OVER THE TEA-CUPS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 137, 10 June 1911, Page 16

OVER THE TEA-CUPS.

LADIES' CLUB BAR. Boston (Mass.) is thrilled with horror. The Chilton Out. —a highly exclusive ladies' social institution—has started a bar! One result is a split in the membership. Another has beeu the pass--1 ing of a resolution b3' the Women's Christian Temperance Union to the effect that "the drinking of high-balls by women is a disgrace to tbe city." Parents are being urged not to allow their daughters to join the club that has a bar; and the correspondent of the "Daily Chronicle" finds all the evidences of a characteristically impassioned American crusade. On the whole, we are rather disposed to side with the crusaders. THE \~EIL IN TURKEY. In Turkey and Armenia etiquette ordains that women should veil themselves from the public eye. and even in private life but few of their male relations sec their uncovered features. It consequently follows that husbands scarcely know their wives by sight until the marriage knot has been duly tied. An amusing instance of the disappointment that must be frequently experienced under these circumstances is related of a bride who was not blessed by Nature with the gift of beauty. On asking her husband before which of his gentleman friends she might be allowed to unveil, he replied: "I give you free leave, dear, to show yourself to any man in the world, so long as it is not mc." FILIPINO WOMEN. Life accustoms the Filipino women to labour at a very early age. As a tiny girl she is rarely seen xvithout an appendage in the shape of a baby brother or sis- , ter perched on her lap. 'When she growß a few inches taller and a few degrees stronger, she is pressed into service as a water-carrier, bearing heavy jars of water poised gracefully on her bead from the river to her home. Then. too. she works in the fields, and a vivid bit of colour she makes in her short, kilted scarlet skirt. Wlien she becomes a wo-j man, and she is a woman at 15 or before —she may have a small shop to tend, and there is the rice to beat, and much other work to do. She tends the fields, cooks, and frequently has a stall in the market for several hours a day. QUAINT MARRIAGE CEREMONY. In one part of the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, a very quaint marriage ceremony prevails. The bridegroom dTesses in his "Sunday best." and, accompanied by as many friends and relatives as he can muster for the fete, goes to claim his bride. Finding the door locked, he demands admittance. The inmates ask him his business, and in reply he solicits the hand of his chosen maiden. If his answer be deemed -satisfactory, he is successively introduced to a number of matrons and maids, some perhaps deformed and others old and ugly. Then he is presented to some large dolls, all of whom he rejects with scorn, amid general merriment. The bewildered bridegroom, whose impetuosity and temper are now sorely tried, is then informed that his lady-love is absent, and invited lo see for himself. He rushes into the house and searches from room to room until be finds her in her bridal dress ready to go to church. Then are his troubles over, and his state as a benedict assured. FRENCH WOMEN AND AERONAUTICS. Women are taking a vast interest in aeronautics in France. The Stella is the only purely feminine aeronautic society existing; it has already two hundred members, though it was only founded two years ago. Each member makes at lea.st one ascent a year under the guidance of a feminine pilot. Recently officers of the army and navy have been allowed to join in an honorary capacity. A club-house has been opened on the Boulevard Flandrin, overlooking the Bois de Roulonge. Here is a daintysalon where books and periodicals relating to the sport the society has at heart may be consulted and news and gossip exchanged. Though the aims of the Stella are intensely serious, and- consist in promoting interest in aerial topics amongst women, the merely feminine side is not excluded. At monthly meetings at the Hotel Crillon in the Falace de la Concorde, the members meet to dispense tea. and the most elegant toilettes are displayed. Men are invited to these gatherings by their women friends. English women are welcomed in this association, unique of its kind. A Stella aeronautic meet is a fascinating event with its balloons daintily decorated with flowers. Many of the women aeronauts war costumes specially designed for the sport, practical and simple in their details, with, however, a real cachet of Parisian taste. SNOBBERY" LN AMERICA. May a lady work for wages. This vital question, arising out of the snubbing of Miss Beers at a naval dance at Washington, is now being discussed with great animation throughout the States, and Congress, it is expected, must take a hand. Miss Beers earns her livelihood as a nurse, and when her social status at the naval dance was indirectly questioned, her midshipman escort immediately began making it very warm for the authorities. In replying to Representative Korbley. who wants Congress to hold an investigation, the Secretary for the Navy. .Mr Meyer, uses the words "misunderstood social status of the young lady." This has casued him to get into deeper water. Representative Padgett, of the Rouse Committee on Naval Affairs, has now given utterance to his indignation at the implied meaning of this expression. So have a number of others. Representative Padgett made it clear that an investigation by his committee was likely. Various members of tbe House protested, and a number of prominent women have followed suit. It is pointed out that various society women in Washington work for a living, and consider it no disgrace, and correspondents write to the papers from all parts declaring that any effort -'to introduce into America the snobbishness of the older eivil'wnitionsK with 'their castes and classes, must be destroyed immediately." Whether a private secretary may I be rated higher than a governess orj a nurse is one feature of the question ; which must be settled, especially when | the nurse or governess, as in this case, was as well educated and well born as' the private secretaries. Congressman Korbley is going to endeavour to have the line of cast definitely determined, or] entirely obliterated. I