WOMAN'S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 85, 3 January 1918, Page 2

WOMAN'S WORLD.

(Ds iHoaui.)

MATTERS OF INTEREST FROM FAR AND NEAR

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL

New Zealand Wedding In London. St. Mary Abbott's Church, Kensington, was the scene of a. pretty wedding on Novombcr 1, says a writer in "Tho Queen," when Lieutenant Montagu Steele, New Zealand MachineGun Corps, son of Mr. and Mrs. F. It Steele, ot Auckland, New Zealand, was married to Miss Grace Hutcheson. The Rev. Canon Steele, uncle of the bridegroom, performed the ceremony, assisted by tho clergy of the parish. Tho bride was given away by Sir Harvey Adamson, and very charming she looked in her wedding gown of whito charmeuse embroidered with chenille and silver; her tulle veil was arranged with a wreath of orange blossom, and she carried a sheaf of lilies and white heather, which was the bridegroom's gift to her. Her little nephew, Master Gordon Tailyour, carried the train, and there was one bridesmaid, whose frock of primrose' coloured gcorgetto veiling mauve satin was worn with a black picture hat of tulle, her bouquet of autumn leaves toning charmingly with the dress. Lieutenant M'Lean undertook the duties of best man. After tho ceremony a reception was held by Sir Harvey and Lady Adamsou, at 5 Old Court Mansions, Kensington, and later Mr. and Mrs. Steele left for Hindhoad, the bride wearing a grey georgette dress under a long fur coat, and large picture hat of grey velvet, for her journey.

A Rccipe for Roses. "Roses, roses, all the way," says the poet, and how is the time for the later varieties of the queen of flowers. Now is also the time that prudent rose-, lovers gather up the last of their lovely blooms in order to prolong their sweetness and carry their perfumo through the dull, dank days of wintertime. Here is a simple and reliablo recipe for pot-pourri:—Gather tho flowers on a dry day only, and dry them in the sun. The rose leaves may bo put straight into tho jar, if tho weather is very dry. Carnations, lavender, violets, roses, orange blossoms, jasmine, in fact-any iweet-smolling flowers may be used. Shred a. handful of bay leaves, rosemary, lemon-thyme, and sweet verbena, • pound lib of saltpetre, 1 nutmeg, loz. each of cloves and allspice, 6oz. orris root. Mix tlieso well together, and put them into a, jar, adding the flowers as you get' them, and adding, if the mixture gets too dry, more saltpetre ; if too moist, more orris root. Add more flowers and spices from time to time, and stir well together each time you add more flowers.

Mrs. Graham Watson and her little son are the guests of Mrs. Walters, Tho Terrace. Tho engagement is announced of Miss Mario Pringle, daughter of Mrs. H. C. Pringlc, Kelburn Parade, and (!. A. do Lautour, son of the lato Lieut.C'olonel H. A. de Lautour, V.D., of Wellington. The members of the Patriotic Cake Boom thank the following donors of enkes. subscriptions, etc. MeKdamos Smitton Holmes, Gavin. Hurst, and tho Misses Wheeler (2), Perry (2), Hall (2), Macintosh, Turner. Mrs. Bishop, wife of Mr. H. W. Bishop, Senior Magistrate in Christ•churoh, died last night, states a Press Association message. Lieutenant and Mrs. Gresham. Lieutenant and Mrs. Bridgeman, and Lientenant and Mrs. Orr, from Featherston, are staying at the Clarendon, Cliristehnrcli. Miss Blackie (Napier) is visiting Christchurcli. Mrs. Charles Goggin, of Christchurch, is on a visit to Wellington. mul is stayimr with Mrs. Walter Fuller, Oriental Bay. Miss Olive Davies (Levin) is the ruest of Mrs. Hayhurst, Ash'field, Tenvuka. Mr. and Mrs. E. Duthie are visiting Christchurch. The engagement is announced cf Mi?-; Annie Willinms, second <liui<rht.cr of Mrs. J. Struthers Williams. 39 Clifton Street. Addington, to Mr. Tom Jones, of Wellington. The Hon. C. H. Mills and Miss Mil's are on a. short visit to Christchurch. Miss Mills is tho gue.st of Mrs. Hood, Gracefield Street. Mrs. Wallace Mackenzie is staying with Mrs. Boyd, at Taihape. Mrs. Harrv Gore has returned from a visit to the Wairarapa.. where tho has been the guest of Mrs. Holmes Warren. Miss Jean Mackenzie (Tfarori) leaves on a visit to Auckland to-day. Miss Ida Coleridge lias returned from Waikanae. Miss Ivy Stitt, of Wanganui, is a visitor to .Palmerslon North and Plimmerlon. Mrs. Morice (Portland Crescent) is playing in Mrs. F. Dyer's house at Wainui. Mrs. Dyer lias taken a cottage at Rona Bay. Mrs. Sydney Dransfield, of Auckland, who has been spending the New Year holidays in Carterton, where she was the guest of Mrs. Coleman Phillips, returns to Wellington to-day. Mrs. Dransfield intends paving a round of visits licre and in the South Island before returning to her home in the north.

The sailors' Mew Year. An exceedingly enjoyable time was passed at the Institute of the Sailors' friend Society on New Year's Day. It had been arranged to hold a picnic in the country, as is usual on this and other holidays, but owing to the very unfavourable weather these ar- ! rangoments had to be cancelled, and tlie day's festivities carried out indoors. The proceedings commenced at 11 a.m., and, including the concert, lasted continuously until 11 p.m., the majority of tho guests being there the whole of the time. Lunch, afternoon tea, tea, and supper were served by tho young lady helpers of the society at the needed times. During the forenoon and afternoon, and for' a short timo after tea various parlour games, tug-of-war, and other pastimes, arranged by the Missioner (Mr. James Moore), provided much amusement for ths sailors in port and their friends, the various prizes being won by Messrs. Hall, Jones, Tibson, Connelly, Bennett, Boardman, M'Donald, Dunkin, Smith, Beutre-, Morris, and Sharplay, Misses Schal thard and C'olpus, and Mrs. Armstrong. Tho concert in the evening was under tho capable direction of Madame Mueller assisted by a number of her friends, and by Masters Durkin and Gibbons, two sailor lads, both of whom showed considerable aptitude, tho former instrumentally, and tho latter vocally. Pianoforte solos, recitations, and songs were contributed by Messrs. Durkin, Gibbons, and Perry, and by Mastors Tom George and Teddy Stringer, and Misses Anket-011, Cooley, Archibald, Mueller, and and Madame Mueller, and.Master Gibbons gave a splendid imitation of the Scottish bagpipes at intervals throughout the proceedings, during which th« prizes won in the various events were distributed to the respective winners. A collection was taken up towards buying a suit of clothes each for two sailor lads who arrived in the Dominion as stowaways, and woro present in tho audience, and tho sum of £2 18s. was collected, showing that the audienco appreciated tho pluck of these littlo lads voluntarily braving the exceptional present-time dangers of the sea without prospcct of remuneration. A very hearty vote of thanks was nccordcd to Mrs. Mueller and her party for tho delightful concert provided, also to the lady and gentlemen helpers who had worked strenuously during the day to provide such an enjoyable day's outing for tho sailors, also to tho numerous friends who had donated such valuable priws for iho various competitions. A vote of thanks, carried with much enthusiasm was passed to Mr. and Mrs. Monro f« their indefatigable efforts resulting in such a lengthy and Very enjoyable day's amuseqient.'

CHILDREN OF YOUTH EARLY MARRIAGES DISCUSSED. America's ' entry, into the war has raised there the question which was much discussed here and in England in 1914 and 1915 of the effects of marriages of early youth, for which the war was largely responsible. The war marriage was decreed by those who said' it was wrong and 'harmful for youth to mate in this romantic fashion; that the. children born of-war marriages would be weakly; that the boys going away and the girls who married them just before they went were too young to bring the best children into the world. As though ' in answer, Dr. Alexander .Graham Bell, the noted inventor and scientist, declares that, quite to the contrary, it is proven by statistics that younger women' mako .better mothers than those

who postpone the responsibility of maternity until later in life. War unquestionably, with the power .of urgency and romance ~to press its claims, has been a powerful factor in the lowering of the. average ages of marriage in the United States. Thou- - sands of .young men and women do not care to risk tne future of their affairs of heart upon %s uncertainty of tlie days to como. ' Dr. Bell's figures prove that this is not only unhannful, but beneficial for the race. / The question, "At what age should a girl marry?" never subsides, despite ! the successive vogue of various theories. A centui-y ago a girl was an old maid\at 22. from this ridiculous and arbitrary pronouncement was finally reached in the 'theory that the older the woman the finer the offspring of the union, and'the greater the consequent benefit to society. Certain instances of great men born after the 3oth year of the mother's life were adduced as proof that the more mature the woman the greater the potential genius and intellect of th® son. Modern feminism has long favoured the postponement of the duties of matermljy.. on the same general thesis. Dr. Bell favours early marriages and youthful motherhood on

the ground that, contrary to popular opinion, tho offspring of young mothers havo a finer vitality and aro the peers, if not the superiors, intellectually of children born of other parents. Clergymen have long favoured earlier marriages in the belief that it makes better, morality and greater domestic contentment. Doctors have supported the early marriage and young motherhood theory because the strain of childbirth is less in tho caso of young than of more mature mothers. Emergency has in some measure counteracted tho economically directed trend toward the postponement of marriage. Tho actual cost of living is in no small degree responsible for tne inclination of' both sexes to shirk matrimony. Yet the old style marriage, with the bride of sixteen or oighteen and tho bridegroom only three or four years older, acoording to the figures adduced by Professor Bell in his research work, more nearly approximates the ideal age And the ideal time to begin to face the imminence of parenthood. , Education highly specialised branches of study, important clerical positions, I and the numerous other avenues of labour open to the specially trained individual tend to dwarf the importance of matrimony. The relatively li:gh mortality among women whose lirst • child is born after the mother lias passed her thirtieth year is one of tho most powerful answers to those who advocate "-lato marriage and motherhood. That no harmful consequences of these hasty youthful marriages are reasonably to be expected is tho reassuring opinion of a man who has made a serious statistical study of the question. The table of figures herewith reproduced proves a ohild's chance to survive the diseases and dangers of the first four years depends quite directly on the age of its mother. The deathrate for the oldest group, in corroboration of this statement, is about one-half again as great as that of the children of younger mothers. Total No. died Child ■ Age of mother No. of under mortality, when child children o years rate per was born. born, of age. thousand. 15-19 70 15 214 20-24 454 88 194 25-29 603 '133 220 1 30-34 561 140 249 35-39 .>. 422 98 232 40 & upward 274 88 321 Totals ... 2384 564

Superficial study of tho statistics would,load to the conclusion that children of mothers under 20 years were not to be included in the benefits of sucli early marriages and assumption of tho responsibilities of motherhood. The somewhat higher mortality among very young mothers can be attributed to their juvenility and- inexperience 'rather than to any physiological or biological handicap. With the 1 science of motherhood rapidly becoming standardised, and the knowledge readily available for mothers of any age, the objection to the youth of mothers on tho score of inexperience is no longer valid. Some of tho vorM's notaWes liavo been !'horn of parents well over 30 years of age. Conversely great numbers of them were bora of vonthful mothers. Abraham Lincoln's mother was only 25 at the time of his'birth.' Napoleon" the Great was horn of parents 23 and 19 years of age respectively. The mother of Pasteur, undoubtedly the greatest genius Franco hns yet produced, was under 30. |