SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 600, 31 August 1909, Page 3

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

Tea at the Pioneer Club. When the Pioneer Club was opened, it was stated that, one of its'advantages"would be the opportunities it would afford members ■.of .meetingvthe interesting women who visit .......t-'tVeUrngton frqm other countries, and those who; were-ptosent, yesterday' afternoon at' a > tea given by 'over seventymembers of the •club to Mrs. Bengough, fully, appreciated tho ' new, privilege, i Mrs. Bengough is a most interesting wotaan, and during the afternoon ; she gave -a - delightful : little address on all . sorts of womanly questions, dealing especi- ... ally:-with-.matters;' aflecting -the 'welfare of children. V X ■;£ .;' v-:;;; it -was.-a,, very enjoyable tea. 1 • ■'The. large, v : looms | .were beautifully decorated with ca- -, mollias, lilies, .and! spring bulbs, white and ~ yellow.- -Tea : was served from > the ■ readingroom, and most, of the guests gathored m the large common room, 1 where later- on Mrs. : . Bengough spoke. .Mrs. Findlay acted as , tostess m the absence ■of Miss -M. K. Richmond, tho presidont, and nearly all the members, of,; the committee were - present. • Mrs. Findlay wore a coat and skirt of dark blue cloth, and small.blue hatitnmraed with-dark ; ...blue.;field 1 , flowers. .Mrs. Bengough wore a „ charming costume:- of : blue ■ cloth with r ;.®. ef -rucked; satin; of; tlie' same, shade, : and a chemisette of tucked net outlined with pale; pink velvet. The-bodico was ttimmed . handsome., oriental em'Oroidery worked with, gold thread. Her toque of embroidered straw. was finished with a grey- plume, -and- ; she wore an ostrich-feather boa,of the same Bhade'..-Mrs. Shipman,. who accompanied her, wore;, a■- trailing- frock :of cinnamon with short blaok satin coat and hat of . striped brown and white straw trimmed with grasses. fill's. . Bengough is i intensely. ..interested in. . the , settlement :-,v/ork r done, among-the poorer, . classes, in/ tho American cities; and, : begin-ning-with a.little chat about.the work gene- : • rally,, she. went on to .deal .* especially with .■ it..as ,it. -affects;,the children. She told 'of the great work .done by, Chicago, where t al- . ready £2,000,000 ha 3 - been ■ spent: providing playgrounds for the children, and ,V where, niore is'still-to. be spent; The Ameri- > can people, as she pointed jout, have given a I ■ : very great deal of thought to: the -treatment i of ; children, and- have abandoned the old- > fashioned , attitude of forbidding ohildrcn. to v do undesirable , things for that of encourag- -; vsg them. i.tO'i,walk.:in. pleasant. ways. - They : have-rcqme to. recognise, the value ,: of ' play, and believe that the playground- is every bit as important as the school in 'the development of character.. The schools m the poorer quarters are splendidly - equipped,-- and s they even have bathrooms with a matron in attendance so that any child -requiring it can , be . bathed, scrubbed, and dressed in clean ■ .clothes. New Zealand has not reached the • point-of requiring -such drastic methods. It ! WS3 .interesting: to hear that, .in,-. America, a great many, of tho truant officers are women; and educated: women,, too,"'.for-.-with their :, large foreign population, the truant Officer has to;chase children of many nationalities, . and she :ihust(;bevready-. to argue with; tho v parents in thoir own -tongue. Of tho fuve-. ~ ml©, courts, llrs. Bengough had a good deal' ,:to . say,-and. she . told E_ow, wjth Judge Lindeay,:;of, Denver, as. pioneer,-: the ■ children's . Courts now dealt with chlldron under the age ■•>.<>*• eighteen years, sending them - for sentence to nothing more severe than a cottage home, where they were kindly treatod: Tho object .of the. Children's Court is,to check .the .child, in its. evil, ways,- and to avoid in any way ,C3stjng tho sdur of,.;orimmalityAupoh -it.', Their, tribunal must on. no account look like ■j; an '.adult law Court, and these . Courts have .i. ; been the 'greatest ■; value. ,in : restrainihg/.vicious tendencies' and.-'mouldios the characters'," not only ■of little boys, but of little girls. : Mrs. Bengough also- spoke of'the. interest -...-■roused throughout America in the franchise ' ■ movement. New York ahd Chicago were'the"storm *, centres'.' -of the. agitation; : , but ;■ m ; teither town had the suffragists adopted'the ' militant -tactics -of '. their ' EtiglisH •" sisters. Such methods would not succeed in America. There was also a strong: anti-franchise moveinent,: but this-was very much' in the mi- ; roritv. They had women's suffrage in four . States of the Union, and .would have had -it .• in a -fifth to-day had it not . been for ,the violent opposition of .the liquor . ./party,; which " spent £05,000 . in • fighting ■;.'/.thein.'.'J 'surei^that'the franchise will be granted, to the women, and ' . meintiifie"., ! tbe"v women ' are- interesting them-; ' Mlves;-in.'sucli. matters; and; reforms as' , ; can.be influenced .in spite of;'their,"having no jrote.''V x r' Women in America entered practically v sort .' of- '.business <;' ih v ..which . ,men). were engaged. Of course, m some, one would find only a very few women, but it would .: ■~ be .difficult,to: mention tiny'• kind of i in which somo women were not represented. ■ Tho. women's i clubs : were very strong in i America, and every town with only 300 inhabitants wasvsure to possess a women's club ■ of 'some kind—most/often probably a' literary club.. Chicago possessed the largest .women's club .of the States,; with' a! mqmbei'ship of . something like 1500, .and this was divided , into; circles, which considered'a variety of :.•• questions; and - gave careful study to them; Mrs. ;Ben'gough touched on • the question of . -#'omen's. v/agcs.' in • America,, iind . said that. -. while .'some': ;. very.' V;high.; wages / .were':to be ' .: earned,jshe-.'did /rioti'think'' it;would be safe to advise- any girl: to go from New Zealand to earn her living 'in America filled with liinh ■ hopes 'of success, for,'.while, wages v/ere high,tho - 'cost of living was also and they would find plenty of difficulties and - dis- - courag'ements to contend with. Aft'er 'Mra. =yeryl interesting :, little talk., Mrs.' D: Nathan - moved a, very htf/irty vote of thanks, which was carried by acclamation, and; from 'that time onwards, , Bengough was surrounded with a group : "6f rwomen-ianxious: to, hear\ more about the ; ,different subj'ects which; £jhe-had.;touched on.

Khandallah. Baoholors' Ball. . The bachelors of Khandallah gave'a most enjoyable ball last -Friday evening in tho Khandallah Schoolroom, many visitors from town being present. Tho ,'school .was gaily decorated with : ferns vahd ,Blua' was the predominating colour of • the dresses, but not, by any .means/ of .' the' spirits of those present. -, Tho music was suppliod by Mrs. Cock, and Messrs. F.'Hutton, and J. G; .Leonard .were responsible for the "extras.": Tho chaperons wore: Mesdamos J. H. Richardson,, C. T. H. Brown, J. Leonard, J.; M. Batham, and M. Hcenan. Mr. L. P. Leonard acted as M.C-.;',and was ably assisted •by. a strong, committee, iconsisting of Messrs. R.-/Brown, 8.. Ballard l ,-T. R; Casselloy, G. Batham;-B. Heonanj' J. ,G. -Leonard, ;and C. Richardson, who. were; responsible for the . complete arrangements made, and a most enjoyable evening,' l was the result. ,

Miss Hartlingo-Maltby's; : . Entertainment. . ■: -There';.;.aro many .'. pretty ■ frocks worn, in "Niobe," and it must',bo said..that, even compared with the-classical attire of the statue, the up-to-date frocks worn by the other ladies.in' the play,'looked very, well. Niobe-herself .bridged thegulf; between the ,61d -arid new by' assuming a [charming tea,gown :■ ;of : heliotrope silk, : ' cut :on 'classic lines, 1 and -trimmed with golden braid in the Ijrcey key-pattern, tie'.severity of the anitiquo, garb broken by ■ wingy sleeves. Mrs. I. Dunne wore several charming frocks, appearing first in a white, .flowered-'chiffon, over pink silk,' with hem of deeper pink. , In the next-act ; sho wore a graceful gown of soft white.- crepe, with- - black -hat-covered:< with white wings, arid, in the; last a frock' of cream chitton,. with, hand-painted border. Helen; was dressed- handsomely in dignified blacks_ and; greys;;her only; note of colour being, in a'floral toque, trimmed with,roses. Quite a number ,6f dainty, frocks; were worn by. the girls,, who 7 appeared, in the vcurtainfaiser,: where the members: of a-suffragettes' club. met; each to confide secretly . tp; the other, that sho "as engaged to ''the only world." l Tho tragic discovery that it was indeed to the only ma'n, and'the solution of the problem, were very amusingly acted. Children's Courts.. , •When "-Mrs. Bengough spoke yesterday afternoon of the value of children's courts, it appeared that many who "heard her were not quite clear as to what happens in New Zealand when a young child is brought before the magistiate. As a 1 matter of fact the child is never brought into open court. Thero are not enough bad little children m any one New Zealand town to justify the establishment of a court to deal with them alone, but the magistrate deals with them in his private room, before the adult court sits. In so' far as this prevents their being brought into touch with the procedure and j atmosphere of a criminal couit, this system is a wise one, but, "unfortunately, -it still obliges the children to visit the couri buildings, and, in America and Sydney, where Children's Courts are established, great stress is laid upon the necessity of having them as far roii'oved a$ possible from the places where Justice deals with the older criminal, and the hardened offender. '

Mjs Herbert Goull, and tho Misses Coull, of llelburne, are visiting Duncdm.

, .■ .Mrs. J. P. Firth left yesterday for ; a _week s -.holiday in Christchurch. During, Mrs. .Firth's, .absonce. all communication regarding tho, St. .John, AmbulancevNursbuild I'air should be addressed to Miss B. Nathan, Hobson Street:

ft ® n d_' Mrs. R. F. .Ward have taken the house m Talavera Terrace recently/ occupied by Mr. M. J. Heywood. - 4 ■ , i Among. tho passengers who arrived by ir e . E ar ® a on Sunday night was - 1 Miss J^ 3 !. nl£S >- who, . after passing ; through the Wellington Teohnical School, went Homo to pursuo her art studies in England. viP?, .Saturday -fifteen.girl-students of tho Woodfowl House School,. Hastings, accompanied , by„ Miss ■ Hodges: (principal), Misß Large, (teaoher of ,singing), Miss Deane (feacher of: elocution), and Miss Duff, visited Wellington for tho purpose of witnessing the P T er ,{? r^ nce of "As You Like It" by the Nelhe Stewart Company.- The' comedy is the subject;;'of study for. this ; half," and is to : be performed b.y .tho. girls at. tho• ,< b^oakintl"Up ,, celebration just before. Christmas.: Last year the girls gave a; very. creditable performance of A >Midsmnmer Night's Dream," and hope jto do oven better m "As-You Like t'',l® play, in most of the. girls colleges of America.

A NEW, DANGER. -There are unsuspected dangers-lurking'in the dry shampoo (says a London'' writer); /.Yesterday afternoon/an inquest was held in Kensington updn Helenora, the daughter- of Sir, Robert .Graeme.., Horn-Elphinstone-Dal-rjmple, Bart. The unfortunate lady went to: Harrods's : stores for a shampoo.. 'The lotion was-being applied to the "back of her , Jiair. by, the assistant, • when tho- deceased became faibt::and finally collapsed. Artificial respiration was -tried in vain. Before a doctor - could be brought Miss Dalrymple was, dead.. The evidence at the inquest showed that certain : forms of dry .Bhatnpoo give 'off an odour like chloroform—tetrachloride of carbon. . Usually this gas ; has no harmful effect, but in-some cases:it acts as an anaesthetic. . The manager qf the hairdrosßmg .department at Harrods's stated that the dry shampoo .had: been. ■ used by nearly; 30,000 : persons.- The .only trouble he bad noticed. had been . that on • one occasion a lady had a slight fit. The doctor, however, who was called m to attend to Miss Dalrymple,. proved that .accidents were by no means, uncommon. He suggeste,! that a dry shampoo should not be used when the customer w?s, not medically fit,' or for people who suffered from weak hearts. The Whole story is worth remembering, v Even if grown-up folk in , good health care to run the. nskj it would do as well to avoid it in tlio case of 6hildren and invalids. •

_ The new : rtile recently passed in London that, all married women teaching in public sohools shall be dismissed, is arousing much protest.',. .Tho':teachers claim - that it is' illegal,; on the ground that when they'; were engaged to teach compulsory celibacy was not included in tho contract. ' -

Many, readers of tho best class of New England .tales will regret to .learn of tho death of Miss Sarah' Orne,Jewett, who died at. South Berwick, Maine, on June 24 last. She was. a typical New. Englander .herself, and all her work, whilst suflused with geniality and -kindliness, bore witness to the Puritan school, in which :both" she v ahd ' her people lived. '.: .

■ Madame ■ Tetrazzini is now appearing in Paris, where, says a writer from that city, "her clear bird-liko notes enchauted tho Parisians, -and there was hot a vacant place .in tho big-hall (the ,Trocadero). 'All musical Pans went to hear her, and several pcoplo went later on to a garden party, where they grew iso enthusiastic over her that all their friends were fired, with tho desire to hear her also."- ■. ■ ■' - ,:.