WOMAN'S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 254, 22 July 1919, Page 2

WOMAN'S WORLD.

MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM FAR AND NBAS,

(By Imogen.

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Mrs. Wilde (Marton) is visiting Wellington. • Thij returned soldier who drove the car representing tho Mothers' Ilelp Division (Women's National. Reserve) in Saturday's procession was Private J. llonning. The Mothers' Help Division of tho Women's National Heserve lias very good reason to bo satisfied with the result of yesterday's matinee organised for tho benefit of the l'nid Helpers' Fund. The liouso was packed/not a vacant seat any-' where, and a great many people were turned away unablo to find accominoda-- ] tion of any kind. Tho programme was ' excellent, one of the best matineo programmes that has been given for a very long time, and everything went with vim. Tho division greatly appreciates the generosity of Mr. Fuller in having assisted them so greatly, not only in having placed His Majesty's Theatro at', their disposal, lint 'in giving the assists, anco of his artists and helping in other ways. Being a holiday, when a full houso was more or less a certitude, the division feels that his action was all the more to bo appreciated.' Tho auction sal 9of a I dove brought in a good sum, and tho selling of sweets and programmes, by a j l bevy of young people, added very satis-' factorily to tho proceeds. In charge of the sweets were Mrs. Bayfield, Mrs. Phillips Turner, and Mrs. JT. D. Gray. Tho Hon. A. Myers, the Hon. T. M. Wilford, tho Mayor (Mr. ,T. P. Luke) and Mrs; Luke and-a large gathering of well-known citizens and well-wishers of the .cause were present, as well as most of the members of the Mothers' Help Division.

Mr. and Mrs. B.' Eathbone (Optinake) aro visiting Masterton. . lliss Lucy Cowan (Christchuroh) came to Wellington Inst week to meet her sister, a member of tlio N.Z.A.N.S., who is returning after war sorvice. Sister Christine Smith, of the Orthopaedic Hospital, Christchurch, is in town for a few days. Sister G. M. Guthrie, daughter of the Eon. D. H. Guthrie, Minister of Lands, was a passenger from Sydney last week. Sister Guthrie has heen with the Australian Nursing Servico for the past four years, and has been on service abroad for the whole time, with tho exception of a sick leave rest in New Zealand some two years ago. Mrs. D. B. Williams, of Auckland, celebrated lior 101 st birthday last w?ek, She is still in good health. The coloured dress suit for men has positively arrived. "After four years' neglect," snys a* leading London tailor, "tho dress suit is coming into its' own* again. And we are .receiving inquiries for coloured dress suits. Several such orders have already been executed. From what I can see, tho dark bine dress suit is (joins to ho very popular. Tho suit is made of dark bluo cloth, tho coat lapels being covered with black silk as of old, and black silk is also used to'cover the buttons. A stripe, in black silk braid, is carried down tho outside of tho trousers leg:, and the general effect of tile suit is very smart. Other shades for which a demand is expected are dark purple and dark chocolate brown. Whether the" now taste will go as far as crimson, sky blue or orange yellow, I cannot say, but anyhow, evening parties of the future look liko being brighter."

Wedding at Moawhango. The marriage took place on Tuesday, July 15, in tho littlo chapel .belonging to tho Batley family, Moawhango, of Miss Amy Miriama Batley, daughter of Mrs. B. T. Batley, of Moawhango, to Mr. Maurice Sterling -Chambers, son of Mr. Mason Chambers, Havelock North, H.B. The officiating clergymen were tho llev. A, 0., .Williams.. and the. Rev., W. IP. Stent, and there was'a,'large"gathering of friends and. well-wishers from all parts of tho district to witness the event. The bride, who was given away by her brother, Mr. P. Batley, woco a Grecjan gown of white satin, caught with pink roses, and finished with a silvor girdle, and a veil fastened with orango blossoms. The two bridesmaids were the Misses 0. Batley and Chambors, tho former wearing pale blue georgette will}, silver trimming .and a, pink hat, and the. latter pale pink georgette with a blue hat, trimmed with touches of silver. Mr. W. L. M'Lean, of Hastings, was best man, and tho groomsman was Mr. Keith' M'llae. The "Wedding March" was played as tho bridal party left the church, and.as they crossed tho lawn on .their way to the homestead they .were greeted with showers of confetti from tho assembled ' guests. Mrs. Batley, tho mother, of.', the bride, woro grey" prcpo de chinci with a violet hat; Mrs. Chambers was in, sea-green silk with a black hat; Mrs. P. Batley, a navy blue frock with a black hat; Mrs. Batley subsequently ontertiined tho guests at a wedding breakfast, tho decorations of tho . tablo having been artistically carried out by Miss Phyllis Oldham, and consisting, of white'violets, maidenhair-fern, narcissi, and frcesias, to which a warmer touch of colour wasi given by shell-pink streamers of ribbon'. The wedding cake, a..three-tier one,.also prettily decorated, was made by Miss Edna M'llae, who, witlv Miss Oldham, i& a friend of the bride. Mrs. Chambers travelled in a niggor-brown costume with. Oriental trimming, and a hat to match.

A PLEA FOR CZECH OPERA ' Two choirs of Czech and Moravian schoolmasters, some 100 singers all told, vccently gave a musical festival in the Queen's Hall, London. Smotana's music as by • right predominated at the first concert. Two of his fine symphonic poems were played by the orchestra of | tlio Prague Opera, and his music was aleo sung by the two choirs and by Mine. Emmy Deslinnova, whose reappearance in London was hailed in a tremendous way. "In yoars gone by I raised my voice on behalf of Czech opera, and I might as well have talked to "tho desert. But surely now that things have changed so,' moved so, it may bo different?" , Thus Emmy Destinnova, the peerless soprano of Bohemia; a raven-lmired, typical daughter of Slavonic race, whoso sloe-black eyes fill with tears as she talks of tho art of her native land. "To think that you in London who tli iulc yon know everything, know nothing at all of our marvellous operatic literature!" she says. "In London in tho old days I used to talk about it in vain—you could ouly think of Wagner. But isn't German art very much in Hie shade just now, and won't it he so for a very long time? Other people should now have a chance, and I promiso you that the operas of Smetana, Dvorak, and Fibicli would bo a revelation to you. "I hold them to be every bit as interesting as the Russian operas you liavo heard here. Moussorgsky waited for 10 years before ho was heard in Londonis Smetana to wait longer? I should like to transplant the Praguo Opera Company here tor a few weeks—you would find it tho counterpart of the Chaliapin company that took you so by storm. "Ah ; we have so many operas tragic, historical ones, and others of peasant life, jolly and malicious. I should like to cr.y it from tho house-tops that Smetana is a giant in music, ami if I could do anything to make his music more known—if I could sing in 'Daliboi' or 'Ltyuse' hero, for instance—l should accomplish my greatest ambition. But I am to sing in 'Aida' and 'Butterfly.' 'Aida,' of course, is very beautiful, a masterpiece; but, oh, dear! who always likes the samo soup? " 'Balibor' is the great tragic opera of Smeiann, on a subject a littlo liko Beethoven's Tidolio,' but much more fresh and powerful. Another sreat Czech masterpiece is Dvrok's 'Dimitrij,' which deserves to lie put alongside 'Boris Godunov.'" "Apart from the libretlos, is there really any national oualily about the music of llieso operas?" The sloe-coloured eyes llnsh. "They are full of noblo melody and hold, dancing rhythms'and free, open-air 'feeling; and not a jot of thorn is Bocho!"

Cheaper Cotton. Sewing cotton- is to be cheaper, and though perhaps this will not. make a very great difference in the budget of any but those employed in the clothing trades, it will deprive profiteers of one excuso for tho soaring prices of wearinff ftppnrol and tnks us o. stop 'towfiids the hoped-for lime when small things in daily use, such as matches, needles, pins, pencils, shoe-laces, and mending materials shall again cost, as. we say, next to nothing, states "The Queen of May 31. Ureal fortunes were made out of cheap sewing cotton before the war; retailers said that they' got no profit from its distribution, but could not afford to bo without a commodity in universal demand. Howovcr' that may be, no one hesitated about putting in the stitch in time on account of its eosi. But with cotton at 7Jd. a reel, we began to observe that the needle used less cotton bv far than the sewing machine, and careful people picked out and kept tacking cottons (or at least resolved to do so). Tho Central . Empires and many of the devastated regions are still, we hear either rationed severely in sewing threads of all kinds or so short of it that housewives unravel worn garments to obtain thread. Sewing in these circumstances' must be a task almost as slow as Penelope's, and the results comparable to those obtained from-the hot needlo and burnt thread of country speech. Tho Id. reel of cotton may not relurir in our time, but the (M. reel is likely to be dead before peace is signed.

WOMEN AS TRAMPS "It's no use taking, a woman on a walking tour," insiste dtlie mournful hus'A"Women are no good as tramps. They get tired so easily, and they never wear th& proper clothes,- and they don t liko Touching it at little country urns. Id liko to take my wife .tramping across Uxmoor, but — be shrugged lus shoulders expressively. That was before the war. I met this husband a few days ago, very happy and su.n-bronzed after ten days' hard walking'in Somerset. Ho confessed that'ho had. taken ( his wife with him; they had had a perfectly, topping time." "Twenty miles a. day, and we did it easily," lio said. "Of course, I learned to march in the. Army. My wife has been working on the land since 1910. She was in splendid form, and she.had exactly tho right clothes-her old land costume, covered with a big,' easy coat, abort onough for comfort, but long enough to satisfy convention. _ _ "We took pot luck at waysulo inns. 1 remembered how my wifo used to sign over uncomfortable hotels,, but on 'this little jaunt she was as merry niji.a bird; and simply launghed at little discomforts. , , . "Most men, I think," he went on thoughtfully, "would be all the better for a tramping holiday. Let the children go to tho seasido or to Granny 9, but the best thing for a city man to do is to make a pal of his wife, and go marching across great hills and mbroland-" ~ . , There is more than a little: wisdom in these words of counsel. Life in England in war time hardened women in the best way; it made tbom less susceptible to everyday worries and depressions, better ablo to smile through difficulties. And whero there was really .hard war work, on the land or in the hospitals, or at tho wheel of a. car, there was a physical hardening, a toning l up of tho whole' system. , . • . Tho woman-who did war work m Lngland or overseas makes an ideal tramp. She knows the right clothes to wear for walking; she. won't be, unhappy if 6he has to sleep on act. nncomfortablo mattress, and fiho will face a'tramp of ten miles with n. light heart, and finish it as lightly. , And is it-not a fine thing for a man and woman to walk the country in happy comradeship than to sit on tho beach at tho ordinary 6easido resort, watching minstrels? Ask those who have tested both experiences—they will ;tell, you which is the better.—B.D., in London "Daily Mail."

WOMEN PREACHERS The Bishop of London recently declined to receive a deputation of those who signed a lay memorial to him on- the subject of women preachers,-which arose out of tho prohibition of Miss Maude Royden at St. Botolph's on Good Friday last. His ground of refusal is that the whole question is being considered by Convocation, which will issue formal regulations on tho subject in July, Ho will be glad, ho says, to ■ receive the deputation whetl tho decision of Convocation hasljeen arrived at. The memorial, during the ten days it was in circulation, received over 1000 signatures. Soven of those who signed, members of'tho Church of England, asked to bo allowed to present the memorial in person: This deputation was made up as follows:— A distinguished churchwoman. . A Labour leader,- editor of a daily Labour paper,' well known ' for his many years' servico in the Church. . A devoted parish worker, who is. also the mother of young students. Tho headmistress of a' highly successful church high school. A young city scoutmaster. _ A woman engaged in public worlc, for 25 years a practising churchwoman, .but alienated owing to the attitude of church authorities towards certain great movements of tho day. An Bast End social worker.