MODESTY: MOCK OR REAL

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14095, 29 December 1909, Page 7

MODESTY: MOCK OR REAL

(To the Editor.)

Sir, — The other day I read in your paper a paragraph from a "fair reader," who complained about men s and * boys watching ladies disport themselves among the "combers" on the beach near the Te Henui. Why this com|laint? Surely the" fair ones have their Bathing costumes on! So what's the odds? But,, seeing that the fair ones object, the men folk, out of courtesy, should evade the "saefed precincts 1 ? of Te Henui beach, and allow the gentile bathers to gambol 'mid the spray unwatched by prying eyes. 'Tis the other objection that brought my. pen into play — the masculine cry Qf despair from the manly chtfst of one of the sterner sex I -He laments that ladies promenade the beach when men are indulging in their watery sport. § Poor chap ! My first squery comes in again : Surely, he h*a his swimming gear onP But perhans he objects \4bo vie fair ones admiring his manly brm, and blushes profoundly as he funks of his shrinking body tinder the parkling eyes of a feminize v wa\ker! 1 this modest bather is so sensitive to he gaze of the opposite sex, why not »atronise the baths? It would be beter than depriving fair onlookers of the jright of "manly" bathers battling with fh\e breaking surf. The writer has often, sat and watched bathers for long periods |n the surf— it is a healthy occupation, and" interesting. Given a bathing shed in which to dress and undress, and regaled in proper attire, neither thefair nor stern sex have a right to complain of Toms" 1 What's good for the jjpose if good lot the ggnderr Those who object should go to the batb.s, though they are situated in an obscure and distant spot, and not as handy as one would have thought with such a beach as New Plymouth has got. Why the baths were put so far away from the centre of the town goodness knows. Perhaps some of your readers 1 could tell raeP Maybe., -a councillor!. There ire one or two things that strike a stranger to New Plymouth as queer, but oi these anon, the baths being so far away is the one- 1 have mentioned first, and perjians the .cause of the present growl frW both sides, — I am. etc.. x. *• "PEEPING TOM*" 1