FEMININEREFLECTIONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 79, 24 June 1927, Page 5

FEMININEREFLECTIONS

WEDDING TIDINGS

A very pretty wedding, was solemnised on Wednesday afternoon in the Methodist Church, Papakura, when Alice Ruth, second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans, was married to Mr. James Hagen, eldest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. S. Hagen, Belfast, Ireland. The Rev. W. J. Elliott, minister of the Papakura Methodist Church, officiated, assisted by Rev. J. W. Griffin, a former minister of the Papakura circuit. Miss Hilda Beams presided at the organ. The ceremony was witnessed by a very large gathering of relatives and friends. The church was prettily decorated with a wealth of flowers by girl friends of the bride. The bride, who was given away by her father, looked very charming in a frock of cream crepe de chine with net overdress broidered in gold, cyclamen, and pink, and the orthodox veil and orange blossoms. Miss Bertha Evans, as chief bridesmaid, wore a pretty frock of cyclamen crepe de chine with cream lace and black hat trimmings to match her dress. Miss Esther Evans, the second bridesmaid, was daintily dressed in a frock of tomato crepe de chine with cream lace trimming, and wore a black hat with trimmings to tone. Mr. Douglas Gerrard capably filled the duties of best man and Mr. R. Geraghty was groomsman. Over 80 guests assembled at the residence of the bride’s parents on the Great South Road, where Jihe usual toasts were honoured and a pleasant time spent. The bride’s parents subsequently entertained a large gathering of young people in the Methodist Hall in the evening, the hall being decorated by the girls of the Methodist Bible Class. The bride’s going away frock was a mulberry ensemble with a small fawn hat and a handsome fox fur, the bridegift to the bride. The guests were received by Mrs. S. Evans, who wore a navy ensemble I suit and hat to match. The guests included* — Mrs. W. Bennett (Otanuhu), blue frock of georgette. Mrs. J. Loudon (Mangere), black ensemble suit. Mrs. Chalmers (Onehunga), fawn knit silk costume. Mrs. Cane (New Lynn), navy blue repp costume. Mrs. Bridgeford (Henderson), grey kasha ensemble suit. Mrs. R. Bennett (Henderson), brown frock of crepe de chine. Mrs. J. Bennett (Henderson), henna knit jumper suit. Mrs. F. Hagen (Tuakau), saxe blue crepe de chine frock. Mrs. W. Louden (Aka Aka), navy blue ensemble suit. Mrs. G. McConnell (Aka Aka), navy gown of crepe silk. Mrs. W. McConnell (Aka Aka), blue suit of silk. Mrs. Selby (Waiuku), black gown of satin carreau. Mrs. H. Jolly (Aka Aka), French grey frock. Mrs. J. Jolly (Aka Aka), henna frock of taffeta. Mrs. Stacy (Otahuhu), suit of grey repp. Mrs. White (Auckland), black gown of satin. Mrs. J. W. Griffin (Manurewa), grey coat frock of sedan cloth. Mrs. James Seaton, black gown of crepe faille. Mi's. A. Williamson (Mauku), blue ensemble suit. Mrs. W. Richardson, sen., black gown of satin romaine. Mrs. Jolly, sen. (Aka Aka), black coat and skirt of velour. Mrs. T. Dickey, navy and vieux rose silk. Mrs. W. J. Elliott, black silk ensemble suit and furs. Miss I. Williamson (Mauku), wine frock of crepe de chine. Miss H. Beams, fawn gabardine ensemble suit. Miss T. Bennett (Otahuhu), mulberry frock of crepe de chine. Miss Read (Auckland), wine beaded marocain frock. . . Miss P. Stacy (Otahuhu), Spanish raisin georgette. Miss Selby (Waiuku), brown georgette. Miss E. Evans( aunt of the bride), navy blue costume. F OSTER—McL ARN ON St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Papatoetoe, was the scene of a charming wedding on Wednesday between Miss Ella Mary, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew McLarnon, of Papatoetoe, and Mr. Robert Foster, of Papatoetoe, youngest son of the late Mr. and Mrs W. Foster, of Wigan, Lancashire, England. The Rev. T. H. Roseveare performed the ceremony. The bride, who entered the church on the arm of her father, was gowned in an exquisite model of ivory pleated georgette over shell pink lame. Over her frock fell a long and beautiful veil of hand-embroidered tulle, with coronet of orange blossom, and she carried a shower bouquet of pale tinted flowers. Miss Dorothy Foster, who attended the bride, wore a dainty frock of pink georgette, with inlets of silver insertion, and a pretty headdress of pink tulle and silver leaves, and bouquet of pink lucullia. The duties of best man were carried out by Mr. S. Melling. A reception was held later in St. John’s Hall, Station Road. Mrs. McLarnon, mother of the bride, wore a smart navy ensemble suit, with grey fur trimmings and a small hat to tone. Mrs. Geo. Foster wore a handsome rose and beige ensemble suit and hat to match. The bride’s travelling frock was of silver grey repp, with vieux rose trimmings, and she wore a chic hat and fox furs. HALL—HILL A quiet but. pretty wedding took place in the Presbyterian Church, Otorohanga, on Wednesday, when Miss Esther Hill, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. Hill, of Otiwa, was married to Mr. Hall, of Te Rau-a-Moa. The Rev. Mr. Kedgley performed the ceremony, after which a reception was held by the bride’s parents. The young: couple left for the North amid showers of rice and confetti and the good wishes of their many friends and well-wishers. THE SPIRIT OF THE VIKINGS One of the most progressive feminine movements of to-day emanates from Iceland. The women of Norway and Sweden lead the world in matters of reform, and their sisters in little Iceland are not far behind. Mrs. Krinkn R. Simonaison is one of the leading women of that small, progressive land. The spirit of the old Vikings animates her and she has conducted an active crusade for reform in*t.he island of the far north. At the last International Congress of Women she was one of the most interesting of the delegates present. ________________________

Women the World Over

AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER

Storm Jameson, in pri\-ate life Mrs. Guy Chapman, is noAV in partnership with her husband as a publisher. Her

latest AvQfk, “The Lovely Ship,” is nowon the market. She is an authority on ships and shipbuilding and lias many novels to her credit, among them “The Happy Highways,” “Three Kingdoms,” and the amusing “Lady Susan and Life —An Indiscretion.” ENGINEER-CONSTRUCTOR In recognition of her ability as an inventor the Russian Government has engaged Miss L. Y. Palmen, a Russian girl, as engineer-constructor. She is one of the feAv Avomen in the Avorld to win distinction in her field. She recently perfected an airplane engine which develops 20 horsepoAver. and is specially adapted to the requirements of the All-Russian conference of aerial and chemical defence. CHESS Another stage in the evolution of the modern .girl is marked by her invasion of the realms of chess. The dinners of chess clubs Avere long ago regarded as the exclusive preserve of the men, unless .by special dispensation wives Avere admitted to hear of their husbands’ proAvess at the game. Now a different story is told. At English chess club dinners this year, girls are becoming quite numerous. May avo look for a crop of female chess masters ? A SEED NURSERY The woman tea taster has long been a familiar figure in commercial circles, but the feminine seed grader is a new arrival. All imported seed used in the Sydney Botanical Gardens is tested before being placed in the ground where hopeful seeds germinate. Two women are in charge of this department, and they make minute examinations and reports. Their occupation is interesting, but demands infinite patience. A VIENNESE Woman entered a new field when Miss Margarete Dessoff in December conducted the Schola Cantorum, the world-famous choral organisation ofi. NeAV York. Conducting, in the higher branches, is a phase of music from which women hitherto have been conspicuously absent, which is strange, considering how they have contributed to other branches of interpretative art. Miss Dessoff is a Viennese Avhose name is Avell knoAvn in European musical circles. MRS. BEETON There is probably no book written in the English language that has a Avider circle of readers, or is consulted more frequently than Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book. But, in spite of all the invaluable hints on cooking, cleaning, household economy and kindred subjects to be found therein, it is extremely doubtful Avhether more than one in ten of Mrs. Beeton’s readers ever pause to think of the woman who compiled that work. Who Avas Mrs. Beeton? She was the Avife of Samuel Orchart Beeton, a publisher Avho lived in Fleetf Street in the first part of the last century. He Avas the publisher of the first British edition of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and he bought out the first “Beeton Cookery Book” in 1861. Aid to Amateurs In the preface to the first edition of her domestic guide, Mrs. Beeton referred to the hard work her task had entailed, for the compilation of the book had taken more than four years. She Avas extremely proud of the illus-ti-ations in colour which the book possessed and which were at that time re-% garded as a great novelty. Between IS6I and 1869 she wrote six other books on cooking and domestic management. After her death her husband sold his business to the firm of publishers Avho still produce the world-famous aid to amateur cooks.

MUNDANE MUSINGS

NAMES AND NONSENSE By BORE CHARM ON The inadequacy of most Christian names has spurred people to frequent complaint. At the mention of an unusual name one pricks up one’s ears and wonders what the owner has made of it. There is bound to be some outstanding characteristic which will mark the future survivors of it. Even in these enlightened days it is difficult to find a man or a woman who does not take on the long-standing appearance of the name they W’ere given at their baptism. It is not at all fair. First of all, I lament the lighthearted manner in which we are provided with names. Yesterday I went to see a friend and her new daughter. Of course I asked what the child was to be called. Immediately I had conclusive proof of the danger surrounding the infant. Her mother said: “Goodness knows, but, if you’ve got a suggestion you might just scrawl it across the foot of the bed. lam going to shut my eyes and point when the time comes.” I tried the operation in advance just to see what she might have to make of her life. The result —the mother required two names, for some reason she wasn’t very definite about—was Mary Pearl. Poor Mary Pearl! Eventually, she may grow into a Grace Carlotta. TAKING UNCLE’S NAME That method has 'only one advantage. It gives a child a name in its own right. There is the more unfeeling manner of naming a girl after a godmother called Harriet, or a boy after his affluent Uncle Jacob. These rich relatives take very little responsibiilty for the artful way in which anxious parents insinuate that goddaughters and nephews alike are the very image of the original Harriet and Jacob. By heart, we know now that Nancy is a good-natured, natural-complex-ioned little thing, just as surely as we understand that she will eventually bo attracted to a self-sufficient young gentleman, who has developed such an important opinion of himself b?/ the simple process of being christened Anthony or Claude. There are any amount of Noras and Hildas and Brendas and Graces from

whom one expects no intellectual enjoyment, no complexes and no talk of repressions. They cannot rise above their names. Perhaps I am being a little hard. Once, I knew a girl called Maggie. Now Maggie had had just about enough of it. She asked me to call her Lucrezia. Regrettably enough, she was not strong enough to support this unnatural change. SHELMERDENE Now one realises that parents who are brave enough to baptise a daughter Shelmerdene, for example, are offering to her a varied, if not a conventional career. From birth, the child must understand that she cannot remain outside the ranks of the previous Shelmerdenes and expect to be very popular. The men who meet her would be quite broken-hearted if they thought that there was little chance of revelry in the most exclusive nightclubs. They don’t mind paying for a wastefully extravagant dinner, which would hurt them unendurably if their companion happened to be called May. Usually they marry a. man called Frederick or William. All Freds are dear, kind, good, silly, forgiving things, so Shelmerdene can tell him all about it, so to speak, and he is immensely proud of the way other men admire her. Occasionally she would like to indulge her tolerant disrespect for him by banging him on the back, but, since he is already performing that operation for himself, with joy, she just leaves things as they are. WIDELY TRAVELLED One of Australia’s most travelled women is Mrs. A. M. Hogg, of Malvern, Victoria, who during the last three years has studied the habits of living of at least 52 foreign peoples. She has travelled and lived in Algeria, Morocco, Cyprus, Tunis, India, South America, Lapland, Turkey’, 'Arabia, Palestine and Egypt, as well as in the United States and Europe. At present she is living in the Bermudas.

Strain the juice of as many lemons as necessary and add to sugar and chopped mint and you have a mint sauce superior in taste to the ordinary' variety' and one which can be enjoyed by those who dislike or cannot take vinegar.

TEACHING TENNIS

One day last season the writer was watching a girl teaching another how to play tennis. The pupil knew the rules of the game and could play a little. The teacher’s object was simply to improve her friend’s game, but she ♦id not go th£ right way about doing so. If you intend to give lessons in tennis to a friend, here are a few hints that may be useful. In the first place don’t play a game w r ith her at all to start w’ith. Teach her, to begin with, how to improve her service. Let her stand behind the base line and serve until she is able to get the ball over the net with some degree of severity and accuracy into the court. A quarter of an hour spent in practising the service stroke is of much more use to a beginner than playing a game. With such a practice every day a girl ought really to improve her service in a week. Then the next thing the teacher might do would be to make her pupil pi-actise getting what is called “length.” That is, the ability to hit the ball well down the full length of the court to the base line and yet keep the ball from going out.

This stroke should be practised in the same way as the service. The teacher should stand near the base line of her court and make her pupil hit the ball as close to her as possible. This kind of practice is ever so much more useful for the beginner than playing a game. For a beginner to play' a game.with you and get odd hints during the progress of it will not improve the learner’s game at all. Each of the important strokes* — service, the drives (back hand and forearm), and the volley’—must all be learnt and practised separately. Half an hour’s practice a day of this kind will enormously improve anyone’s play who has the least aptitude for the game. You may go on playing games twice every day even with people who are better than you are, hut unless you practice the proper way of playing the important strokes you cannQt improve your form to any great extent. It is a common thing at clubs to see a fairly good girl player play with a girl friend and giving her, say', a whole 15 of half 30, but this kind of practice is of very little use to the weaker player. It is only when the beginner has learned how to make the more important strokes that playing regular sets will improve her play.

When washing silver, place a tea spoon of borax in the water. When cooking spinacfi cut the stalk> in short pieces (as you do rhubarb) ant boil for about a quarter of an houi before putting the leaves on. Botl fresh flavour and the colour. Barr stalks and leaves will be done to gether. The stalks cooked this w.i are a delightful vegetable.