THE LADIES

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 69, 7 January 1882, Page 270

THE LADIES

/ Mrs Peacock's (Miss Campbell's) weddingdress was of biscuit-coloured cashmere, 1 trimmed /with satin of the same colour, made en princesse, /■with, deeply-shirred skirt en train. The wedding ■was strictly private. There was a farewell ball given to Miss Maud Brookfield by her Onelmnga friends last week, prior to her marriage with Mr F. Sharland. Miss Mabel Fairburn, in a black illusion dress with square-cut corsage, looked very lovely, and was voted by almost everyone the belle of the tall. The conventional evening dress for young ladies is at present a short trimmed skirt, the back draped over a veiled flounce, and the front shirred above a deep bos-plaited flounce, which ascends to the knee. Tlie bodice is a long V-shaped basque, with paniered sides, forming an overskirt, and the sleeves are shirred or plaited to the elbow. Surah in light tints makes up prettily in this way, trimmed with white lace ; or Madras muslin, with a little intermixture of silk, is equally pretty and less expensive. The marriage of Miss Maud Brookfield and Mr F. Sharland was solemnized at St. Peter's, Onelmnga, on Tuesday last. The day -was so inauspicious, and the wedding so quiet, that there is not much to be said about it. The bride ■wore a dress of cream silk. There were no bridesmaids. The happy pair departed, amid thunderings and lightnings and the downpour of Jupiter Pluvius, in the steamer Hawea for Nelson, to spend the honeymoon. The bridal presents were numerous and valuable ; some very handsome and suitable gifts being received from England, from Mrs Hencock and Mr C. Sharland, the brother and sister of the bridegroom. There was a space of forty minutes between each train that ran homewards from the races on Tuesday, consequently each batch of people had to wait for forty minutes on the platform. The free fights that ensued thereby, and the screaming and pushing and fainting that occurred can hardly be described, but may be imagined. Men and women got into the train one mass of mud from head to foot. The horses and their jockeys as they rode past the winning post, especially in the Steeplechase, could hardly be discovered for •the mud that encrusted them. Happy were those who went in omnibusses and cabs, and so had a cover from the rain, and were saved from the horrors of the railway journey home. The black hale of Calcutta was a mosquito bite to it. The holidays are over, thank goodness, and the mistresses of this community may take a breathing space. This is the paradise of servants^ and in fact in ten years' time, unless something very unforeseen turns up, I incline to think the race of helps will be extinct altogether ; already they are getting few by degrees and beautifully less. Tlieir holidays they will have, and it would be no use to refuse them, because, if not given they ■would be taken ; so public holidays in Auckland 1 mean for the ladies of the household hard work at home, whether ill or well, whether blessed with one child or with half-a-dozen. "Oh, do go down and stay with Mrs 5.," I heard a husband say to his wife last Monday ; " there she is at home by herself and all the children." Now, as. I knew that in this case the baby was only a month old, and the second child not much more than a year, it seemed to be rather hard lines. What was the lady's reply to her husband's invocation for help? "Well, I will go gladly if you will stay at home and mind ours, for you know very •well both cook and nurse are gone out !" No doubt the performance of Ihe " Messiah" in the Choral Hall last Sunday was a great pleasure to many hundreds, who otherwise would never have heard it ; but was it really necessary for three Ponsonby 'buses to be in attendance to take down performing members ? This is the thin end of the wedge put in carelessly. This is perhaps how Sunday traffic and Sunday pleasuring began at first in San Francisco. Now there is only one omnibus company in that city who allow their men one day out of seven. Every day, and all day long, without intermission, "from weary chime to chime" throughout the year, the trains ply, the steamboats run, the tram-cars and omnibuses drag along the streets of the city of the Golden Gate. The Sabbath rest for man and beast is unknown there. God forbid that ever such things should ever come to pass in our island home, and in this heritage of the free and brave ! Therefore, let us resist steadfastly .the first attempts at Sunday trading or Sunday work, especially among the hardworked horses and employes of the different omnibus proprietors. A most enjoyable picnic was given on Boxing Bay by the choir of St. Andrew's Church, to which they invited their friends and acquaintances, making up a goodly party of sixty or seventy people. The steamer Waihou was kindly lent by Mr Frazer, and, as the weather was delightful, and the water almost unruffled, the start was made under favourable circmnstances. A harmonium, violin, flute, and cornet discoursed sweet .sounds on board the steamer, and were mingled occasionally with the voices of the choir. Motutapu was the spot selected for the destination. What a magnificent panorama greeted oixr eyes as we steamed down the harbour ! Few of us appreciate, as we- ought, the almost unrivalled beauty of the island guarded entrance to the Waitemata, clotted, as it is, with emerald gems, set in the deep blue sea. Lady Bowen said that' it put her in mind of her own Isles of Greece. But we were soon at the ; end of ' our voyage, and reached Mptutapu with-! out accident or contretemps, and were warmly; greeted by the hospitable owners, the Messrs :, Keed. A most substantial luncheon- o'f first-class! viands — and cooked to perfection — was a veiy important feature in the programme, and we all Rendered our hearty thanks to Mra Culpan, by

whom this portion of the arrangements had been undertaken. In fact, the whole affair owed its origin and successful carrying out to Mr and Mrs Culpan.