WOMAN'S WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 70, 16 December 1919, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

MATTERS 0? INTEREST FROM FAB AND MAS,

Spanish Danccs. Instead of the Jazz. Tho jazz is dying, says an English paner. The drowsy charm of Spain, with its'sudden awakening fir£s. the coquettish ntlitiid.es, tho haughty gestures, tho spirit and verve ami snap of the music f:om Seville and Madrid, all aro cmbodied in the now danccs that have come from Spain, by way of Paris, to take the place of the jazz. Although these steps go by the general name of tango, they have all the elegance and none of -the unpleasantness of tho oul bunny hug, turkey trot, and other eccentricitics of pre-war tango teas. This is tho real tango. The slow-moving waltztime of the languorous mnxine, with its intermitten periods of swiftness and dash, carry one into the heart of Spain. Tho music of Carmen is used as a fit accompaniment to the paso dablo—a beautiful dance, and ono eminently fitted for tho ballroom. All through the dances <22» can feel tho rattle of castanets, the click of Spanish heels, and the sound of tambourines. The dances, although not difficult to execute, lend themselves to infinite grace. Tliev make beautiful solo-s, but equally beautiful ballroom dances.

The Pleasure Doom. To all outwnlrd appearances, in spite of the severest of droughts, of. strikes, and tiie awful drain by the war on tho State's resources, money is plentiful in New South Wales, even if it be omy paper money, states tho "Australasian. Heavy rises in tho cost o£ living are clioerfullv met, retail shopkeepers seem to he doing well, and business activities and industrial operations show generally signs of a healthy, vigorous life. I hat tho average citizen has plenty of money to spend, and that he or she spends it freely, seemingly with little thought of the morrow, oi of the IIUSO war indebtedness, one has only to look around to see abundant evidence. In few directions is this more portentously noticeable than where people go to 1)9 amused. There is a veritable pleasure boom on— but with a drought spectre abroad. Every Sydney theatre and picture show has,'with rare exceptions, its crowded audience. . As a magnet for the multitude there are few if. any .show places that draw like the boxing stacHum. And then to think of the trotting tracks. On the first two. days alone of the A.J.C. Spring Meeting there were estimated to have been present no fewer than HO,IX)0 people; and a 9 a large pronortlon of these were thero with money 'to spend and to lose, in ninny eases in largo sums, it can be well understood that, between money and credit, there wns no lack of what in the Scottish nhra.se is known as "siller" among those vast racegoing throngs.' Beyond all this, there was the irresistible call of "the Cup"—the Melbourne Cup, and its accessories. Tho response from this side was this time largo beyond that in anv previous year, dne explanation of all this apparent affluence and leisured desire for amusement is to be found in the stPßfiy und economically unhealthy increase in the population of the metropolis." This increase is- in significant dbntrast to the diminishing pooulation in tho rural districts, where the ravages of the drought are plavin? havoc with the productive powers of the Stale.

Cost of the English Railway Strike. Writing to an'Aucklanit friend, a New Zealand visitor to England, commenting upon the recent railway strike, t-lates-.-"I question whether New /,ea|andew could reaiiso two serious crisis Bnflnnd ha-s been through. Never in the history of living men has civil war been so near and disastrous results aveiked. This was obvious, and I took the fullest opportunity during the black days of. tile great. <hike to <iif.cius the position with all and sundry. It wtts simply marvellous to sea tho wonderful prompt action of tho -Ministries of .Food and Transport. No -words could paint tho picture in writing; it had to be seen tu be properly understood. It was complete. London ivasj. rationed and fed. fancy nine millions of people in London anil not a railway at one time working, and twelve thousand tons ol fowl required daily. Pic.turo it—and then the rest of England, Wales and Scotlaud. . , ,

"It cost tho K.U.R., ili is estimated, anything up to i:4OO,OCD, and the Government .£60,000,000. It lias put everything back, and the loss to private inieres'U c.tnnot he calculated. That is. tilie financial aspect, but the lesson it has taught is perhaps'worth it all, av.d that is that England—dear old England—can go through an ordeal which few nations could do without a revolution, and liar, proved to the world und proved to itfeti that, the foundations of its social lifo anil constitutional existence, of wlr.e'i many v,m doubtful of, are found and as solid as the -proverbial heart-of kauri. It venture to that it has clca.red the air of all misapprehension-* on that score, anil that England, so to speak, having purged itself of a nightmare, will now steadily recover from its war commercial pa'i'Hlysi6 to take its rightful and dominating influence in the world of trade."