The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1910. THE HOSTEL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXI, Issue 15488, 14 December 1910, Page 8

The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1910. THE HOSTEL.

••' God sends meat and the devil sends cooks " is a piece of proverbial cynicism that is probably just as appropriate to-day as it "was when it was first' conceived. Nevertheless, civilised man, brute that he is, "cannot live without cooks," and, with the natural selfishness of his sex, in searching for a. wife he cares less for the culture of iambics than he does for the art of making omelettes. He will admit that the girl who possesses the academic air which indicates a university education is an extremely estimable person; but in The Walrus's list of " - many things" he prefers to consider "cabbages" before " kings." Whatever may be said to the contrary, wo live in a much moro practical age than our respected forefathers did, and this is shown particularly in our system of education. With the broadening of the franchise we are not aiming at rearing a race of blue-stockings but at equipping our girls for that " domesticity " which, as Bishop Julius told the Girls' Friendly- Society yesterday, is the best part of life. This is a happy result to secure from an experiment that has been decried wherever it has not been tried. Unfortunately, a paternal Government that has to bring up a large family upon limited means cannot spare the money to elaborate this system indefinitely, and while it has provided certain facilities for the education of the girl in what is literally "domestic economy" there is still a great deal left for individual enterprise and personal philanthropy to do. The Christchurch Technical High School, as it has elected to be called, has not lost sight of the necessities of the gentler sex, and it is proposing to establish a. " hostel" where as many girls as possible will ho trained in the intimate intricacies of housekeeping. The naino "hostel" itself has a cheering sprnd, suggestive of an infinity of

comfort, but the practicality of the scheme is its best recommendation. The girls will not only be taught to cook and to sew, but also how to shop, how to entertain, how (o read the newspaper aloud when required, and how to keep quiet when desirable. If this is not the exact programme it at least approximator, to it. and no doubt those enthusiastic ladies who have arranged an elaborate bazaar and a series of entertainments at the Technical College ibis week in aid of the hostel fund have been stimulated by +.bpir own experience in trying to make

smoother the pathway for their younger sisters.