HAPPENINGS IN THE CAPITAL

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2111, 20 June 1907, Page 1

HAPPENINGS IN THE CAPITAL

By ‘,’l*ollol ope.” .Wellington.

AN AWKWARD ACCIDENT. JjVlr.. Hamilton,’ the Director of our Mjusoum, mot ,with ah unpleasant expdrienco last wook. .Ho and Mr. JLi6ngdenV the head of tlie. British Art section in tlio .Exhibition, were in tlve‘'Ndw Zealand ;Times Office walking along a passage. .Both.had.their eVcs raised,, looking for a certain name oil one of tlio doors, when, to his horror, Mr. Longden found his foot ovor over a gaping hole, into which .Mr. Hamilton, ..who ivas just, in front of him, was .falling. • This particular trap-door has'.'bpen forbidden to be kept open.by aiiy of the staff,on pain of .instant .dismissal, but tlio gas-moil 'were, busy fixing li'lnetor. in' the cellar below, and tho mail' Who should have been oii watch above had gone away for a,minute to got something. .Fortunately Mr. Hamilton, who is a.fall; heavy man, : was not seriously .hurt',' although much' bruis- ; ed and shaken ail’d, suffered considerable pain; lio weveri Tlie staircase that leads from tho right-of-way. to, tlie editor’s,room;is most perilous: It is.:stone, .very steep.,very narrow.and tortuous, .and with no .hand-hold, while' 'the' treads are fashioned "in' so meagre a scale that one strikes - one’s toes at every step. Perhaps this is intentional, a deep-laid .scheme to giiard the editor front continual intrusion. It may answer 1 that purpose, but it may also be the scene of,; a Very bad accident. A false stop at the top and neither editors nor staircases would troublo you again.

MR. LONGDEN. The Director of the British Art Gallery has left for Auckland, where ho intends to'stay a few days .with Mr. Denniston before lie starts for Homo via’ Vancouver. He goes reluctantly, leaving many friends, and carrying' with lrim delightful memor-ies-of -New Zealand scenery, peoplo, and hospitality; A picture,'' .which attracted much attention in the gallery, Cockrain’s “Silent Sea,’’ we have the good fortune' to retain m Wellington,' for Mrs. Edward Riddifofd has bought it. Another, representing Richelieu questioning a mosSir James' Linton —was bought by Mr. Heaton Rhodes.- By., the among the many quaint stories Mr. Longden tells about the Exhibition is the following. A generous relative presented a man in Christchurch .with the exquisite little brone statuette called “The Mower.” The delighted recipient told his wife, arid , wondered at'her; lack of entliush asm. “It’s very good of aunt,” she said dismally, “but ; where on earth are we to put the creature?” She imagined that the gift was a .huge, bird, the model .of.the . m.oa, that roosted in obscurity, in one of the . upper, galleries of ..the,Exhibition! THE WELLINGTON ART t GALLERY.

We are always being reproached for being unmusical and inartistic,: having no soul’above mere moneymaking and ,'friyOlity. But really'in; Wellington it is a serious matter to live within your means, and by the time rent, taxes," clothJs, and. lioiisehold bill have been paid there is little left for tlie cultivation and encouragement; of art. Our art gallery hasbeen ; a grave reproach to. iis, /for though it has been’ established manyyears, we have never got enough pictures together to form a' permanent' collection.‘ Only at ,the regular/exhibitions was it; filled; - '’At-other timesit was let, the/Mission to.Seameh'oCcupying it f6r a" while, and even wool sales being held in it. At times now w® are’ improving, for oil Wednesday last'the" Kail"waS formally opened as a permanent art "allcry. Certainly as' yet 'we have only enough pictures to;make lone row, very carefully plac-j ed, around the'walls, but. more ,are’; arriving- from -Home, and ,p.er;liaps soine "public-spirited citizens .mayl.be , moved to~supplemerit" tlie .collection. It;was ’a most teriiptuous afternoon,; with driving rain, but quite a number of 'enthusiasts brayedthe' iveather to listen to Mr. Ward ell’ address. He has beeff connected with the society from its inception—and to look at thO pictures. Mrs Rhodes was pre-j sent, and must have been gratified at. . tlie unqualified admiration of the Leader —costing £6oo—which she presented to the city. Mr. Van der Velden, who, according to a recent newspaper report, lias a huge contempt lor money, and “counts in colors,” not coin, was also there. I noticed Mr. Bowring, the black and white artist, who has left Christchurch and come to settle in Wellington, Mr. Leslie, pressman and painter, Bishop Wallis—genial and enthusiastic always—Mr. Hislop, our Mayor, with a brow grave and anxious, and his dignified little wife, whose energy in civic affairs-is a matter of constant adiniration and surprise. One ot tlie finest paintings on the wall was that of Worsley’s Mount Sefton in clearing weather. I know that view intimately, and have watched many a time tlie mists thinning arid clearing, showing brilliant glimpses of glacier and ice fall. It woiild seem too lovely and evanescent an. effect to place on canvas, and yet Mr. Worslev has done it marvellously well. Thp big painting was never without its; little group of admirers. WELLINGTON’S SELECTION. The Exhibition pictures chosen by the three men sent to Christchurch have come in for some severe criticism. None of them are remarkable for beauty or excellence,- and two are striking only for their lack of tile qualities that go to make a good picture. ’’The Wanderer” is a large painting, representing a woman quite eight foet high.' It should really /be called “The Red Bag,” for that u quite the most prominent feature in -fllie picture. Next to it come the little fire she .lias lit by the wayside and her flame-lit face. All else is gloom, and dusk and mystery, Ifio Mitherless Bairns” is the second- or the two specimens of art, and would perhaps make .a popular, lithograph to -be given away with a box of tea. One child is trying on another child s hat, the .latter standing on a chair. Both are commonplace, with eyes line boot-buttons; arid the hat is much too small for its wearer. The sentiment appeals to tender-hearted mothers, but artistically it lS wretched Piqductiori. Decidedly the best P l ?™! 0 Wellington has gamed from the .itxliibition is one that xvas cliose n_ia tei A by another selector. It is_by .JjranK Hall, and is called “The Result ol Hifdi Living.” A "rave dog-doctor is looking at a half-filled phial, while before liiin sits, on tlie table, an exquisite little Ring Charles, spaniel, -waiting to he dosed. Tim picturesque muddle of detail, and the lighting from the old-fashioned bottle-glass window, are’ admirable. SOCIAL NOTES..

The Hon. Mr. Hall-Jones is so miich better that he h as able to_ preside at a meeting of Cabinet-field in his house'last'week.’ . -By the way, Ministers are preparing for a long and arduous session. We occupy the nearest house to • Parliament, and various overtures have been maffe to us,'to induce us to quit it for sis. months: Great difficulty has been experienced in getting temporary' bedrooms —for late of all-night srttiiigsrvcjose.to.tho House. Howeyer, 4 house near ' by has'been taken, and 'in lit are bedrooms for tlio Hoi*- Dr, Findlay, Prof. SaluiondV and Ylr. Jqliffe—as well as an office. This Ministerial “doss house”—ras it is irror verently called- —is -in Hill etret, J he(ir Mrs. Cruickshaiik, better known asjMiss Malpolqi, intends .tq keep 911 her boarding-house till .December, au'd even Alien —when she leaves . Mr Bulla’s house to take another establishment...; It is to; .be hoped, .'for the benefit of the nomadic public, she may. : Mys apd', Miss Hunter-Brown from Nelson are in Wellington'. Mrs Secldoh has Mrs ' Bean, her eldest daughter, from Christchurch, staying with' her; "Mrs Howard Jacksqh, of Dunedin,' is visiting Mrs • Mactavish. Mrs and- Miss Tripp, irom Canterbury, have been in Wellington recently. Miss Darliug is ia {Napier,

Various interesting functions aro in .tlio near future. Mrs Fulton onter- ■ triins a hundred young people to a mask and domino evening, a prize to be given to tho ono who guesses the greatest number of identities, and nriothor prize for tho most original costume. It ought to prove most amusing. The Hutt girls give one of •their enjoyable Cinderellir dances on Tuesday next,and the following ovenirig tho Privato Nurses’ Association have a dance —a strictly feminine entertainment —at the Boulcott Stroet hall. 1 AT THE OPERA HOUSE. “Brigadier Gerard” —a romantic pja- of. tlie time of Napoleon—has bqen changed to-night for tlio most charming of plays', “Monsieur Beaucaire,” in wlucli 'Julius Knight is most cxcollont. Indeed so'fine is-his representation of'the French! nobleman that those who have seen Lewis Waller in the role declare ho is ,no better than Julius Knight. Of course ttyo lovely Maud Jeffries was then 1 is loading lady, but Miss Elbert Orton is also stately and handsome, siiid ought to take the part of the aati'hty Lady Mary Carlyle admirably. .