A FAMOUS VICTORY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 17, 22 April 1908, Page 60

A FAMOUS VICTORY.

The ladies —“bless Vm’’—haven’t yet Achieved the proud privilege of (hr franchise in tin* Old Country, but in spite of that, when they < ome to grips with mere man over anything, they usually get the bedt of it. Ibv ma lea who le present Mvretvu Hampstead on the parish coun-

cil have found this out as the result of a dispute they have had recently with a local ladies’ club. The ladies of the club have for some time had the free use of a room in the publie library, a building whieh is a gift to the town, and vested in the parish council. Owing to the inconvenience of the girls’ -school, in which they had hitherto been accustomed to meet, the Council recently decided to hold their meetings in the library, and required the ladies to vacate their room when the council or its committee met. This the ladies have resolutely declined to do. One fine night the parochial committee met to consider the drainage question. On arrival at the library, however, they found a large muster of ladies playing cards and other games. Every seat was occupied by the fair sex, and as they made no attempt to move, the committee had t olean against the walls. The committee soon tired of this, and their chairman made a pathetic plea to the ladies, reminding them that the library belonged to the Parish Council, to whom they were indebted for the use of the room. The appeal fell on deaf ears, so, after personal verbal strife with the ladies of their acquaintance, the councillors passed a resolution requesting the fair card-players to retire. They were promised that if they did so the Council would try to come to some arrangement with the club whereby its meeting should not clash with those of the Council. But the ladies said, in effect, “ Pooh,” and proceeded with their games. The chairman then made further humble appeal to t he secretary of the elub to ask the members to retire and allow the Council to get on with its work. The secretary, with a wicked smile, consented to take a ballot of the members as to whether they would go or stay. The result was a unanimous vote in favour of staying-, and nothing that the poor councillors could urge in favour of the opposite course could persuade the hard-hearted ladies to adopt it. Finally the unhappy chairman had no course left but to adjourn the meeting, which he did, remarking: “ W’e are men who run away, but we live to fight another day.” “ Yes,” jeered one of the victorious women, “and at your next meeting I suppose you’ll vote a guinea to buy boxing gloves to fight us with.” Sbme of the discomfited councillors looked as though they would rather dispense with “ the mittens ” if they had to .leal forcibly with the members of the ladies’ elub, but they made no attempt to exercise their physical powers of persuasion upon the obdurate females, and retired crestfallen amid the laughter and cheers of the victors, who waxed quite enthusiastic over their sue-