A reception was afterwards held at the residence of the bride’s brother, Mr. H. OakleyBrowne, in Tinakori Road, and later in the day the bride and bridegroom left fo r Rotorua.

“It’s easy to decide what you will do in the future, and in other circumstances —that’s nothing: the real decisions have to be made for the instant, and that’s how the future is ( created.”

“To ‘go in a barrel’ is no longer ra synonym for destitution in clothes, •said Mdme. Ripley, president of the ■Fashion Art League of America. “The coming party gown is a barrel. It has all the lines artists love—double curve, small circle at the waist and feet, wide curve sweeping out over the hips, and small basque waist.”

Army Nursing Sisters Goldsmith and Brawn arrived in Napier by car last week, and are spending their leave with friends. Sister Goldsmith ■was masseuse and Sister Brawn night,charge sister on the transport Ulima roa These sisters expect to return tto Cairo with the Twelfth Reinforcements.

A cable message was received in Masterton from England recently announcing the death of Mrs. Hamilton, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, of the Grenadier Guards, and only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Elgar, of “Fernside,” Featherston. The late Mrs. Hamilton, who was 25 years of age, had been three years in the Old Country. Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton was aide-de-camp to Lord Islington when the latter was Governor of New Zealand.

A London correspondent announces the engagement of Miss Elizabeth May Macrory Neligan, elder daughter of the Right Rev. Bishop Neligan, of Ford Rectory, Berwick-on-Tweed, to the Rev. Thomas James Parry, second son of Mr. James Parry, of Halesworth, Suffolk. Mr. Parry was a missioner in the Auckland diocese from 1906 to 1908, and vicar of Mount Albert from 1908 to 1912. Later he returned to England and became curate at Ford, in Northumberland.

Nurse Meddins, formerly of Napier, who is at present in Sydney, is recovering from an operation for appendicitis.

Mrs. R. J. Seddon has returned to Wellington, after some weeks spent with her daughter, Mrs. W. S. Bean, the Vicarage, Addington.

There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of women medical students entering the London School of Medicine for Women (Royal Iree Hospital) for 1915-16. The buildings are be.ng extended, and the council has arranged to admit this year some women students belonging to the Allied nations who are refugees in Britain.

Lady de Haviland, writing in the “Queen,” informs us that Mr. Lloyd George, recognising that chauffeurs of military age and otherwise fit should take their places at the front, now employs a lady chauffeur himself —or should we say a chauffeuse?

Mrs. Arthur Mead, a well-known Christchurch singer, who had been seriously ill, is now making progress towards recovery. Mrs. Mead has not long returned from studying music and voice-production in London, Paris and New York, and had experience of the risks of Zeppelins and submarines. The nerve strain proved too great, and caused a serious physical breakdown, from which she is, happily, recovering.

Mrs. Sibbald, formerly a resident of Auckland and Dunedin, recently visited Russia, travelling via Bergen and across Scandinavia to Petrograd. She took this journey in order to be present at her daughter’s wedding to a Russian officer, who, owing to the exigencies of war, was unable to go to England to have the wedding at the bride’s English home. Mr. Sibbald and her two daughters were in Munich not long before the war, whither they had gone to complete her daughter’s education. They were fortunate in having returned to England before hostilities broke out.

Miss Annie Hamann, of Dunedin, matron of the General Hospital at Picton, has recently arrived in Egypt to nurse New Zealanders.

Julia Ward Howe died before the greatest of wars buist on the world, but being dead, she yet speaks in her beautiful old “Battle Hymn,” which has very appropriately been set to new music in Louden this year.

The Taumaru camp at Lowry Bay, Wellington, is now ready for occupation, Sir Francis Bell’s daughter, Mrs. Rolleston, being in charge.

A pair of special military mittens, designed and knitted by one Australian lady from wool carded and spun by another, were sent to Lord Kitchener. A note was enclosed with the gift asking him if such mittens would be suitable for the troops. A reply was received from the London War Office thanking the ladies for the gift, and saying that they would be “eminently suitable.”

An equestrian statue of Joan of Arc recently unveiled in New York is interesting because it is the first statue of the Maid sculptured by a woman—Miss Anna Vaughan Hyatt, an American lady of French descent. The base of the statue is built of stones from the Tower of Rouen, in which the Maid was imprisoned. A model of the statue has been placed in the Cathedral of Blois, where she was confirmed.

The wedding of Miss Margaret Dryden Knox, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Knox, of Clifton Terrace, Wellington, to Mr. Hugh Rea Kirker, second son of the late Mr. James Kirker and Mrs. Kirker, of Home Bay, Auckland, took place recently at St. John’s Church, Wellington, the Rev. Dr. Gibb officiating. The bride wore a gown of ivory taffeta over shell pink, the bodice of ninon lined also with pink. The skirt was quite short and full and ended in a ruching; her hat was of black panne velvet, and she carried a sheaf of pink chrysanthemums. The bridesmaids were the two little

Misses Peacock, whose dainty frocks were of cream spotted net in Valenciennes lace, with tiny choux of pale pink and blue ribbons. They also wore black velour hats and carried posies of pale pink roses. Mr. Aicken Carrick, of Auckland, was the best man. The bride’s travelling gown was of moss green gabardine, with trimmings of black pony skin, and a black velour hat with touches of pale rose in green. Mr. and Mrs. Kirker intend visiting Auckland later on, the bridegroom being a member of the 14th Reinforcements.

A writer from New York to a London paper says: “Everyone is crazed on glass here! The fine ladies have wardrobes of bevelled glass, and plateglass toilet tables with high, narrow vitrines on either side, for keeping manicure implements, cosmetics, and scent in, so that these things may all be just to hand. A glass writ.rgtable, of white or any comured glass, is inset with black, and there are dainty boxes to match to hold writingpaper, etc. In many houses, only cooking vessels of glass —warranted to stand any heat —are used.”

One of the sights of the times in London is the appearance on the box seats of motor cars of black servants. The idea is extended to other domestic posts. Small black page-boys are replacing hall-boys or even footmen in the big houses. It is thought to be smart as well as patriotic for a woman of fashion to be followed, as her ancestress was in the time of the last King George, by one of these dxininutive black creatures. Society keeps a fairly sharp look-out on itself to see if anyone dares to maintain a staff of man-servants. A case in point occurred recently, where a lady possessing a butler and three footmen was reproved by her friends. Her explanation was that she was supporting four delicate and otherwise unfit individuals vhe are not strong enough for ether work.

The smart blouse is in its highest development, and is best described as a lined or unlined semi-fitting bodice, made of crepe-de-chine, voile, chiffon, Japanese silk, combined with lace, beautiful stitchery, and often lovely velvet, or silken textures. Blouses for morning and general wear have never been more attractive. Designed on most praiseworthy simplicity, they are greatly labour-saving, and just what one wants for winter wear. In close kinship with the blouse is the sports coat, and no garment better deserved its widespiead popularity. Now, more than ever, it nas come to be considered an indispensable article of every woman’s attire, and never has it been seen in such a variety of attractive shapes and materials.

“Queen Bee” is very optimistic about the house training of women which is going on new. She says: “Some very pleasant surprises are likely to greet Johnny when he comes marching home, again, hurrah! His home is going to be better managed, and more comfortable; his meals beautifully cooked, and a clever housekeeper will be found in the place of many a careless and slovenly one.. This is because many of the wives, and mothers and sisters of men ‘doing their bit’ at the front ere earnestly setting to work to do their bit here by improving the whole atmosphere of the homes their men are fighting to defend. Eight centres for soldiers’ wives and mothers are in full working order in and around Sydney now. Besides being a meeting-place for the women and children, they afford opportunities for those who wish to do so to learn sewing, knitting, hygiene, cooking, and other domestic arts.”

A vandal in the Art Gallery at Sydney slashed in Cadagon Cowper s picture “The Bride’s Door,” representing the garden scene in “Faust.” The picture was recently purchased for £lOOO. This is supposed to be the act of an anti-German because, of the scene originating in “Faust,”

Mr. Richard Harding Davis, one of the most brilliant of American war correspondents, is a great friend of Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, the famous correspondent and lecturer now touring Australia. Mr. Ashmead Bartlett describes Davis as a most engaging personality. Unlike, most correspondents, however, he is a great dandy, and his handsome “get up” when on war service would deceive many people as to his character and ability. A story goes that Davis when reporting the war for his newspaper in France always insisted on having a clean well-ironed shirt every day. One day when his stock ran out and the possibility of getting a clean garment seemed hopeless, he scoured the countryside in a motor car looking for a laundry. When he discovered an elderly Frenchwoman willing to wash and iron his shirts to his satisfaction he was visibly elated, though he had travelled many miles well within range of the German guns.