MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 September 1928, Page 4

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OE INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

ESKIMO WOMEN. KEEPING THE LIGHTED LAMP. If ever one sees a. photograph of Eskimos, singly or in group, and is unable to tell the sex apart, owin b to the similarity in dress, he may easily pick out the women for the rea son that they are always smiling. The Eskimo woman has the monopoly of smiles among ttyat ra,ce to wj.uch “all things always seem the same. . Married at 15 or 16, the Eskimo girl follows her husband into the wildeiness, cooks for him, makes his heavy clothing of skins and furs, softening the frozen leather with her teeth. Tradition has made the keeping of a lighted lamp the greatest of her duties The lamp is handed down from mother to daughter, through generations It is the bride’s dot when she o-oes forth to meet the bridegroom, and it stays with her as long as she lives. No one else may touch it. Divorce is common among the Eskimos. The chief causes arc temperamental incompatibility and, childlessness. The custom of interchange of wives and husbands is fiequent. Observers say it saves the race fiom (hat phase of marittal life known among sophisticated peoples as boredom. " Possibly it is one of the reasons for the Eskimo’s woman’s unfading smile. There are no bachelors or old maids in the Arctic. Where women predominate, a man may take moi e than one wife, ajid vice versa. The average family is three or four children. Children are nursed by their mothers till they are six years old, owing to the fact that there are no lighter foods than seal meat, fish and game Girl babies are not welcome, as they may not, like the boys, become great hunters. Infanticide among Eskimo mothers, prevalent until recently, has now ceased in obedience to the orders of the North-west Mounted Police, who are the symbols of civilisation to the Arctic natives. With only twelve consonants and four vowels in the language, mothers have little difficulty in educating their children. The Baffin Island Eskimos love dancing and football. One of the best half-backs in the Arctic is Elisapi, an Eskimo girl of Pangnirtung. The Eskimos are not drinkers and are terrorised at the sight of a white man drunk.

Explorers, geologists, traders and missionaries are known to the Eskimos as “Bosses.” But across the unknown waters, living in a strange land, is the “Big Boss,” strongest and most powerful of all “Bosses.” For him the Eskimo have the greatest respect and devotion. He is King George V.

WHY DANCES FAIL. Some hundreds of the leading teachers of dancing in London and the provinces have just been holding their annual conference in London. So far as I am aware, only one dance —the Tile-trot—has been put into training for the autumn programme, and this does not appear to be of very great originality and promise, though its inventor, Major Cecil Taylor, was responsible for the Yale Blues —an admirable dance —and has been one of the leading figures in the professional ballroom for many years (writes Antony Quindie, in the “Daily Mail”). The situation which confronts the experts just now is that ballroom dancing is at a deadlock from which it cannot expect to emerge simply by the creation of new ideas in ballroom technique. Many people think that dancing is far too technical as it is. The trouble which constantly besets the promoters of dancing in this country is that of standardising all the steps, and the ante-climax in popularity which the Yale Blues has suffered is a capital example of this difficulty. Dancers in the big cities or in the country declare that a new dance, having been worked out and approved by the authorities for autumn consumption, turns out to be something quite different by the time the said dancers come up to/London to dance it. The defence of the teachers is that, a new dance cannot stand still but must be allowed to develop. All of which is very feverish matter for August. Nevertheless, we do find some uniformity at the top, among the highbrows, anil it is noticeable that the style of the best amateur and professional dancers in London, especially in competitions is amazingly similar, even to the way in which the girl partner places her hand on the man’s shoulder at a point obviously worked out to ten places of decimals. But whore do the amateurs come in? So far as T am aware the annual conference is a purely professional event, and this, I think, is -a pity, for it is not only of great interest to the amateur, but his co-operation would be of great value to the proceedings.

ABLE LEADER. WOMEN IN PANAMA. Panama .women are wonderfully active, considering the very few chances they were given in the past. Political rights are not theirs as yet, but they are rapidly working their way into various professions and doing all they can to enlarge their educational gaps; so much so that they now outnumbei men in colleges and high schools, says a writer in an exchange. They mean to get the vote as well. Some four years ago the leading women in Panama launched their feminist campaign, and to-day its work is to be reckoned with, as is revealed by the influence wielded by the Women’s Party on legislative matters in the national assembly. At the head of this campaign is a remarkable woman, Clara Gonzalez, who can claim the distinction of being the only feminine lawyer in Panama. Under her able leadership, the party soon worked out its own programme, which aimed at securing both the political and the economical betterment of their country woman. A little later, delegates of the party drew up a report and presented it to the Government. The first thing the women did out there was to found evening classes for women and girls. The State went forward .to meet this scheme as soon as its utility was officially recognised. Clara. Gonzaloz became the principal, and persuaded nine other women to become assistant teachers. They all came as voluntary helpers and worked so hard that they soon succeeded in attracting great numbers of women who began regularly to frequent the school. A little later, the feminist party turned its attention to economic problems. They succeeded in getting various laws passed which made it possible for women to own property and to look after it. Clauses in the marriage contract were altered to ensure the mutual obligations of both parties, in contrast to the “one-sidedness” of the old days when a woman had no voice in matters concerning her children or her dowry. The Government has appreciated the tremendous work done by these untiring women. Their suggestions are listened to by menlegislators, and quite recently the State sent Clara Gonsalez to the United States, empowering her to make a thorough investigation of American women’s prisons and Juvenile Courts. Panama’s future legislation with regard to these will be largely based on the r.eport of Mlle. Gonsalez.

SECRET OF GOOD DANCING. Have you ever noticed that the good dancer always sets her feet down very softly and that an indifferent one hardly ever does? According to one of the most soughtafter dance teachers, the difference is not a matter of mood, but of method. The girl who has perfect balance can control her feet, and because she is comfortably poised on the one, she can wait until her partner indicates where he wants her next step to go. The dancer with a faulty balance often has to put down her foot before she really intends to, and this means she moves uncertainly, and is difficult to guide.

This expert next made the surprising statement that a number of middle-aged people who are taking up dancing learn it more quickly than some debutantes, and do it more gracefully.

If, instead of insisting on learning the particular dance that happens to be the craze of the moment, boys and girls would take the trouble to master dancing technique they would have greater joy out of dancing, and the jerkily, flip-flapping feet and ungainly movements would disappear from the ballroom.

The elementary factors that make for good style in dancing—balance, rhythm, unselfish co-operation with one’s partner —never change. A. well-poised person who follows her partner easily can learn any new dance that comes along, whether it be tango, Charleston, or Black Bottom; but the dancer who lacks control will never master any dance thoroughly, and cannot be a popular partner. The trimmings, so to speak, may vary with every season, but the core always remains the same. STUDENT’S HUMOUR. By a judicious and amusing play upon words one of the Sydney University law students who took part in the inter-’varsity debate at the Auckland University College recently showed himself highly skilled in this method of public appeal. His opening remark that the modern woman was certainly more ambitious and had more in view than her grandmother, brought much laughter, and was followed by the suggestion that, although she put on a lot of “dog,” she would still be “catty.” Continuing, he said it used to be considered that a stitch in time saved nine, but now it made a dr.ess; and, further although men went about with their socks as full of holes as ever, women didn’t give a “darn.” He also referred to the decline in cooking, but everything else woman touched she made a “hash” of.