BEYOND GUESSING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 208, 3 September 1925, Page 6

BEYOND GUESSING.

J A WOMAN'S AGE. j POWDER AND BOBBED HAIB, GIN SLINGS AND WHISKY. BARMAN EASILY MISLED. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Sur.") .' I CHKISTCHURCH, this day. ; Why cannot the men of to-day make anything like a close guess at the age of a woman. Some of the reasons—and there are many —-were given in the : Magistrate's Court to-day as follow:— Paint, powder, gin slings, jazz, bobbed 1 'hair, ehort skirts, modish hats, frocking. I These details were advanced in a case' in which the decision turned on -whether mere men were justified in assuming that two young women, too young to be drinking gin slings, -were over 20 years of age. Mr. Wyvern Wilson, 8.M., presided. John Jdrys Pickard, a barman, was charged that, being a person other than the licensee, he supplied liquor to Pearl Amelia Nit-holls and Hannah Vera Garnett. persons apparently under the age of 21 years.. He pleaded not guilty. Hannah Vera Garnett, now an inmate at Point Halswell, said that on July 12 she went to the Occidental Hotel with two men, whose names she did not knotr. Pearl Nicholls was with the party, which went into one of the rooms. The men ordered the drinks, namely, whisky, gin clings and a Bhandy. Sub-Inspector J. M. Mathew: 'What are gin slings made of? Witness: Gin, ginger ale, and bitters. How old are you?— Sixteen and a-half. Mr. C. S. Thomas (for Pickard): Gin sling is known as "hard tack"?— Yes. You used powder and paint before you were sent to Point Halewell?—Yes. You -were picked up on the road from ' Brighton ? —Yes. You were cold and -wet, and the men took you into the hotel: —Yes. The Magistrate: You were wearing the same hat and coat that you have now? —Yes. Pearl Nicholls, aged 16, eaid that she had a whisky at the hotel. Mr. Thomas: Have people told you that you look older than you are T—Yea. How do you know your age?—My mother told mc. And you were painted and powdered on that day at the hotel?— Yes. Do you usually take whisky "neatf'T —Yes. You had been carrying on witb men? —I had certainly gone out with men. The Magistrate: Did.you cay whafc your drink was to be?— Yes. A statement was read setting out that the barman, Pickard, thought that tbe young women were 22 years of age. The girls did not finish their drinks. Mr. Thomas said that the girle were painted and powdered, and' eat down in the hotel in such a ■way that Pickard could not help thinking that they- were over 20 years of age. It was submitted that nowadays, with bobbed hair, ehort skirts, gin slings, jazz, paint and powder, it was very difficult to determine the age, of females. It was hard to tell grandmothers from the young women. ' The Magistrate: The difference between 20 and 40? Mr. Thomas eaid that both girls had had their faces washed, and had. benefited by the regulated lives which they ■had lived since being arrested. He pointed out that the hotel incident happened at 3 p.m. In dismissing the charge, the magistrate said he agreed that it was very ( difficult to judge the ages of women. It was more difficult when girls covered youthful complexions with powder and . wore 'hate which partly covered the faces. Both girls were powered, and, seated as they were, might very easily have been taken for over 20 years of age. Aβ a. matter of fact, the younger of the girls looked the elder. They were not email girls. A good illustration was given of the way women could disguise themselves by what was eeen on the stage. An old woman could make her«elf look in the "twenties," and the use of .powder would also make the women look older. The girle were dressed af women. The charge was dismissed.