OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 116, 2 December 1882, Page 184

OUR CHRISTCHURCH LETTER.

ChristchtjbcHj November 23. Cheistchttboh lias been very lively lately, and social events have followed on each" other thick and fast. We have had several good balls. The Rowing Club held a' very successful one, and the costumes were many o£ them very pretty. As usual, there was every .possible combination of pale blue, pale pink, cream and cardinal, with, immense profusion of cream, ficelle, and other coloured laces. The styles are, however, very different from last year. Bouffant panniers and skirts are almost universal with young ladies v. v .> claim to be considered fashionable ; and Ohv : • - church society has been somewhat startled i v Miss Lance, who has recently returned fru..i England, and who wears an actual crinoline ! ! At the Bowing Club ball there were great complaints of a scarcity of gentlemen. Now-a-days it really requires two gentlemen to every lady to make a ball enjoyable for ladies, for all and everyone here complains o£ the laziness of the men. They hate to dance anything but an occasional " round," and obliging stewards have to actually "bully" them into some sense of .what they owe the ladies. I see similar complaints from England ; and as you seem much agitated over social questions in Auckland, it may be that the state of society there is one in which too many men find the society of virtuous women " a bore," and the amusements that once delighted a more primitive state of society unsuited to the very : highly-spiced tastes of the men of the present day. It may be that the ladies don't know how to tackle this subject wisely, but when it so intimately concerns their own happiness, the lives of their sons and husbands, and even of their daughters, indirectly at least, that they should feel no interest cannot be expected. But they will do no good— the rot lies too deep. The other day at our Cattle Show, "Aspasia," in cream sateen profusely trimmed with cream lace and plush bows, got drunk, fell all bedraggled and dirty in the mud, and got up again and successfully boxed a very portly constable. She was " run in," and bailed out that same evening by "a gentleman in a carriage and pair," who paid her fine and costs of £6 at the Police Court. The next morning, like a queen, she went to the races in high style, and in a new dress still more rich and costly than the one she hopelessly ruined the day before. Who will persuade that woman to go to the washtub ? and who can wonder that the ranks of these wretched creatures are increased daily by recruits from the servantgirl class ? The wages of honesty are despised when the wages of this other kind of life are so high, and at present I can see no hope for it. But to pleasanter themes. The Athletic Ball was not quite so crowded with ladies as the Eowing Club, and a Wellington young lady (Miss Williams) was considered the belle. She' was beautifully dressed in white silk, with panniers, and wore ox-eyed daisies. It was more herself, however, and her figure, than merely her dress, that elicited so much admiration. The holidays were quite spoiled by the bad weather, and it was 50 provoking. We had a lovely day the day before the holidays, and two or three days immediately afterwards. I felt so sorry for those who had been disappointed, and could not, very likely, take a holiday at another time. The fire at Mr Rhodes' was very disastrous, looked at sentimentally, because they must have lost many treasures. The Misses Rhodes and a young lady visitor, it is said, lost every trinket and souvenir they possessed, so that no money can replace this loss to them ; otherwise the insurance was immense — about £7000 — and the house, an old wooden one about fifteen years old, although sufficiently comfortable and large (for their means are immense), was in no way extraordinary. The Fire Brigade, that had refused the week before to go to a fire nearer ioton, in Sydenham, because it was outside the city, were snobs enough to gallop their horses with almost cruel speed to help Mr Rhodes, who twice " demanded" their services ; and that gentleman has rewarded their sycophancy by not even one word of thanks, much less any repayment for their time or trouble, and the subject of charging him has been somewhat warmly debated in the City Council. I fancy they will get little out of " Bobby," as they call him. He is not supposed to be fond of " parting," and is said to have refused a drink of beer to men who spent their time, and even risked their lives, in dragging things out of the burning house. I find I have been letting my pen run as if everyone knew Mr R. H. Rhodes, but I think almost everyone in New Zealand knows of him, and that his house in the Papanui-road was destroyed by fire on the Ist of November, the anniversary of the opening of the Cathedral, towards which he has done so much ; and they do say the clanging of the joybells he gave to that church prevented the fire* bells being heard when his own house was burning. I must refer to one sad event before closing this letter. The obituary notices of our local papers a short time back contained the announcement that at St. Albans had died " Annie, the beloved wife of William John Rountree," with the addition, "Auckland papers please copy." This may recall to a few friends who have not forgotten her, a young and beautiful girl, once an acknowledged favourite in Auckland society. Old colonists remember Mrs Woolley, who had a ladies' school in Wakefield-street ; and will also remember pretty Annie Woolley, who married Mr John G-raham. At the Birthday Ball at Government House in 1858, Mrs David and Mrs John Graham were dressed alike, and were two of the prettiest and best-dressed women in the room. Fortune had many and sad changes in store for at least one of these pretty young ladies, though a few years ago, when I saw her, Mrs Roustree still retained much of the good looks and graceful manner that had once made - Mrs John Graham so much admired. I touch, but lightly on her death, for she was once my ; friend, and I am sorry Fortune was not kinder to her; Countess Kate.

The Melbourne Press now speak of Frank Q-erald as the "young rising comedian."