AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXVIII, Issue VII, 15 February 1902, Page 329

AS SEEN THROUGH WOMAN’S EYES.

Concerning Flirtation.

It is a great mistake tc say that all men are alike,” sighed the debutante. “At least it is a great mistake to say so to a man,” replied the young married woman. “It is a much greater mistake to say it to his sister,” affirmed the widow. “Ah, yes ; for purposes of flirtation all men are different,” went on the young married woman. “And for purposes of marriage most of them are indifferent,” sighed the debutante. “You don’t mention his name,” said the widow. “Oh, don’t look so astonished. No woman under what her friends call thirty and her ene-

inies the sunny side of forty' ever generalises.” “No,” mused the young married woman, “the woman under thirty takes no more interest in general observation than a bachelor of the same age takes in hair restorers. By the way, dears, Helen and Horace are about to announce their engagement. How did it come about after all these years of tepid flirtation?” "They called it warm friendship,” murmured the widow. “But go on.” “Helen brought him a Psyche mirror when she returned from abroad. The first time that he caught sight of the back of his own head in that mirror he put on his hat and went over to ask her to marry him. Bather clever of Helen, wasn't it?” “Very clever for Helen,” agreed the

widow. “However, the proof of the engagement is in the announcement. But, Kathryn, what is the cause of your recent remark? Did the man who is most interested in your ideals and your taste in flowers and candy fail to show the same attributes as the hero in the last novel you read? Or ’’ “Of course, he did,” said the debutante, stiffly; “the hero of the last novel I read was a pirate.” “Humph! Then I hope he is not in business, that’s all. Ah, well, dear, you need not interest yourself in the qualities a man really possesses - only the ones he thinks he has." “Until after you are married.” observed the young married woman. “1 found Dick so different from the man I thought I had married that 1

almost felt as though I ought to have the ceremony over again. By the way, Kathryn, if you are in doubt as to his feelings, just take him to a wedding. If he tells you that he hopes the bridegroom feels as foolish as he looks, you need not waste time in planning just what you wou'd need for a trip abroad.” “He —he refused to go to Grace’s wedding with me. He said ” “Never mind what he said, dear. He is evidently in the thinking stage. He didn’t want to see how awkward and absurd a man looks when he knows that every woman in the audience is criticising and every man pitying him. But tell us all about him. and we— —” “We will tell you lots of things about him that he doesn’t know hini-

.-elf,” broke iu the young married woman. "Did he tell you all about the girl whom he once thought he loved ?” "Why, no, he ” "Then it was a case of love at first sight on his part. Did he ever assure you that he felt he eould do something really, great in the world if he only had a woman who really understood him to help him?” "Somebod|y has been telling you things,” cried the debutante, indignantly. “It is bad enough to have a father who mistakes cruelty for a sense of honour, but when it comes to a brother who ” "Can't understand how on earth another man can prefer his sister’s society to his own! Yes, I know,” broke in the young married woman. "But for a horrid creature with a wabbly pompadour 1 don’t know how ’Dick’ and 1 ever could have managed to become engaged. I hated to have to block her little game after my own affairs were so delightfully settled, for I couldn’t help feeling sort of grateful to her. She at least kept ’Tom' from interfering—l hate people who interfere!” "So do 1." wailed the debutante. "Now, ’Jack’—his name is ‘Jack’— gave me a darling little fox terrier, just the kind of a dog to have your photograph taken with, you know. Just because he—well, he snapped at Ted’ every time he came into the house, in pure playfulness, you know.” “Yes, I know, my dear,” replied the widow. "The same kind of playfulness which makes another woman tell you that your waist wrinkles across the back when you happen to be ten miles from a mirror.” "Oh. well, at any rate. Tatters had no more malice than is displayed in a family quarrel. Where was I when —Oh. yes! Well, just because Tatters snapped at him ‘Ted’ said to ‘Jack’ one day: ‘That is just the way the little beast used to behave when Miss Daisy had him.' " "When ‘.lack’ had told you that he hunted all over town to find just the right kind of a pet for- you! Too bad." signed the widow. “Whv. how did you know that?"

“Ah, well, dear, one acquires a lot of things besides birthdays on the way through life. But go on.” “I will. I—l didn’t believe ‘Ted’ at all.” “Of course not,” said the young married woman, sympathetically. "Still you ” “I gave the dog back to ‘Jack’ because I—well, because I ” “Because you didn’t want a dog that made unpleasantness in the house. I see, dear,” said the widow, reassuringly. “By the way, have you happened to see Daisy Bronsmith recently?” "I have,” replied the debutante. "She—she was walking in the park with a dog that greatly resembled Tatters. But that proved nothing.” “Of course not,” replied the young married woman. “Still—well, 1 wouldn't decide that Jack is different from other men, if 1 were you. Daisy is worth a neat little fortune in her own right, and I doubt if a girl in our entire acquaintance has as fine a collection of aged and wealthy relatives as she has.” “1 wonder what they had quarrelled about?” said the widow, dreamily.

Pearls of Price

When Queen Victoria ascended the British Throne she could not, owing to the Salic law, also become Queen ol Hanover, so the sceptre of that country passed over to her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who was a son of our George 111., and who succeeded as George IV. of Hanover. The present Duke of Cumberland, who was fiftysix on September 21st, is a grandson of that Hanover King, but owing to the fact that his country was annexed by Prussia in 1866 he is not a ruler, In consequence the Cumberland and German Royal families have neve* since been on speaking terms. The loss of his territory, however, has not placed the Duke in any pecuniary difficulties, for he has the reputation of being a very wealthy man. His gold and silver plate weighs over twelve tons, while his wife possesses the finest set of pearls extant, their value being- £150,000. When William IV. died in 1837 these jewels, which were at the English Court, were claimed by the new King of Hanover, but the British Government declined to give them up. Queen Victoria frequently wore them, but Hanover still claiming them a Court of enquiry was held. Then, in 1857, it was decided that they belonged to Hanover, and the Queen gave them up.

The Punishment of Children

Miss Susan E. Blow, who is known as the “ mother of the kindergarten system of America," lias this to sax about the correction of children: — “ There should never be punishment of any kind administered without a specific object in view on the part of the parent. The mother should be able to define clearly to her own mind why the child 'should be punished and weigh the end to be attained by the punishment. W II the child understand the correction? Will the correction quicken the moral impulse? Is punishment an absolute necessity toward an established moral standard? These questions decided, then let punishment be administered, but let it be varied to meet the disposition of the child. No mother with a large family should punish any two of her children alike. One may require a spanking. Another may be efficiently corrected by a stern reproof. Another is punished by being deprived of some privilege. Still another may be benefited by being subjected to isolation and meditat ion. “ Some children are hardened by ordinary methods of punishment, some are crushed, and on some no effect at all is produced. It requires a prr son of supreme tact to be able to correct a child without a loss in some direction or defeat in the ultimate end.

" Eor instance, I punish a child severely for petty pilfering. The next time he is caught he lies to escape punishment. Again, I draw the lines so tightly in my correction that the

child begins to long for the very things 1 seek to eliminate from his life. I might thus go on indefinitely. “ 1 do not say that punishment, should be abol shed in the training of children, but I do say that tne character and disposition of the individual should be so understood that when the child is corrected the parent need not bring down greater 1 rouble for the future. It is lack of <l.versify in punishment that maxes orphanages ami children’s homes unsatisfactory. A prominent official of Elmira, N.V., told me but recently that the rank's of juvenile criminals are being constantly recruited from public institutions where children are housed in numbers. In my opinion, the whole evil lies in the punishment of these children. All are puished alike. Methods tire standard for standard eases of misdemeanour. Children being as they are, th? large percentage fail to improve under the wholesome correction. A thra'sh'ng for some lads only lays the foundation of the bully in them. In others such punishment is accepted as an insult, and rankles in the heart, begetting hatred and defiance. To others it is humiliation, and leads to self-abasement and depression. If there is one thing more than another that makes me cry out from the depths of my soul, it is to see an American child abject in its demeanour and with a look of self-abasement and humiliation. The Creator of the child soul holdls some one responsible—parent, teacher, or guardian. Words fail me in my contempt for those who would stamp out individuality, erush the natural elasticity, contract and depress a life that ba •- had its being under the fearless play of the stars and stripes.”