KINDLY WORDS

Waipa Post, Volume 52, Issue 3705, 10 January 1936, Page 5

KINDLY WORDS

in a tour of New Zealand which she describes as one of the most enjoyable experiences of her life, Madame Marsi, who has been “mothering” the. youthful members of the Viennese Boys’ Choir, says that nowhere has she seen such a high standard of physical beauty as in the young people of the Dominion. “At the schools I visited, such fresh, clear complexion, so different from the dry, tanned faces of Australian children,” she declared. “And in the streets the girls use so much less ‘make-up’ than do Australian girls. They do not need to. Their hair, too, is wonderfully attractive. It is always so well cared for, so glossy, so richly coloured. They are splendid.’’

Remarking that she was at first surprised at the standard of culture among New Zealanders, considering their geographically isolated position. Madame Marsi said that later in her tour she realised that the Dominion had, besides a very comprehensive education system, much closer cultural contact with Europe than appeared apparent at first sight. She met many people who had received part of their education on the Continent or else visited Europe. In Dunedin, for example, she met a musician who, while he was studying music in Vienna, had lived next door to her and a university professor with whom she shared many mutual friends in France.

Among the New Zealand towns Madame Marsi gave her warmest affection to those of the South Island, which was, she considered, grossly maligned by the people of the North Island. In Wellington, she was told to buy extra heavy clothing against the climate that she would experience in the South Island. It was then blowing the usual gale and raining heavily in the capital. But in Christchurch and Dunedin, she said, the weather was as hot as any she had experienced in Australia.