FEMININE FANCIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 143, 14 March 1908, Page 6

FEMININE FANCIES.

The Town Hall was packed for the last concert of the Butt-Rumfdrd season. The " programme was j a lengthy one, but the. . audience -was Eke Oliver Twist and continually iem anded more. Ma dame's opening sang was from Goring Thomas' fine Work, Nadeshda, "Oh, my heart is weary,'' and the singer gave us such is. magnificent rendering of it that the snemory will be with us long- after she has departed. . For encore she sting, , "Oh, rest m the Lord.," but Aha took it quicker than is usually dpni'. and that seemed to mar her rendition of it. ' Sea • . pictures by i£ir Edward Elgar entitled "Sea slumber long," "Where corals lieu** "In haven," and "Sabbath morning at sea" left nothing to be desired. Here Madame was at her best?, and With the piano and organ accompani'iiient the effectMvas beautiful.. Indeed,; it 1 left arte'^ith 'the iuriftfieSsioh tjb^t they would* MWays like to. hear jfifet songs with organ accompaniment-' These songs were expressly composed for Madame by Sir Edward SSlgar, and first performed by her at the Norwich Festival m 1899. . Mr Kennerley Rupa'ord's songs, "From %hg Nozseland,' 7 "Time was I roved tjji© mountains," "Eyes that used. to £aze m mine/ "Youth has a happy tread," were also especially composed for ham. by Hermann • Lobe. JJis interpretation of these songs was an ftrtistic treat. Later m the programme he gave us two more songs, written for him by the late Sir Ar-; thut Sullivan. They were the last songs that came from that sifted composer's pen, and were entitled. "1 ears.. -idlp tears," and. /'O swallow, swallow," words by Tennyson. They are not m the least like Sullivan's better-known works, but they are -beautiful.- He- was recalled agadi: and : agkin. and -responded With 'Alfred HilFs "Poi dance." This is a little .gem ; and we have reason to be proud- of our. Alfred.

Mr Carl Barre'gave as" violin solos S.a*nt Scan's ' 'Rondo " and Capriccio'/ and Sarasate's "Zapateado." Encored for the latter he .played. Schumann's "Trantnerie." Mr Merrick's/ piano solos were ' Chopin's Ballad m? §T (pp. 3&), and a. Rhapsody written) Sy himself, which well deserved ; an tncore. The last number of the toiicert was a duet, "Snowdrop."' beautifully sung by Madame and Ms •Rvmford. The audience clamored j (tor more, and although the artists I fame out and bowed and smiled time ' aiter time,, they would not be silenced until they gave them that very . , jioDular duet", ''The keys of Heaven." ! * ■ . • - ■ ¥ ■■_ Titer left for Sydney' by the Fri-j fiav'sboat en route for Home. FefW^ people. on the wharf recognised.' them'! standing on the upper, deck; watching 1 fill the bustle and excitement of de- J pasture. Madame wore a- beautifulcostume of brown with toque and fiijrs to match, iand carried a loyely ifcouiquet of sweet peas. Also, she xas i .wearing a pair of greenstone earings Ualcu_Lat»d to make a wahine turn green with envy* , '.' * ' • .''.»;.■•' '" : ' On Thursday afternoon a kitchen (tei was tendered to Miss 'Arthur at I_he residence of Mrs J. barker, of ißoulcott-terrace, when and- where < she was presented with a» laVge and Varied" assortment of kijchen utensils, which will certainly play • no • unimportant part m the drama > of iher wedded life, which is to begin shortly. I have heard ■ .;' it' said, that.; ito retain a man's lov£ it is most necessary you must b.b _careful v not 'to impair his digestion. Also, I have heard it said ■'that; some young •brides hatfe a tendency to lavish and use up all -their fur/ds rim the 'furnish- ' snir and decoralting of their homes, • stopping short of the kitchen. ''■ Evi-' Wentlv. kitchen teas ar«&> an innovation to prevent this mishap. Onoe heard a servant complain tliat although the missus ' was alright, jit was impossible for her 'to stavf because there was not enough wa/e m the kitchen ito enable "her to T/erform her culinary functions, win- fang up her^ com^ •plaint by saying that the mistiress was w,ont to ta T _te the only bucket that the house Tiossessed, and with the aid of a f/feiip of art muslin . convert: that /Useful and: necessary .article into a for - lillies •wh ere w4th- to the drawingroom., I be^ve a man is much more inclined to admire the floral 'decorations, of the drawirot-room after a wtll-cooketf dinner than an 111---cooKed one v '

about two years ago, when last heard of was engaged on a tour with Franz Von Vecsey, One of the great guns 'of the . musical world. He appeared as soloist, at Albert Hall, London, ; on . January 4th, and was to have appeared acain on February 15. On February 5 he was associated with Marie Brema^ Plunkett Green, Ben Davies, and Johanes Wolf, at Chester, at Liverpool with Marchesi, and at Bolton with Backhaus and Madame Ella Russell. >

.Lost by a cigarette. A belated couple returning from a dance, where they had tripped lightly but too long, paused on , the' steps of the lady's abode to say ; good-iiight and other things. A policeman _ passing by on the other, side noticed them, and immediately . thero appeared m his. mind's eye a magic stripe on the 'hitherto? nude : sleeve •of uniform. He walked a few yards further down, then crossed over and came up on the*. same side as his prey. He was just about- to- swoop figuratively when he remembered he was smoking a cigar elfte, on, duty. With a step out from ■which' air the spring had fled he passed /the belated ones by. And- now there is at least one instrument of the law that has nothing to thank Sir Walter xEaleigh for.

•' What a. difference the raiiv has mado m a short time. Went out for a drive to Titabi^Bav on Sunday. The country smelt delicious. There have been vast' ravaiges made* by the bush flres ai)_d we saw one fire just , started on such a nice 'patch that it made one long _to be able to ring up the fire brigade to extinguish It. But apart from those everything looked so fresh ajud green, whilst some of the gardens m frjont of , the- villas made one feel inclined to- 1 break , that commandment • which tells us not to covet pur neighljb'rs'' godiisl It is' one of our prettiest reminds one very much : of some of .'-'the Welsh scenery.

V - V V „". . • (Mr Jas. StitohbjiiT, of Ponsonby, jfvith. his wiffe and daughter, have left •Auckland- for Pogland via Sydney. Mr (StitcMmry is to represent the Forresters" of Auckland district at the High Court to J. c held at Northamp|ton m August next, >and, prior to his Ideparture, he was the recipient of valuable presentations from the Forestjars' Courts- in the district. :

i Every man has his price, as Sir ,'Francis Burdett can testify, having just been ordered by tbe English DivCourt to pay £5000 damages a^ co-respondent m the divorce case of eoyd-v. Boyd. And Sir Francis is now a poorer, if not a wiser, man.

The. change m the weather behoves us to look to our winter f rocking. Furs sind tailor-made costumes are to predominate, tight or semi-tight fitting, as the wearer' may prefer ,< but '.all tH-.e coats are to be long or threequartier. Very few hip coats are worn^ except thjey are bT fur . Nothing, looks so tail*, as the tailor'-made< costume, with a; hat m keeping. ' Here again, we have a good choice, toques and ■large .hats •both ' being ■ m favor.. But -I- think the toque is likely to' predominate. It is so much more comfortable m windy weather and when it is made of fur defies the elements. The pd-Ssibilities y of the Empire style Of dress, from a picturesque point of view; is practically unlimited and make the most charming of evening frocks. And it is the fashion this winter m Paris aryl London to have them trimmed with fur. The effect of fur and lace is most pretty. Ermine' and Irish lace' seem to be first favorites. But, of course, all other furs 'are brought into, use, and all fur is becoming. '• \ ' •- -

One good turn deserves another. A friend of ' mine;' returning home, -jn the wee sma' hours saw a couple of men having a scrap m the street. Just as he entered the next street he encountered a limb of the law. "Officer," said my friend, "there are two men- in the next street knocking spots off eacji, other.?' ."Thank you, old man, I hope I shall be able to do as much for you some day." Saying which, the guardian of' law and order turned away and walked m the opposite direction. v , General politeness from :• ''man to woman certainly seems to be falling of£. I have noticed that six men out of ten when leaving a s room allow the lady to open the door for herself. Very rarely, nowadays, the gentlemen remain standing until the iady is seated. I. am no advocate for the woman who is afraid to go out without without a male escort. She is a who is never self-reliant. What I mean is that when men and women are together it r< i_s nice to see the men give us tfypse attentions they were always tv'ont to do. Sometimes >I think we are ourselves to blame for not being exacting enough. For instance, I noticed a lady and her husband leaving a room the other evening. The door was rather a narrow one and ishe walked right ahead and opened it herself. * Whereas, if she had stood aside, he would have onened it for her. And she would have made a much better exit. I have heard people say life is too short for these little things. Seeing that life is indeed short! for mercy's sake let iis get all thes)leasure we ban out of it.

There ifc m our midst" a seer Who foretells* the future by the aid of the cup ttKat cheeses, etc. Streams 'of our tfhmarried girls (and this m your ear;' married ones too may be seen, wemlinp" their; wav to the abode of fthe Prophetess with ' odd-shaped parcels carefully held m their hands. •Prom what I can etfvther : she promises a husband for Rach and all. . Except m one case, when I heard the young 'lady (a wmly-made wife) comiPlain bitterly, "/Oh. I am so disappointed ; she le'/t me absolutely nothing, to live ff at except Bob, ' tha,t being the nam** of her ■ newlv-a'souir-ed husband. fro, my thinking it is a mistake for "married ladiies to comnlain to t'Aeir husbands that they have* been rendered miserable by the Teacup Lady telling them fth^ are , to be married- again. It miVM' make a a few busbfntfs hithprtp walking m |& tb/» na/fcbs of vjrtu&*argue thus : Well I^Mf T am ijomßto die soon, I shall be % '- * - ie dead— miff «=ed * . . - *t-j£m*tm '-' ~