OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 72, 28 January 1882, Page 313

OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

The Holidays in the South. — Lady Gordon : Her Personal Appearance and Dresses. — New Costumes in Christchurch. —IfissPomeroy's Latest. —Akaroa. Christchurch, January 18. I am afraid I deserve a scolding for being so late with my contribution this month, but, like your staff in Auckland, Mr Editor, I have been away into the country enjoying, myself. I did not leave town, however, till New Year's Day, and so saw the Christmas gaities through. We had splendid weather though rather too hot, the wind being north-west, and great picnics of adults and and school children, but chiefly school children left the city almost daily to bake themselves brown in the meadows around Christchurch. The tram to Papanui took hundreds of pleasureseekers, and the shareholders in this successful speculation — the tramway — must be making a pot of money. I went to* service in tlie Cathedral on Christmas evening, but I do not care about it. I have no sympathy with advanced Anglicanism, and must say that if the Church, of _ England clergy encourage and foster the love of it in tlieir flocks they ought to expect, as a natural consequence, that some will go a step further and become Eoman Catholics. Eor this result of their own teachings they are, however, not i_repared, and in one parish, where a whole family have gone over to Eome lately, there is great pertubation of spirit. These people were, however, encouraged by their clergyman to go to early— probably fasting — communion and to set great store by forms and ceremonies. They have, however, now a little outstepped their reverend teacher and gone in for the real thing, and I think that the groat indignation thereat is perhaps a little unreasonable. The verger of the Cathedral showed me all over the building lately. The " altar," hung with green and gold and red and gold damask, hanging and decorated with immense cross and candlesticks, wants but a few additional ornaments to vie with " the Church of the Blessed Sacrement," belonging to the brethren of Eome. The plates, including a very handsome gold cup, recently presented by the Governor, I also saw. The cup is particularly handsome, and must, I should think, be worth £50. From the church to the stage ; what a step ! Well, I went to hear Wilhelmj. lam not at all surprised that his company done good business in Auckland. I heard Emmett onee — many years ago — too long to compare, but certainly Wilhelmj is wonderful — power, t .ste and genius are all there, and one sits spell-bound. One night, when I was there, the concert was honoured by the presence of the Governor and Lady Gordon, accompanied by their host and hostess, Mr and Mrs Studholme. Lady Gordon is a remarkably distinguished and handsome looking woman. She wears dark silk, with a dress-improver and a profusion of white lace, white lace cap, pendant and earrings ; the Governor, in evening dress, wearing the ribbon of his order ; Mrs Studholme, a sister of the late Mr Sefton Moorhouse, is a very tall, fine-looking woman. She wore white and black. TJie young ladies of the party looked very pretty in full evening dress ; one, Miss Moorhouse, who is very tall, very fair, and remarkably sweetfaced yet distinguished-looking, I never saw appear to greater advantage than that evening in her simple black evening dress. The Avhole audience, a large one, stood up on the arrival of the vice-- 'gal party, and thought perhaps Mr Vogricli would come forward and i lay "God save tl. Queen," but he did not, perhaps because the Governor's visit was a private one. My whole enjoyment of this concert and of everything else la' fly at the Theatre Eoyal, and lam sure that of everyone else, has been marred by the horrible custom of the Cathedral bell-ringers of practicing after 8 p.m. The bells could be heard above the forte parts of the performance, and in the beautiful piano parts of the songs of Miss Conron, or the inimitable waves of melody floating from Wilhelmj 's majic violin, those wretched bells trying to clang out " Home sweet home," or some other delectable melody out of time and tune, were simply maddenning. One or two irate folks have rushed into print and demonstrated, but I have been in the country and do not yet know if these remonstrances have had any effect. I have little fresh to tell you as to dress. At one or two balls lately a very pretty and effective shade of "candlelight" green — a green unmistakable in the strongest light — has been successfully worn by several blonde ladies. For the street and garden parties, nearly all young ladies wear gingham, the palest ancl prettiest shades of pink, cream or blue. One very handsome pale pink I saw trimmed with cardinal satin and cream lace. Miss Pomeroy has a very pretty pink walking costume trimmed with cream lace. I saw a lady in Cathedral-square the other day wearing a pale blue sateen trimmed with cream lace' and. cream ribbon, embossed with a pattern of blue forget-me-nots ; cream lace hat trimmed with cream feathers and blue forget-me-nots, and ornaments of turquoise and gold. The dress was unusually rich and striking looking ; in fact many of these ladies might just take off theh' hats and walk into a ball-room, and not look a bit out of place, and from what I see in the Observer it is the same in Auckland. Well, so long as it is the young and slender who confine themselves to this style of dress, it is all right, and of course older ladies never attempt it. What, never ? Well, hardly ever. (Please don't strike me off your list of contributors for this stale quotation.) There are a few gay old dames, with grey hairs and pompadour pinafores, knocking about ; but generally our married and middle-aged ladies are patterns of quiet elegance in dress.

I have been out of town during a part of the Christmas holidays, but Canterbury is a very flat, wretched, ancl uninteresting place for a country sojourn. There is undoubted health in the miles of flat pasture and the thousands of fat sheep that one sees for ever as one trundles the weary miles in the train ; but there is no beauty. And a sea-side picnic ! I have tried just two. Bare, flat, treeless, shadeless sea-beach — either shingle or sand. Akaroa they say is pretty, and Governor's Bay would be a delightful place if more accessible. There arc hills and a little bush, but fche places you can get at are something

horrible. The beautiful bays of dear old Auckland, her pebbly strands and the little lakes and lagoons where the scarlet blossoms of the New Zealand Christinas tree nearly dipped into the water, the shady rocks and the ferny hollows, — these have all spoiled me for the glaring, sterile sea-coast we have here. I remember the first picnic I ever I- ever was at in Auckland. It was early in 1858, and we took two little rowing boats and went over to the North Shore, boiling our kettle in a little green nook where a shipbuilder's yard has now stood for many years. Eeturning, we tried to hoist a sail, as we made very slow way, and the gentlemen found rowing hard work. We nearly paid for our temerity with our lives, and furled our sale in double quick time, getting wearily to Wynyard-pier at about eleven o'clock at night. Perhaps the best and most interesting picnic, however, I ever was at was one from Shortland to Ohinemuri, to see Mere Kuru before the Upper Thames was opened up. The scenery was simply beautiful. I cannot enjoy level sand-flats after it. Oh, no ! This may be, and is, a prosperous, but it is not a pretty or a jolly place ; and so let Aucklandeiis who have " enough " content themselves at home, for I am very sure they will not like this so well. Of the many Auckland- people I meet, none find the society, so pleasant or so much to their taste. One gentleman, who was here in a fairly good position — a clever, educated man — was so miserably dull that he determined to return to Europe on the termination of his engagement. He got as far as Auckland only, and there he has stayed for two or three years, delighted with the greater geniality of the people. Now this is a fact, and no prejudice on my part ; so, Aucklandcrs, though you may be happy here if you have wealth or any conventional advantage to recommend you, be prepared to be dull if you have not the traditional silver spoon. You will see that our society paper, the Liberty, died with the old year. It was " Canterburyish," to coin a word — flat and uninteresting — and so died, partly of spite and partly of inanition. We are promised another society journal, to be called Society. I hope it may try to follow in the steps of the Observer — get good and paid subscribers, and give names. There can be no real objection to do so in the case of such a thing as the dress or the party of a leader of society. Such rubbish as " Miss A., in black alpaca, red bow, and straw hat, looked neat," will never sell any paper. One of our daily papers — the Telegraph — has changed hands, ancl from rather a racy little sheet has become terribly dreary. They say a clergyman edits it. I fancy one of the clerical fraternity 'must have a finger in the pie, for we have prosy articles of intolerable length at times that read like clippings from the " British Workman." I fancy the sale is suffering, as they come round canvassing for subscribers. But I must close this long rigmarole. It looks rather dreary, but there have been none but private — strictly private — parties among society people. There never are any others at holiday time. Countess Kate.