AROUND THE TEA TABLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 219, 16 September 1930, Page 11

AROUND THE TEA TABLE.

MATTERS OF GENERAL INTEREST.

(By SHIRLEY.)

It is often wondered why a certain Auckland lady, who objected to sonic hoardings in our city, took a voyage, to Honolulu. The mystery is now explained. According to one lady lecturer here, there is no advertisement in hoardings at all in that city—not one. It doesn't matter, what'the colours are, they are simply, not to exist; '.Tlie women determined to have a town llawless in this respect, and so gazed at such hoardings as existed, merely, to remember tliG articles cartooned, arid to boycott them. They looked, arid looked, and presently gazed the advertisements out of existence. Perhaps tlie most irritating result of the advertisement craze is experienced by the maga : zino reader, who is- - informed that,the reason why he has to move on several pages, now and then, is to give the advertisements a chance to be looked at. Advertisements and stories are mixed up—we skip over persons who darkened their grey, hair, and, "and mother, your child is underfed, though fed," to get on with the story, only to find sometimes that it is another story, and the reader has to toil on through a second jungle of ads before she can pick up the train again.

The mind of tlie chill is interesting, but that-, of the' institution child has a fascination of its own. It has been said that tlio institution ex-inmate "hasn't learnt anything," but this is nnjustquite unjust. Typical of some of these come back to ordinary life is one who knows quite a lot. She knows tho names of the chief detectives in lier city, and of the lawyers who sometimes, deal with , child welfare, cases. She has the dossiers of ! tlie officials. She lias the inner history of other committed children, while familiar on her lips are the words "mental/' meaning mental hospital,, and "Borstal," because she has heard of these as possibilities in coiU nection with herself, just as other children hear of the seaside or the mountains in possible connection with themselves. Always learning -something—that seems to be the idea—knowledge sufficient to make them either criminals or criminal lawyers in days to come, should their unfortunate iristincts, of which we hear so much, tend that way. Personally, I should prefer them to know about tennis, and even the despised picture shows,

One such ex-inmate tells how she was moved from lier Auckland home at tlie age of nine to an institution in Dunedin. Here she enbouhtered, in the establishment several girls suffering from i a form; of erysipelas. ; "For : a.: long time," she said, "I believedithat" this was a' Dunedin disease. We have nothing like this in the aprth,"; she used -to say. When,- .after. «Blie was told she might return to Auckland, two telegrams written out, were set before her. One bad "the words, "I want to stay where 1 am,", tlw second, "I want to go homo ito my' father." , "JTow, which will you send?" asked the matron, ■playing fair, mind you, not rolling, them into spills, and making her try lier luck. When the girl's answer showed that father's, stock was high, the official was quite depressed. "After, all, this was not so bad an institution; Jessie?" "But I was not so bad. a girl," Jessie replied. . In view of the increasing number of children State-adopted because milk money is missing but; of a jug:or something else, a lady of financial instincts is wondering whether something could not be done in the way of an insurance scheme among parents against State adoption.* A, widow, or a mother with more than-four children would have to pay higher—the- risk in such cases is great. There seems to be a type of, official who looks upon children as others do on kittens —mother ought tb be allowed to keep one, of course. -

There are unemployed and unemployed. I wish we could coin a new name for the second class —unemployable isn't exactly the word, lor that everyone is employable is my cheerful theory. However, I wanted the new name badly when I heard of the good Auckland lady lately who, seeing a group of such workless, went up to one, and offered some days of work. "Why pick on meJ" was the startled exclamation of 'this wronged man. Then there is the other type of work offerer. She was one of some set who weep at stated times oyer the .fact that only-139 migrants come now tc New Zealand where formerly there were 800 or so. To make two emigrants starve where only one starved before, is said unjustly, I hope, to be their ideal. "I offered one of them a good home and work the other day," she said, "and he turned it down. Of course,"'she added—at least she was truthful—"l didn't offer any. wages." Perhaps against the unemployed who does not want to hire, < should 'have the employer, man or wife, who doesn't want to employ—lie just wants to have a human chattel handed to him, or her, with the Government brand upon it. * # * » Barry wrote i "The. Twelve Pound Look," but these are the days when women want to have the Jiffy pound look, if possible, on an expenditure of ten pounds. Jane was Very, proud of her "coming-out dress," and > hoped her "boy" was gazing, rapturously at her as she - danced, too much maybe, with other fellows. Best boy had- hisjrevenge. I've been looking at< you all the"*evening," he said, "and I don't see that you've come out of that dress a., bit.'" ■