WEARY FEET THAT DANGLE

Evening Star, Issue 22572, 13 February 1937, Page 2

WEARY FEET THAT DANGLE

■ A COMFORT THAT MOCKS [Written byH. W. Lee, for the 1 Evening Star.’] Quite apart from the pleasure of meeting intimate friends once more, our periodic ‘ Visits to ‘ alwavs full of charm and interest. The morning after arrival we set out to rediscover the city, and stro.ll through Princes and George streets, ; noting such changes -as, may-iave taken place since our previous visit. There is sometimes an element, of. sadness in these changes ; a gallant attempt ■ to build up a small business has either failed or shows signs of'imminent closing down, and we recall the hopeful young couple or the plucky elderly man and wife whose little; capital, has been lost in the venture. We look out for familiar faces, “ old'-identities,” the 1 folks we remember through-some eccentricity Of dress, gait, or ‘ manner. Sometimes we miss one or two of these fellow-travel-lers through life and wonder whether they have left the. tpwn or have passed through'that Experience no living soul Cjßn escape. - When we reach the Exchange vva glance curiously at the seat adjoining the tramway ticket office. We simultaneously smile and murmer: “Yes, ’just the same!” Then we recall O. Henry’s suggestive little story,. ‘ The Assessor of Success,’ for therein he comments sympathetically on “women, Wriggling and self-conscious, twining and untwining their feet that hang four inches above the gravelled walks ” as they sit on the park benches. For the seat at Dunedin Exchange, which is labelled “For Ladies Only,” but is often used by men, is 23Jin from the ground level, or ojin higher than a fairly tall woman would find comfortable; for those of , average, or less than average height, this seat must be most uncomfortable^ We have not ascertained when this seat was placed in position, but it is many years since we first observed its absurd height from the ground, and thousands of weary women must have ’ sought rest thereon and found little or ‘ none according to their stature. It is almost incredible that the women of Dunedin have not long since realised how signally this seat fails to carry out the function of all seats—the giving of rest to the weary; had they done so they would surely have suggested the small and inexpensive alteration which would spell ease and relaxation to tall and short alike. That no efficient request to this effect appears to have been made may be partly due to the fact that the average individual is so extraordinarily unobservant. that few of the thousands of women who have used the seat at the Exchange ever discovered the reason why they found it so uncomfortable.' Or is the man still regarded by the ladies, unconsciously perhaps, as the universal provider whose favours are above criticism ? Even women who deem themselves advanced, “ emancipated,” still look upon most constructive wc 'k as essentially the province of men. “That is man’s work,’’ they exclaim when architecture, building, and plumbing are mentioned. Hence the innumerable instances of inconvenience and difficulty suffered by the Lady of the House—often without comment and

sometimes without consciousness—through taps placed in such positions that only with careful manipulation can a kettle be filled therefrom; or points for electric irons so placed. that only left-handed women can use them with facility; or houses so Wanned that the kitchen gets the full blaze of the sun whilst the bedrooms scarce receive a ray.

The progressive ladies of Dunedin have organised and successfully carried on many excellent societies and institutions which have helped and blessed, not only women and children, but the generally-unappreciative male also. Yet here is a ridiculously simple little “ reform’’.which, would have been a boon to all the. members of’their sex who use this comfortless seat, and no one seems to have called for it. With the males who impudently (or is it daringly?) usurp the-seat where mothers and maidens dangle their aching feet, we are not concerned. Patient, longsuffering women With bags and parcels and fretful children; others who have worked all day in shop or factory where to sit might mean dismissal; it is easy to visualise the ; almost endless queue of those who have sought rest on tho seat by the Exchange and found very little, if- any. 0. Henry tells us that if lie were a Carnegie or a Rockefeller he would make an appointment with all the park commissioners and arrange for benches in all the parks'of the 'world low enough for women to sit Upon and rest their feet upon the grbund. “After that,” he continued, “ I might furnish libraries to towns that would pay for them, or build sanatoriums for crank professors arid call ’em colleges. Women’s rights societies have been labouring for many years after equality with men. With what result? When they sit on a bench they must twist their ankles together and uncomfortably swing their high French heels clear of earthly support. Begin at the bottom, ladies! Get your feet on to the ground, and then rise to theories of mental equality.” . This famous writer of short stories evidently felt keenly when he penned these caustic lines.

The neeided alteration is so simple—a carpenter could complete it in an hour—that we are sanguine enough to hope wo may find it an accomplished fact when we are again privileged to walk the streets of the city of charm and hospitality.’ Who will make it his or her “ good deed for.the day? ” Or which of the many women’s organisations will move in the matter ? Here is an opportunity to confer a blessing on thousands by tho expenditure of a few shillings. ■