LAST NIGHT'S NEWS. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH]. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1291, 7 October 1880, Page 3

LAST NIGHT'S NEWS. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH]. [FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

Mr Whyte's Banquet. Cambridge, Last Night. Great preparations are under way for the banquet to-morrow. The Public Hall is being tastefully decorated by the Messrs Reid and Co. There is every indication of a great success.

Auckland, Last Night. Supreme Court. The Judge sentenced Alexander Smith, for rape at Ponsonby, to three months' imprisonment with- two whippings; and Elizabeth Harris and Cecilia Carroll, for stealing Richmond's jewelry, to six months' imprisoment. John Sainsbury was charged with selling powder and shot without a license to the natives at Whangamata. The evidence is very long, and the case is not yet closed.

Wellington, Last Night. Dismissal of A.C. Inspectors. Six Constabulary inspectors in the North Island are to be dismissed, but their names have not yet transpired. Mr Bryce has written to Wiremu Kingi, one of the released prisoners, earnestly appealing to him to aid Government in causing suspicion to cease and promote the real interests of both races.

Tire London Queen publishes an elaborate account of the customs observed iv connection with fashionable weddings ia England. The invited guests assemble at the church and there await the bride. The main point of difference between invitations hinges on the fact that in some cases the hour of the breakfast is specified, and in others it .is nut. When the hour of the breakfast is specifitd, the guests are not expected to drive .straight to the house from the church, but to present themselves about twenty minutes before the hour named. Usually the bride and bridesmaids drive off first from the church to the residence of the bride's parents, and otber gues>ts follow in regular order. When weddings occur in the afttrnoon the guests go straight to the house, and the refreshments provided are such as are given at a large afternoon receptions, with the addition of wedding cake. In the interval between the return from church and breakfast the guests are generally employed in inspecting the wedding presents; but there is frequently an afternoon party two days before the wedding for the exhibition of these gifts, at which the trossenu is generally exhibited. The number of the bridesmaids varies with the taste of the bride, but the bridegroom is generally only attended by one friend as best man, and the groomsmen are not considered fashionable appendages. The best man takes the head bridesmaid to breakfast. The speechmakingr is made as brief as possible, but the gueet of the highest rank is expected to propose the health of the bride and bridegroom, and the bridegroom responds with the understanding that his remarks can have no greater merit than brevity. In some cases the party drink the health of the Bridesmaids, which ,must be proposed by the bridegroom, and responded to by the best man. .Previous to her health being drank, the oride cuts the wedding cake, of which every person present must eat a small piece. She then retires for a brief period to change her dress, and when she departs on her bridal tour, two white shoes, at least, should be thrown after the carriage, one by the chief bridesmaid, and the other by the beet man. It is understood that this ceremony is the farewell of the unmarried to those who have just left their ranks. Aftei, 1 the bride returns from this tour, the first time she appears socially in any house during a period of three months, she takes precedence of all other persons present, without respect, to rank. This old custom is now falling somewhat into disuse, except in the rural districts. The bridegroom, poor fellow, with the usual fate of his sex, does not obtain any precedence.