WOMEN'S FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 140, 15 June 1932, Page 12

WOMEN'S FORUM.

MALE HOUSEKEEPERS.

As to whether men are better housekeepers than women is a question that is being thrashed out in an English paper at the present time. One young bachelor asserts that it is quite remarkable the way the young men of his generation seem to bo able to run their homes efficiently without the help of a wife. He believes that a .lot of men really enjoy housekeeping, but are not allowed to do so by their jealous womenfolk! Ho holds that any man with organising ability should make an excellent housekeeper, and this fact was proved by the number of retired Army officers who made good managers of hotels and restaurants. Of course, he tolerantly allows, housekeeping, even for bachelors, is not always a path strewn with roses. In fact, it is often full of thorns! Men are less competent than their rivals in haggling over the milk bill, checking up the laundry, darning socks, and other such tedious menial tasks (wo wonder what bachelors think housekeeping really is, then), but the smug young bachelor thinks that men excel in the general management of the house. "How many women can compete with the bachelors who do their' own cooking?" he says.' "To watch one of my bachelor friends preparing a meal in his own home is a lesson to any woman. Give him the remains of yesterday's dinner—say the remnants of the joint and some 'cold vegetables—and ho will make a tempting meal out of them. And

I shall never forget the. delicious omelete ho onco made mo with common herbs picked at a moment's notice in his garden." Of course it boils down to the o-ood old economic question again. As a bachelor a man will have his omclctcs regardless of the price of eggs—a thing ho is not so keen about when he has to hand over housekeeping money! And as regards that tempting dish of leftovers, is it any wonder that women wonder what is wrong, and let their tempers suffer accordingly, when they realise they have married a dyspeptic old bachelor. HELPING THE DEAF. Probably because it L> less spectacular deafness does not receive the attention and sympathy accorded to blindness, but actually the condition is so trying that everyone ought to learn the proper method of talking to those whose hearing is not acute. When possible, lessorw in° elocution should bo taken in order to learn how to make the best use of tho voice, but whether this is done or not certain rules must be observed. Hold tho head up and, looking directly at the person spoken to, speak clearly and deliberately, pronouncing each word distinctly and keeping tho mouth open. Raise the voice towards the end of a sentence; most people, including public speakers, drop it, so that the concluding words are lost even by those, wjth normal hearing. Two Other common failings are looking away and lowering the he"d before tho sentence is quite completed. .Screaming, and shouting are both bad and unnecessary. Never turn rapidly from one; subject to another; it is a good plan to, mention any change in tho first words of a..sentence. Confused speeches, made, by two or three people one after another or simultaneously, are rarely comprehended by the deaf, who also cannot hear a quiet voice during loud and continuous noises. An excellent method of practising the correct speech i» to read aloud for about 10 minutes a day, a leading article, as the best choice of matter.