HERE AND THERE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 52, 11 February 1913, Page 3

HERE AND THERE.

LONELY WOMEN. Nearly 2,000,000 lonely Women are living in France to-day, declares M. Brieux, the dramatist, in an article in the '.Matin' on what he calls the woman victims "of men tyranny. M, Brieux is the author of "La Femme Seule," now being played at .the Paris tjymnase, and yie says that he wrote it to excite discussion on an important question.

"Modern education for a young girl resolves itself (he says) into this formula, that she need only learn how to please men. She learns nothing beyond a few accomplishments and the capacity of writing and talking so as to prevent her ignorance annoying ] others; in other words, she is fitted I for the drawing-room. j "Tins is admirable, for those whom ' it leads to marriage, but what of the I others? There are coquettes who never I marry, ftie plain, the intellectual to whose taste the- modern young man ' does not appeal; those who expect to i marry and those who expect no more, J together with the widows, the divorced, and the abandoned wives. "The attitude of-men to these lonely women is bad. Men cannot admit that women are, it not their equal, at least their equivalent.. More cruel than the ancient law, the, iffew one reads: 'Give or tlum shalt not eat.' "A social revolution is being prepared and it will be provoked by the arrival on the market of the female artisan, provoked in its turn by the J timidity of young men afraid to marry without money, and rendered possible by the progress of mechanical invention." PASTOR LOCKED OUT. Tile strained relations that have for some time existed between Rev. Daniel Hughes, the pastor, and the deacons of Crane Street Baptist Chapel, Pontypool, reached a. climax on Sunday, December 8 (says the 'Daily News'). It had been announced that Mr Hughes intended to baptise some new members, and on Saturday (December i) the deacons decided not to allow him to conduct the service. A lieavv chain and padlock were fixed on the chapel gate, and the doors were also ■securely locked. Accordingly, when Mr Hughes arrived at the chapel on Sunday morning he found his "way barred." isothing daunted, he scaled the high railings uid examined the doors. By this time U. crowd had'gathered, and "the pastor 'eapt over the railings a-gain and addressed his excited audience. Having secured a hammer, lie made his way to tne vestry door at the back of the building, smashed the glass panel, and entered. He then opened the iront door and the gate, audi the ■rowd entered the clianel. Mr Hughes conducted the service as usual, but instead of a sermon he delivered an address on the charges alleged against him by the deacons. LONG-LIVED PETS. A parrot possessed by a correspondent is at least 50 years old, he says, and he wonders if this is a record.' "It is still fond of performing tricks that L know were taught it 40 years ago." Two parrots in the London Zoological Gardens are both said to be 54, but no one at the Gardens know how old -hey were when they arrived. Two other parrots in the -Gardens are 26. A large number of letters has reached 'The Daily Mail' from correspondents having cats over 20 years of age. One living at Ballingdon street, Sudbury, Suffolk, is 2o; "Phill," belonging to Mr T. C. Saxby, of Brighton, was 24 on May 9. The aggregate age of bhree cats possessed by a lady correspondent at Kingston-on-Thames was 18. Mrs Graham, of the Bristol Cats' Home, says that the average age of a properly bred and properly fed cat is ribout 16. INTELLIGENCE IN WORMS. As the result of a remarkable series )f experiments conducted bv Professor R. M. Yerkes, in the psychological department of Harvard College, it has been demonstrated that angleworms can hink and remember (says the 'Evening Standard'). The method which Professor Yerkes adopted was as follows: An angle or fish worm will always crawl iut of a lighted place into a dark one. Knowing this. Professor Yerkes put the angleworm with which he was experimenting upon a glass dish in which were "wo dark holes. The right hand hole was merely a regular earth cavity. The left hand one, however, contained a nildly charged electric battery, the object of wh'ch was to give the worm a shock in case he should desire to poke himself into it. According to last reports the 'angleworm had learned his iesson pretty well, and was continually going to the right when he was nut into the glass dish. ; THE SCHOOLGIRL'S HEALTH. The strain of growth, educational pressure, and the continual effort the schoolgirl is subjected to' at an impressionable age all combine to produce a severe tax upon her health. "Many a girl is anaemic, dyspeptic, listless for years from neglect and lack of attention between the ages of 12 and 16. Anae?nia is far too prevalent at school arid college to-day. It is a most insidious disease and should never be neglected in young girls. Over-pressure at School. "In most cases it starts with unhygienic conditions and over-pressure at school. Too heavy lessons and improper feeding combined will undermine the health of nine girls out of 10, and it should be the mother's care to see that work, sports, and school games are regulated. "The girl who is working for examinations in the school-room in the morning and playing hockey when she is intellectually tired in the afternoon is giving out more energy than she can afford. Her health balance becomes disturbed, her nutrition is interfered with, and she suffers from headache, dyspepsia, and anaemia. . . . "A mother ougjht regularly to observe the physical and mental condition of her achorj-children, in order to providte them with the opportunity of deriving full benefit and happiness from this period of their lives. Com-mon-sense care of the health during this time will affect considerably the strength and vitality of the adult nun or woman. "Let a mother realise chat delicate children are a discredit to her if there is no hereditary weakness of construction. r Fhp child who has 'always been delicate' is often suffering from the mismanagement of early year?. The hysterical; nervous gM is -mo product of too heavy lessons and.the school dyspepsia which is the result A it,proper feeding. "—From 'Perfect Health for Women and Children," by Dr Elizabeth Biota Cheese*.

• THE WINDING-UP MAN. At a toy bazaar in one of the great London' shops a fatherly looking ant spent a busy Saturday morning before a crowd of excited children winding up clockwork toys. TSvo' of 'the most popular were an engine that whistled before leaving the station, x gashed through tunnels and past green fields, and finally pulled up at the statiotf,,ibecati§e the signal stood at danger; and a miniature- Dreadnought, which raced across a tank of sea-water. The Dreadnought's voyage had td be repeated time- after time. Since the beginning of the greatest shopping period of the year London has been taken possession of by the children. ; ~ ARTIST DECAPITATED. STRUCK BY DESCENDING' % JAFT. A shocking fatality occurred in Perth lately in the lift-well of Vicking-hottse, Strelitz Bros.' new six-storey building in William-street. The building is not quite completed internally, but MiDavid S. Carlton, formerly of the Customs Department, a well-known artist and writer, liad taken the second floor room as a. studio. Stepping out of his room ho put his headi through a panel opening into the lift-well in order to observe its working. As he did so the lift descended, and severed his head from his body. It is stated that the lift beil was ringing all the time the lift was descending. Carlton either did not hear the bell or did not understand the warning. FEAR OP PREMATURE BURIAL. The following clause was found in the will of Mrs Alice Durford Soanes, Tunbridge Wells, who left £16,971: — "1 have such horror of death by suffocation that it is my last prayer that the lid of my coffin shall not be screwed down until my death has been certified to by some qualified medical man and until there shall be distinct _ evidences of post-mortem changes having taken place."

J STORY OF LORD KITCHENER. Sir William Bull, M.P., in opening the Blue Hall Cinema Theatre, in King Street, Hammersmith, recently, said that he believed the genius who originally thought ai taking and reproducing moving /pictures was now not known. He had heard 1 that a cinematograph operator, during the Boer war, risked his life by working his camera in the fighting line to secure pictures of an actual battle. The man discovered afterwards, that, owing to a defect in the camera, his film was as blank as ever, his whole effort having been utterly wasted. In his despair lie went to Lord Kitchener and explained! his trouble, and asked: "Is it possible that the battle could be fought again?" Sir William added that he knew a little of Lord Kitchener's character, and he could imagine the nature of the reply to that request. THE GRIEVANCE-HEARER. After some months' trial the London and North-Western Railway management is thoroughly satisfied with the result of its experiment in appointing a "grievance-hearer," whose business it is to keep in touch with the men and investigate their grievances. "This is not a case of creating a post and finding a man for it," said an official of the company, "but rather of a sphere ofActivity being ; suggested by the personal qualities of a certain man. Great tact, patience, and sympathy are required. Minor grievances are often the most dangerous. W© found that we had someone who eould grasp all the points of such complaints, and the success of the experiment is proved by the fact that in no case have we had to take disputes even to the Conciliation Boards, all being settled when brought up by deputation." DINNER FOR TWO. Lord Hunter in the Court of Session, Edinburgh, granted a divorce to Mr Joseph Carno.chan Smith, jun., who told the coiirt that his marriage in London with Mabel Thallon, assistant in a Court dressmaker's establishment, was kept secret from his parents for two months. Subsequently lie arranged he said, to go to live with his wife in London. His arrival at their flat in Harvard Court, West Hampstead, was unexpected. He was surprised to see his wife come home with a strange man. The dinner table had been set for two. She also was astonished and was barely civil to him. She told him she loved this man, and would take her own course.

MINER'S MORNING PRAYER. The Mayor of Hansfield (Mr .J. P. Houfton), managing director of tlio Bolsover Colliery Company, said to a Methodist gathering at Mansfield: "I have received a letter from a miner who assures me that every morning before he goes to work he kneels ana prays for the company and its directors. "The prayers of a righteous man availeth much,' and I believe there are many who regularly pray for the welfare of the company. THE SUICIDE INDUSTRY. Rescued from an apparent attempt at suicide in the Seine; a man was recognised bv a bystander as an individual who made a comfortable income out of pretended attempts at drowning. Charitable people who-saw him saved always gav-e -him money. The impostor did not deny the charge, and the crowd gave him a sound beating and threw him back into the Seine, leaving him this time to get out without assistance. BEREAVED GIRL'S FATE. A young Italian woman, who 'was so affected by the death of her fiance, Mr Fraser, that she stabbed herself near the heart with a hatpin, has (says the 'Englishman') committed suicide in hospital at Howrah, Calcutta, by takchloroform. . ■» BUTTERFLY-FARMING. Butterfly-farming is the latest profitable industry invented by a woman. According to the American press. Miss Mcftlashan. of Truckers California, has found a way of sending butterflies in little three-cornered envelopes by the dozen to fashionable dinner parties, where they are liberated during the serving of the (Jinner and flutter among the table decorations. She took it up last July, instead of going in for" echooitoaching, arid earner] £ls the first week. The butterflies were attracted bv: a syrup spread on, the Jeaveis and twigs of trees. They were caught in glass jars or with a butterfly net, and the first hamafc ia * c*t<sfc of 1500.