EMANCIPATED WOMAN

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1930, Page 13 (Supplement)

EMANCIPATED WOMAN

DIPLOMAT OF THE EAST

(By

"Michael.”)

The success of the modern woman in the field of sport has been brought to the ken of even the most staid conservatives in the quietest towns imaginable by means of the daily newspapers. Over the last few years perhaps more feats of these "lithe goddesses” with their "debonair smiles,” ‘‘boyish heads,” and “winsome feminity” have captured the public imagination more than ever before. In these days when our papers run columns on the gravity of the unemployment position and the foolishness of the Government over the Arapuni affair, it is a pleasant relaxation to find, on the next page perhaps, the romances of some Diana who, although she has just flown the Atlantic or led an expedition to the upper reaches of the Amazon, is still, we arc assured, afraid of mice.

Because we hear more of these wonderful girls as time goes on, we are inclined to think they are a product of j,ust the last generation. But from time immemorial, women have played the greatest roles in liistory. The various queens of England, the patron Saint of France, and the women of Greek mythology all -played leading parts in the doings of their times. There have been women pirates and women pioneers; fortunately more of the latter. The grand old ladies, many of whom are still living in our young country, who gave up the luxuries of comfortable homes to follow their men to these tiny and distant isles—they...had .no time for sport. But in their calm courage and unfailing practicability they were perhaps more than the equal of the modern Miss who out-swims, out-shoots, out-flies and out-rides her male companions. But, if we arc to believe our grandfathers, the, lady pioneers too. lor the most part, were afraid of mice! Which brings me to my subject, Gertrude Bell. This lady has been described as one of the greatest women of all time . . . and how, many of us arc familiar with her doings? TJie High Commissioner of Iraq in the official notification of her death in 1926 wrote; “She had for the last ten years of her life consecrated all the indomitable fervour of her spirit and all the astounding gifts of her mind to the, service of the Arab cause, and especially to Iraq. At last her body, always frail, was broken ■by the energy of her soul ...” This lady, whose exploits the younger of us have not heard, was an explorer, mountaineer, authoress and oriental secretary; she was an exceptional woman with unusual gifts, poy-et and .personality, Whether she was afraid of the fearsome-iiaous# w.eido ~not know, biit her letters prove her to have been, not of a mannish type but a perfectly normal woman who took an interest in her clothes and kept pace with fashion in spite of the difficulties, built a garden around her wherever she was settled long enough, and had the most devoted love of and for her family. The tales of her life have been brought to mind bv an announcement that, as a memorial to her, a British School of Archaeology is .to, -be.-..founded in Iraq, Already £15,*00(1 oK‘tlie’‘required £'20,000 has 'been collected by her friends, and her South African acquaintances are contributing towards the remainder. Gertrude Bell was the daughter of Sir Hugh Bell of Yorkshire. When younger she was a keen and haidy mountaineer, and her desire to conquer difficulties led 'her to try peaks in Switzerland that had not been previously scaled. As she wrote to her father iii- 1901 :.!“What)/do .y.otr think of,. cur fortnight's bag? Two old Spyen new.,peaks, .' The traverse of the Engclhorn, also new and first class. That s not -bad going, is it?” ;

■She. then became imbued 'with the spirit of the East. “The East has wound itself round my heart, she wrote, “till I don’t know which is me and which is it.” In 1906 she wrote a brilliant book, “The Desert aiid the Sown? and, in 1910, it was followed by ‘‘Amurath to Amurath.” In the latter archaelogical and topographical research plays an important part. She carried out, in/l()13, hey bold .scheme of crossing the Arabian peninsula from west to east, and visiting the -Shanimar stronghold at Hayil to which no European had penetrated for 20 years. The ■ spirit with which she met the discomforts and dangers of the journey, her meetings with sheikhs and the cotlee drinking ceremonies together with the jby of historical finds in buildings and inscriptions, give an insight into her radiant personality.

The knowledge she possessed through her journeyings in Asia Minor, Arabia, and Persia in quest of archaelogical treasures was most extensive both as regards the country, the people, and, in.deed, the politics. This knowledge was drawn upon by the British Government in the critical stages of the Alesopotamiun campaign, and in the work of administrative construction which followed the expulsion of the Turk. Her long acquaintance with the tribes and sheikhs made her advice in the recurring crises of tribal affairs invaluable, while her vitality and width of culture made her house a focus of all that was best in both European and Arab society in Bagdad. She proved a connecting link between the British and Arab races, without which there would have been dislocation of public busine«<s and private amenities. Her work was of great volume and enormous importance. “I’ve gone 'back now to the wild feeling of joy of existence,” she wrote in 1922 in the middle of strenuous work, “I’m happy in feeling that I’vc got the love and confidence of the whole nation.” And' she had. A British viceadmiral drew a caricature of her at an Oriental party and penned below:-— "From Trebizond to Tripoli She rolls the Pashas flat. And tells them what to think of this, And what to think of that.” In 1923 Gertrude Bell began to accomplish one of her great desires, the founding of the Iraq museum in Bagdad, for which she undertook the responsibility of the arrangements of the rooms, as Hon. Director of Antiquities. In gratitude, King Faisal, whose selection was mostly due to her influence, and the Government’ of Iraq, ordered that the principal wing should bear her name. In the midst of her activities, four years ago last July, she died peacefully in her sleep.

'The career of this active and successful British diplomat was varied -and exciting. She did what Lawrence did a rear or so later. Surely she did her ■part in adding to the laurels of the Emancipated womans