SOCIAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19488, 18 November 1926, Page 9

SOCIAL NEWS.

Miss M. Kissling has returned from a visit to Hamilton. . The Misses M. and V. Jackson have returned from a visit to Wellington. Mrs. John Salmon, who has been staying at the Hotel Cargen, has returned to Thames Mr. and Mrs. E. Coleridge are leaving Wellington to-day to spend a holiday in Auckland. Mrs. W. B. Colbeck, who has been on a visit to Wellington, returned home yesterday morning Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Day have arrived, from Wellington and are staying at Castlebar, Ivhyber Pass. Mr. and Mrs. W. Watson, of Wellington, are staying with Mrs. J. Watson, St. Stephen's Avenue, Parnell: The Hon. A. F Hawke and Mrs. Hawke, with their daughters, intend shortly to spend a month in Auckland. Although the percentage of males in the population of England is 47, among the blind the percentage of males is 51. This reversal of positions, revealed in a report made to the Ministry of Health by the Advisory Committee on the Blind, is attributed to the men being subject to greater risks in industry. The total of blind persons rose from 36,518 in 1923 to 42,140 in 1925, but the increase is explained by better registration. This, and improved expectation of life, leads the committee to predict a natural increase in the blind population of about 1800 every ten years. To make the best of herself at home, as well 85 abroad, is every woman's duty, according to Miss Irene Vanbrugh, says a writer in an exchange. But to take the "abroad" literally, she was equally emphatic on the need for really up-to-date clothes for a visit overseas. "It's the greatest mistake in the world," she told us, "to think that 'anything will do' for the colonies. The women in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa dress exceedingly well, and are therefore very critical of the clothes of new arrivals—and, incidentally, of acting, too!" she interjected. For the first time in history a woman has recently been granted the Board of Trade's certificate as a fully qualified sea-going engineer. She is Miss Victoria Drummond, and returned to England from Australia in the Holt liner Ancnises (10,000 tons), in which she has served as a ship's engineer. To get her certificate Miss Drummond made several trips to Australia in Holt Line boats, her first trip being in 1922. Miss Drummond is a god-daughter of Queen Victoria and a grand-daughter of Lord Amherst of Hackney, being the daughter of Captain and Mrs. Drummond, of Meginch, Perthshire.

Many attractions of particular interest to women were to be found at the Royal Show yesterday. These included the ladies' riding and jumping competitions and the march past of the Inter-House Girls' Sports' teams. Her Excellency Lady Alice Fergusson, who accompanied the Gov-ernor-General, wore a frock of jade green maroeain and a wide-brimmed hat in golden brown tagel straw, with a small green feather mount and a black 6atin wrap, lined with beige. Mrs. W. Perry, of Mastertori, wife of the president of the Royal Agricultural Society, and Mrs. W, W. Massey, wife of the president of tho Auckland Agricultural {Society, were seated in tho vice-regal box with Their Excellencies. -

: Many of the pearl divers of Japan are women. Along the coast of the Bay of Ago and the Bay of Kokasho girls, after they leave school, go to sea and learn to dive. .They spend most of their time in the water, except in the coldest saason —-from the end of December to-the beginning of February, They wear a special dress, with the hair twisted up into a hard knot. The eyes are protected by glasses to prevent the entrance of water. A boat in command of men is assigned to every fivo or ten women divers to carry them to and from the fishing grounds. When the divers arrive on the grounds they leap into the water at once, and begin to gather oysters at the bottom. The oysters are dropped into tubs suspended from their waists. When these are filled the divers are raised to the surface and taken back into the boats. They dive to a great depth without any special apparatus, and retain their breath from one to three minutes. Their ages vary from thirteen to forty years, and between twenty-five and thirty-five they are at their prime.