Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 438, 21 August 1928, Page 5

Feminine Interests

HAMILTON NOTES (From Our Oicn Correspondent) Mrs. Staples is at present in Christ- S church. Mrs. .T. D. Smith is at present in S Gisborne. Miss E. Turner is spending a holiday ! at Otira. Miss Denning left this week-end for j Dunedin. | Miss M. Nobles will spend her vaca- j tion in Dannevirke. Miss M. Campbell is visiting her j people in New Plymouth. Miss L. Nicliolls left last night for J a holiday in Wellington. Mrs. F. Bayly, of Te Puke, is the I guest of Mrs. A. Matthews. Mr. and Mrs. L. Sheppard, of Hamil- ! ton, are visiting friends in Ot&huhu. j Mrs. Lawrence Watkins, of Welling- j ton, is the guest of Mrs. E. it. Gresham. Mr. and Mrs. H. Tait are the guests of Mr. and Mrs. A. M. A. Jennens, in Cambridge. Mrs. A. T. Mills, of London, and Mrs. N. T. Dixon, of Auckland, are at the Hamilton Hotel. Mrs. L. Ferguson, who has been visit- 1 ins Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Ferguson, has i returned to her home in Petone. Mrs. J. W. 'Warren has returned to j Hamilton from Devonport, where she j was the guest of her daughter, Mrs. A. i Bartley. i Mrs. E. G. Carthew, of New Plyj mouth, has returned to her iiorr.fi after I spending some weeks with her daughj ter, Mrs. G. S. Crimp, in Hamilton. At the monthly meeting of the Women’s Missionary Auxiliary of St. Paul's Church last Thursday, Mrs. Armitage, until recently matron of the Mount Albert Methodist Orphanage, gave an interesting talk on the needs : of the children and the work done for ! them. In returning thanks to her, Mrs. I Jones, the president, said that her j committee would next month hold a j gift afternoon to collect clothing for j the children. VISITOR HONOURED | Mr. and Mrs. Prentice gave a very j pleasant afternoon tea for several j people interested in the Howard League to meet Miss Jean Begg. The time | was spent in pleasant and interesting j talk. Those present were: Mrs. Whitehorn, Mrs. E. English, Miss Jebson, Miss Nicliolls, Mr. and airs. Platts, and Mr. and airs. Lye. BRIDGE PARTIES airs. B. Meek entertained some of her bridge-playing friends at Iheir favourite game on Thursday afternoon. The drawing room was exquisitely decorated with Iceland poppies, golden narcissi, and early blossom, airs, aieek wore a handsome frock of black ring velvet, with briar rose. Her guests were: airs. E. F. Peacock, airs. T. Y. Lusk, Mrs. H. Hobbins, Mrs. P. j R. Steward, Mrs. L. Sheppard, Mrs. T. F. Jolly, Mrs. C. Sutcliffe, airs, j Furze, airs. 11. J. Greenslade, Mrs. J. A. Kilner (Te Aroha), Mrs. U. Ilaseler, airs. C. Reece, airs. P. E. Stevens, airs. 1 E. M. O’aieara, Mrs. E. R. Gresham, Mrs. E. J. Mears, Mrs. U. J. McMuliin, aiiss Stevens, and aiiss Wallnutt airs. H. Sterling gave a very enjoyable party on Thursday afternoon. In the drawing room bridge was played, many keen games resulting in aiiss i Bremner receiving the prize for the

highest number, and Mrs. JP. G. Russell the consolation prize. The guests who preferred wireless were entertained in the living room. Those present were Mrs. G. Rogers. Mrs. Valder, sen., Mrs. Guy Taylor, Mrs. Colin Taylor, Mrs. E. Eouillon, Mrs. IT. C. Ross, Mrs. T. Burtenshaw, Mrs. P. Russell, Mrs. Montague, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Hazard, Mrs. Tyne, Mrs. Johnson, Miss Brewer, Miss Scherer, Miss B. Manning, Miss E. Eggleston. In Morrinsville on Tuesday a most successful “hard-up” bridge and five hundred evening was organised by Mrs. F. Marshall, under the auspices cf St. Matthew’s Women’s Guild. Supper basket competitions were won by Mrs. Echlin and Mrs. Lewis. Bridge prizes went to Mrs. E. Jackson, Mrs. P. J. Cooper, Mr. J. Cotting, and Mr. Fiesst. The prizes for 500 were won by Mrs. Petry and Mrs. H. Humphries. Mrs. J. Wilkes received a delightful bouquet as a consolation prize. There were present: Mesdames Wilkes. Hawkins, Sanders, J. Cottingham, Dickinson, T. Cottingham, Watson. Compton, Baker. Fitt, Gwillim, Skinner, Yardley, Goulding, Frest, Aitken, Butler, Lewis, Crickett, Hogg, Petry, Shirley, Humphries, Andrews, Jackson, Boles, Allen, Cooper. McKay, Booth, Echlin, Parlour, Reedham, Ellis, Merrikin, Misses Hewitt, Humphries, Mallet, Hanan, Hunt, Callagher, and Allen. On Saturday afternoon Mrs. E. F. Peacocke gave a very jolly Bridge party in the Bridge room of the club. Mrs. Peacocke received her guests in a navy blue frock and hat. The guests were:— Mrs. Frank Bayley, Mrs. Douglas, Mrs. Ferguson, Mrs. J. Page, Mrs. H. J. Greenslade, Mrs. H. FJaseler. Mrs. Furze, Mrs. Cleary, Mrs. P. E. Stevens, Mrs. J. B. Strang, Mrs. T. Jolly, Mrs. Montgomery. Mrs. IT. J. McMullen, Mrs. A. Joseph, Mrs. A. Ward, Mrs. V. Bailley, Mrs. R. Boyd, and Mrs. C. Hume and Miss Wallnutt. Mrs, Iven Reckett gave a Bridge party at her home in Te Awamutu on Thursday afternoon. Her drawingroom and living room were delightful with lovely anemonies and bowls of violets. Mrs. Reckett was in a handsome frock of black georgette with royal blue. The prize for the top score was won by Mrs. J. Oliphant, the second prize by Miss Mabel Jones, and the third by Mrs. Downes, while three consolation prizes went to Mrs. Lord, Mrs. A. J. McGovern and Mrs. Reece. Those present were: Mesdames Layne Reece, C. Reekitt, Hawkins, Lord, Oliphant, Armstrong, Downes, Foche, Ashmore, Paul. A. Pollard, Raymond Jones, Hall, Hanna, J. North, Dawson, A. J. McGovern, Mandeno, Bowden, Chamberlain, L. Peake, C. Storey, Jeffrey and Misses Lord, M. Jones, Walters, Teasdale and L. Bray. OLD GIRLS’ CONCERT On Saturday evening the Sonning Old Girls’ Association organised a most enjoyable and successful concert in the "Waikato Diocesan Assembly Hall. The first part of the concert was devoted to music, all the items being good and heartily applauded. “FingaFs Gave” (Mendelssohn) and Schubert’s “Moments Musicale” were rendered by Misses N. Valder, F. Jolly, B. Higgott and Y. Bryant. A pleasing trio, Slater’s “Nocturne,” was given by Miss Valder (piano), Miss Leek (violin) and Miss H. Heywood (’cello). The Misses Sorby gave an artistic piano and violin duet, Miss D. Clapham and Miss V. Hay sang pleasingly and Miss M. Johnston’s recitation also found favour.

The second half of the programme was devoted to the staging of Lord Dunsany’s “Cheezo,’ ’the cast being as follows: Mr. Coventry (Mr. Sladder), Mr. G. Ranstead (Mr. Sturge), Mr. R. Ranstead (Mr. Hillamthigh), Mrs. Pilkington (Mrs. Sladder), Miss K. Oliver (Ermytrude). The play-was well cast and proved very popular.

INSTITUTE MEETINGS BIRKDALE AND GREENHITHE At a well-attended meeting of the Birkdale branch of the Auckland Women’s Institute last week members heard an address by Mrs. Hyde on the work of the Auckland Hospital auxiliary. Members decided to form a committee to assist the organisation. “Pot Luck” speeches occupied the rest of the meeting and were thoroughly enjoyed. Afternoon tea was dispensed by Mrs. Usher, Mrs. Hayman, Mrs. McGregor, and Miss Griffin. A small picture by Mrs. Bartlett was presented by her for sale in the interests of the institute. At the monthly meeting of the Greenhithe Women’s Institute at Tauhina Park it was decided to offer a prize for the best vegetable garden kept by a child, judging to take place in December. The outstanding feature of the afternoon was a short but comprehensive address by Mrs. R. Muller on the life and works of Wagner. This was illustrated by excellent records and was listened to with keen appreciation. After the lecturer had been accorded a hearty vote of thanks, the members adjourned for afternoon tea.

THE GIRL WHO STAYS SINGLE

“You certainly don’t exaggerate Enid’s charm,” said Moira. “I can’t for the life of me understand why some nice man hasn’t married her. Such a shame she should be wasted!” Moira, artless and inveterate matchmaker, flatters herself she is in the modern camp. Yet she can utter such I a sentiment with the utmost seriousness, all unconscious that she has not moved a step from the dear old traditional attitude of the married woman toward the spinster. She still shares the quaint conviction that feminine | charm has missed its mark if some j one man has not sought to monopolise , it for his own. I happen to know Enid's “wasted” ; charm has evoked at least three pro- j posals of marriage within the last 12 mouths; and I have little doubt that | there have been others outside my ! ken. Enid’s fascinations and qualiI ties are so obviously in the matrimonial line as to make Moira’s expressions of sympathy quite comically superfluous. But there it is. Enid is not married. Ergo, no man has “cared.” Not enough to wed her. | And Moira, pursuing her romantic little theme, remarks how strange it is that some of the most lovable and entertaining women “seem somehow destined to miss marriage, my dear.” That it may be a question of evading and escaping, not “missing” matrimonial ventures, is a supposition she would find it too utterly disappointing to accept! From Enid’s own lips I have received the simple, adequate explanation. That eminently desirable little lady has not yet met the man she cared for sufficiently to link her life with his. It ought by now to be an acknowledged commonplace of econo-mically-evolved feminine ethics that marriage is no longer the one and only feminine bourne. But though we pay some sort of lip service to the new creed, few women really believe in it. Our sex is still unable to admit wholeheartedly that prolonged spinsterhood needs to be neither a tragedy nor a music-hall joke; but that it may be a happy condition preferred by its votaries to the lottery of the matrimonial market. Moira is representative of many of her married kin who have not yet grasped to the fact that a deliberate picking and choosing among potential life-partners is a comfortable corollary of economic enfranchisement plus a generous power of feminine attractions. For Enid, as for every other natural and normal woman, the ideal marriage has lost none of the beauty of dream. But rather than shatter the dream with too precipitate realities, she prefers to bide her time and if necessary to remain a cheerful spinster sooner than risk the sorrows of a misalliance. Marriage means more, not less, to the modern girl than to her sentimental and economically unenfranchised forbears. It means an ideal of daily comradeship that she must feel able to live up to; not a mere maintenanceorder for life that will ensure her bread and butter, and must thereby compensate for any unsatisfied hungers of the heart. That is why Enid stays single. And smiles her quiet smile at the transparent reflections in Moira’s pitying eyes. E.V. Cut a discarded push-bike tyre into short lengths and bind these on bucket handles. There will be no more blistered fingers. ’ Save dish-wasliing by sifting flour r and other dry ingredients from one . sheet of clean paper to another in- . stead of using bowls.