I LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14223, 20 November 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

I LOCAL GOSSIP.

I . : : . i— ♦" " ■ ■ ■ H I »T»t mo have audience for a word or two." P I "*** ' ' —Shakespero. I I Tms is the "age* of women, which, per--1 I haps, accounts for the dearth of great i linen." - But thou woman has broken I I %U vn the masculine barriers in almost I livery direction, there are still heights to H which she has not yet attained. She has P jot succeeded, so f<ir > in throwing off all i her shackles. She*is not eligible for a [' |H ; n Parliament, and* she is excluded 1 from military service." She is shut out by I gir Joseph Ward's proposals from en- '& joying the advantages of compulsory mili'K tary training. what amazes me is IN that she has made no protest against this I monstrous injustice. Perhaps she is so H nrtflnned by the inequity of it all that she II jjj, not yet been able to give vent to her H indignation. But it will come, of that S; SjJfeel 'certain, in one overpowering and H deafening feminine yell. There is no *"*■ reason why we should not have Amain ' jonian regiment*, no reason why women m ftshould not be trained for military serm T ic?. There is nothing that a woman m • can't do, and do almost as well as a man. m pSte-P!*? 8 golf and cricket, she hunts and H she can shoot. The English suffragette fi is becoming as bellicose as a Donnybrook m Irishman. We already have girl scouts; H why not girl soldiers? .New "Zealand's II Sboast is that it leads the world. Here is if an opportunity to show our mettle. We M have offered Great Britain a DreadB nought, but .imagine the tremendous senm sation that would be caused if we could H offer the Mother Country a corps of fightm ing Fannies! - I '.'•■ The proposal to hand over the Auck- ■':• land Government House and grounds to « trie University College Council has prom twkedi mild storm of protest. I felt m frore it would. It is a peculiar way we ml the North. We work ourselves raj jiip into a burning heat over the injustice iff !l*ith i which the Government treats .us, have in the North. We work ourselves op into a burning heat over the injustice with which the Government treats .us, '•:'-' and when the Government, moved by H our outraged feelings, proposes to assuage H our indignation we turn round and wax |§§ las hot at the way it is done. In the If present instance a quadrangular , wrangle [1| is going. on. We have one s section backM ling ;up the proposal; another claiming Wf I that the Grammar School should have a We piece of the bone; a third demanding that fe the ground should be reserved as a pubs' f lie park, and a fourth that dear old GoH ; Termnent House should continue to be m used as a residence for His Excellency Iff |and j a place of free entertainment for JH 'jthe elite. Personally, I ■> sympathise with $.} Sail four sides. I should be sorry to see K /ithei representative . compelled to I*. 1 {take up his quarters in a boardinghouse, 5 -jand hospitality reduced to K itte pjebeian level of a picnic to St. Heliers II (Bay. Living as I may be doing some day, in H fjthecpieasant'.neighbonrhood of Waterloo m should like; to be able to use IK [tie-grounds at my own sweet will. Havm ing sons at the Grammar School and the I place free entertainment for (the elite. Personally, I sympathise with Sail four sides. I should be sorry to see ithe King's representative compelled to itake up his quarters in a boardinghouse, ,and his generous hospitality reduced to ithe plebeian level of a picnic to St. Helicrs [Bay. Living as I may be doing some day, in ,the pleasant neighbourhood of Waterloo Quadrant, I should like to be able to use the grounds at my own sweet will. Having sons at the Grammar School and the University College I am, naturally, sway--'i: ed by my, parental feelings in favour of 6 a playground for the school and a noble M pife of buildings for. the college. But, ip 'in a matter of this kind it would be m 'highly improper to follow too much the B 'devices and desires of our own hearts. - 'The question is, what are the best and H Jmost beneficial uses {to which the site m »«»n be put? And here I prudently pause vH 'for. an . answer. I - f& vt.fc v-■' _____ |H The Onward and Upward Association g§ for girls, from 15 to 20 years of age, mk which '■:__& been formed in connection with fm the ' Auckland Methodist Mission, with || ! Sister Esther as leader, has adopted the IB following rules :— „ §1 To be kind and courteous to all. • :,.:..". I|| To speak no ill of another. r ' • * ' Wa To be ladylike and' quiet in movement. ra; To "be punctual. .;•"-,■-;.-..■:-' BS To jo home immediately after the meeting.' « jttl:*--.: ■•;■•-•",■- ■:.'■',■ .'■'-:■ ■''.:■'-.',,-.,. •-,-'"-' •' ''-'' .* ■ ' :.' : '-'i The : first three -rules- are, lam told,. m 'fairly well * observed, but there are, it '■'y 'seems, frequent infringements of the last H jwo. When youth and love meet they » laugh at rules. -\ m Jf J Hi do not wish to reopen the controversy Ep Vhich ; somi times ago raged around the K- 1; alleged paganism of New Zealand, but if f?i personal cleanliness has, as we are told jfe> it has,- kinship -with godliness, we- in this R .part of the world can lay the flattering H| 'miction to our souls that we are more K virtuous than the': majority' of ; people in 111 the Old Country. Nothing is more surffl» Arising to a colonial visiting the Homeland gH than tie difficulties that are,put in his way frfj'l»ben he seeks his customary morning bath. _£( .Either there is no bath or he is charged WSt an exorbitant fee for the privilege of j M whig it. He may wash his face for no-j MB;fcmg, but he must pay to wash his body, j ifcjfcjThe truth is, the bath has not yet become |flH|f. i pjHralar British institution. There are (probably millions of homes in which it is jj|»iqiu*te unknown, and millions of people who HI Jneyer think of taking a bath. No doubt PA-in 'of•' mv readers know Chateworth CT • Home, the stately and palatial residence of Wk- jtte Duke of Devonshire. ;It is one of the Da|l finest mansions in all England. Its spaci- -$£ <«M apartments are filled with priceless art ms treasures. Its exquisite gardens are ad- *%, Icrned with cascades and fountains. Yet jM Jffltil Queen Victoria stayed at Cbatsworth j*|J « the guest of the duke there was not a ml£* ? l_?^ bathroom vin the ' whole of the S pneely residence. Not long ago I was IP We of a party of colonial visitors at Chats- • fIW an d the present duke, who was W*M fPwly showing us over the house, laughktft* SST tolcl us thafc when he came into " is ff » *W possession nothing surprised him more fes '**•» to find there was only one bath fc& WBdif tEs was the state of things in the Hs homes cf the noble and the |«J*|| Wealthy, we can scarcely wonder at the ffl a 66 o* the bath in the humbler homes fjg -*ti;W»e?-greait, mass •of the people. But IS tt «ct St - remains that in Great Britain iS» u- - is not yet as commonly used as n<l <£ 1S m New Zealand. !o *£ilt 1H ', are 10ld ' and l doubt not correctly j||l: oW i that America is the land of oppor- £■ ISv les -' But let no young man believe HI 3* an - v country has a monopoly of the mMmof • life. They are everywhere. ivm ffV 8 nothm ? in the world so plentiful. ■H te \ 81 J me stran ge hallucination, some W& y - se lWiypnotißm, the great majority H l^_- e ? B ? unaWe to see or to sei/e the Wm Spnamtiea that lie thick around us. £_« ihe captain that signalled to HSv r P SReI: " For God ' s sake send us SW _iii'PPr" r BU PP Iv ha * gi ven out, and we f ;>: P," 1 d yng of thirst," and who received Mm E? tae .message: "Throw out your bucfm J_j' - w all arou nd you." His ship was HI 4v flge r on the ocean . but on the broad am Sr„^ 4 a . terß ° J the Amazon! So with op-:-Sf KTI ? : the y encompass us. All we aS M' t do is to throw out our buckets. ??E \£yr » few of tin have the sanity or ■ A j* ; fIE presence of mind to do it, $S i^ et a story bv wav of illustraS4- V t cw ."y ears a £° a youth arrived'in mk W«iK nd from th e Old Country. He mm S_l-K_^W' and Penniless, but believing B Bw'2 uld do better for himself in thi * B ~SZ T ? Home he had worked his I" nothing in the world -he plentiful. Jy some strange hallucination, some of self-hypnotism, the great majority seem unable to see or to sei/e the Unities that lie thick around us. » like the captain that signalled to er vessel: "For God's sake send us Our supply has given out, and we I dying of thirst," and who received the message: "Throw out your buc"is all around you." His ship was »ger on the ocean, but on the broad waters of the Amazon! So with op"ties: they encompass us. All we 10 do is to throw out our buckets. 'My a few of us have the sanity or «sence of mind to do it, »e tell a story bv way of illustra . A few years ago a youth arrived in Zealand from the Old Country. He "endless and penniless, but believing I could do better for himself in this I than at Home he had worked his ?« out. In a short time he managed n ? gh money to open a small shop IH J» »UHBgton, where he did so well that B « a due course able to take a trip m wand. When in London, wandering \M IiHSr 1 its crowded streets, it came home MM | with irresistible conviction that it WIS mtA^t • opportunities for anyone posWm l*Hh»«l-T cient pluck and resource, and IH •» m and then made up his mind to Hi *&& °l m the great city. He sold 6H «^« i„ Wellington and started in B way in London-one of |^^R^w^^ obscure and unknown as himiT^l»teest7 he is the head of one of the __»■*«» ?&& most successful business conh I j etro P° lis and is rolling in ffi(S% be secret of his success was s"* He merely.kept his eyes ll_^^aw l ft?* W n . opportunities came along BSPb'Wi? a ", d : was not afraid, to stretch Wih. hands and grasp em with an ;rr|fj|: Mercutio.