DAY BY DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14584, 5 February 1921, Page 4

DAY BY DAY

Appeals in the Adelaide newspapers for cast-off clothing for Treatment distribution among the of aboriginal tribes along Aborigines, the trans - continental railway line are nol favoured by the Chief Protector of Aborigines in South Australia (Mr South). Mr South told* a representative of the South Australia Register that the departmental officers were of opinion that aborigines living under natural conditions in a climate such as that along the line, we're far healthier if only scantily attired. If clothing was worn, the. garments were frequently exchanged among different members of the tribe, and in that way if any of them were diseased there was a greater likelihood of the ailment spreading. It v-'as also found that the apparel of civilisation supplied to a wild black scon beoame indescribably fllthy, »nd

he was much better off without it. It was not considered advisable in the interests of the natives to encourage them to frequent the vicinity of the railway line. They had a wide expanse of territory away from it, where in a season like the present they could obtain all their requirements under natural conditions, and some of the men had been able to earn good wages by snaring wild flogs and selling the scalps. Others would obtain their own livelihood under far happier and healthier conditions if not encouraged to haunt the railway sidings and depend upon d( les from overland travellers. Only a few weeks ago one native in the northwest pastoral country was known to have received £2B in payment for a lot of wild dog scalps. Everything possible was done by the department to help the aged and infirm, but, for the able-bodied indiscriminate charity or anything that would tend to pauperise them was regarded as a mistake. Most prople'having a knowledge of the aboriginal tribes were agreed that nothing was likely to bring about deterioration and extinction more quickly than clothing and feeding them, when they were able to flourish if thrown upon their own resources.

Berlin'6 smart set is reported to have reached an unpreExtravaganco cedented height of In ostentation and exQermany. travagance. In a document recently issued by the German episcopate the morals of the people were declared never to have been so low as to-day. A strange spectacle in Berlin towards the end of the year was a fashion show attended by some 5000 persons, at which both male and female mannequins paraded. The story of the life of the young Berlin buck and his female companion was illustrated from getting up to going to bed. To the strain of a two-step a young man mannequin iu violet silk pyjamas led on a young woman mannequin in a nightdress in crrise and la"ce insertion. Others followed in a blaze of colours represerting the masterpieces of the aniline dye industry. After an interval of dancing the mannequin reappeared in costumes suitable to their sports, beginning with a dashing young man in a (ravelling suit of brown with pointed patent shoes and an almost brimlcss emerald green felt hat. The programme was followed throughout with breathless admiration by tile crowd. With this sort of tiling going on it is evident that there are considerable sums of money being wasted in Germany that could he far more usefully employed .n repairing the shattered villages of France.