"LADIES' NIGHT."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1807, 21 July 1913, Page 7

"LADIES' NIGHT."

AT THE SAVAGE CLUB. There is' no more popular or brilliant social assemblage of a representative character, held in Wellington throughout the season than the annuor"ladies' night" of the Wellinfftori Savage. Club, and perhaps hone that is looked forward to with so much pleasurable anticipation by those in whoso honour tho, function is arranged. Year by year tho' club has grown in strength, until it now numbers over 500 members, each of whom is necessarily worried by .his wtife, sisters, cousins, anidj,aunts, for„ tickets,; frit; /'ladies j night/ So popular! had eAtM&in^ont. l^omo' that the committee will shortly have to consider ways of. regulatipg. the. attend-ance.'-'.Though the function 'was not.'announced to commence 'uhtir 7.45-pin.', tho Town HaU was invaded by many ; beforo 7 o'clook, and at,.7.30 p.m. all save the back seats in the'gallery-were occupied. Prior to tho arrival of liis Excellency tho Governor and party, Mr- Christian' Hellemann gave an impromptu recital. At 8.10 p.m. his Excellency and tho Countess, of Liverpool arrived, arid.' with them came Chief Savaso Dr. Newman, the Prime Minister (the Hon. W. P. Massey)i' tho Hon. A. L. Herdman, and his Worship the Mayor and- Mrs. Luke. Among those' present were noticed Colonel and Mrs. Heard, the Hon. John Duthie, M.L.C., and several members of Parliament and Departmental heads. The entertainment provided by tho funloving .Savages was of a most hetero.geneoua character, but on the whole dill not 'reach the standard set in previous years. ' The Savages appeared to overreach' themselves m their attempts to' bo glaringly original, and the result was tho reverse of satisfactory. _ But there wero compensations in individual ■ numbers which toned up the,' programme. The orohestra, in motley array, created' considerable amusement; in a dosoriptivo piece,.. entitled "A .Southern Wedding, the opening scene of which shows' the groom in bed, snoring, and the finale, Mendelssohn's "Wedding Maroh," played ensemble. Following this the full strength of the Savages appeared in a musical melange, entitled The Weary Willie b Wooing,"' with a.few lilies of dialogue linking up the various items. Among the Successes in this part were Savage Gilohrist, who played a Scotch fantasia (which included a clever imitation of tho bagpipes), most sympathetically j Savam. Norman Hales, who wag uncommonly good in tho American ' character song, "Well, I Swan"; Savage Howse, who exhibited a sweet lyric tenor in a charming Bong; and Savage D. A. Kenny, whoso comic contributions, "Has it Ever Occurred to You?" and "Musical Terms," were sung in a richly humorous manner. Others who contributed were Savages B. S. Allwright, Hugh Wright, Connors,-and ft. Wilkinson. The "Bousa" Band was only feebly humorous; and Savage R. Wilkinson s "sketch," "How I Saved My Life," was wntless and- tedious. Savages Linley Richardson and Brown _ did u. number of skotch'es cleverly during the first part. _ „ ' ' , At tho interval, Chief Savage Dr. A. K. Newman discoursed crisply _ on the mannors and customs of the tribe he controlled, and assured tho "beautiful wahiiies" present that it was a wise and ' righteous thing for their husbands to attend the koreros. One' of the chief reasons was" that it left them an evening to themselves free from tho worries of "the old man," and ho always kept them well after 10 p.m., in order that they would not be subject to the temptaI, Tions of places which closed at that hour. "Later on they would offer them food, un--1 fortunately not of the old-fashioned kind. Had there been a big gathering such as that was in tho olden (lays, tho Natives from Te Aro pa would probably havo raided their friends at tho Hutt, and brought back a goodly supply of "long pig," but things wero vary different now. The next divertissement was "Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks," with Savage G. P. .Wilson as Mrs. Jarley, and Mr. A. W. Newton as Rostus, tho handy-man. Tho stage management was very crude, and • as tho "business" was spun-out to tho ' bast part of an hour, with the aid of ' eongs and chomscs, and wag not remarkable for any wit or spOrklo, it fell rather flat, and many left their seats in tho hall long before the automatons had ceased to trouble and tho "figures" were at rest. A most onjayablo supper enlivened by bright OTche.tfral music followed. The musical arrangemerits were under the direction ' of Mr. D. A. Kenny, and Mr. Jas. Dykes was energetic in a secretarial capacity. Specia.. trams convey«l the guests liomejratdsafter tho entertainment.