THE FLIRT PAPERS.

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 150, 28 July 1883, Page 10

THE FLIRT PAPERS.

THE SINKING FLIRT. .. 'i By an Old Bead". , . „.; I wonder why rinking has gone out of fasliiota of • late. It used to be such nice fun for an oldjbeait ' like me to revel in the sweet sense of revenge mfyw. . 1 saw any good-looking j'oung jackanapes, wfio { had " cut me out," lose his balance as well as hfe : ' empty head, thi'ow up his arms, twist round, antH* go Hop on the floor. It consoled me for all my defeat and chagrin when I saw the fellow rubhjs . kuees, or go about afterwards with a great patch. . of sticking-plaster on his nose. He didn't look : v quite so handsome then. The decline of rinking in Auckland cannot be attributed to the Salvation Army having bought up the halls, as they -are / doing in London. The fact is, the elite, who used '<;; to set the fashion, have gone out of the business. They found it a trifle too rough, if not plebeian, vulgar, and undignified. ■ There is nothing very graceful or aristocratic in sprawling on a §ooi t •, amidst the titters and laughter of rude onlookers.::, The average girl is not born a skater or a l'iukei, . though there never was a human girl that wa&nofc" :J a flirt. She takes to the latter as frogs take „ta- ', the water, naturally, but rinking is an art that . must be acquired by slow and painful experiences^ - „ and much of what Jerry Cruncher indignantly !■ denounced as " flopping down." The art of plain/. \ rinking is not so very difiieult to learn, but t6\.be' :; able to curve and circle, salute in a right line, .;'; pirouette, and somersault, requires a lot of time ;■ and practice. ' ' ■_'"'•.-■'•■- The only real pleasure I ever derived from, the ', skating-rink, was that of fitting on the rollers to v , some girl witli a nice little sjmmetical foot. Hbyy swpetl^ebe uttered that " Thnrslcycn. veiryrjnueli/* v : ;ib ion pui" vlie iiuishi!:^ i ouch to tie business, and -: ! gazed upwards into her lovely i:yes. Thsro. was *". j something so peculiarly expressive about it. NThafr . ! humble oavalier-kke attitude of yours kneeling j^ ; Ui..-)v sit; her fevt', aiiJ'gianciiig^rp^'ftvde wiShA'b.iiifc' "'; | mingled look -A' devotion and admiration,. . ap^ke. .. ;■ j mor^ than whoh; Post-boxes full of love-letters?,'. | or the most eloquent avowals of your passioa,, Aud then to watch her little coquettish timidity.. ;-j as she glided away, only to assume a sittiS^^fs- ; ; ture with .startling suddenness. • How you lailiecfc' , that wretch Smith when he. forestalled you ;bjjfr'..-: raising her to a perpendicular position, and hoped ~ she was not hurt. When she smiled sweetly (and / a woman can smile even when she is rod'^d witEb .. the toothache) and whispered" Oh, thank you,' no," you may rest assured that, sh- i was ia a. blue '" funk lest her back hair should have falleb' oil, 02 her dress-improver gone put of gear. There is always a good deal of llirf.ing: in therink, but at best.it is under difficulties. : Tu#/ everlasting round .and round business is aga,iast. it. . There is sure to be some awkward, old bufl'oi* ; bi? clumsy straddle? to whein you must give a wide- ■•:'*' berth, if you desire to avoid a crash arid cataa- /• trophe. iiesides, there is the lynx-eyed duenna, . or mama watching you from tbe bench. You. T - can't elude her vigilance by going round a coi*aer, -''>; or steering straight away to a remote ( distant, 1 , out ' of earshot, as you can on ice, where- only) an. Agile ■ ' interloper or a young brother can hound youdown, with that universal pigheaded persistency / of young brothers who never seem to know<when. '".",. they are not wanted. . You are confined in a nar- ,.';,; row groove as it were, with no free scope" for tlVo'se } utterances of the soul which lovers use. I think, ;■ there is something in a limited space which Ihas~a '" tendency to cramp the mind, and vulgarise thinga.; "-. Else how did it come to pass at that last rink I 'V went to, that when a thick-set' young man of.the ' ' genus ' Arry, and the Hobject of his Hadoration, . ; a young lady in, shockingly short pettic,oats> . colhded with another couple, that there" r as .«t '1 very disagreeable scene. One young lady's gentleman called 'Arry names, and 'Arry's Ho.bjeefc called the other young lady a " hussy," 1 there;^as ./ a lot of loose hair ilying about, and (he two young. , , gentleman adjourned outside to have a lsi littleV/S jjrivate conversation ? When I saw 'Arry next, <,', day he had a big green patch over his left eye^-H; and hia nose was considerably swelled. I equ£included, of course, that he must have returned 'tvi.-'y. the rink and sustained a severe fall. . V. / ."f .. Rinkingas not my forte. , .1 prefer tQ/lo^kspii,?;.V, and sea other . people do the falling. ,'. Tffifg, is\ "'■' something, not altogether displeasing in t,lw mis- : !;,/ fortunes of our best friends. Butt would'; sacruibe ; y, the last bone in my •brother's body'on'fcj&Tafta^ojEW the rink. " Pro hone, oh!, -puhiico" should be,: V, inscribed over the door of evei*y -skating Waki ■ {v ■(-.,

A Lovely ChaPl-et.— A' late fashidii report says: "Nothing can .be prettier than si cbnplet of iio'|£V yine^, iv blossom." A recent medical " Nothing can bo a better renovator 'of .the heiiltu thai ■: HoiV Bittdi'B. They aid in nil the openitteha 1 of nittisre vv' toning up the weak stomach, RKsisfchig tJia food to ti&l '" coiue properly assimilated, and pro'uote hoaltliy action > '■ iv ii'l the organs. The 4^tate'&' of fash ten, an wftll as lli«. ' J ln\/s of health, alike favour a t-ight aoplicntioij of Loas "" '■ Kead. . • , ' ' V ' . '« Lloyd's . List."— April Idth, *■ ißSl.—Yiel^. : ,-iyeceens for expor,fc. " "^e Royal. Amethyst " V elxotmii-' '"'' manufiictured at MaucuestOA*. .ig made in al| "(JBlSflegj, "'■- ' and "will bs found..a' .lii'it-b)i?gti ixiaterial, nittyln^ •*.', '. • gVaOsy-P.ud'rich appearance, quite e«jual .W cil': ve4i^fes?n?. : .<th«{kil&'is\^rfoot^/f(Wi-.i''A^:.tl^.^^ux-Pfi^a>iß#4'|w-^'V latter not b£ing:atfjee^ ) bsf^^o.^damy < as iatUe o?!se'.';■--fftctv^*om^l^tWfirlm^MS'" Ms |! .M^fe^n^f