TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 90, 13 October 1923, Page 18

TOPICS OF THE DAY

(By "M.H.C.")

It is possible, that quite a number of people will be interested in what is de•cribed in a Southern paper as "a word of warning to parents and teachers, given in a friendly spirit," by Mr. W. L. Paine, of Melbourne, tvho was judge at the elocutionary sections at the Dunedin Competitions. He mentioned first .that a number of the children attempted •work that was beyond. their, possibility to reproduce adequately, Then he came on to the question of over-strain, and mentioned one child of under twelve who , had had.>. fortnight's work in singing, reciting; and- dancing,, this being a frequent sort of occurrence. If the child were his he would not let her attempt euch a task. When people had clever -children they should see that, they were not forced; and the speaker mentioned ..that there, were scores of: cases where, in Australia, the cleverest young people, on reaching the -age of eighteen or twenty, when they should be doing their best work, were not heard of because they had dwindled down to nothing. Mr. Paine «poke well of the talent of the young New Zealanders, and said that he ■would be sorry if they were in the same case. The competitions are a development of modern times, and it is rather soon to say i£ the effect of them' is'going to be, in the results, good or bad. There seems little doubt that a certain number of those who are versatile are overworked. Again, a writer deals amusingly with the. sayings behind the scenes, and it would look,, if. the matter is regarded seriously, as if a regrettable amount of "envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness," to quote the Litany, was engendered. The description .was clever, but the facts were sad. It is a question ior those parents who regard the building of fine character and the cultivation of the best in their young ones, whether the public competing against others is going to make fine-na-tured, steady-minded,- capable people of them, and, after all, is not that largely the object of bringing up children?

" A. London biologist states that the women of futare generations may have fewer, toes than her fore-mothers if the wearing of high-heeled shoes is continued. He says that horses originally had five toes, and he explains the hoof by saying thai in the wild state they were continually endeavouring to reach higher branches of trees in the effort to get the soft twigs, and gradually eliminated the toes. He remarks amusingly: "Women with very high heels have a gait approaching birds. Ido not for a moment mean to suggest Ihat it is not an elegant gait; but it certainly is not at all unlike that of the domestic fowl. It means that with, the high heels now worn three toes are sufficient for progressing, and as Naiure always gets rid of superfluous organs, it seems likely that in the course of time women's toes will be reduced to three, and perhaps disappear altogether in time." Synchronising with this announcement comes a mention by two well-known New Zealand doctors of the harm done to women, and to the future generations, by the wearing of high heels. The pity of it is that those who wear ihe excessive heels are not usually, afc any rate, the readers of the serious parte of newspapers or magazines. Therefore some other way must be found to reach them. It is difficult to say how, when, and where; tut as the matter is so urgent (as it is, if one takes the doctors seriously, as should be done) the health lectures which have been such a fine feature of Health Week should be continued, under attractive guise, and the girls and women "made wise" as to consequences. It is rather a curious fact that the ladies of the nursing profession usually wear a rather high heel when on duty, and when a surprised inquirer once asked them the reason, was told that the "ward shoe," which was probably invented for their convenience, was more tiring than the heeled shoe, with-the added information that if- they wore a heel-less shoe they were in danger of becoming flat-footed. That this is a needless fear would seem certain. for men never indulge in high-heeled shoes, and flaf foot is not a common complaint among them; and the manly feet are usually better in shape than those of women, for they seldom have the ugly bulged big toe joint which is so common with women. It seems that "the happy" mean" is again the solution of the matter, and a *ioderate well-bal->anced heel is the most comfortable and the most sightly, while from the health point of view there is no doubt that the extreme heel is lamentable to a degree.

A rather amusing little talk by Marjorie 80-wen appears in • an English paper, showing that owing to a number of candid books written by women, the Sex is "no longer a mystery." She takes the standpoint that a large number of •women have rejoiced in the idea that, as .a-sex,, they were regarded as mysterious and ' inscrutable. She . considers that Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, and George Eliot all wrote of ■women exactly as if they themselves had ibeen men, and tried to represent their women, after trie style of the great romanticist3_ of the opposite-sex. When the" characters in the' best'-T.r.own" books are! considered,:'this is seen- to' be'true. (Jane Austen^ the gentle, wrote a won-, derfitl satire, on''■women wh.eiv..she' ' deliiK eated Mrs. Bennet, in] "Pride and Prejudice." No man could have shown up her meanness, smallness, and insincerity more than the woman writer; and no man could have ignored her intense motherliness and anxiety for the comfortable settlement in life, by marriage, of her largo family of daughters, than Jane Austen did. When one. considers the circumstances of the story, and the times, the mother's anxiety was justified. The father's estate was entailed in the male line; and the property, failing the production of a son, was to go to a distant male cousin. This left only the mother's marriage jointure from her family, quite a small one, and any possible savings which the father might 1 make during his lifetime, to support everybody after his death. Ho was not willing to save; as he was used to a certain standard of luxury, and would not curtail it. Therefore, the mother was passionately anxious to marry her girls, and not have them, left as poverty-strick-en old maids. The way of her efforts ■was contemptible, but she was of her time and education. Now, Marjorie Bowen finds that women portray the aspiration, endeavour, the clutch and struggle after change; the glow, discontent, and rebellion of this age of transition. Sometimes they shock good tasto and good behaviour, but she considers that at least they are not boring, and the modern heroines, of romance represenfc more attention, observation, pains, and genius devoted to the study of feminine character than has ever been paid before.