IN TOWN AND OUT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 588, 14 February 1929, Page 4

IN TOWN AND OUT

SOCIAL NEWS

NOTES

Mrs. X. Adams, of Wharekawa, is j a guest at Hotel Cargen. * * v Mr. and Mrs. A. Mathewson, of Dundee are at Hotel Cargen. Miss I. Berry, o*f Melbourne, is staying at the Star Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. A. Harris, of Wellington, are at the Royal Hotel. Miss K. Koore, of Foxton, is at : present on holiday in Auckland. * * * Miss Adeline Hare has returned to Feilding after a trip to Auckland. * * “ Mr. and Mrs, T. Mitchell, of Whangarci, are staying at the Central Hotel. Mr. and Mrs. James Biddy, of New York, are staying at the Grand Hotel. Miss Strella Wilson, the well- ■ known singer, is a guest at the Grand, j Mr. and Mrs. Veitch and family, of Ohakune, are spending a holiday in Auckland. The Misses Alice nd Olive Busk, of St. Stephen’s Avenue, arc motoring to Tapu next Saturday. Miss Iluby Palmer, of Mount Eden, has left for a holiday visit to Christchurch and Wellington. Mrs. G. Cawdron, of Mount Albert, returned to-day after spending a holiday with relatives in Christchurch. Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Hannah, of London, arrived in Auckland by the lonic and are staying at the Grand Hotel. Miss Alva Payne, of Takapuna, is on a holiday visit to Whangarei and is staying with Mrs. D. Mcßcan, of Maunu. Miss McLeod, of Auckland, has been appointed Dominion secretary for the women’s division of the Farmers' Union. Mrs. Brownlee arrived from England by the lonic this morning and is leaving for the South this evening by the Limited. * * Mrs. S. F. Gordon is a visitor from Hamilton and is staying with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fox-Kogers, at Motutapu. i Miss Marion Dowry, of Hawke’s Bay, returned from Sydney by the Niagara. Her marriage will take place early in April to Dr. R. H. Bettington. Mrs. M. Healey, of Burch Street, Mount Albert, returned by the Bimited this morning from a trip to Christchurch and Wellington. 1 Colonel and Mrs. Noel Adams, of I Wharekawa, are at the Cargen, and j are leaving for England in two weeks. They will make an extensive tour of Europe. * * * Mrs. A. E. Brown, of Wellington, Mrs. G. Boyd, of Bon don, Mr. and Mrs. H. Millar, of Wellington, and Mr. and Mrs. J. Borg, of New Jersey, are at the Grand Hotel. The Misses Jean Bawford. Nancy Colbeck, Marie Sims, of Palmerston North, and M. Gascoigne are staying at Mrs. C. Bawford’s cottage at Red Beach.

THE RAINBOW CART IA LITTLE SKETCH OF SICILY Children appeared to be the spokesmen at our hotel In Palermo, and it was the sii-year-old daughter of our landlord who, with her dark eyes bigger and darker than Usual, said: | “If the Signorina wants to see some- | thing nice, she must go to Beppo. He j has such a beautiful cart-—the most beautiful.” Early next morning 1 persuaded her to take me to see Beppo, who lived somewhere in a labyrinth of crazy streets, crazier steps and narrowly wedged-in piazzas, where Providence alone enabled you to keep your balance among the traffic. Piazzas in Italy are really meant for dancing: not for the passing of horses and mules. I do not remember much about Beppo, but this is not my fault. | What colour there was in his clothes | and what power there emanated from his personality were entirely blotted out by his cart. The cart was like any other Sicilian cart—a narrow platform fixed on to a couple, of wheels. (Were they wheels, or were they stars fallen from heaven? When the sun crept near | them they gave out all their golden, | blue-spotted glory!) | Mere wood and common nails were | invisible. Colour screened them and ! patterns most daring glorified them, i 1 Vermilion and green and ivory-cream | stretched the slender shafts, each i ending in a curious bit of carving, i Soldiers, proud in golden armour, ' were painted on each side of the cart. Women, lovely in ancient garments, ; were pictured letting fall their blue- ! black hair near a royal personage, in purple and ermine, who was portrayed | holding his court against a baek(ground of grey towers and intensely I blue skies. - Each panel was a picture. Each picture was a bit of rainbow. j Beppo stood by and grinned, dei lighted in my admiration. I made a | fitting remark about the glories of the : harness—silver and green and crimson, bright with countless little bells, and proud with wind-swayed, creamywhite feathers. My little cicerone clapped her tiny hands. "Did I not tell the Signoriaa Beppo has the most beautiful cart?” So he had! You see many of these carts round about Sicliy. INGEBORG STROM.

PLUNKET SOCIETY

WAIMARINO BRANCH The monthly meeting’ of the Waimarino Plunket Society was held in the Plunket rooms, Miro Street, Ohakune, on Tuesday. Tnere were present Mesdames Wood (president), Hussey, Goile, McGregor, Nurse Corbett and Miss Donald (secretary)* Nurse Corbett read the reports for December and January. On the motion of Mrs. Goile, it was decided to add Mrs. J. Carver to the committee. The secretary was instructed to send a letter of sympathy to Mrs. T. Edwards. The Plunket nurse reported as follows : Ohakune.—Old cases 133, new cases 9, total in district 144. Raetihi. —Old cases 125, new cases 3, total in district 12S. Rangataua.—Old cases 35. total in district 35. Horopito.—Old cases 23, total in district 23. Pokaka.—l visited, new eases 1. The health of the babies has been good, several having benefited by a trip to the seaside.

A SATISFACTORY IRONING-DAY LITTLE HINTS TO HELP If garments lack the professional “finish” after you have ironed them, the fault may be due to one or more of the following causes: Japanese silk should not be ironed while it is still wet, under the mistaken idea that its gloss will be permanently improved. The improvement will be only temporary, and after half a dozen treatments like this the silk will look dull and yellow. Crepe de chine, georgette and similar materials, whether of silk or cotton foundation, should be ironed while they are damp. Turn to the right side, and use a good hot iron. Cretonne and chintz are best ironed on the wrong side and, by damp ironing, can be got up to perfection. To preserve the surface of knitted or crocheted silk, turn it wrong side upwards, and use a moderately hot iron. When the articles are decorated with embroidery, the wrong side rule should be strictly followed, and if the embroider}' be white, it should still be damp. Coloured embroideries, on the other hand, should be practically dry before being ironed; otherwise the heat is liable permanently to change the colours of the threads.

New Year Revels In London

A Nezv Zealander's Experiences in Town AN EASTERN NIGHT Mr. W. E. Priestley, well-known in Auckland and 'Wellington as the professional dancing partner of Miss Margaret O'Connor, the principal of the O’Connor School of Dancing, is at present in Bondon. Writing on January 7, he tells in the following letter of the joyous celebration of New Year’s Eve at Bondon’s most fashionable dance places: A New Zealand dancer in Bondon for the first time could not but be amazed at the lavish and apparently reckless expenditure of the West ■ d dance palaces in their endeavour _> cater for the smart set’s ideas of dancing the old year out and the New Year in. Yet, when one considers that every night club, cabaret, hotel and restaurant in Bondon vied one with the other in trying to achieve something new and exciting for their patrons, and when one considers the high charges of admission, the result might have been anticipated. I was lucky enough to receive tickets for the Chelsea Arts Ball at the Royal Albert Hall, which was considered to be the last word in New Year revels. Nor was I disappointed. The theme of the evening was “The Arabian Nights,” and the affair has since been acclaimed as tlio most gorgeous feast of Oriental pageantry yet seen in Bondon. not even excluding Oscar Ascho’s “Chu Chin Chow.” The setting was by Edmund Dulac and the art students from the various schools had worked for weeks on the various tableaux and scenes to

bo enacted. Of the 5,000 dancers present 1 did not see one in ordinary evening dress. The continual popping of champagne corks mingled witn the happy laughter of the revellers. This and the unique, and sometimes daring, costumes on the floor, all enhanced by the wonderful Eastern setting, made it a never-to-be-forgotten night. Though the guests arrived in parties, partners were exchanged many times during daneps and a good dancer of either sex was frequently dragged willy-nilly into some strange party, introduced simply us “someone who could dance” . . . and so the evening wore on. At midnight there was one minute’s silence and darkness as the old year passed, and then renewed cheering as the broadcast chimes of Big Ben announced the birth of a New Year. Then one by one the tableaux, so carefully prepared by the art students, were presented, the most striking being the Parade of the White Elephant and the Persian Marriage. It was not till foggy morning dawned that tiie last of the revellers had finally sorted out their own partners.' Though the Artists’ Bail is perhaps the event of the New Year, it was rivalled by at least half a dozen of the better-known West End hotels and restaurants. Of these, the Savoy was perhaps the best, with its wonderfully prepared African jungle with 200 gigantic illuminated butterflies hovering overhead. Scores of live monkeys and gaily-piumaged parrots chattered in the trees surrounding the dance floor and succeeded in lending atmosphere to a fantastically beautiful sight. Three dance bands supplied almost continuous music.

The Ritz was literally transformed into a fairyland of flowers and colour, the keynote of which was a wonderful array of roses and rich-toned fuchsias —red and mauve combining with wonderful effect.

The Piccadilly secured the services of the well-known comedian, Billy Merson, dressed as Father Time, to act as host and to usher the old year out and the New Year in. This he did in his inimitable style. Not to mention the Carlton would be to omit one of the most striking of the New Year efforts and though I did not see the decorations until they were almost dismantled, I realised I had missed something worth seeing. To those New Zealanders who are familiar with the Carlton, it would have presented a strangely unrecognisable sight. The ballroom was transformed into a Japanese garden with realistic pagodas illuminated with myriads of Chinese lanterns and surrounded by cherry blossom. The manager of this hotel told *me that more money had been spent in this one week, on dancing, in Bondon. than at any other period, and that in the three day's preceding New Year’s Eve he had been compelled to refuse applications for 1,500 tables! WOMEN’S INSTITUTE MEETING AT OPOTIKI The monthly meeting .of the Opotiki Women’s Institute was held in the Parish Hall, about 40 members being present. A competition on the word “rosebuds” was won by Mrs. A. Forkes. Miss White recited and Mrs. Stevenson gave a very able demonstration of macrane and cane basket making. The hostesses were: Mesdames Absolum, Hughes, McAllister, Skuse, Clark and Miss J. Wilson.

The next meeting of the institute will take the form of a garden party, to which the public is invited, at Mrs. Main's residence, early next, month.

YE PIRATE SHIPPE To Oldo Pirate Shippe at Milford Beach is now under the management of Mr. AT. Beveridge, late of Dixieland. Among those present at last night’s danco were: Miss Monica Williams, frock of rose crepe de chine, with floral posy. Miss Ida Tucker, frilled frock of cyclamen crepe de chine. Miss O. Schulze, frock of white ray de chine, and mauve Spanish shawl. Mrs. Coxhead, frock of black velvet, cream and canary reliefs, and flame wrap. Miss K. Spriggs, pink and white crepe de chine frock. Mrs. PI. C. Levett, frock qf navy marocain and lace. Miss 1,. Clare, frock of rayon silk. Miss Muriel Clare, flame rayon silk frock. , , Miss E. Clare, frock of powder blue crepe de chine, gold lace reliefs. Miss M. Durey, floral crepe de chine frock. , . . , , Miss B. Challis, frock of periwinkle blue taffeta. Miss Phyllis Christian, pink crepe de chine frock. Mrs. X. Loveridge, black georgette frock, with black lace. Miss Rodgers, flame crepe de chine frock. Miss AVadham, frock of gold tissue and vieux l'ose. Mrs. Possenniskie, ivory lace frock. Miss M. Monk, frock of ivory chiffon velvet. Miss Begbie, orange georgette frock, with diamante reliefs and Spanish shawl. Miss E. Donovan, frock of silver lace, with Spanish shawl. Miss W. Young, frock of blue and silver satin. Miss E. Young, gold satin frock. Mrs. E. Brett, ivory crepe de chine frock. Miss P. Bailey, blue crepe de chine frock. Miss M. Fenwick, pleated frock of pink georgette. Miss Helen Seabrook, white georgette frock. Miss E. beaded frock of shell pink chiffon. Miss M. Heard, frock of floral crepe de chine and lace. Miss M. Speedy, floral crepe de chine frock. Miss Warren, frock of rose georgette. Mrs. Rodgers, frock of silver lame and apricot crepe de chine. Miss Seccombe, black satin crepe frock. Mrs. George McLeod, frock of black crepe de chine and silver. Mrs. Bell, beaded frock of shell pink lace. Mrs. Joughin, pleated frock of nattier blue crepe de chine. Miss Gwen Harri-. rose pink georgette frock. KITCHEN EVENING FOR BRIDE-ELECT A very enjoyable kitchen evening wa3 given last Saturday at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Chappell. Mount Albert Street, in honour of the marriage of Miss Mavis Colbourne, which is to take place next Tuesday. Games and musical items were held in a room prettily decorated in blue and gold. Among those present were Mrs. B. Colbourne, Mrs. J. Wilson. Mrs. B. Kennard, Mrs.- H. Gardiner, Mrs. C. Clark, Mrs. P v . Watts, Mrs. A. Crowhurst, Mrs. Owens, Mrs. Chappell, Mrs. Cunliffe. Misses G. Colbourne, F. Preston. AT. Bud in, M. Watson, V. Chappell, T. Hardinge, M. Fletcher, W. Verrall, H. Hardinge, E. Coombs, R. Chappell, B. Cunliffe, A. Chappell, It. Johnson and W. Gray.

WEDDING BELLS BARTLETT—BOYES A very pretty wedding took place at j St. Alban's Church, Dominion Road, on ! Monday at 7 p.m., when Miss Thelma \ Josephine, third daughter of Mr. and ! Airs. W. 11. Boyes, of Dominion Road, was married to Air. Gerald Bartlett, only son of Air. and Airs. E. Bartlett, of Edendale, Auckland. The Rev. A. J. Greenwood, vicar of St. Alban’s, officiated at the ceremony, the bride being given away by her father. An exceptionally dainty frock of satin beaute was worn by the bride, a brussels lace veil and a bouquet of madonna lilies and white carnations completing a charming toilette. A dainty flower-girl, little Valerie AlcCallum, dressed in aprieot georgette, attended the bride. The bridesmaids, Alisses Ann Courtney and Gwen Bartlett, each wore frocks of almond-green georgette with frilled skirt effect, and beige crinoline hats, with bouquets of autumn-tinted flowers. The wedding was a very popular one and the church was crowded. A reception was held after the ceremony in the Farmers’ Trading Company’s Tea Rooms. The young couple left for the South by car the following morning. —- SCOWN—McLEOD St. Barnabas’ Church. Mount Eden, was prettily decorated with pink and white asters and hydrangeas on Tutcday evening, when Xina Ellen, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. .James McLeod, of Windmill Koad, Mount Eden, was married to Vernon Leonard, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Scow’n, i f Grey Lynn, and late of Massey Road, Mangere. Tlie bride, who was given away by her father, wore a dainty gown of delicate pink georgette, and a beautifully embroidered tulle veil, held in place by a coronet of pearls and orange blossoms, and falling from the shoulders in soft folds, to form a train. Her bouquet was of pink and white asters and fern, tied with a tulle bow. Miss Gladys McLeod, cousin of the bride, acted as maid, wearing a pretty frock of moss rose ninon. Her headdress was of tulle in deeper shades to harmonise with her pretty bouquet of asters. Little Miss Johnson was trainbearer, wearing a pretty frock of bit—h pink georgette, with frilled skirt, and a headdress of tulle and rosebuds. She carried a basket of tiuv flowers. The Rev_ C. B. W. Seton conducted the marriage ceremony, and Mr Co 1 - leridge Scown was best man. After tlie service, the guests were entertained at the Mountain Kiosk; the j newly-married couple later leaving on j a motor tour. Among those present were Air. a> <1 Mrs. James AlcEeod, Air. and Airs. T. S. Scown, Mr. and Mrs. Kicholson. and Mrs. Bethune. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dawson. Mrs. McDonald, Mr. McLeod senr., Mr. and Mrs. George McLeod Mrs. R. McLeod, Mr. and Mrs. W. McLeod, Mrs. Whitmore, Miss Dawson Mrs. McConnachie, Miss McConnachie Mr. and Mrs. F. Smith. Mr. and Mrs! McKenny, Misses Herd (2). Mr and Mrs. Walker, Miss Walker, and Mrs Stewart.