In the Mirror

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 4, Issue 8, 1 February 1926, Page 3

In the Mirror

f I 'HE most prosaic observer who visited Ellerslie during the recent racing carnival, could not refrain from the cheerful reflection that horse-racing stands paramount as the favourite sport amongst all sections of our young nation. As a sport, racing in New Zealand is admirably conducted. Those who are responsible for its management have set a very high standard for the sport, and have jealously guarded the good name that has been created, both in the matter of control of the racing, and the way in which the public is accommodated on the splendidly appointed metropolitan racecourses. Money has been lavishly spent to make the environments of racing pleasant and alluring. Even the most captious critics of racing, who are often very ungenerously dubbed “wowsers,” because their visions are warped, and they spurn gambling as a devilish sin inseparable from horse-racing. Of course, these critics arc wrong in supposing totalisator betting— which is a very different thing from promiscuous gambling on the results of races —dominates the sport; and this is more particularly the case where womenkind are concerned.

Sports foving ‘People it is an inherent instinct with our sports-loving

people that they should desire to “back their fancy” when they go a-racing; but that by no means indicates that gambling predominates the sport. Indeed, the whole atmosphere of our leading courses radiate sociability and sportsmanship, inasmuch as most people wish to be associated themselves with one another in their particular fancies. There is no one more responsive to friendly advice about the prospects of the gee-gees, and more prone to accept a “tip” than the casual racegoer ! The “gambling mania" is the crux of most adverse criticism levelled at racing, because of the legalised betting that is an adjunct of the sport. It is not fair, however, that it should embrace a general condemnation, even from the most ardent anti-gambler. Admittedly half the excitement of racing would be

lost to many if no bets were made upon the results ; and even to modest speculators a ticket on the tote adds an alluring charm to the sport for most devotees. SO far as Ellerslie is concerned : It is an animated" social rendezvous (as the accompanying illustration shows) and the finest fashion parade in the most pleasing setting to be found within the Dominion. To the fair sex particularly, who crowd to Ellerslie, Trentham. Riccarton and many other leading metropolitan racecoures, the meetings provide delightful holidays, and afford pleasant relaxation from the stress and worry of everyday life. There the gay spirit of true sport and cheerful social intercourse holds sway. Few people are drawn to the courses from sordid motives, and if these could be excluded the racing

clubs would gladly refuse them entry. As it is, every means is taken to bar undesirables from our racecourses. For pure, unadulterated pleasure, a day at the races is the choice of the great majority of our sports-loving people, and social amenities become the order of the day. Backing our Cjfancy TXT’HATEVER moralists may ' ' have to say against the totalisator, and deplore the volume of money that flows through this mechanical betting device, this much must be conceded : the totalisator is strictly honest; it does not tout for patronage: it does not give credit or sell chances by deferred payments; while its management is beyond reproach. None can deny but that a popular race meeting is invested with an atmosphere of beauty and a sense of gaiety that reflect the admirable sporting proclivities and good fellowship amongst the happy participants in the Sport of Kings. Knights of the Cfnrf "KJEW Zealand is the home of clean, honest racing. Its standard is the highest in the world. That standard has been built up and jealously fostered by the class of sportsmen who have controlled, and are happily still controlling, our national

sport. It is often said that the Racing Conference is an autocratic body presided over by an autocrat. But cheap sneers of this sort are promptly dissipated when the bright light is focussed upon the achievements of this august body. No country has the sport of horse-racing under more complete control, and what is still more to the point, it is conducted in the best interests of the patrons themselves. There arc no proprietary interests drawing toll from the sport; while the ablest brains and most disinterested sportsmen from all walks in life guide its destinies. Sir George Clifford’s whole life and soul is wrapped up in the sport of racing, and New Zealand is fortunate indeed in having had a man of his outstanding administrative ability and keen judgment as the presiding genius of the Racing Conference for more than a generation. Sir Edwin Mitchelson, as president of the Auckland Racing Club, has likewise been a great acquisition to the sport. The part he has taken in beautifying the Ellerslie Racecourse is a monument to his enthusiasm ; while the manner in which he has shaped the destinies of the Dominion's premier club is evidenced by the marked progress it has made under his able direction. A Wise Appointment to the Judiciary iC'iUR new Chief Justice, Mr. Charles Perrin Skerrett, is a man of many parts. He has been a prominent athlete, a keen huntsman, an enthusiastic sportsman, a popular clubman, and “a man of the world.” He is an incisive speaker, a brilliant advocate, an austere prosecutor, and a sound lawyer. A field he has yet to explore is matrimony, but withal he is a worthy son of New Zealand,

and a great patriot. He should add prestige to his high office. CJhe Exhibition r I 'HE Exhibition is proving a -*■ huge success so far as Dunedin is concerned, and the Cannie Scots who planned the enterprise are entitled to all credit for their foresight in organising the “big show” on lines that have made it a veritable magnet for drawing crowds. We are told that day by day and every day more than 20,000 people pass the Exhibition portal, on some days 20,000 twice over. Half the population of Dunedin must be there, with visitors from all round the compass to boot. “There are days on which weather counts against us.” says the Otago Daily Times, “but it doesn’t count for much. What though the spicy breezes proper to the season become petulant winds and dust-laden; or although, as an alternative, the clouds drop fatness; what is this to storm and tempest, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, the daily cables report elsewhere ? In the arcaded promenades of the Exhibition, miles and miles of them, we laugh at weather. There we meet our friends from near and far—the Exhibition is a social exchange; we sec a vast aggregate of wonderful things, we hear some of the best music in the world. This is to say that we are at the height of felicity and intend to keep it up. Perhaps we shall all be bankrupt in the end ; but what matter? A detail that, remote and of slight consequence. Let came zuhat come may, Wc shall have had our day.”

vA Woman Part ' | 'HE Pact of Peace, which was A the felicitious culmination of discussions at Locarno, is of outstanding interest to womenkind throughout the Empire and Western Europe, inasmuch as a British woman, in Dame Ivy Chamberlain, the wife of the English Foreign Minister, played no small part in bringing about happy relations amongst the delegates from the Seven Great Powers of Europe. It was during an outing spent on a motor yacht on Lake Locarno, at which Dame Chamberlain, whose birthday it was, presided as the hostess, that the goodwill of the peace delegates found such amiable expression in honouring this distinguished Englishwoman. On the morrow of that memorable day a complete understanding was reached amongst the representatives of the nations, and the Pact became an accomplished fact. It was a happy inspiration of the King to mark the gratification of his subjects throughout the Empire, when he decided to confer signal honours on both Sir Austin Chamberlain and his wife as recognition for the part they took in bringing about cordial relationship amongst friends and foes in the Great War. Upon his Foreign Minister the King conferred a Knighthood of the Garter, and thus Sir Austin is the only commoner amongst the twentyfive Companions of the Order, which includes seven Dukes, seven Marquises, and Earls. It is the highest order of knighthood.

At the same time our Foreign Minister’s wife was honoured by having the Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire conferred upon her. When the representatives of the nations met at the London Foreign Office to sign the Pact, a special allusion was made by the German delegate, Dr. Stresemann, to the influence of Dame Ivy Chamberlain at Locando. ■'Pill British pjpashion pp/ouse ENGLISHWOMEN have, for dc--*-j/ cades allowed the couturiers of Paris to assume the role of fashion dictators for feminine wear. Now, however, that England is “wakingup” and adopting the slogan of her manufacturers to “Buy British Goods,” it is not surprising to learn that a British Model Home has been opened in London. It is a sixstorey building in Regent Street, and has been established with the object that "only British materials shall he used to set the British fashions. “Up to the present," says one of the organisers of the scheme, "England has possessed no fashion house

for women, and little or no encouragement to establish one, so consequently the English woman has been forced to depend directly or indirectly on foreign designs and compelled either to adapt herself to foreign creations or get some intelligent English dressmaker to Anglicise them for her. “For some reason or other the beauty of the English women, at once the spontaneous delight of every foreigner, has failed to charm our dressmakers to sartorial enthusiasm. They have never founded a school of dress in which to extol her own ‘unaided’ beauty.’ or woven colours or embroideries to offset her radiant complexion. Cfhe ‘Post-War Woman I 'FIAT was all very well thirty A years ago, but with post-war woman it is different. It is perhaps not realised by the public to what an insidious extent foreign fashions have permeated our stores. “In defence of the wholesaler and retailer I must state that this foreign importation has often been a policy forced on them in spite of their better judgment. So persistent-

ly have been the beliefs that the standards of merit of our own fashionable silks could not be counted on that one has been driven to believe this was reality. “Personal penetration into the mills shows me what nonsense was being perpetrated. Another illuminating piece of intelligence such a visit divulged was that this discouragement dealt out to Bradford by her own people forced her to sell her own goods to Britain through foreign markets.” CJhe Scout spirit of the features last month at the Dunedin Exhibition was the Boy Scouts jamboree, which drew several troops from Overseas in addition to New Zealand scouts from all quarters of the Dominion. This was a spectacular affair compared with the unproclaimed training in straight, clean living to which the Scouts submit themselves week in and week out. and incidentally better fit themselves as citizens. Sir Robert Baden-Powell has never yet been sufficiently honoured for his part in conceiving and achieving this fine brotherhood, to say nothing of the sister movement — the Girl —which is conceived on the same splendid spirit. Certainly no other single movement of our day has done so much for youth of both sexes. With its two million members throughout the world, the Boy Scouts constitute a League of Youth which may, ultimately, have even higher claims on our gratitude than the League of Nations itself.