SOCIAL AND GENERAL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3640, 28 September 1912, Page 4

SOCIAL AND GENERAL.

The matron and nurses of the Gis- ■ borne Hospital were the hostesses of a very enjoyable dance in Whinray’s Hall ou Thursday evening last. It was unfortunate that so many other attractions wore booked for that evening, which had the effect of reducing the attendance of the indispensable, mere man, nevertheless the matron and nurses asisted by Dr Drown did all in their power to make the gathering the success it- certainly was. j The suoper tables were effectively decorated with large pot plants and small vases of daffodils. Messrs Vita Bros. : and Mr Parnell’s orchestra both contributed to the dance programme. j Among those present I noticed : j Mrs Oarlyle-Wilson, wearing brown | silk with handsome lace on corsage. !

Mrs Charles Scott, pretty frock of pale vieux rose union and charmeuse finished with gold bugle fringe, Mrs Park-Porter looked well in pale blue satin with draped oveivlorss of palest pink chiffon, finished with tiny frills.

Dr Dulcic Williams, becoming teil.ctto of black crepe-de-chine, with front panel of black lace- and gold thread. Mrs IT. M. Porter, white satin, with overdress of black iiisertioned chiffon. Miss Hogg, white satin and crystal embroidery. Miss Stubbs, black safi-on with lace on corsage. Miss M. Gumming, mauve crcpe-de-chi'n-o. Miss Sweet, pale pink satin charrr.ouse Sister Wheeler, pale blue satin trimmod with pearl and crystal embroidery. Miss L. Deere, pale pink ninon-de-soie. Miss S. Evans, flame-colored silk, with over-dress of gold-beaded net. Miss A. McKenzie, cream satin. Miss M. B cere, white ninon with gold band trimming. Nurse Wilbur, mauve satin, much trimmed with heavy lace. Miss Jensen, white ninon-de-soie, with fine bail fringe. Nurse Green.‘lade, white Swiss muslin, trimmed with black insertion bands.

Nurse Blackitt, white- ninon-de-soie. Mrs Ruby, black chiffon taffetas with real silk lace bertha. Miss I Chrisp, w3;ite satin, with palest grey tunic finished with silver. Miss M. Walker, white ninon with ■silver on corsage. Mrs Swinnerton, black chiffon taffetas with soft lace bertha. Sister Lewis, white ninon de soio with embroidered corsage in pearls

and silver. Miss A. Bull, white satin, much trimmed with silver and pearls. Miss I. Johnston, pale pink ninon do soie.

Miss B. Graham, pale pink charmeuso with tunic of grey-blue ninon finished with silver. Miss D. Bull, white satin, draped with apple-green chiffon. Miss Joel, white satin, with white ninon tunic draped with pannier effect.

The matron and nurses of the Gisborne Hospital staff, wiio were present, all appeared in their uniform. Drs Scott, Brown, Carlye-Wilson, Porter, Singer, Messrs Burn aid, R. Johnstone, Chapman, Wells, Graham, H. M. Porter, Flynn, McColl, Evans, Sweet, Botisfiold, Bright, McKenzie, Fleming, Cowan, Boyle, Garrett, Rees, O’Meara and Swi.nncrton.

Miss Joel] lias returned to Hawke’s 1 T3a7i | Mr L. T. Bumard is visiting Sydney. Mrs Walter Barker gave ’a very largo and most enjoyable children’s j party on Thursday evening last. A number of adults were also present to j join in the games and dances with tho ’ children. Mr and Mrs Nolan are. visiting Auckland. Miss Gillingham is visiting the South. Tho engagement is announced of Miss Buckler, of Bournemouth, England, to Mr Ravdon Beere, of Wellington.. Beatrice Holloway is to be manned in the course of a few months to “Bob” Grieg, an actor. Both intend to proceed to America. Miss Holloway says her ambition is to play Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing.” Tho engagement is announced of Miss Eileen Gibbons, of Kopu, Auckland, to Lieutenant Spooner, of Melbourne. The marriage will shortly eventuate. Matron Godfrey is visiting the South.

j MISS Hilda Sh-erratt has returned ! from Hawke’s Bay.

Owing to the recent strikes at Home Miss Rosemary Rees’s consignment ol goods will not arrive until next week. Nevertheless every effort will be made to have all the many lovely gowns on view by Saturday evening next.

A lady writing from London says the frocks, though wider, are still fairly narrow. Coats and skirts aro still to the fore, and shantung very much in vogue. A hat needs no trimming save a feather stuck straight up on any side. Latino—alias bath towelling—has been tremendously worn this summer,' and a girl staying with her look'ed charming in a perfectly plain gown of this material in palest grey, made with a turn-down collar of the stuff, white frilling down the front and at the wrists of the long sleeves. A black patent leather belt, very narrow, and a black silk bow ?.t collar completed a very simple hut very striking costume.

Lady Dorothy Xevill lias many interesting reminiscences to tell. Slie once sun - a lady to whom Horace Walpole proposed; she heard Thomas Mcore sins his own poems; she also recalls such well-known figures as Count D’Orsay, Lady Blessington, and Dickons. Her knowledge of Victorian frivolities and Society is unrivalled. A born hostess, Lady Dorothy was the confidante of Royal personages, statesmen, field-marshals, and diplomatists—in fact, London was said to be to her one long whispering gallery. King Edward, when Prince of Wales, met all the most attractive people of the day at her receptions, and even to-day her chief delight is to entertain at dinner select parties of distinguished people. Though her ladyship has lived in five reigns, there are few women in present-day fashionable circles more noted for their charm of manner, incisive wit, or brilliant repartee. She is still wonderfully active, and keenly alive to the new social developments of the day. She know and liked Cobden; she knows and admires John Burns. The trusted friend of VDizzy’’—she is a staunch Conservative, but she likes to relate that she travels third-class, and goes on the top of omnibuses.

Miss Helen Woodruff Smith, the 1 middle-aged lacfy millionaire, whose letters to Mr Russel! Griswold, brought I lier world-wide notoriety, now seeks : fame as an avia tress (states an Ame- : riean paper). She has ordered a 1 'monoplane for two,” and a local paper', in reporting her ambition, unkindly comments: —“The soul-flights which Miss Smith took with young Griswold, and which she described in her letters, signed ‘Brunhilde,’ have | net contented the lady, and by moans of a monoplane mode for two she now proposes to take occasional jaunts, as ! the spirit may dictate, into the ethereal regions.” Miss Smith, now a i buxom, middle-aged lady, was once married and divorced. In her time ■ she has been a great success at bag- ! ging Polar bears and walrus. According to Mr. Griswold, who was her , private secretary, she tried to captivate him, and not he her. HD'. Griswold claimed heavy damages, but a chivalrous judge, recognising his youth, refused his claims. The plaintiff, known all over America as “Ruzzie Lamb,” adopted the view that if a woman can sue for breach of j?romise so also can a man, and Miss Smith could well afford to pay.

The name of Sarah Bernhardt has come to bo so well know n to us that we nro apt to think of it its tile gl'sat actress’s real name, But it is not. The “divine Sarah’s” actual name is Rosine Bernard. Her father was French; her mother was Dutch. She is of Jewish descent, but at the ago of twelve she was received into the Catholic faith and was educated at a convent. Sho was married in 1882 to Jacques Damala, a Greek, but was separated from him. Madame Bernhardt was born in Paris on October 22, 1845.

The Countess of Jersey has become distinguished by having a troop of Boy Scouts called after her —the “13th Croydon, Countess of Jersey’s Own,” of which she has become patroness.

The Duchess of Westminster is one of tho best dancers in Society', but sport fascinates her more than anything else. She has been practising polo on the private course at Eaton Hall, and is so successful that she promises to provo a formidable rival to tho Duke, who is one of the finest players in the kingdom.

The young Bulgarian Crown Prince Boris, it is said, fell in love with Princess eldest daughter of the Roumanian Crown Prince—though ho had never met her— upon seeing a photograph of her when the Queen of

Roumania paid a visit to the Bulgarian Court. Immediately upon coming of age Princo Boris is said to have informed his fiatlier, King Ferdi* nand, of his passion, and said that ho must marry Elizabeth or remain single all his life. His father had no objection to t-lie match; but on being approached on the subject, King Charles of Roumania vetoed it for political reasons. King Ferdinand, however, on a visit to Vienna, persuaded the Austrian Emperor to use his influence with King Charles, and this was successful.