MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 October 1932, Page 3

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INfEREST

( Notes by

Marjorie )

TOO ROUGH! WHY CATTLEMEN DON’T MARRY. Referring to the cattlemen who took pait in the recent rodeo in Adelaide, the Rev. John Flynn, Australia's best-known inland missionary,

said: “They are supermen. The tragedy is Hutt so many arc leaving no sons behind them.” The men had come down from the great hinterland of Australia and were truly Australian types. They have many reasons for not marrying, and half a dozen of them discussed the problem when they met in the office of Sir Sidney Kidman, owner of the stations on which they are employed. It was emphasised by one di’ them that they did not want to be confirmed bachelors, but it was not easy for them to find a wife. Like any other man they would like to look ahead to a. snug home, a. wife, and a family. The position of these “supermen” was summed up in typical fashion by Mr Charles Smith, a cattleman employed away back on a station known as Bulloo Downs. He said “first we’ve got no money. Then, where would we park a wife? Where are we going to find a nice girl? And she must be very nice to submit to the conditions out’back. There is not . one of us who would ask a nice girl to face that life. Then, being married, we would want children. Education costs

n.i.omy, and we have not got it and never will have enough to keep a wife as we would want, to.” “It is all right to say that there are

tons of girls,” said Mr E. Skett. also of Bulloo Downs. “There is a sort of glamour about us. Roughriders, men of the outback, and all that sort .of thing. Rut, getting down to tin tacks, what city-bred girl could really put up with the sort of home we could, give her? There would be no electric light, no refrigerators, no anything that made for comfort. Most of us .are from the homesteads for a week, or perhaps a month at a time. I can tell you that there is no glamour about a man who has not shaved for a month , and who cannot even wash every day.” “And here’s another problem,” said Charlie Smith. “We are men and we like the life. W e are jolly good fellows and get on well together'. Give us each a wife and plenty of money. Leave all the wives at the homestead while we are out on the run. What is going to happen to five or six women left together for about six weeks? When we get back I shall he told off to tell Sketty that his wife has insulted my wife, or to cut . a long story short, there will be strained relations between men who have been jolly good friends.” And all the stockmen shouted their approval of this view. Others who joined in the discussion said it was the isolation that would get on a. woman’s nerves. It was all right' for the men. They had their job, but a woman was cut off from everything. The conditions were too tough, and most of them would prefer to be single rather than see their wives roughing it and becoming roughened in the process. POLKA DOTS. Vieing in popularity with the zebra stripes so fashionable these days is the popular polka dot. White dotted navy crep.e supplies the spring ensemble for Joan Biondell, the. film star. The loose jacket is unbelted and has neither collar nor cuffs. The separate scarf and wide Spanish girdle of bright red lend a dash of colour to the ensemble. When Joan removes the jacket she shows a white blouse, which is also sleeveless and ccllarless and is interesting for its sunburst tucking about the neckline and the large white buttons which are put on w’ith narrow lace of red silk. CHAMELEON HANDBAGS. Chameleon handbags, in deep metallic colourings, such' as peacock green and steel blue, are to be fashion’s strong suit for the autumn (states the “Daily Mail”). Hundreds of them .are being made at a Hammer! smith factory in readiness for London’s autumn season. They are fitted with those modern metal clasps resembling parts of a machine, which, according to advance fashion news, are to be seen a great deal this .winter. Most women will be glad to hear •that seal and calfskin are again to the fore, for nothing could be smarter and at the same time more serviceable for the purpose. Diced grains promise to be popular, and there are some attractive models in velvet pigskin. Owing to the vogue of two-colour outfits predicted for the autumn many handbags are made in two-colour schemes. Designs are sophisticated and geometrical in character, insets of a contrasting colour taking the form of bold squares, triangles or heraldic quarterings similar to those seen in some of the latest jumpers.

JANE MANNER’S RETURN.

[special to “star.”]

AUCKLAND, October 27

“Do say that T am in Auckland, that 1 was born at Drury, and that. I went, to school at Oneliunga,” were practically tire first, words of Miss Jane Mander, the New Zealand authoress, when interviewed, this morning, on board the Rangitiki, by which vessel she returned from England, after an absence of 20 years. She is the daughter of Mi- F. Mander. a former M.L.C., and a member of Parliament for Marsden, who was present to meet her.

“J have come back to settle down - and of course to write,’’ she added. Miss Mander touched lightly and briefly on what had happened in the 20 years away. “1 spent nine years in London and eleven in New York. I wag in France when the war broke out, and experiences that I had there —.”

She added that, she was one of the few Englishwomen who had seen a man guillotined, but where, or when she did not say. “Yes, I will write when 1 am here," shq added, “and I hope to make enough money Io enable me to go Home occasionally.”

“EARHART HOP.”

NEW BALLROOM DANCE. A new ballroom dance was demonstrated at the Dancing Teachers’ Congress in session at New York. The teachers believe it will sweep over the country as one of Hie most popular ballroom dances of J 932. Il is called the Earhart Hop, and is dedicated to Amelia Earhart, transAtlantic flyer, says the “New York Times.” The dance was described by Miss Lucille Stoddart, chairman of the congress, as “very enjoyable and peppy-” It is danced to foxtrot rhythm, the basic step of which is a hop. There is a gentle swaying from side to side, like the rocking of an aeroplane, a sudden dip, signifying an air pocket, and a whirl, which might be described as a tailspin. The promoters regard it as a conservative although spirited ''foxtrot. After the first close step it is danced in an open fashion, which is characteristic of all conservative ballroom dancing of to-day. - The new dance was featured at the convention week dinner, the closing week of the congress, when the entire faculty staff and dancing teachers in attendance from all over the country, appeared in it as a tribute to the woman flyer. After the dance" had received the official sanction of the teachers, it was demonstrated before a movie news camera, and every angle of the' routine, close-ups of the head and feet of the dancers, and correct position of the body, were recorded on the films. Through this medium it is believed that the dance will soon be popularised over the country. While the study of the technique of the shuffle, shag, Indiana hop, and other hew ballroom novelties continued, new ideas were being worked cut. There was a demonstration of the Boston 400, a conservative foxtrot, but this was described as more of a local dance, popular only in Massachusetts. LEATHER FOR EVENING FROCKS. Until recently leather had been used for nearly everything but women’s dresses. Now an inventive dressmaker has remedied the deficiency (says 9. writer in an English paper). At a collection held 'in Berkeley street Mayfair, W„ a new evening gown was introduced made of soft, white flexible leather, stamped to look like crocodile skin.

White leather gauntlet mittens with black velvet thumbs were worn with the gown, which had a band of black velvet across one shoulder to mutch the lining of the sash.

“The dress actually is as comfortable to wear as one made of woven silk fabric,” the writer was assured by Bryna, the designer, “and one of its good points is that it can be easly cleaned with chalk.”

STANNAGE-SMI TH WEDDI NG

The marriage of Miss Beris Kings-ford-Smith, only daughter of Mr and Mrs Harold Kingsford-Smith, of San Francisco, and niece of. Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, to Mr John S. W. Stannage, was celebrated in Sydney on October 4. The ceremony was quiet owing to a recent family bereavement. 'The bridegroom, whose parents live in England, was the wireless operator on Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s transatlantic flight, and was also a member of the crew of the airplane Canberra which left Sydney to search for the lost Southern Cross in 1929.

WOMAN EXPLORES THE WILDS

After an adventurous sojourn in Madagascar a. young French woman. Mlle. Baase, has returned home with a mass of valuable data about that colony. The story of how this frail girl came to undertake such a mission is a striking illustration of what, woman is achieving :to-da.y in the realms of exploration and scientific research.

In 1930 tiie Colonial Minister required a young scientist to collect topographical and geological materia! in little-known regions of Madagascar. No male candidate was forthcoming, but Mlle. Basse, who had distinguished herself at the Sorbonne in science, sent in an application. At firdt it was not considered seriously, but in the continued absence of a male volunteer the girl was entrusted by the Minister, in conjunction with the Academy of Sciences, with the mission.

For many months Mlle. Basse, with a. band of natives, braved all the dangers of dense forests in the south of the island. She carried no weapon save a. geological hammer. She lias come back with greatly needed maps and charts of hitherto unexplored wild regions, and with a considerable collection of geological, animat and vegetable specimens.

Out of this material she is preparing a. doctorate thesis which is expected Io bo a valuable addition io existing knowledge of Madagascar,