OVER THE TEACUPS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1913, Page 15

OVER THE TEACUPS.

TRIAL MARRIAGES. Boston. New York, and Los Angeles have within half a dozen months contributed experimental marriage along unconventional lines. It is evident, says the "Detroit Free Press,"' that marriage is coming to be regarded by some as an experiment, pure and simple—nothing more. These experiments and experimenters are becoming a positive weariness to flesh and spirit. There 3s rising in many sane minds a longing for one clear, strong voice to pierce the fog and sweep it away—a voice to reassert, the old truth that marriage is the. basis of home-making, which is the foundation of civilisation and all that civilisation implies—a voice to renew the sense ami conviction that marriage is a right, a privilege, a duty and an honour all in one, and that its sticcess depends absolutely on the spirit in which it is viewed and it 3 obligations met and fulfilled. WAK.KTOR XrjRSEMAirDS. The Karl of Selborne (president of the association) was among the speakers a.t the annual meeting of the Pretoria Diocesan Ass-ociation. .held at Church House, Westminster. The Karl said the work for which he. appealed for support was that among the native 'women. He specially commended the training of the native girls, not only for their own sakee. but for those of the white women, as domestic servants. They had native cooks, housemaids, and nursemaids, bnt tliey were not <?irls. They were Zulu warriors who had abandoned the profession of the assegai, the knobkerry and the shield to nurse the baby and cook the dinner. It was extraordinary, when they considered this, how well these men, on the whole, behaved themselves. But the system was utterly and wholly bad. and it would be a very good tilling for South Africa when these men were released permanent] v from domestic duties, and their places Taken by the properly trained Christian girl. The association asked for means to provide this training.

KTiqUKTTK OF THE m*\cn. AincriftHi seaside resorts on the eastern coasts, yielding u> the general demand for stricter regulation of conduct iiud dress amongst bathers, have been di.-<-ii-sing various mci-hods of securing reform. Mixed batnmg is general, and initeiul of bathing machines" as ill England, big buildings exist on the parades or the beach, with numbered lockers to contain tin-, wearing apparel of patrons. These buildings for undressing and dressing are sometimes very remote from the water, and people complain that the bathers, on their way to and fro. arc not nlwayri ;iu edifying spectacle. Then, again, some people at certain seaside resorts have been in the habit of walking down to the sea from their adjacent houses. ~r even riding home in the street trams in wet bathing attire. It is thought generally that severe rules regarding drc-s for both scxc<. and the prohibition of .-oft. clinging pongee «ilk for ladies, will meet the difficulty, and to secure the enforcement of the regulations special officers have in several instances been appointed.

lii fashionable seaside towns in Ame- j ri.-a the Indies dresi themselves for bai.h- I ing n'mor-t as elaborately as for a garden party, and spend the greater part j of their time promenading before wetting I their feet in the sen. They give a bright J touch of colour and picturcsqueness lo the scene, and for them, obviously, no I regulations or special officers are re-j quired. To l'a«hionable Newport, which ] is greatly frequented by America's "Cpper Ten."' attaches the responsibility of | appointing women police, and on Junel Hi they went on duty for the first time. I They will be classed ns policemen, but will not lie expected lo quell Hols or keep order. Their chief duties will be I to hear complaints from ladies anu to see j that the beach i- made more inviting fo their sex. The idea is that there are I many women visiting the bench who have' complaint-- to make, but who do not care to make them to a policeman. The young women selected for this work tin- .\li=s Janet Buchanan and Miss Minnie Smith. Ther appeared on ihe beach dressed in dark blue suits of military cut. witb the word officer on the collar. One carried a parasol and the other had a mes.li hag hanging from her wrist. If Newport's experiment proves successful. Atlantic CitV. the Brighton of the Eastern coast, will follow stiil. DOES MARRIAkkTresERVE LIFE? "Marry if you want to live to a -ood old age.' says Dr. Jaqnes Bertillon. and he gives reasons, with statistics lo back them up. "'A married man or woman has." he says, "thrice as much chance for a <*- o od long run of life as a bachelor or a spinster." He shows lhat Ihe average of mortal-;;,- among widowers is greater than the average among married men: so he recommends that they marry again, provided they are under 00 years of a<*-e. To young men Bertillon had this to say: "Marry ami you will do well, even from a selfish standpoint; but Watch carefully over your wife's health, as even from this egotistical point of view her loss would he a. terrible misfortune; for your life depends in a great measure on her own." To women his advice is: "And to you. mademoiselle. I give counsel to marry in your most selfish interest, as mortality among married women is less than among spinsters of the same age at least, after the age of 20—but the difference is less for women than for men. The mortality among spinsters is much greater than among married women, but it is not twice as great, as in the case of men." Next comes the widow: "Mortnlity among widows is distinctly much .creator than among married women of the same age. "The sweet state of widowhood' is particularly fatal to young widows. Their death rate, from 20 to 25 years of age. is twice that of married women at a corresponding age." Then Bertillon goes on gallantly to say that women have less need of men than the latter have for them. He says the death rale is generally less among women than men of the same age and station. What, is the reason? Simply they are steadier. And it is no doubt for the same reason that matrimony conduces to longevity. "Married people lead a more regular life." he says. "They are more' controlled, discreet though this control may be, and it must be discreet, if it is to I>e useful. Their physical life, like their moral life, is healthier, quieter, and more natural." Thus does Bertillon point to a moral in French statistics: For one year which he selected, deaths per ]',000 men, among bachelors between So and 40, were 19: while those of married men were only 8; between 55 and 10 the figure was 41 for the former and 2.3 for the latter. With women at the same age the mortality was correspondingly 12 and 8 between'3s and 49, and 24 and 18 between 55 and 60. The death rates among widows and divorcees -were, respectively, 12 and 21 per 1,000 women.