THE SOCIAL WORLD

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1545, 4 December 1919, Page 26

THE SOCIAL WORLD

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 In all cases the writer’s signature and address must be attached (not for publication).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

Mrs. and Miss Bunny, Lower Hutt, and Mrs. Mason are on a visit to Rotorua.

The Misses Fisher, Wellington, have left by the Makura on a holiday visit to California,,

Miss Bentham, of Melbourne, is to take up the position of general secretary of the Y.W.C.A. in Dunedin.

Mrs. Edmunds, Auckland, has been on a visit to Masterton, where she was the guest of Mrs. Guy Williams.

Mrs. Fulton and Miss Monica. Fulton, Wellington, are on a visit to Rotorua.

Mrs. Bostock and child, of Queensland, arrived from Sydney by the Moeraki last week on a holiday visit to her home in Feilding.

Mrs. Eric Russell, of Victoria,, has arrived in New Zealand on a visit to her mother, Mrs. Rutherford, Mendip Hills, Canterbury.

The death has occurred m Masterton of Miss Jane Robieson, nttli daughter of Mr. James Robieson. The deceased, who was well known in social and athletic circles was in one season the runner-up for the New Zealand ladies’ golf championship.

The engagement is announced of Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Kettle, M.C., second son of Mr. and Mrs. Kettle of Napier, to Ngaire, youngest daughter of the late Mr. E. J. Riddiford and Mrs. Riddiford, of the Lower Hutt.

The “Christchurch Press” announces the engagement of Miss Ileene Green, daughte/ of the late Mr. George Green and Mrs. Green, of Colombo Street, Christchurch, to Mr. Cyril Stringer, eldest son of Mr. Justice Stringer and Mrs. Stringer.

Mrs. R. H. Rhodes, Timaru, and her daughter arrived in London early in September after a four months tour in the United States. They will remain in London until December, when they will go on the Continent, returning in the spring.

Miss Dora Wilson, daughter of Mr. L. H. B. Wilson, of Kelburn, is leaving on December 4 by the Riverina to join the Morea for India, where her marriage to Captain Bird, of the 35th Scinde Horse, is to take place (says a Wellington paper). Captain Bird left with the Sixth Reinforcements of the N.Z.E.F., and was transferred to the Indian Army. The 35th Ccinde Horse is under orders to proceed to Palestine early next year.

The wedding took place at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Wellington, on November 25 of Miss Lydia Louise (Louie) Haise, a daughter of the late Judge Haise, at once time Under-Sec-retary for Native Affairs, to Mr. Edward Blake Burkekin, of Nelson. The bride was given away by Sir Robert Stout, an old friend of the family, and the ceremony was performed by the Ven. Archdeacon Johnson. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen, and the wedding was a very quiet one, only relatives and a few intimate friends being present. The bride wore a. dress of white voile, with deep rose bordering, and hat of rough straw lined and swathed with rose coloured silk and finished with tiny blue flowers. After the ceremony the wedding party were entertained by Miss Haise, the bride’s sister, at her home in Tinakori Road.

Miss Hay-Mackenzie, Wellington, has left for a visit to Apia, Samoa, where she will be the guest of her brother Mr. G. Hay-Mackenzie, manager of the U.S.S. Co. branch at that centre.

The engagement is announced of Miss M. E. Clifford, daughter of Sir George and Lady Clifford, Fendalton, to Mr. H. B. Douglas, second son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Douglas, Cashmere Hills.

During her seasons in Holland, Miss Amy Castles, who has scored a brilliant series of successes with the J. C. Williamson Grand Opera Company at Her Majesty’s, Melbourne, was a great favourite at court, and at The Hague the Queen of the Netherlands delighted the people by herself leading the applause for the Australian prima donna. At Vienna, the Emperor Francis Joseph expressed deep admiration for her voice and art, and demonstrated his

interest by the unique compliment of appointing Miss Castles Chamber Singer to the Imperial Court, the only other prima donna of British birth to receive this appointment being Dame Nellie Melba. Miss Castles was the youngest singer ever to receive it, and her warrant of appointment was the last signed by the late Emperor. Owing to the epochal changes wrought by the war, it should become an historic document.

There were many matters, particularly social questions, in which the viewpoint of women could not fail to be of advantage in the framing of legislation (said Miss Ellen Melville in the course of one of her campaign addresses), but at the same time women should not attempt to confine their attention to that portion of legislation. If a woman were not capable of undertaking her full responsibilities as legislator, with the requisite knowledge and training to deal with all questions that might come before the House, she had no right to come before any electorate and ask for a “sympathy” vote, merely because she was a woman. The speaker was firmly convinced as a citizen that women were needed in the national life to-day, and this was the sole reason why she herself had decided to stand for Parliament when enabled to do so.

Miss Birch, who has been general secretary in Wellington for the Y.W.C.A. for some years, is proceeding to America for further training before returning to New Zealand as New Zealand national travelling secretary.

A message from London states that West End shopkeepers assert that a record Christmas shopping is being done. The great stores are already crowded, as in December of other years. ...As much as £5O is being given for ornate handbags, and 240 guineas for dressing bags. There are remarkable displays of costly underclothing. Two hundred guineas is the price for fur coats. No one seems to know where the money comes from, but shopkeepers surmise that war profiteers who hitherto have invested their earnings, are now allowing their wives to spend, and the wear and tear of war is being replenished.

A wedding of interest was celebrated at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Wellington, on November 26, when Miss Lydia Field, second daughter of Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., and Mrs. Field, of Wellington Terrace, was married to Captain Noel Pharazyri, R.F.A., son of Mrs. Gerald Fitzgerald, of Tinakori Road, Wellington. The Ven. Archdeacon Johnson officiated, and the bride was given away by her father. There were no bridesmaids, and the bridegroom was attended by Mr. Jeffrey Field. The bridal frock was of white georgette over palest pink with swathed belt of pearls and silver tissue. It was trimmed with Brussels lace, and the veil was the same beautiful old lace worn fitting closely over the head and falling in long folds to the feet, where it formed a slight train. She carried a bouquet of pale pink and white flowers. After the ceremony the wedding party was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Field at -their- home on the Terrace. Sir Robert Stout, an old friend of the family, proposed the health of the bride and bridegroom, and Mr. Von Haast that of the bride’s parents.

Great butterfly bows made of tulle or chiffon, are the latest thing at the back of an evening dress, just below the normal waist line.

The engagement is announced of Miss Phyllis Cantor, of Coogee, Sydney, to Captain Cecil Blomfield, M.C., A.1.F., second son of Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Blomfield, of Auckland.

The latest whim in America is to have a soul portrait of yourself. The artist is said to be able to tell the spiritual condition of his sitter, and he chooses the colours accordingly. Yellow is the intellectual colour; red denotes a violent temperament; purple is credited with reflecting a love and appreciation of beauty; and blue is used to show spirituality.

With regard to the statements made as to the morals of camps, Miss Ellen Melville said in answer to a question put to her at a meeting last week, that if they were bad it was no credit to the community. She advocated the adoption of a system in use in America. In the camps there the women had established what were called “hostess houses.” There the boys were able to live the nearest approach to home life. Ladies were always in charge, and the boys were able to receive visits from their mothers and sisters and girl friends. The home element was introduced, and it was said to have had a wonderful effect on camp life in the United States. Under such conditions training and discipline were all to the good. If women in New Zealand established similar houses at camps here, they would very largely do away with the objections. (Applause.)

There lias been a welcome increase in the number of British babies, says the “Daily Mail” of a recent issue. Not so long ago the birth rate figures were so low as to cause consternation. Peace-time statistics are ever so much more encouraging. The figures for the week ending August 30 show an increase of 461 babies on those for the corresponding period in the previous year. This means an annual rate of 18.0 per 1000. And incidentally there is a welcome decrease in the number of deaths. It is instructive to notice that the greatest increase is in babies of working class parents. The proportion of marriages is also highest among that class. This would seem to indicate that economically the workers, in spite of their frequent demands for more wages, are more advantageously placed than the professional class. But the one point upon which parents of all classes are agreed is that never at any previous time has Master Baby been such an expensive luxury as he is now. Nurses’ fees have gone up. The prices of the articles comprising an infant’s wardrope have more than doubled. And milk is one shilling a quart—or,., at any rate, it soon will be! Perhaps the most interesting feature •of these statistics is the preponderance of male over female babies. This would appear to support —if not actually confirm —the popular theory that during and after war nature, to make good its ravages, sees to it that more boy babies are born, than girls. It is, at any rate, a theory to which a great many eminent doctors and statisticians subscribe.

Mr. Ray Fuller, youngest son of Mr. John Fuller, senr., celebrated his 21st birthday recently with a social evening held at the Foresters’ Hall, Devonport, when a large number of guests were entertained.

“I can’t -do it —I can’t,” murmured the strong man to his wife, tears streaming from his eyes as he gazed at the round, white, placid body in the water. “I can’t do it; it is not a man’s work.” The woman took the knife, and, with a glance of contempt at her husband, finished peeling the onions.

At St. Andrew’s Church, Wellington, on November 20, the wedding took place of Miss Mildred (“Mimi”) A. Smith, daughter of Mrs. W. Smith, The Terrace, and- Dr. Douglas Muir, son of Mr. arid Mrs. A. L. Muir, of Gisborne. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J. Gibson Smith. The bride, who was given away by her brother, wore a pretty frock of ivory satin and georgette. Pink and blue rosebuds added a touch of colour, and the long tulle veil was caught to the back of the head with a wreath of tiny flowers. The bridesmaids were Miss Jean Smith and Miss Lorna Muir, the former wearing a frock of mauve georgette and a yellow hat with touches of mauve, and the latter a frock of pink georgette with clusters of mauve-coloured roses, and a leghorn hat trimmed with pink and mauve. The best man was Mr. Philip Muir.

There was an interesting New Zealand wedding at St. George’s, Hanover Square, writes an English society ‘chronicler, when Mr. Rowland Huntley Muir, son of Colonel C. W. Muir,

C. 8., and Mrs. Muir, was married to Miss Beatrice Sydney Russell, daughter of the late Mr. James Russell, of New Zealand, and Mrs. Russqll, and sister of the Countess of Hardwicke. The bride, who was given away by the Earl of Hardwicke, wore an exquisite gown of white satin, partly veiled with beautiful lace, which also covered the court train. She carried a sheaf of white lilies, and wore a spray of myrtle and white heather at her waist. Two little girls and a page attended her, the former in dainty frocks of white satin lace,

with rosebud wreaths in their hair, » and carrying early Victorian posies; the latter in a pink satin suit. They were Lady Elizabeth Yorke, niece of the bride, Miss Sheila Hudson, and Master Ronnie Meadows. Mr. Malcolm Stewart was best man.

No fruits contain so much sugar or are so beneficial to the health of children as prunes and figs. They should each be soaked all night before they are cooked'. Thoroughly wash them in cold water, then pour boiling water over them and stew them in the water they have soaked in.