FEMININE FANCIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 165, 15 August 1908, Page 6

FEMININE FANCIES.

Facts are stubborn tilings.— The following is a letter written to the "Otago Daily Times," and signed "Traveller": "A few weeks ago I visited lnvercargill, and can speak authoritatively ol the drunkenness which goes on among the youths of Ifcvercargill, both m regard to outside . and inside drinking. In the footsteps of no-license ■ has followed the introduction of the two-gallon keg. This means a cheaper and easier method of getting liquor, and naturally it is the means which wins the approval of all But the pity of it is that the two-gallon keg has not been confined only to those well advanced m j'ears, but it has now become the custom of hundreds of youths, many of them of an age which would prevent them being supplied with drinkin a well-conducted hotel, to obtain, their two-gallon keg of beer. The young fellows combine m parties of six and eight, each contributing his share to* the comjnon fund. In the afternoon the eldest of the party buys a keg and secretes it m one of the town reserves, or stakes it to a crib, which signifies a - room, or rooms , y where the young fellows gather for amusement. On the evening of those days in_which/ a keg is bought disgraceful scenes are enacted and evil practises are performed. The most sinister feature of all is that the. incoming xrf the'two-gal-lon keg has engendered the custom of drinking beer among the youths. This custom will k grow into a habit, which will develop into a vice. Such condition^ .do not prevail m a well-regulated licensed town. In short, no-license is striking \at the '"very foundation of the moral integrity of "the youth of Invexcargill.", .This is a hasty pill for the • no-license Party to have to swallow, as they are continually holding up invercargilL and Ash'ourtbh' as the model townships, and a> living testimony of what no-license will do. . And indeed it should show us what no-license will do for us, and prove" v a warning to every levelheaded, thinking perslHU

Mr Wilford touched the root of many people's misery when he declared that it was absurd to live a champagne life on a beer income.

•That no woman need call • herself defenceless whilst m the possession of her hat pin is illustrated by the following: Two girls living m the neighborhood of Kaiwarra were returning home from the theatre one night last week .when, on leaving the tram at the Ksplanade, they noticed they were being followed by. .a man. The girls, thinking that perhaps i the man was ; only going m the same ■• direction as themselves, started to run, I when their suspicions were confirmed by. the man immediately joining chase.* Finding that they would assuredly" be> caught, the road being a lonely one and; •np one within sight, they held, a. hurried consultation, and decided that if the : man molested them they would use the best weapon at their . command— their . hatpins. They slowed down, \and in.' due course the man overtook them. Patching the f tallest of the two girls : round the neck, he remarked what fools | they were to run, and had almost forced ] her to the ground, when her companion plunged her hatpin through the thick' part of his leg from' the back. Almost, at the same instant, the other girl, getting her uand free, forced her weapon; into his abdomen,, and shrieking out, , ;^'My God! I'm stabbed," he, fell to the: ground moaning and groaning whilst the girls hastily made their escape.

Mrs Hetty Green, who is the richest woman m the world next to Mrs Kussell Sage, has, at the age of seventy, suddenly .left a dingy flat m Heboken,; where she lived with her daughter and; dog for 6s per day for a £80 per month flat m the Hotel Plaza, New York, where her hills are more than/ £25 per day. Instead of buying a daily supply of ice, she . was accustomed to., place her jug of milt (one quart lasted her three days), on the window sill to cool. Her one extravagance was lace curtains to ex--elude the gaze of the curious. "Sakes alive," she ccied as a maid-servant entered the room'' at the hotel, "you're the fifth I've seen here' to-day. What do you folks- find to do." "We answer calls, madam," said the maid. '^Vcll, my- dear," the. millionairess retorted, "Hetty Green can wait on herself, thank goodness."— "The Mail/

A fortnight ago everybody was indignant at the way the hooligans Avere allowed to obtain and keep possession of the streets, and pelt balls of solid sleet at the ladies, who were returning home from the Opera House. It was brought up m arid the Minister for Justice has looked into the matter and; procured a report on the subject. This is the official - version : A number of! youths and men, apparently of respectable class assembled together and indulged m humorous snowballing. The police used their utmost endeavors to check'the trouble and disperse the crowd, but their efforts were unavailing owing to the number of people assembled, who bombarded them with hail balls from all sides, and it was practically impossible to obtain" evidence upon which'to prosecute." It would be as well if the authorities recognised the fact that is very patent, that unless the hooligan is mastered, he will' become master. Then what sort 'of a position should we -be, m? Sydney Was) terrorised" by her larrikins for many years, and now and then there crops up an odd case. But Melbourne put them down from the staTt ; she gave them a taste of -the "cat," and that settled it, for every hooligan or larrikin is a coward at heart. If one policeman is unable to cope with them, which is very evident, then it is high time there were m/jre men drafted into the force. That they are much needed is ! proved by the fact that whenever a constable is wanted to preserve law and order m a fight or brawl, the damage is done and the olienders escape betore one can. be hunted "up. ~ * •■• ' '■- : • ' ' '.• V '••■ .' An amusing incident occurred m the. back stalls of the Opera Housei one night last week. A lady refused to remove her hat, which was obstructing the vision of those immediately behind her. "Take your 'at off, please Miss." The petitioner was regarded .with a haughty stare. "Gor blime me, next time / yer come leave yer fowl . at home" (the lady wore a bird int her hat). Her male companion advised her to remove the objectionable headgear and so save further trouble, but the lady was firm. She would not. When the curtain had." been rung up and the lights lowered, a stick guided from the back pushed the hat over the wearer's eyes. Indignantly she withdrew the pins and took off her hat. "Thanks very much," said one voice. "She's got some consideration," says another. "Consideration, be d — -ti ; she's afraid her fake .hair 'll come undene," commented a third. There was a general titter, arid the lady's face turned scarlet.

The John. Oliver Hobbs Memorial Committee having raised a sum m memory of Mrs Cragie, the authoress who wrote under that name, have founded a scholarship m modern 'English literature at University ■ Coltege, London, where Mrs Craigie was a student. In the general library of the University College a medallion has/ been placed, which was unveiled by Lord Curzon on July Ist. The life, of. the novelist was as interesting and as curious as any of her heroines. She. was the daughter of a wealthy American manufacturer and contracted a most unhappy marriage, but later on freed herself from that and became a convert to the Church of Rome. She was, besides being one of the most successful of novel writers, a most charming ami interesting wq^

man — a woman who had her .sister women's interests always at -heart.

How is this for flap-doodle ? One ol the dailies describing the : Parliamentary trip m the train to Auckland said : "Nature joined hands with the Government to ifiake .the trip, so far, a triumph of suc-i cess." This is equal to saying r Stag© Manager God amalgamated with Sir Joe to make the trip to meet the [Yankees a success. On Sunday morning one of the Yankee tars had been ashore, and on his return his comrades crowded round him ■demaixd-' ing the morning papers. "They don't publish Sunday morning- papers m Auckland,"* was the reply, whereat great surprise was expressed. ."Say, now," naively queried one of the group, "How do' > "the Auckland people get their news on Sunday ?.'?• J t ■'■•.■' ' •.., ■.■-.* ■ . • - •,. ' . ■-■ - The lady hockey players are increasing to .siich an "extent that the . Governing Association find it difficult to procure grounds to accommodate all the matches. . The Mayor stated last week at a meeting of the Association that the Kelburne and Anderson parks Avill be! ready fot next season and promised to try arid find room on Newtown Park. Gjteat interest is" created by the coming tournament,- -the entries for which close oh the ; 19th. There is a .^possibility of holding^ jthe tourney at Athletic Park, where four matches -a day could be played. * * ■ '.'■"*'' ; .' ' .'" The Judge m divorce may -have been said to,, have had his busy .day last . Friday -weclc when no fewer- -than, nine petitions for divorce were heard. The sole cause of one petition was that- the wife left her } husband on account of the;, loneliness of the place they presided. "Korbkoro." ■ •: • i;/ / *■ -■ i' '** *■■■■ " : ■ ■ * ■■'■ *■ '■ ■■'■ Her sense of gratitude : 'A few days ago ; a lady was . shopping .iii Lambt6n Qjuay and dropped- her purse containiog £14. It was picked up by an honest man, who found the owner, per .medium of advertisement. The lady was so .. delightefl .at „the: recovery of what" she had . lost . that She offered to give the finder ss. for his trouble. However, he .declined the magnificent gift 'and suggested that she might donate one. of the: recovered pounds, to the hospital and defray the advertising expenses. The lady., however-, had no interest .. iii hospitals', but-sa id * l she should certainly send the finder a present foe. Ais trouble. In due Course, the present afriveil m the ;iprm of the ' purse which contained the money (empty, of course). It was a cheap -imitation affair and cost about' two shillings when new. But since he has been presented with the bill for v eighteen- : pence for the advertisement he wishes ' he bad left the purse where it lay for some other lucky person to pick up. ,

Already the Yankee visitors 1 are getting bored by the childish and frivolous questions asked by the excited Aucklarider re the display m honor of their Visit. So much so that one officer on Monday, was asked by an-Auckland land lubber^who; was viewing the ship, 'if the Admiral had; gone 1 off ?" "Gone off." he retortedsuavely, "No, but Gee Whiz," I : guess he will when he see' those decorations'." Of course, it was expected that the -trades-; people would dp all m : their power to in- i duce the Yankee dollar to pass their way. But one would hardly expect that this spirit would extend as far as the '"booby ; hatch." But it. seems that the guardians , : of Law and Order hoped to increase their Wiz. also, for prominently displayed above the portals of the pplice -station was a* sign upon which was inscribed . m glowing letters the word "Welcome." This.' surely, is an indication of the hysterical state of the Aucklanders when \even»the> Law loses its head.

A Woman's Age : Suppose it were customary for every woman to tell her age. Imagine, ;i ,if ... you can, the pandemonium that wofild Tpreyail^ if Parliament 'decreed that every Woman of forty, "for ..instance, should garb herself m "brown." and : every woman of fifty m black. A woman's age is a sacred subject— at least, m some countries.. No man would dare to ask afair acqiiaintance how many summers" shehad seen?.> That is^ no maii would dare to f do it outside Morocco- Yet that is a country where women" have no compunction about tolling a stranger how- old they are. In fact, 'they indicate their ages by the colors and modes of their dress. Vir-. tiially, they shout their age ' from the" housetops. In Japan it is the social law that every woman shall dress, according to-; her age. As a young girl she disports herself m the "colors' of the rainbow, -ahu' then" she is charming, , by the. way. As. she advarces m years the colors' fade, -and, strange jto tell, dt is her amibltipn to reach this condition. She rejoices m her youth only because -youth insists m rejoicing ;.' secretly she , pines for the time when she can wear ' plaijp. black and cut off her hair. This she does when she is v approaching three score, which, and not her hair, is considered her crown of * glory .—=''Au'strala'sian."- . ,: '■ ■. s , - ... •;. : '.. * r\ * <v ' ; It is on record that a few weeks ago a young lady refused "to recognise, the word "obey" m the marriage ceremony. Here are a few remarks on that subject .by that . clever American philosopher, JBlbert Hirb'baocd :— " Women should not o-bey men' any more than men should obey women. There are six requisites m every happy marriage ,", the. flrst is faith .-and^ the remaining five v are confidence.' Nothing so compliments a man. as for a woman to believe m him— nothing so pleases a woman as'for a man to place confidence m her? 4 Obey ! Gotl help me! Yes, if I loved 1 ; a : ; woman mv whole heart's desire would ; he to obey her slightest wish,. And how. cou^d I love her unless >had perfect confidence that she would only aspire to Svhat was beautiM, true and right ■? And to enable her tu . realise this idea), her wish would be to me a sacred command ; and her attitude of mind towards me 1 know, would ,-»be the same., And the only rivalry between us would be as to who could love the most ; and the desire to obey would,? be the one controlling impulse , of our 1 ives. We gain freedom by, giving .it, and--he who bestows faith gets it back with: interest. To bargain and stipulate m iove is to lose. The woman ,/who stops the marriage ceremony, antlretfuests tne .niinjj ister to omit the word 'obey, 1 is sowin;?the first seed of doubt and distrust that later may come to fruition, in the Divorce Court. Perfect faith implies, perfect love, and perfect love casteth out fear; It is always the fear of imposition arid^a lurking intent to rule that causes The wp-^ man to haggle, over a word^i^. is absence^ of love, a limitation^ -an lncapdcity. The; price of a perfect love is an absolute and complete surrender;" y-$.' r •£,, " ;■■