In the Mirror

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 2, 1 August 1924, Page 2

In the Mirror

Dear Lady in the Mirror,— It being the acknowledged privilege of your sex to have the last word, surely 1 may claim the right of having the first, and to use it to. apologise in advance? Therefore 1 tender such regrets as are seemly for the amount of space 1 have devoted to sport in these reflections; hut, die re untie, you, if 1 may judge from what 1 hear daily, are just about as fascinated by the subject as 1 am, and really there hasn't been much else to occupy our minds lately. For which, when we come to think of it, we may be truly thankful with all reverence. “Happy the Country that has no History,’' in these days of great wars, great peaces and minds jaded by too eventful times, may be quoted as “Happy the Year that makes no History'’—without it be sporting. It is a sign of the restoration of better, happier, and more prosperous times, that the world has time to think seriously of such a healthy subject as sport. But, for the moment, 1 must deal with other and somewhat more serious matters. AIR. MASSKY— ,IOUHNALIST It should prove encouraging to many of our readers to learn that Mr. Massey, whilst on his recent visit to England, did not disdain to write for the Press and to accept quite a useful cheque in payment from ’I he Matt Chester Guardian. 1 do not mention the amount, in case it may suggest false ideas to many of our would-be contributors; for though The Mirror is as generous as it can be, we are not he Manchester Guardian , nor you, dear literary aspirant, Mr. Massey. Not that, probably, judging from the eloquence he displays in debate, your articles would actually be any worse than his, but whatever Shakespeare may have said, there’s a good deal in a name, after all—especially in journalism. Again, too, there’s a lot in specialised knowledge, and if only some of the quite clever writers who favour us with their efforts would really write about something they know about, and what more especially other people really want to know about, they would stand a much better chance of having the same sensations as Mr. Massey probably experienced when he opened the envelope from The Guardian. So many write beautiful literary essays about nothing in particularwhen they really do know a better way of cooking pork-chops or keeping a baby quiet. It’s a crude way of putting it, maybe, but very true all the same. THE ETERNAL BREAKFAST TABLE T see our breakfast table has been in the public eye again, and Mr. Massey can’t hold out any promise of cheapening

o it. Even with that, with apologies to my A Scotch friends, uninteresting comestible, |j oatmeal, we are thoroughly stocked up — M while for other, and to my mind, much J more acceptable, dainties and necessities if there isn’t any hope at all. Sj In view of the fact that, according to correspondents in the morning tea controversy, we stay up so late that we arise too tardily to eat breakfast, 1 can’t see what all the bother should be about. It’s wonderful what a <fascination the breakfast table has, in rhetoric, for politicians. 1 wonder if they are so keen on it in actuality? A MODEL MATERNITY HOSPITAL FOR AUCKLAND As a result of the recent disclosures in connection with the Kelvin Maternity Hospital, a number of influential citizens of Auckland are interesting themselves in the erection of a modern lying-in hospital. An ideal site has been secured, adjoining the Mater Misericordiie Hospital. It is an acre and %a-half in extent, and includes the residence of the late Mr. Dignan, which, with quite minor alterations, can be utilised for administrative offices and nurses’ living quarters. Messrs. Mahoney & Son are the provisional architects for the main hospital building, which, it is proposed, will contain accommodation for fifty patients, each of whom will have a separate apartment. That the hospital will be modern in every respect is vouched for by the engagement of a well-known hospital construction specialist, who has planned many of the most recent institutions of the kind in California. The venture, whilst a private one, is not intended to be of a profit-making nature, as any interest earnings over ten per cent, are to be utilised for purposes of extension or improvement. Sir Maui Pomare, the Minister for Health, has approved ■ of the venture, and any suggestions emanating either from the Health Department or from the British Medical Association will be embodied in the building. Since there are 115 accouchement beds registered in Auckland City and Suburbs, of which none are housed in buildings erected specifically for hospital use, it is likely that the proposed institution will fill a very definite want, and even at the fees customarily chargeable for accouchement, should be handsomely self-support-ing. His Worship the Mayor of Auckland (Sir James Gunson) has strongly commended the proposal, and active steps are now being taken to bring it to fruition. Mr. Duncan, of Messrs. Morris, Duncan & Sellars, Public Accountants, Auckland, is the honorary organiser for the venture, and any offers of assistance or advice from our readers will be gladly welcomed bv him.