SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1152, 13 June 1911, Page 9

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

Wedding at Island Day. At St. Hilda's Church, Island marriage was celebrated yesterday a»:erncon of Miss Lilias Catherine Collins, second daughter of Mr. Andrew Collins, Island Bay, and Mr. William Bence, chief engineer of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Wakamii. The Rev. "W. Faneourt officiated at the ceremony. Several officers of the boat were present, and Mr. Stewart, 'second engineer, was the best man. Miss Barbara Collins, sister of the bride, attended her as bridesmaid. _A reception was afterwards held at Godber's. The' honeymoon will be in the south, after which Mr. Bence rejoins his boat, and Mrs. Bence will procced to England and join him there. Miss Beatrice Day. One of Miss Beatrice Day's many admirers, writing from Sydney, says that while playing in Melbourne recently she bocamo* the idol of the gallery girls, who are a strong institution over there at present. They showed their appreciation of her talents in a very demonstrative fashion, and, every night, the stage door •was crowded to ""bid good-night to the popular actress as she left in her taxi. Very often, usually 011 Saturday nights, or at tho matinees, they sent her flowers, beautiful roses generally, as a token' of their regard, and with a request that Miss Day would wear a spray during the play. The gallery girls are very insistent as to their like or dislike of the various "stars,"-but few artists have becomo such a favourite, and Hiss Day was the recipient of literally hundreds of letters from these girls begging for her photograph. As Miss Day laughingly remarked, sho would need a secretary and p. very long nurse to supply all their demands. But her kind thought for others anil her understanding way make her over responsive, and a no> ot' thanks for their letters was each girl's portion. •Somehow, they must be answered. One maiden wrote in this strain (after the usual request for a photograph): "And if you would only let mo come and see you at your hotel on Sunday for a few minutts, I,would be happy for life!" The) writer-then goes on to say that Jliss l)ay s first appearance on the stage, after the sad death of Mr. Herbert Hemming, and the cessation of his brilliant company, when she played with Mr. Julius Knight at His Majesty's Theatro in Melbourne,' was a memorable event. Upon her entrance, tho whole house rose in a body and gave Miss Day an overwhelming reception. When,' at length, allowed to speak the first lines uttered by the Prin-cess-Flavin; ;she found it a difficult matter,so touched was she by this snontaneous Throughout Australia, and, in-dfetU'-'inore than Australia, there is no more popular actress both on and off tho stage than Miss Beatrice Day. "An""At Home." • Home," attended by a considnumber of members, was held in the Pioneer Club' rooms yesterday after-' noon. It had previously been announced that Miss Thelma Petersen, the young singer from Carterton, would sing, and the greatest possible interest was taken' in her performance. Miss Petersen, ac-' companied by Mrs. F. L. Morrison, sang several songs, and again, as at' the recital held in tho Marine Engineers' Institute a week ago, greatly delighted those who heard her. One cannot help, thinking that Miss Petersen is meant for the operatic stage, for her face expresses sentiment contained in the songs she sings, and, a somewhat unusual feature, her : enunciation is so very distinct.' . Must Pass the Sixth Standard. In the course of an interview with Mr. Garland, chairman of the Auckland Education Board, speakinK with reference to the decision of the Education Department to raise the standard of exemption from, attendance at primary schools from the Fifth to a pass in the Sixth Standard, he told a "Star ' representative that this was an age of fierce competition amongst States as well as among individuals. "AH progressive communities (he said), have come to realise that not only their prosperity, but their very existence, depends upon training their young people to a high pitch of development. If wo in Nc-w Zealand are to retain tho position we have already won, to say nothing of growing into a strong and prosperous nation, we cannot afford to allow so niany of our young people to continue to face the vicissitudes of"life'with'an impcrfeijt primary school training. It has been urged that to require pupi's to attend school until they pass Standard VI ,is largely to deprive parents of the aid of their children's services at a time when help is often sorely needed, and, hence, is unfair to tho parents concerned—indeed, such action has been spoken of as 'an unwarrantable interference with tho rights of parents." It is truo that' under certain circumstances tho child's help is a very real necessity, and that in manycases considerable sacrifices are made by parents in sending their children to school. It is true, moreover, that' parents have certain rights in the matter of their children with which the State would bo most unwise to interfere. But, on tho other hand, it is equally truo that parents havo responsibilities, and that children liavo rights; one of the responsibilities of parents being to provide their children with opportunities for receiving education, and one of the rights of children being to receive efficient training at the hands of the State. "In all progressive communities the period of childhood—that is, the period during which younpr people are being trained and equipped for the fuller and more responsible "duties beginning with adulthood—is steadily increasing in length. The necessity for attendance al continuation classes, which has alreadj been made compulsory in some countries, and everywhere is claiming recognition, will ere long demand the serious attention of our people, so that the Department's action in raising tho standard of exemption is only in koepint with modem development and progress."