Genius and the Idle Rich.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIX, Issue 21, 23 November 1907, Page 56

Genius and the Idle Rich.

(By MRS.

JOHN A. HOGAN.)

A delightful change seems to be com-

ing over the spirit of the dreams of many fashionable women. Hitherto, uomen absorbed in many purely frivolous affairs of society have exhausted hll there is in that sort of life, and have resorted to nobler occupations and higher ambitions. . Provided with all the money necessary to accomplish any purpose they may plan, they have only to bring into action .the abilities and moral courage most Americ-an women possess to reach the acme of their proudest aspirations. It has been seen what they can do when enlisted in any great cause for charity ami humanity, and also that scores of them have attained enviable reputations as artists, writers, musicians, sculptors, lecturers, linguists, travellers, and philanthropists. But to achieve distinction they have been obliged to lay aside the foibles of fashion, and to occupy themselves in study or practice of the particular thing which interested them most. The diversions of the leisure class quickly become irksome to persons of intelligence. The idle born become satiated with the inane conceptions of persons whose sole object is to invent some novelty in the way of entertainment of those whose time hangs heavily on their hands, simply liecause there is nothing in the absurdities presented to satisfy or edify any ordinary human mind. *• It has only required someone to take the lead in the direction of usefulness and more rational dispositons of their time and money to insure the abandonment of the follies and extravagance of the wealthy. It is delightful to Ire told that leaders have appeared. Mrs. Jnmea Henry Smith has announced her intention to withdraw from the aimless circles

of society, with whom she has spent so much of her life, because she no longer enjoys a life of profitless excitement. She is to live in her charming home on the Hudson, and one may expect to hear that in her retirement she has contributed something imperishable in the world of letters, in art, or by suggesting some philanthropic enterprise that will bring relief and happiness t'o the unfortunate. Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, the talented daughter of the late Secretary of State John Hay, heir to her father’s literary manuscripts, as well as to his abilities, frequently contributes something from her pen to the magazines of the day. showing she is far more interested in literature than in the vaudeville and silly -amusements of idle millionaires. There are so many things one can do for recreation and pleasure for one’s friends without compromise. One is astonished at the hold vulgarians have had on the very best society of the country. It would be easily and vastly more entertaining if the young people would get up various kinds of plays, amateur performances, operas, games and -contests among themselves, taking parts that required thought, study, and rehearsals, thereby occupying their time w-ith something calculated to develop their mental and physical qualities. They would soon discover that they had no need for the proftssional services of performers in any line, and, moreover, that among themselves there are persons of the highest order of talents, which Only require development to prove a source of edifying entertainment. . It will be a happy day when society is genuinely aroused to a realisation of the shameless waste of time and money in which htey have been engaged for years. There is no recalling the past, but a halt may be made for the future, which may result in the building up of magnificent places for legitimate amusements, and, mayhap add to the list of geniuses in many roles, the names of those whose latent talents would never have been discovered had they continued to drift in the channel of idleness and indifference. It is in .the power of the women to change the tastes and lift the standard of amusement- and occupations of the favoured of fortune.