GOSSIP.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 20, 18 October 1907, Page 3

GOSSIP.

INFANT LIFE PROTECTION. V Thore is. to be. a meeting in the concert ehamber-of the .Town Hall on Monday afternoon under/the, auspices of Her Excellency Lady \Plunket: to , arrange for forming a Society for the .Promotion of the Health of Women and Children. Speeches , will bo delivered by La'dyjPlunket, Mrs.' Hislop, Mrs. Atkinson, and Dr. Truby: King. The idea is not; that a, separate' society shall be formed as': in Christchurch, but that it shall bo a. branch 0f..,th0 Society "for; the Protection of Women and Children. . ; » ; On Monday evening at. 7.30 the Society for. the Protection ■ of Women and Children will hold its annual meeting in .the-,;committeo room of the Town Hall. , ' ' ; Y.W.C.A. BAZAAR. Tho :Y,W.C.A. bazaar was continued yesterday afternoon, and evening, when the attendance was. good;: and heady all the goods remaining' from.the very successful first, day were disposed of. The: wprkers, have reason to ..be pleased _ with. th'p'resiil.t' "of. their efforts.' '. MISS; 'JESSIE ACKERMANN. , ' HER IMPRESSIONOP "AUSTRALIA. • Miss Jessie Ackermann,. who arrived from Sydney by the Wimmora this morning, intonds to stay in Wellington for: about a week, and during that time she will be the guest of Mrs. T. W. Hislop. 'A representative of The Dominion, who' called on Miss Ackermann Boon-after her arrival to ask.for information about the 'Girls' Realm Guild with which Miss Ackermann's name is so frequently associated, found that tho organising president had'had - a: twofold, object in visiting New Zealand; >' : v .■ ■ . " The organising of the Girls' Realm Guild is not my work, but my play," said. Miss Ackermann.' "As-far as business is concerned ,1 am a journalist, but I give my spare time to tho interests iof tho Guild,, and in coming, to New Zealand I have wanted to renew my acquaintance with tho country, and to. gather information of every sort about its condition to-day. This country has always interested me more than any other part' of : tho world, because here one can watch the working-out of . democratic principles, and ever sinco my last visit fourteen years ago I havo kept a very, close watch upon tho progress of . events here, reading everything, in the way of yearbooks or reports that'would help me, to keep in touch with its history, and so I hope to be able . to collect tho further information .thatI. want now, even >. though my stay here will be very short." - ." You muSt,: have noticed ' very .great changes, in the Australian-states since your previous visit?' , . , r "Yes, an immense change. Why, Perth has , now a population as large'as the whole state ,of . .West: Australia,: had when I was there.last. And I.have been intensely interested, in the ad vance, of the women's cause during those years. They have the franchise in all .the states now except in Victoria, and though they are still unfranchised there the women havo so much influence that at the last elections thoy were able to unseat four men . who_ had voted against the extension of the privilege to them. They are' making a big struggle to win the franchise now, and I think , tho very effort will make them value the right when thoy get it, more than did the women of West' Australia when they first had it granted'to them, almost' without an effort." ' '■{ ,In answer , to an enquiry about tho Girls' Realm Guide,! Miss, Ackermann said: "Our idea is to establish a, spirit of service and good fellowship among tno girls throughout the world) and wo have already established branches< of; the , Guild in i'inland, Japan, India,, France, and other Continental countries. The Princess of.Wales takes a great jnterest'in it, and is at tho .head of the clothing department, that is. to say, tlio department, to.-which, every member of the Guild sends two garments , a year. . Theso. are sent to poor people, and this Princess gives the distribution her personal supervision. Then the Princosses Alexandra and, Maud, daughters of, the Princess Christian, arc patrons of the children's cot. Ono way in which the girls_help is by sending their:old shoes to a barefoot mission, where crippled boys are taught to repair them' before they are given -. A spccial stamp is put 011 theso shoes, and any pawnbroker found with them in his possession is liable to a fine.: This is very necessary to prevent the parents of tho childreii: from pawning them. ' . ' • ''•And the Australian, girls, what do'thoy do?" , "'Well, _ Now Zealandcrs will be interested to know that the Sydney centre,- which has been established for two or three years lias devoted itself .chiefly to giving.a New Zcaiand girl a musical education. Miss Eva Champion, a young contralto, has a very fine voico. Several ,of the-Sydney .musician's to whom I spoko of her. assured me that hers was a voice of very great promiso. • The Sydney Guild, /which' contains only a hundred menibers, has raised, through entertainments, not asking for subscriptions, all the money for her musical education, and they hopo to send her Home next year. They would go to a school, and themselves train,tho girls'to civo an entertainment, such as' 'Alico in Wonderland, and sometimes vin one evening thev would raise as much as £15. The Guild has become very popular in Australia I formed many now centres, and in Sydney, whore Miw Rawson, the Governor's daughter gave ir.c » reception, twelve or thirteen °-ntrc r,ere formed during my visit, ono

boing formed at Government. Houso. with about fifty mombcrs." Jliss Ackermann paid a special visit to Kalgoorlio to find out for herself what was tho political attitude of the women on the goldholds, and she found that tho Labour party was magnificently organised, the .women in most eases voting as their husbands did. Tho liberal women in that State aro organising very energetically, but tho wealthier women do not, as a rule, tako much interest in political questions. ''The women of tho West lirtvo any amount of energy," said Miss Ackermann, "and they tako advantage of the opportunities there for women to ongage in agriculture or in poultry raising, l'was very much struck with the energy and enterprise they displayed. For instance, one woman of whom I hoard, tho wifo of a farmer, had begun to take an interest in poultry-keeping just as many a woman gives her spare time to gardening. Slio was so successful that she is now ablo to clothe all her family from tho proceeds of the- poultry yard. Another woman whom I met had only a fow years before'boen left a widow with several small children to support, and nothing in the world to do it with but tho half-share in a traction ongine which had belonged to her husband. . Sho ; determined to tako contract work, and to-day slip not only otitis thnt traction ' engine, but a houso as well, and she is able to employ several men. When .1 saw her sho was at work in a field oiling the engine and supervising their work. She drives about the Ito distant farms, and makes as great a success of her business as if she wore a robust man, instead of a frail-looking, gentle little woman. '' Did you-see anything of tho exhibition of women's'work?"

" No, but I heard a great deal of it,- and I-never know-such an interest aroused in an affair; of the sort as is shown in Australia oyer, this. The preparatory exhibitions in the different States have been a great success, and .1 should think every photographer in Australia must be sending iii' an exhibit, judging by the requests I<,had from women photographers that I would allow -myself to bo photographed for their exhibit." '

' BACHELORS TAXED. . , ■A tax on bachelors'is being energetically imposed in the town of Absccon, New Jersey. A wealthy bachelor, Frank Hamill, appeared before thq board of assessors protesting that his taxes , had boen raised by £20, and demanding 1 an explanation.'. The assessor, informed him that this was added becauso he is not married. "l am going to enforce tho anti-bachelor tax law," he exclaimed. "You rich single men escape the care and expense of raising a family, and yet you kick at tho paltry tax of £20." Other rich bachelors have' discovered that they, too,.are ordered to-jjay oxtra taxes this year, and they aro talking or engaging a lawyer to contest the law's validity in the Courts and before tho State Tax lioard. ' WOMAN'S INEQUALITY.,. Decisions in English lawsuits seem to be givon in favour of the' husband time. Recently it was argued in tho Middlesex County Court to whom belonged a wife's savings from her housekeeping .allowance. Tho judge decided that thej; are tho property of her husband. If a wife, without stinting anyone in the house, is clever and careful ■enough to save anything out of tho housekeeping fund it should surely be considered her property, even if sho spend the money in buying her husband a surprise gift. . Probably the reason most men prefer to overlook and pay the bills instead of making a housekeeping .allowance,, is because they arc afraid that the wife.would try to save instead of spending, worthily. , ' , A : KRUPr BABY. Essen, and notably the works of Krupp, were en fete on August 13 upon the news Docoming known that during the ' afternoon Frau Krupp von Bohlen-Halbach had presented her husband - with her first-born \ baby boy, who; as provided by tho stipulations of his.late grandfather's .will, will, upon his. majority becomo. the. owner of the vast establishments belonging, to tho firm. In honour of the happy, event artillery salutes were • fired -from the. guns, of, which, needless to say.,there, is .always in stock a plentiful supply, at, the Krupp works, while the father and mother of the future "Kanonen Koenig" also made largo donations, both for the-bene-fit of their army o'f employees and to charitable institutions.