THE SOCIAL WORLD

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1452, 21 February 1918, Page 30

THE SOCIAL WORLD

Announcements of engagements and contributions of interest relating to weddings and social gathei'ings shoit-d be sent to Lady Editor, “Sporting and Dramatic Review” 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 In all cases the writer’s signature and address must be attached (not for publication).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.

Dr. and Mrs. G. E. Deamer (formerly of New Zealand), who have been residing in Sydney for the past few years, have taken up residence in Auckland.

Mrs. Hope Lewis (Wellington) and her daughter, Mrs. Guy Williams, are spending a holiday at Rotorua.

The engagement is announced of Miss Suzie Campion, sister of Miss Gerti Campion, of Auckland, to Mr. John S. Donovan, Alten Road, Auckland.

Miss Gow, Hawke’s Bay, has returned home after a visit to Wellington, where she was the guest of the Hon. W. F. Massey and Mrs. Massey.

Miss Vickery, assistant mistress at the Rangiora High School, has been appointed to the staff of the Waitaki Girls’ High School, as successor to Miss Turner, who has been appointed first assistant mistress at the Rangiora High School.

The engagement is announced in Wellington papers of Miss Janet Osla Stout, daughter of Sir Robert and Lady Stout, to Captain Trevor N. Holmden, M.C., Ninth Worcestershire Regiment, son of Mr. H. H. Holmden, Kelburn, Wellington. Miss Janet Stout has been for over three years on the nursing staff of the Napier Hospital, and is now a qualified nurse, having passed all her examinations with credit. Captain Holmden left New Zealand with the Main Body of the Expeditionary Force, served on Gallipoli, and secured a commission in the Worcestershire Regiment. He was awarded the Military Cross for special bravery at the Battle of Bagdad.

Mrs. Carter, of Greymouth, who is leaving for Fiji, was farewelled by a number of friends at the Greymouth Soldiers’ Club before her departure, and was presented by the Mayoress with a gold wristlet watch as a mark of appreciation for her efforts in patriotic work.

Mrs. H. D. Caro, Auckland, is visiting her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ballin, Merivale.

Miss Janet Murray, who is in charge of the Red Cross depot in Auckland, went down to Christchurch to attend the Red Cross Conference.

Wellington papers announce the engagement of Miss Audrey Crosse, of Hastings, to Lieutenant H. Ellen, at present attached to the 34th Reinforcements, N.Z.E.F. Lieutenant Ellen was formerly a member of the sth Reinforcements.

Mrs. and Miss Matthews, of Norsewood, have donated £5OO to the Church Army for the erection of a hut at the front and £2O per month for two years for maintenance.

Mrs. Richardson, a missionary who has been working in the Congo for some years, has been on furlough in New Zealand and proceeds shortly to her home in America.

M : ss Downie Stewart has returned to Dunedin after a trip to Sydney.

Mrs. C. A. Griffiths, of Wellington, has returned from a brief visit to Auckland, accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Grierson.

The marriage took place at St. Joseph’s Church, Wellington, on February 7 of Mr. Alfred C. A. Perrin, private secretary to Dr. Valintine, Inspector-General of Hospitals, and formerly on the “New Zealand Times” staff, to Miss Marcia Blewman, of Rixon Grove, Wellington. Mr. and Mrs. Perrin left for the Sounds on their honeymoon.

The Rev. A. H. Colvile, vicar of St. Sepulchre’s Church and widely known for his powers of oratory, died in Auckland last week while undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He came to New Zealand in 1908, and after being diocesan missioner in Auckland for some time was appointed vicar of St. Mary’s Church, New Plymouth. He leaves a widow, who will have the sympathy of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in ner sad bereavement. * * * * Miss Dora Little, teacher in charge of the cookery department at the Dunedin Technical School, has received an appointment on the staff of the Auckland Girls’ Grammar School.

Mr. and. Mrs. Ronald Algie, whose marriage took place recently in Auckland, have taken a flat at “Courtville.”

The pupils of the Sockburn Aviation School, Christchurch, gave a jolly little impromptu dance the other evening. Mrs. Cecil Hill was the hostess.

Their Excellencies the GovernorGeneral and the Countess of Liverpool gave a garden party in Christchurch, at which about 150 guests were present. Their Excellencies received under a shady tree adjacent to the tennis courts, where a tennis tournament was in progress. Afternoon tea was served indoors, the table being decorated with roses. The Countess of Liverpool wore a simple frock of white linen, with an embroidered collar and a big, shady hat.

Paris, which was so triste in the earlier stages of the war, is at length growing quite gay, says “The Gentlewoman.” The hotels are full, and houses and flats are letting at high rents. At the theatres and restaurants good business is being done, and although food rationing is far stricter than in England, and baths only allowed once a week, and even jugs of hot water for shaving are looked upon as a luxury, the people contrive to keep their spirits up. The English and Americans are very popular, and many entertainments are being started for them at the clubs.

Asked what her favourite pastime Is, Miss Muriel Starr replied, “housekeeping.” Miss Starr has taken a house in Toorak, and when she is not rehearsing or playing, she is entertaining. Frequently, for specially favoured guests, Miss Starr does the cooking herself. She is a skilful concocter of choice and tasty dishes, and she declares that next to acting, she loves cooking best. • * * « Speaking at the opening of a flower show in Wellington the other day, Dr. Platts-Mills expressed the wish that all parks and reserves, notably the Botanical Gardens, might be open to the public with no high walls and fences to jealously guard the beauties inside from the public view. In Japan, America and other parts of the world such gardens were all open, and the young people became educated to enjoy them without attempting to destroy and steal. It was bad education to close these places as at present, and she hoped that a change would be made in the near future. The speaker also hoped that everybody

who had a scrap of garden or yard that could be utilised would plant vegetables freely. They were valuable and necessary for food, especially for children, and in these days the prohibitive prices that prevailed unfortunately prevented many families from having sufficient. » * * * One of the secondary developments of the war has been over the marriage question. Large numbers of young officers and young soldiers have married in haste who would not have married for years had it not been for the war. There are several reasons for this, remarks a London correspondent. In abnormal times like this people do things that they never would do ordinarily. Then —I do not wish to be brutal or unfair —numbers of girls have been willing to rush into matrimony with officers because they realise that, thanks to allowances for them in case of the husband’s death, they would have provision made for their future. The result has been a vast number of hasty marriages, sometimes after only a few weeks’ acquaintance or even less on either side. Most of these

marriages have, I believe, turned out happily, but a certain number have not. The Divorce Courts are crowded as never before. . A big agitation has arisen for a still further relaxation of the divorce laws. The Church opposes it with all its force. The first demand is for local divorce courts and cheaper divorce. Large numbers of people cannot secure divorce because they have no money, and even a divorce in forma pauperis is said to cost about £lO. The next demand is that judicial separations, by which a considerable number of married couples are separated by order of magisterial courts, shall, after a certain time, become divorce. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of the chief advocates of this, and at a great meeting at the Free Trade Hall at Manchester he launched a provincial agitation towards this end. * • * * The Hon. George Fowlds and Mrs. Fowlds, Auckland, have been visiting Christchurch. • « • Amongst all the gay cretonnes and bright coloured voiles it is most soothing to find something in that delightfully cool Puritan tint of grey, says a fashion expert. And, somehbw, grey has become highest fashion; the extreme chic of it has been discovered by the smart woman. There is distinction, for instance, about a fine grey serge—a sadly ephemeral shade, alas! —that adds not a little to the allure. It looks immensely well fashioned into a studiously simple little gown, quite straight in line, and loosely belted at the waist, or, if preferred, arranged in side draperies that are so becoming to slim people. Grey in Georgette crepe makes a truly lovely gown of the expensive kind. But grey grass lawn in conjunction with black charmeuse, the latter requisitioned for a skirt turned under at the hem, and the grass lawn for a hip-length jumper, is a frock from which emanates the very spirit of smartness. Sometimes the grey grass lawn used in combination with black is embroidered with a conventional design in black silk, and extremely well this looks. • • • • In reference to the “Passing of Luxuries,” “Queen Bee” says: — Woman’s dress is always harped on as extravagant in the past, and, of course, more so now than ever. One of the reasons is that it looks so, as women are always in evidence in numbers everywhere. A smartlydressed woman is frowned at because the belief is that smartness is extravagance. She may be wearing a fur coat, possibly eight or ten years old, that has done duty for many winters, and maybe will do so for many more. It may originally have cost 15 guineas, which would work out at about 30s. for a warm winter wrap. Her hat she probably made herself, and the small bunch of flowers that livens up her fur coat no doubt came from Nature’s workshop. She looks well clad, and is well groomed, and that, in some minds, ought not to be in these times. There is another idea very hard to combat, and it is that anything new in material or style is more costly than its predecessor. And so it goes on, the woman always being the scapegoat, chiefly because her dress is brighter than men’s and looks as if it had cost more money. What is to be done with the woman who still persists in wearing her fur coat of many winters, for these are the garments that seem to anger most of the reformers? Is she to sell it and go without, or may she be permitted to buy something sombre at, say, £1 9s. lljd., which will require renewing every winter and is of such poor quality that it has no warmth. A thinly-clad woman very soon becomes a sick woman, and then the doctor’s and chemist’s bills will make the cheap economy look very foolish. And it is to be hoped that men will curtail their luxuries. By the way, is not tobacco a luxury that might be given up with every advantage? What an enormous amount of money would be saved if this luxury were to cease for the time being, and what good results would accrue to the masculine health, and especially to that of youths.

An engagement announced by southern papers is that of Miss Vera A’Court, second daughter of the late Mr. Henry A’Court and Mrs. A’Court, Mansfield Avenue, to Mr. Kenneth W. Robinson, younger son of the late Mr. W. J. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson, Christchurch.