WOMEN OF THE FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21136, 19 March 1932, Page 19

WOMEN OF THE FUTURE.

BUSINESS AND SPORT. SOME NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS. It will be interesting to see if the names in the Who's Who among women in 1931 will be repeated in the Who's Who of years to come, for many of them are as stars shot up in a night, states a writer in a London paper. Youth has given many names. Will Madeleine Robinson, who won the coveted Rome Scholarship for Mural Painting surprise the world presently ? Will Jean Gordan, tho first official woman sales manager, who headed the list of 49 men in the examination of the Incorporated Sales Managers' Association while yet, in her early twenties, become the super businesswoman ? Will Miss M. C. Scrivens, the young girl who put up such a wonderful game against Mine. Mathieu at Wimbledon, fulfil her promise '! What of Wanda Morgan, who was the runner-up in tho ladies' golf open championship, only defeated by Enid Wilson, and who won the closed championship, defeating Mollie Gourlay ? What of Violet Webb, the 16-year-old hurdler, who set up a. new world's record of 12 seconds for tho 80 metres hurdles? Will they all go on from strength to strength ? Ihere is Dodie Smith. Few women dramatists have been really successful. Will "Autumn Crocus" have a popular j successor ? There is more hope for the ' advent of another play in that "Autumn ! Crocus" is not Dodie Smith's love-story. Most people can tell one story—their own ; ' Dodie Smith has imagined one, and it is ! therefore possible that she can imagine | another. Her friends expected her to ; "down tools" and go off to the south of France when the curtain first rang down ! on her success, but she went quietly on j with her business. Miss Jean Gordon, who astonished 49 men when she sat down with them to the examination of the Incorporated Sales Managers' Association, began as a secro- | tary. She made up her mind, however, that she did not want to spend all her life before a typewriter. She found that secretarial work gave her opportunity of learning business, and she was careful to keep her aims always before her and not allow herself to be swamped by someone elso's work. Selling and marketing of all kinds were extremely interesting to her, and she obtained experi- i ence "on the road" in selling advertising. A Woman Engineer. j Having leached the position of general 1 manager to her present firm, which trains j inon and women for the sellinc; world, she found that she had more or less to keep in tho background. People thought, if j they did not say: "What do you know i about it?" Because she wanted a definite j hall-mark she walked into the examinft- | tion room of tho sales managers, and was j cheered by them as the first woman to test j her knowledge. Another young woman who has broken ! ground for other women, and whoso name ! has been often on women's lips during tho ' past year, is Caroline Haslett. The year ; opened for her with a decoration from the j King in honour of her work for women j engineers. Tho International Illumina- | tiou Congress recognised it when they asked her—the first woman—to speak a't the public meeting in Glasgow. She stood side bv side with Sir Oliver Lodge and Sir I Josiah Stamp—again the only woman—to j bear witness to the results of Faraday's I work. When tho wives of the foremost j scientists of the world, who were in London for the British Association meeting and the Faraday Centenary, were honoured by the Forum Club, it was Caroline Haslett, an unmarried pro fessional woman, who presided. Madeleine Robinson, who won the year's Rome Scholarship, had promise of success in two careers. When a child, she won a reputation for acting, as "the Baby" in "Madame Butterfly." as "Lorraine in "Daddies" at the Hayrnarket when she j was eleven years old, as Betty in "Where the Rainbow Ends" and in other plays. She was an enthusiastic little actress, but the time came when she was too old for child parts and too young for older parts. A long wait of years faced her and she turned instead to develop the love of art which had always been with her. She would probably have earned a living at black and white work, but two scholarships won at the Royal Academy Schools, and finally the Rome Prize, left her free to study art seriously. Mrs. Gwenda Stewart made a world-re-cord in motor-car driving in 1931. She att.lined a speed of 140.47 miles per hour at Montlherv. She is the finest, track driver we have, and she is the last woman one would expect to see at the wheel of a racing car. She is small and slight and ! very shy. Women Athletes. Great things are expected of Miss Violet Webb, who at tlie age of sixteen set up a new world's record of 12 seconds for hurdles when she competed with her team in Germany. She is tall, and looks much older than her age. She works in the toy department of a West End store. She runs in the summer evenings on the track at Battersea Park or in the Paddington Rocreation Ground twice a week, but in winter finds it sufficient to spend one evening every week on athletics at the Polytechnic and (o play net-ball on Saturday afternoons. Joyce Cooper thinks that, swimming is not. sufficiently noticed in England, but it is certain that her exploits are recognised. The year after she, started to swim seriously, she won the Amateur Swimming Association' championship. Peggy Butler, who beat Fraulein Myer, the world champion in fencing, must, not he forgotten, and experts see a coming champion in Miss E. C. Arbuthnot. Billiards have claimed many women enthusiasms. The table in the Women's .Automobile and Sports Association Club house, which is the headquarters of the Women s Billiards Association, is never empty, and quite a number of older women players are playing a steady, excellent game. Thelnia Carpenter, who mado the amateur record this last year, is an extremely graceful player.