LONDON CHAT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10417, 22 March 1912, Page 3

LONDON CHAT.

[Fiiom Out Lady Coiuikspomikn-t.] February 2

Official Kitchen Inspector is the title bestowed on an American woman functionary of whose creation as such I wroto some months ago, and who has boon engaged by the Health Department of Ohio to inspect tho kitchen departments of all hotels, inns, restaurants, eto., of the State. A woman food inspector, whose duty it is to see. that tho law, which forbids dealers to display food uncovered, is not violated, has also been appointed in Tacoma, a largo town in Washington.

It has remained for •women to din- ; cover a way of outwitting the Censor — j that inconsistent individual who last , week distinguished himself by prohibit- ' tug threo plays within seven days, I though, later, ho rescinded lps verdict with regard to one. "The Corona- j tkm" a comedy based on an imaginary Kine, in a mythical country and a mythical period, and with, so far as any critics since its production have been able to find, nothing offensive, destructive or dangerous in its whole composition, was to have been given a few days ago in aid of the International Suffrage Shop-—an establishment that stocks suffrage pamphlets.pictures, etc., etc. The writers were Miss Christopher St John and Mr Chnrles Thursby, and all was goiilg well at rehearsals aiid in the box office, where hundreds of seats liad been disposed of, till the Censor stepped in and banned the performance. Matters looker! very black when a brilliant idea suddenly presented itself to the suffragettes. Rather than accept tho Lord Chamberlain's ban the promoters decided to make every subscriber for seats a member of the Coronation Society. This Society will be able n6W to produce any play in future as the performance of a private Society. Norwegian legislation appears to be one of tho worthiest in tho world, Bince a law has just been passed by the Storthing whioh admits women to almost all public offices in the State and, this is specially worth of note--on exactly the same terms as men. No woman, however, may sit in the Cabinet or undertake ecclesiastical appointments or military or diplomatic duties. The new law, however, a contemporary states, tlirows open to women the judiciary and the whole of the legal profession, the police and fire departments, all municipal appointments, the medical service, and such posts among tho clergy as are not directly under the State. The Storthing being Norway's Single Chamber, this law cannot be reversed by any superior authority. The Holiday Home for working girls purchased by tho Queen out or the "Mary Fund." subscribed to her Majesty by the Marys of the Umpire as a Coronation gift, "is to be ready for its first inmates in April. Queen Mary has herself mapped: out its management and will probably inspect it m person before her guests arrive. The girls, it has been decided, will be selected from amongst tho poorest members of the girls' clubs affiliated to the London Each party will consist of fourteen girls, and each girl will er JJ°y fu weeks' rest in the house. There will be facilities for indoor amusements, and the big,'picturesque garden.will be theirs for games and recreation. It is intended that the house, if ,possib' p • Bhall be kept open throughout the year. . , t ' Miss Helen Gould is not only one ot the wealthiest of American women but, at the same time is one of/ 1 ) 0 mo6t philanthropic. She is a qualified nurse, and is coming to England short)v to make a study of routine work m London's great hospitals aild other ehafitable institutions. A good storv is told of lier answer to a poor child "she was entertaining bv showing her over tho treasures of her beautiful home. The child pointed to a very fine statue of Minerva, inquiring whom it represented. Then tlio Child asked if Minerva was married. ■ No, replied Miss Gould, "she wns the Goddess of Wisdom." • A Womon's Labour Collego it is hoped will be the outcome of a movement begun to found an institution for women on similar lines to the Central Labour Collego for Men at Earl s Court. At tho latter tho students do all their own housework, cooking, etc. Till the Women'b College is an accomplished fact women students will probably attend classes at the men's school. Hie subjects of Study will bo economic and socml problems, and the aims of tho authorities will be to bind the college closely to the Labour movement and trade unions. A proposal is before tho London County Council asking it to approvo the following new by-lawXo male person, unless dulv authorised by tho London County Council, shall mount or attempt to mount onv tramcar which is run and reserved by x tho London County Council on its tramways for female persons only, and on which ft notice to that effect is conspicuously exhibited."

The Forewomen's Society is a body which, as its title suggests, lias boon sot going with the object of making cooperation possible lnvtwoou forewomen and tho factory girls under them. The Society is taking practical interest in tho social conditions which modify factory women's work, especially in the evils of drinking and gambling, and in the hick of proper recreation and good reading in tho factory comnnlnitv. Women hall 'porters are now employed in 3ereral large hotels in Sweden. News from Borne early this wed? stated that Mrs Mary Rodney 'Morgan, of Rover, has just died there, at tho advanced'ago of ninety-four. She was tho last- survivor of the little band ■of nurses who went throueji tho Crimean war with Florence Nightingale. A now Kthr has arisen among playwrights, and that a young and charming woman, wo are told, whose first play, " Rutherford and Son," produced this week, has aroused, wvory critic to admiration. Tho play, which is a study of " tho parental machine," has been dono, the authoress explains, simply at odd times." and Miss Soworby has had no previous experience of stage technique. The woman who can't talk about motors and their little waya is not " in it" nowadays. And to the feminine mind traditionally unfit to cope with mathematics, many things connected with engines are "wrapt in mystery.'' Tkit if simplicity of explanation is to count towards initiating women into the way that wheels go round, the handy little inexpensive " .Motor Manual," now in its 200 th thousand, should ro far to make our sex understand tno complex petrol engine. To take one point alone; it was only on reading through the very lucid ex- j planation given in this manuaj that the j writer really could form a mental pic- : t.uro of tho four-cycle period involved ! by tho piston's motion in the cylinder. ! And as that is the fundamental action of tho petrol engine, lucidity in that! connection is just whnt is wanted. But ! this is only one of a number of excel- ] lencii's the manual »essc«fs. . .. v V- >•' V t T