A SOCIETY

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 116, 2 December 1882, Page 180

A SOCIETY

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Lady Brassey has just recovered from an attack of typhoid. A son has been born to Lord and Lady Brook (Miss Maynard, the celebrated beauty) . A London fashion paper asserts that the reason for wearing the skirt-extender, is to give jewelled garters a chance. Lord Dupplin and Miss Clarke, of Victoria, are not to be married after all. The young lady's father, the Hon. W. J. Clarke, declines the honour of the proposed alliance. There has been something like a split in the Government House tennis club over the change in the club colours from light blue-and- white to pink-and-blue, and a second club is the result, the members of which adhere to the old colours. The Mower Show at Kaukapakapa was very successful, and attracted a large gathering of people. A dance was held after the show and kept up till the small hours. It is difficult to award the honour of belle, but the majority thought it belonged to Miss Lucy-Marks. Mrs W., of Mongonui, gave a very pleasant so3ial evening party at her residence last week. The singing and playing were very good, Miss W.s song " Castles in the Air " was the gem of the evening ; this young lady has a fine contralto voice. The charades caused great fun. Mr F. was splendid in his impersonation of the " Great Mogul." A grand concert and dance took place at Russell, which passed off well. One of the prominent features of the evening was a recitation by Mr Nevin, one of the Auckland commercials. It fairly brought down the house, and would not have done discredit to a professional. Many of the costumes of the ladies were elaborate and tasteful. The Misses Hope, Kirk, McLeod, and Stephenson, were in good voice. The Parnell lawn-tennis tournament is now in full swing, and is causing no little excitement among the members of the club and lovers of the game generally. On Saturday Mr W. Ridings beat Mr Severn, Mr Cook beat Mr Lindsay after a hard fought game, in which much skill was shown by both players. Mr Whitaker beat Mr Dowling, Mr Irvine beat Mr Dewes, and Mr Philson beat Mr Corbett. The other gentlemen's single matches were arranged to be played out during the week, and to-morrow the ladies' matcnes will commence,if the weather prove fine. No doubt the attendance will be a large and fashionable one. By the Wairarapa, on Tuesday morning, Mr Henry Brett of the Star returned from his Australian trip, which was one of combined business and pleasure, with, however, a reversal of the order in which proverbial philosophy places these two pursuits. This is how the Sydney Bulletin notices the presence of Mr Brett in that city : — " Mr Henry Brett, of the Auckland Star, who came over for the Melbourne Cup, is now in Sydney awaiting the departure of the next boat for N.Z. Mr Brett, by the exercise of a truly journalistic instinct, has in a few years distanced all competitors, and made the Star into the biggest and best evening paper south of the Line, and the mo3t remunerative newspaper concern in Maoriland." The Otahuhu "At Home " dancing class held the last dance of ■ the season on Friday last. The affair was a great success. Mrs Hearts supplied the music, while Mr Seymour and Prime officiated as M asters of Ceremonies. The following are some of the most noticeable dresses : — Miss O'Connor, pink satin, trimmed with gimp ; Miss B-. O'Connor, cream satin, trimmed with old gold lace ; Miss L; G-eorge, pale blue nun's cloth, with white lace ; Miss Quinn, cream oatmeal cloth, white lace, cardinal sash ; Miss Amy Q-eorge, cream nun's veiling, trimmed with lace and satin beading ; Miss Brennan, pink oatmeal, with lace ; Miss Haslem, cream sateen, trimmed with black lace; Miss Mclntyre, blue nun's veiling, trimmed with blue sateen, and blue satin body ; Miss Vincent, blue nun's cloth, with moire sateen, and cream lace, silver flowers ; Miss Talbot, cream dresa, trimmed with cardinal bows ; Miss Frazer, pale blue satin, cream lace, cardinal bows; Miss Robinson, cream oatmeal, with cardinal bows; Mrs Basly, cream satm, with cream lace. The honour of belle lay between Miss L. G-eorge and Miss Vincent. The dance held in the Panmure Hall, on Friday, November 24th, was moderately attended. The local band discoursed excellent music. Mr A. JWixon acted as M.C., but appeared to be out of his element. Refreshments were amply provided, but the sandwiches were too utterly utter. Couldn't they afford to purchase ham, in place of substituting leather ? Those who had false teeth could not satisfy their appetites on account of the basil being too tough to masticate. The following are a few of the most conspicuous dresses : — Miss Kay, white llama, with blue satin trimmings, looked quite charming ; Miss Clery, peacock-green with satin trimmings, looked extremely fascinating ; Miss Sperway, old gold cambric, with blue and white trimmings, looked exceedingly nice ; Miss O. Wern, white llama with blue sateen, looked scrumptious ; Miss Bright, pale blue sateen trimmed with black lace, looked very well ; Miss S. Bright, black velvet bodice with ruby skirt, looked quite enchanting ; Misa Webster, pink sateen with white skirt, looked quite killing ; Miss Hjorth, blue and white sateen, looked very pretty ; Miss Sykes, grey cashmere, with black velvet trimmings, looked quite enamouring ; Miss Pierce appeared in a delightfully becoming costume of black. Messrs Taylor, Little, and Burns were acknowledged to be the best waltzers in the room. The dancing was kept up with great spirit till 3 a.m. The concert given by Mr G-ordon G-ooch and his pupils in the Choral Hall on Thursday, the 33rd $<of.,''* pjroyed a great musical success, and drew together a* v large and appreciative audience. Near upon sixty voices took part in the concerted pieces. The programme was a somewhat lengthy one, j^nd wp }}&ye not space to comment upon

every item. The first . part was composed of miscellaneous selections, and the second, part of choice vtorceaux from the "Bohemian Girl." Mr G-ooch sang with. his usual; splendid effect the ballad .by Blumenthal, "Sunshine and- Rain," and " The Heart Bowed Down," but begged to be excused an encore, as he was suffering somewhat from hoarseness. Miss Annie Hargrave was also encored for her rendering of ".Some Day " and " I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls." Miss Tapper sang very sweetly " The Blind G-irl to her Harp," and Miss McMillan "O Mio Fernando." Miss Coster appeared rather nervous in her solo, " Come with the Gipsy Bride." Mrs Gordon G-ooch gave " The Wood Nymph's Call " with artistic taste and finish. Mr Hanna sang with, splendid effect, "When other Lips," and was very deservedly encored. The solo and chorus, '• O, what full delight," by Mrs Revitt and choir, went remarkably well, and the same may be said of the other choruses which were given. The accompanists were Messrs Ralph Hood and A. Bartley, who are to be commended for the good taste with which they performed their arduous duties. The last of the Parnell dances was held on Wednesday evening, and as far as attendance is concerned, was only a partial success, owing no doubt to the lateness of the season. Everything went well, the music being good, the floor in splendid ordei*, and the refreshment department as well looked after as ever. Among the ladies present were Miss Huddlestone and Miss Macpherson, from the South. The Misses Whitaker, who have recently returned from Wellington, and Mrs Nolan of Grisborne, were also ill the room. The dresses, as they always are at Parnell, were in extremely good taste, although nothing of a very costly value was displayed. There seemed to be no belle decided upon, but the Misses Taylor, from Taranaki, seemed to be very popular with the gentlemen. Messrs Edy and Triphook's band supplied the music, and the refreshments were from the establishment of Mr Ridwell. This closes the series of these dances, which have been well attended and much enjoyed throughout the season. As the proprietors intend to spend still more money in improving the hall for dancing purposes, it is expected that nothing will be wanting to make the Parnell dances as attractive as those of Remuera. On Thursday of last week, Mr Henry Petry, the well-known jeweller of Victoria-street, was married to Miss Annie Aubrey, second daughter of Harcourt R. Aubrey, late Resident Magistrate, Whangarei. The lady has for some time been residing with Mr and Mrs E. N. R. Forder at Ponsonby, and it was from their house that the wedding took place. The affair was conducted very quietly at St. Thomas's Church, the Rev. Humfrey Davis performing the ceremony. Mrs Forder acted as bridesmaid, Mr Hornburch being best man. Mr Forder gave away the bride, ■\||fe was dressed in a handsome combination costume of cream nun's veiling and cream satin, with a sweet thing in bonnets to match ; Mrs Forder's dress being pale blue satin and black velvet. In the evening Mr and Mrs Forder entertained a large number of chosen friends at a party in the Ponsonby Oddfellows' Hall. Dancing was commenced at 9 o'clock, the first quadrille being led off by the newly-wedded pair, having the host and hostess as vis a vis, the set being completed by Mr G-eddis and Mrs Herman Brown, and Mr and Mrs W. G-. Connolly. At half -past eleven the guests were invited to adjourn to the supperroom, where a tastefully-laid table was ready. " Health and happiness to the happy pair " having been drunk, full justice was done to the good things provided, and Mr and Mrs Petry then took their departure for their house in Remuera. The dancing was continued with unflagging vigour till four o'clock, when everybody went off in the soft light of early morn, tired, but satisfied with the night's amusement. Some of the dresses worn were really beautiful, notably that of Mrs Herman Brown, a handsome embossed moire silk with beaded fringe trimming ; Miss McMillan wore a beautiful French grey silk with a sheeny white spot like snowflakes all over it ; her companion and friend, Miss Macky, wearing a rich scarlet satin corsage and sash, with cream skirt. Miss Annie Haines was the belle of the assembly, and was dressed in a light salmon-coloured nun's veiling ; Miss Carrie Cappel, in green sateen, a colour which suited her fair complexion admirably, looked bewitching. Among forty ladies who all looked and dressed well, these were a few of the most noticeable, and ignorance of their names must be our excuse for not mentioning some of the other dresses which caught our eyes and suited our taste, notably one, worn by a tall handsome young lady, which was of black satin and richly made. Mr Reed provided the music in his usual good style.