THE SOCIAL WORLD

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1459, 11 April 1918, Page 30

THE SOCIAL WORLD

C.KINCSLt-r-3>IITH. >,

Announcements of engagements and contributions of interest relating to weddings and social gatherings should be sent to Eady 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 In all cases the writer’s signature and address must be attached (not for publication).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.

His Excellency the Governor-Gen-eral and the Countess of Liverpool have returned to Wellington from Christchurch. Mrs. W. H. S. Moorhouse, of Wellington, president of the Wellington Nursing Division of St. John Ambulance Brigade Overseas, has been appointed by His Majesty the King as a Lady of Grace of the Order of St. John. Mrs. Moorhouse has been a prominent worker in the St. John Ambulance Association. * * * Mrs. Seymour Thorne George, of Auckland, has been paying a visit to Rotorua, staying at Grande Vue. * * # * Sister Parkinson, who is leaving the staff of the Devonport Convalescent Home (Auckland) to take up nursing duties at Cambridge, was farewelled by the voluntary nurses, and presented with tokens of their regard. * * * '♦ The engagement is announcen of Miss Beth Stoddart, second dauihter of Mr. and Mrs. W. Stoddart, of Wanganui, formerly of Waitara, to Captain Harry Daniel, son of the late Captain J. Daniel, Penzance, Cornwall, England, says an exchange. * * * * The Misses Goldie. Auckland, are on a visit to Christchurch. * * * * The Misses S. E. Jackson, E. Melville and E. M. Griffin, the Auckland delegates to the National Council of Women’s Conference, have returned from Wellington. * ♦ * * A sum of £lOOO, being part of the winnings in Australia of the mare Desert Gold has already been forwarded by Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Lowry, of Hawke’s Bay, to be devoted to the benefit of the soldiers’ ward at the Napier Hospital. * * * * The death occurred on a steamer on March 23 of Mrs. Coldicutt, wife of Dr. C. E. A. Coldicutt, of Auckland, while on tour. Mrs. Coldicutt, who had not been in good health, developed bronchial pneumonia and death followed. The remains were brought to Auckland. Mrs. Coldicutt was the only daughter of the late Mr. C. A. Wells, of Leicester, England. ♦ * * * An interesting wedding took place at St. Peter’s Church, Wellington, on Wednesday week, when Lieutenant C. T. White, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. C. White, Ashburton, was married to Miss Doris Irene Pudney, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Pudney, of Wellington. The bride looked charming in a cream gabardine costume and a picture hat, and was attended by Miss Madge Griffiths and Miss Audrey Bedell, a niece of the bride, as bridesmaid, both wearing dainty cream frocks and picture hats. Lieutenant Cocker, a fellow officer of the same reinforcements as the bridegroom, acted as best man. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. H. Watson. The wedding breakfast was partaken of at Godbers, when the customary toasts were honoured. The honeymoon is being spent in the South Island. The bride’s going away costume was of fawn colour, with a blue hat. The bridegroom went away with the Ninth New Zealand Reinforcements and was in the Somme battle. He is now posted back to the Fortieth Reinforcements. * * * * Miss G. M. Ward, for 11 years second assistant in the secondary department of the Feilding District High School, has received an appointment in the Hamilton High School. # * * * The engagement is announced of Miss Gen Butler, eldest daughter of Mr. P. Butler, “Hillsview,” Medbury, North Canterbury, to Mr. A. N. Hancock, Christchurch, late of Wellington and Eltham. says the Christchurch “Press.”

A military wedding took place on Wednesday, March 26, at the Epsom Methodist Church, Auckland, when Miss Hazel B. Trembath, third daughter of Mr. F. Trembath, late of Thames, was married to Lieutenant J. R. Thorburn, Third Auckland Mounted Rifles, who is home on furlough, having left New Zealand with the Main Body. The Rev. W. Burley officiated. The bride looked dainty in white silk with ninon sleeves and the orthodox veil becomingly arranged. The bridesmaid was Miss Dorrie Davis, who wore a shell pink crepe de chine frock with hat to match. Lieutenant North was best man and Mr. Ken. Trembath groomsman. Among the guests were the bride’s two younger sisters!, Misses Nellie and Katie Trembath, who had on navy blue costumes. Overstaying their leave in London, two typists at Aidershot Headquarters, were handed on by the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps authorities to the civil police for neglect of public duty. They spent two nights in the cells and were each fined £1 Is. at Aidershot.

It makes us pause and think how well off we are in New Zealand when we come across paragraphs like the following in English papers: “Users of hotels should note that, while Tuesdays and Fridays are to be meatless days in London, Wednesdays and Fridays will be the days beyond the limits of the Metropolitan Police Area. Chance visitors will have to bring their own sugar.” * # * * The wedding took place at Holy Trinity Church, Suva, on March 5, of Mr. Henry A. B. Bentley, of the Customs Department, Fiji, to Miss Jessie Eleanor Waldron, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Waldron, of Auckland. The ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Polynesia. The future home of the bride and bridegroom will be in Suva. * * * * The last English mail brings news that Mr. Warwick Braithwaite, of Dunedin, son of the late Mr. Joseph Braithwaite, is doing well at the Royal Academy, having won the Goring Thomas scholarship, also a prize offered by Farjeon for the best melody composed by his pupils. Mr. Warwick is also one of the associate editors of the new academy journal, the “Academite.”

The members of the Women’s Institute at Scaynes Hill (Sussex) have been taught to repair boots and shoes and are now learning from a tinker to mend pots and pans. :S 5l: * The Rev. W. A. Keay, assistantcurate of St. Mark’s Anglican Church. Wellington, has been appointed to the charge of St. Sepulchre’s Church, Auckland, rendered vacant by the death of the Rev. A. H. Colvile. * * * The wedding took place in Trinity Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, recently, of Sister Mary Watt, N.Z.A.N.S., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Watt, of Abergeldie, to Major Frederick Cameron, D. 5.0., N.Z.M.C., son of Mrs. Cameron, and the late Mr. Hugh Cameron, of Ashburton. Chaplain T. H. Roseveare performed the ceremony. The bride, who was given away by her father, was in dress uniform of grey crepe de chine, with scarlet satin military cape and cap of white ninon. Miss G. Watt and Miss Cameron attended as bridesmaids, and wore frocks of white crepe de chine with grey picture hats. Captain G. N. McDiarmid, N.Z.M.C., was best man, and the groomsman Private W. C. Mackay.

A great many women, even among those who devote much care and thought to the wardrobe, make the mistake of regarding accessories as a sort of unavoidable anti-climax to an otherwise satisfactory costume, points out a fashion writer. The same persons who can choose a gown or tailored suit with unfailing good taste will often, strangely enough, wear with it accessories that were never in this world meant to be congenial with that particular costume. And it is true that a gown can be no more successful than its very smallest accessory. That is why so many costumes just miss being entirely and satisfyingly smart. There are so many things to be considered in choosing the small things that go to make a costume complete, and nowhere does the rule of the eternal fitness of things hold so hard and fast. Women who would be horrified at the thought of wearing a lace collar with a riding habit, make just as serious blunders in the accessories they wear with their tailored street costumes. Therefore, Madame, if you wish to be smartly turned out, consider well thine accessories.

The American young woman is going to be a big factor in the war (says Frank Dilnot in the “Daily Chronicle”). There is an idea that American women are pampered and flattered by their men folk to a degree unknown to our country. This may be true of patches of American society, especially in the richer circles, but it is not correct in essence among what for want of a better term may be called the middle-class girls —that is to say, the young women with opportunities for a moderate education and a taste for reading, and who sometimes from choice, and occasionally from necessity, find their own living in the world. It is not true either of a good many of those in other circles, of those young women, for instance, who are not rich, but who lead a comfortable home life with their parents or are given a moderate allowance. Through one and all of these girls runs a vein of character and temperament which really makes them into a new race of women to strangers from Europe. They are, perhaps, a little keener than our English girls, a little harder, a little more companionable for men — which doesn’t mean that they are necessarily more attractive as sweethearts or wives. They talk frankly, smoothly and understandingly on matters. Almost without exception they are warmhearted in their personal relationships, at times swiftly impulsive, and yet one is startled frequently by a certain cold-blooded attitude towards life. It comes as a reminder that they are the inhabitants of a new country, still bearing traces of primitive struggle. * * * * I was travelling from Washington to New York (continues the writer), and at lunch time it was my fortune to be at a table with four girls of from 18 to 21 coming down from college. They were strangers to me. One of the lunch courses was an attractive-looking confection served with honey. A table courtesy enabled me to ask my neighbour the name of it. “You have never heard of waffles?” she replied, and they all laughed heartily. And then they insisted on serving my plate with some of their waffles, also with some of their honey—and then, with open delight, watched me experiment. And from then until we reached New York, two hours later, those four girls talked in a hurricane of interest with the stranger they had found, talked about books, scenery, politics, and the charms of New York compared with Washington, where they were compelled to spend term time. I cite this incident because it stands out in contrast to the usual manners and methods of the American girl, as compared with our own, Mrs. Grundy herself is not more severe with casual acquaintances than the American young lady as a rule. There is generally no suspicion of a merry smile, no glint of friendly laughter with the young American girl, no camaraderie, no reliance on the gentlemanliness of men short of a formal introduction. You may get a frigid “Thank you” if you pick up a dropped handkerchief; that’s the limit. But this surface coldness, particularly noticeable to an Englishman, has its counterpart in a thoroughness of friendship once you have been accepted in a circle, a friendship which has a depth and comprehensiveness which is very stimulating. It would be embarrassing if it were not so obviously genuine. The secret of the American young woman is her intensiveness. She never does things by halves, whether it is taking up a hobby, studying a profession, or falling in love. She knows no rest till she has reached the very limit of the experience into which she has thrust her interest. The war has given the women here new directions for effort. A score of organisations are on foot. In trains, tramcars, omnibuses, even in the picture palaces you find women knitting comforters in olive-brown wool. But I believe that this is but the beginning. When the need arises —if it should arise — for women’s help on an organised basis the women of America will be capable of surprising the world.

At present, states an English writer, most of the camouflage in connection with the big guns of the British Army is done by Frenchwomen. To the untrained eye it would seem that the cream and bronze and green and other colours that make a howitzer look like a caterpillar or a nightmare are dashed on anyhow, but there are definite principles to be observed if the highest degree of invisibility is to be attained. The design is drawn out, and the Frenchwomen, on piece rates, do the rest. * * * * The other day (says a London writer) I witnessed a pathetic incident while washing my hands in an hotel. Two young officers entered, strangers to each other, one with his left coat sleeve empty, the other with his right arm in a sling. They looked at each other, and one of them said with some diffidence: “Shall we wash hands together?” Whereupon each washed the other’s hand, dried it, and after this novel introduction they went off to luncheon. * * * * There is an old Spanish legend that soon after the importation of the orange tree, by the Moors, one of the Spanish monarchs had a specimen of which he was very proud and of which the French ambassador was extremely anxious to obtain an off-shoot. The gardener’s daughter was aware of this, and in order to provide herself with the necessary dowry to enable her to marry her lover, she secured a slip which she sold to the ambassador at a high price. On the occasion of her wedding, in recognition of her gratitude to the plant which had procured her happiness, she bound in her hair a wreath of orange blossoms; and thus, so runs the legend, inaugurated the fashion which has become universal. * * * * Brush a shabby navy blue serge with a brush dipped in vinegar. Do not use the brush too wet, and when done iron the serge carefully on the wrong side. Vinegar is wonderful for taking spots and stains out of serge. * * sS Everyone, everywhere, can testify to the value of Scrubb’s Ammonia as an addition to the bath water, which is not only rendered delightfully soft by its presence, but, at a moderate cost, gives all the invigorating freshness usually associated with the more costly Turkish bath. In fact, it is not too much to say that no one who has once made a trial of Scrubb’s Cloudy Fluid Ammonia for any purpose whatsoever, would ever willingly be without it again, while if there should by chance be anyone who is, as yet, personally unacquainted with its advantages, this is an excellent time in which to put its merits to the test.