FOR WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18547, 3 November 1923, Page 6 (Supplement)

FOR WOMEN.

I DRIFTWOOD. -H. " f& mr VIVIEN. : Perhaps no more urgently needed reform, no more humane proposition has •ever been under consideration by officers «f Church or State in New Zealand than the suggested establishment of "half-way'* institutions to take charge of those pitiful examples of human wreckage which. arc fit cases neither for prison nor mental hospital, but which nevertheless are in desperate need of kindness and tender care and sympathetic treatment. So many there are of them—poor human derelict*, flotsam and jetsam cast up by the tide, broken bits of driftwood tossed hither and thither on tho stormy sea of life. A helping hand, an act of loving sympathy, a word of tender understanding might have saved them once from going down into the depths, but the world found it easier to give them blows instead of kindness, cruelty instead of justice, hardness and coldness and callous indifference instead of love and pity. Some no doubt are utterly degenerate, hopelessly unbalanced, or morally and spiritually depraved. But some are merely the unloved, the unwanted, the- outcast of the world, more sinned against than sinning, more 'deserving of pity than of censure. Some again are at least' no worso than many who move freely about their daily afairs in the outride world, but who have merely been fortunate enough not to be found" out in their misdemeanours, or clever enough to do nothing which could actually put them within reach of the long arm of the law. And some there may even be among these human derelicts who are more worthy of respect, better entitled to honour and reverence, capable of greater love and heroism, of finer motives and nobler self-sacrifice than manv of the happy,, prosperous, out wardlv honourable and respected men and women who scorn and condemn them. For in the words of Oscar Wilde, "the treat sins of the world take place m the bran."' and we are none the less bars or hvpocrites, sinners or criminals, saints or martyrs, heroes or philanthropists because th- worid does not happen to know the real truth concerning us. A few of us in the busv outside, world have been tried and proved: some of us have been tried and found wanting: but the great majority of us have never been tried at all We are rood chiefly from force of habit, from lack of opportunity to be anything else, from the sheer absence ot motive or incentive or temptation. Thus when a man is happy and prosperous and successful, he finds it easy to condemn hi? Fellow-man for theft. ea.> »u feel comfortably certain that he himself could never sink so low as to steai a loaf of bread for his starving children Again. when a woman is happily married, secure , in the safety of her own homo ana tne love and.protection of her husband, how dare she condemn, what, ri<rht has she to sit in judgment on the follies and sins of -•' her fellow-women, battling alone and ; .unaided, maybe against terrible odds, in 5 the great world, or fighting a lone. bard. ' bitter fight against horrors and trans and : t temptations of which the other knows r nothing «liat*»v«»r? * And it is on, the ; women" that judgment is always hardest, j *'' If a man. driven desperate by grief of ' worrv. plunges into wild excesses or inli discretions, the world says pityingly, % "Poor fellow! he takes thimr* very S hard! " But if a woman in like "case ", seeks similar relief, it pours upon her the v bitterest scorn and contempt and def rision. The world has no use. no time *% for unhappy people, least of all for unrf happy women. t Ah yes W<v,. judge, we condemn, we -* are loud in oiirniJenunciation of the w'eak- <• ness and cowardice which drive a hunted " human beinT to take refuge at last-in £ flight, in wild excesses or dissipation, in <* moral degradation or even in suicide. But « what do we really know of the trials and : ? difficulties and temptations that sur■X rounded them? Are we surf that we our- '■*■■ selves under similar conditions, would ' have done better, that ourselves under i". like circumstances could have fought even ■S as well, or as hard* or as long as they? '• Are we cortrn-i that ours Has nevr h»en •v the responsibility of refusing the helping V hand that misfit have dragged a humin ' soul out of the blackness of despair, the » fender understanding that would have "' healed a wound, the word of sympathy '. that world have comforted a breaking '- heart? Have we never left a desperate ;' creature struggling in the quicksands, '« never turned a deaf ear to a cry for "heir, * foe sympathy, for justice, for understand* *; ing. never given instead the final push . that thrust a drowning creature down into .i the dark waters?

F»>- when faith is dead and love lies . bleeding', when trust is withered nnd hope forever blasted, when belief in God and » man is suddenly and utterly extinguished, . when honour and respect, love and friend- | ship seem all alike to have proved empty *■• husks, when the fires of ambition are for- <= ever quenched and the blaze of desire IS % burnt to ashes, when the worn spirit is v so exhausted that nothing matters, noth- -,. ing , holds, nothing seems any longer -( worth while, aid the fevered brain keeps • on whispering, " This will finish it, this ii, will be the end !"what under such con.4 ditions is to prevent the best of us as j* well as the worst of us from taking the -• refuge in flight, the leap into blackness, r' the plunge into the abyss that will at _ least mean escape from a struggle too % awful to be longer borne, an agony too .> great to be longer endured ? .-. Truly, to any one of us there may come ■' a day when we too crouch on our tiny % strip of sand, watching with shrinking horror while the tide creeps in closer and closer all around us, and the botH tliai .;• might have saved us passes us by. To any one of us there may come a day when 5- wo too stand shuddering on the edge of the precipice, gazing down with fascinated v.- eyes at the whirling vortex that draws .-: us, draws us because we have no longer v the energy, the will-power, the de»ire to resist the impulse. If such a time should v over come and no; human hand he held .' out to save us, how can we be sure tnat we . too will not leap blindly, recklessly, -defiantly into the whirlpool, to be' dashed to pieces on the rocks or swept out, a tiny - hit of drift-wood, to float aimlessly on the sea of life?

THE ART OF LEISURE. In the recent biography of a popular novelist and busy mother a rare and attractive characteristic is shown, observes a writer in an exchange. It is said that, however occupied she might be, the novelist never allowed callers to obtain the impression that she was hurried or engaged. If one came to her for sympathy or advice, she would always find that the busy worker had leisure to share her thoughts.

Ono may set up in contrast the hostess, whom we 'all know, who is so busy with her finicking preparations that she has little thought and less leisure to give to the guest she has invited to her home. It is a talent akin to genius to do tho work of a house and look as if you do nothing— with leisure always for a friend. It is a talent that some enviable women possess.

My Lady of Leisure has made in her home an atmosphere of peace. Her rooms are serene; small, perhaps, but with a broad horizon. Her home leflects herself. It makes one remember the things worth while, and forget the petty things that wound. There is space in her room, and sunshine; and after sunset the restful renewal of the —which the hurried never know.

Only a gieat heart can hold rich leisure. Only the mind self-disciplined— remeiu her and forget. So my Lady of Leisure allows time lor the stillness in which alone one can receive the best. In that stillness she gains tho power of concentration. When she is no longer alone— when others demand her attentionshe still keeps that power, and with it the invaluable faculty of letting go. The busy doer of good deeds who never has a minute to spare misses the source of understanding and sympathy. In her fear that the machinery of her little world will stop if she leaves off doing she sacrifices the leisure which means strength and beauty. ._; In this paradoxical world it is necessary to labour before one can know rest. .Laziness means stagnation—death. Bui leisure is on the bjgh read to life. Only by the cultivation of leisure is sympathy possible. We can never see with other*' eyes until we have allowed leisure to develop vision. The deepest life is lived through fellowship. Without leisure we only touch its surface. It is worth working for; for through it.the beauty of the world is enhanced. The art of leisure is also the science for the care of souls.

THE VALUE OF SPINACH. — *0 —— Vegetable entrees are much appreciated in summer, when the appetite requires tempting, and spinachcooling to the blood and more, easily digested than most green vcgctales—-is specially useful as a spring tonic.

It is famous for its iron, being . approximately equal to egg yolk in that respect. And since iron is necessary to make red blood corpuscles its importance is realised. Anemic or not, all the family will be better for this vegetable once or twice a week in the menus,. Not always just plain, but made into soup, souffles and creamy au gratin. Use it as a foundation on which to s>rve broiled cubes of veal or a veal chop with the meat gravy. This is one of tho most delicious dishes known and is very popular in France.

Spinach and Maravoni: A new suggestion to make a one dish luncheon or dinner is to line the bottom of a buttereo. baking dish with well-cooked macaroni, then add a layer of drained spinach and season with celery salt, salt and paprika. Continue alternating layers until the dish is full. Have the top layer of macaroni. Lav strips of baron across tho top. completely covering it. Bake in a fairly hot oven "for about, twenty-five minutes, until the bacon is crisp. For on© can of &i>inach use about one and a half cups of macaroni (uncooked). Drain the- juico from tho spinach and use it for soups or sauces.

Spinach Patties:— you make with an ordinary spinach puree. Drain the cooked and' nicely seasoned spinach very dry. then moisten with cream, ana add a suspicion of nutmeg. Now take as mar.v "little puff pastry cakes as you require, till with puree, cover with scrambled eggs, heat in the oven, and serve on a lace paper doyley as a savoury. .

Spinach 1W ;srs.—Weed out and take the thick stalks off 41b. of spinach, throwit into j'enty of cold water, add a handful of salt, and leave it to soak for thirty minutes. Then rinse well in several waters, and drain and be:' in salted water with a little soda until the spinach is slippery to the touch. Wring in a cloth, then mash in a basin with enough white sauce to make a puree. Now to J pint of puree add three yolks of eggs and one tablespoonful of flour. Stir over the fire until rather thick, then, when (old, form iuto tiny cakes { inch thick. Dip in frying' batter and fry in ; boiling lard" until brown and crisp, and serve on a dish covered with a lace paper doyley.

EGYPTIAN BRIDES. «»i ■ ■ In ; Efjypfc the ordinary marriage takes place at a very early ago. Many of the brides arc little mote than ten years old and few have passed 16 on their wedding day (states a contemporary). Egyptian bachelors are rare, for public opinion considers it disreputable for a man to remain single onco he has reached the marrying age. The actual ceremony is simplicity itself. It is performed before two witnesses by a tiki— is, ono who recites the Koran The husband never sees his wife-to-be before the wedding night, all matters, in eluding that of tho dowry, being arranged for him. Where the bride is a woman who lias not previously been married, there are great festivities, which, in the case of the upper classes, may last as long as 11 days and nights. These rejoicings are timed to end on the eve of either Friday or Monday. The bride is then conveyed in procession to the bridegroom's house, accompanied by her female friends, musicians, and entertainers. . . Women are regarded as strictly inferior in households where the old customs are still in vogue. They do not sit in the presence of their lord, but attend him at his meals. The mother is tho only woman who enjoys anything approaching equality, although true companionship between husband and wife exists in certain circumstances. Divorce is an easv matter. The husband has but to say, " Thou art divorced," and when this is repeated three times the separation is complete and the dowry returned. .... Egvptian men exhibit a great liking for European women. Not only do they believo that marriage with them heightens their prestige, but they also know that the white wife retains her beauty and charm much longer than the Egyptian, who is past her best at 20. The European woman by the act of marrying & Mahommedan is held to have embraced the Moslem faith and must be ready to accept the position of inferiority .which women hold under that religion.