CANDID COMMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 70, 21 March 1908, Page 9

CANDID COMMENTS.

(By "Riida. , ') This is the kind of thing one encounters in the "smart" ladies' paper, which i comes from London to enlighten femininity at this end of the frlobe, as to how affairs progress in the "hub of the uni- : verse." Please mark, learn and inwardly digest the following extract:—"The ' whole cat world is in a state of tension, but if we speak the truth, we should be bound to admit that 'no one knows anything' about what is going to happen. I know of four different factions; two of these have plans cut and dried, but known only to themselves: the remain-

i ing t-,\o have not yet decided to do any--1 thing, except that they mean to spoil j everybody else's plans." Now. what is j the meaning of these very "precious"' I sentences? Perhaps even the writer j herself would find it difficult to extract ! any sense from them if called upon to do I so. What is the "cat world" in such a state of tension about? True. I have known quite a number of poor little ' pussy cats, here in New Zealand, who ■ have appeared to be in a state of tension while wondering where their next meal was to come from; and it i 3 quite ' evident they do not always know "'about what is going to happen"—otherwise they would not wind themselves caress-: ingly about the unsympathetic male foot

that designs to kick them. But one can hardly hope that the New Zealand cat has reached the high state of civilisation ascribed to the London grimalkins in the above paragraph. In this great land of "unions" it still remains for the cats to organise, and form themselves into "factions,'' having "plans cut and dried." Really, when a London ladies" paper reaches one's li£inds out here, one realises that New Zealand's chiefest charm is that it possesses no indigenous publication of the kind. Life is actually too short to allow of a systematic study of the language puzzles that present themselves to the reader of the average London "fashion" journal. Now, liad we been told the cats were getting excited because their duties and prerogatives were about to be usurped by mere human beings, tome meaning could have been read into the atpve ex-

tract. There has been a good deal lately in the British newspapers about tho crusade against rats which is being orI gassed, and is to be carried out very ! thoroughly by. practically, all the countries working in blirmony. The necessity for a combined attack against the genus mus appears to have first presented itself to a Dane of the name of Zuschlag. who formed n •;Rough on Rats" Society in his own land, and then approached other countries with a view to securing their co-operation in his scheme. As a result of his efforts, a National Society for the extermination of Vermin has been formed with some eclat in England, and the business of extirpating , the troublesome pests is to be put in hand with as little delay as possible. Rat clubs have been forme.l by private individual? in furtherance of the plans of the society, and as an incentive to energy, more especially among the poorer classes, a small premium upon each rat-tail presented at duly accredited depots, is to be paid. It is to be hoped that this bribe will not jiive occasion for rat farms —even as the small payment made by the Indian Government, to anyone who has killed a snake and chooses to claim the reward, has U'd to the establishment of some quite flourishing little snake-breeding farms in Hindustan! I As a side issue, the National Society is to -wage war also upon the house fly : and the flea. As to the former, no one ] seeing the butcher shops here in summer, each piece of meat black with a load of flies, can fail to realise that its extermination is a matter of urgent ne-. cessit--. There are innumerable diseases that these loathsome insects may be the means of introducing into the human body—just as rats, who are inveterate travellers by sea —have been virtually proved the transporting agents of the plague. There have been some very excellent regulations as to the purity-gauge of foodstuffs, made here in Auckland recently, but. for my part. I would have ; liked to have seen the City Council go j a little farther. It would be good to know that it requires the butchers to keep their meat free from the disgusting attacks of insects, either by the adoption of cold storage, or. if that be too expensive, by means of light frameworks supporting gauze netting,, behind which the

food could be completely protected from all flying creatures. The carts for transporting meat from door to door should, also, be provided with fly-proof compartment.-. I; is quite beyond dispute that the Auckland butcher who was enterprising enough to install some fly-proof contrivances in his >hop and carl- would rapidly—providing always that the meat itself was good—gatiu r in as customers all those who understand the vital importportance to health of fresh and wholesome food. It will be a matter of interest to observe the reception that will be accorded to "Peter Pan' as soon m> this wonderful little play of Barries reaches Australasia. 1 do not remember ever before ' to have witnessed such a scene of enthusiasm u> greeted the fall of tho curtain upon the last night of "Peter Pan's" second production in London. Again and again had the curtain to be raised, the performers to make their bows to the wildly-applauding audience—an audience composed not so much of children— though it was ostensibly for children that Barrio wrote —but of men and women (the former slightly in the preponderance). There is something so exquisite and heart-searching in the language which Barrie uses—and thore is no morn perfect master oi the art of using the inevitable word than he —that even a child's play becomes invested with a delicate pa the:-, and has the power to recall to men ar.d women in the audience the games of "make-believe" in which they, as children, used to indulge. It is only Barrie who could make a grown-up audience feel the thrill of childish tear as the crocodile comes "tick-ticking"' its j way on to the stage: or call forth that burst of spontaneous applause, when the audience are asked to save Tinkler Bell"= life by showing that they still believe in fairies. I do not know whether Aus- , tralasians should be advised to read Barries ■"Little White Bird" before or after they see the production of "Peter Pan." Much cf the story of the play is to be found in the book, but much of the book is not in the play. PerhiiDS the best way would be to read the book both before and after witnessing the play! One cannot have too much of Barrie. Curiously enough, he does not seem to be so well known out here as he ought to be. "Peter Pan" may. however, serve to in-

—= = I troduce him to the NV-w Zealand public, and then if he and his play do not win tlioir way to the hearts of the Dominion^.—well. om> will be inclined to rrf-dit tho people of tliis country with tlie same carping that animated the old Scotchman who \\;i~ called upon to admire tho tuns of inter flipping over | the N'iiifrara Full*: "He -aw 'naught to I stop "fin" —a true paying, but not an enthusiastic one! Personally, 1 see; ■•"naught t" >tnj>"" Australasia going , "mad" over liarrie, as London and New ; York have already done.