The Week in Review

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 19, 12 May 1909, Page 1

The Week in Review

The Heys Institute. THE best antidote to bad literature is the provision of good literature, and anything that tends to this end deserves the thanks and the support of the comanunity. S.' Paul’s maxim was that we phould overcome evil with good, and in nothing does this hold more true than an our choice of books. If we once accustom ourselves to enjoy what is highest fend beet in the literature of all time WO shall be able to oppose a shield of triple bronze to the Maurian arrows of the enemy. Few institutions have done more in this direction than the Leys InBbltute, Ponsonby. The library is one of the finest in the Southern hemiBphere, and the books have been most carefully selected. An especial feature is made of technical works, and during last year 146 books dealing with the arts and trades were placed upon the shelves. So greatly has this department grown that a special room has now been devoted to this part of the library. In (addition to books of every kind the Institute provides for lectures and concerts (during the winter months, and has a gymnasium club, a draughts club, a (Shakespeare club, debating and literary societies, and other provision for instruction and recreation. Auckland owes much to the munificence of its private citizens, and to few does it owe more than io the generous founders and benefactors of the Leys Institute. gjs J?' s? I A Unique Award. The Australasian Royal Humane Society has awarded its gold medal to a Woman, this being the first occasion on which a woman has gained this much jioyeted distinction. The cable message briefly stated that the medal had gone to a (Mrs Kennedy, wife of a railway line (repairer, for conspicuous bravery in Snatching a child from almost under the wheels of an engine. There were no details, but an Australian paper shows IF to have been one of the most couragebus nets of self-sacrlflco and heroism fever reported. The story bristles with feensatlon. The Goulbourn Valley train, (which left Seymour at 0.20 a.m. on De•WM 4, had okuMi reached the level

crossing, about two miles south of Wahring Station, when the engine driver, Michael Keanes, and the fireman, Arthur A. Siedel, noticed a little child, aged 3J years, on the line a short distance ahead. The driver promptly opened the whistle of the engine as a warning. The screech of the whistle attracted the attention of Mrs Lavinia Kennedy, wife of Thomas Kennedy, line repairer, who, looking out at the door of her gatekeeper’s cottage, saw the little girl, Eileen Moira Mulcahy, on the rail at the cattle pit by the crossing. The train was travelling at 25 miles an hour, and was within 15 yards. She made a dash forward, and, heedless of the risk to herself, sprang in front of the approaching train. She jumped on to the cattle pit, and, throwing her body across one of the logs, seized the child—snatched it almost from under the wheels of the engine, and dropped with it on to the bars of the pit. Even then her position was most hazardous, for she was lying partly in the cattle pit and partly across the log, and wedged therein by the barbed wire protecting the pit. Her head was within Din of the rail, and the wheels were sweeping her hair as the train passed over her. The engine was pulled up, and the fireman ran back to see how the woman and child had fared. To use his own words in the statutory declaration furnished to the society by the fireman: “To my great and glad surprise I found both were uninjured. A brave and heroic deed it was; for an Instant’s hesitation or a slip of any sort would have meant certain death to both, as the train waa travelling over 20 miles an hour.” JX JI Women Masqueraders. Although Miss Amy 'Bock has succeeded in producing a sensation unique in the history of the Dominion, she cannot lay claim to bo the only woman who has successfully played the part of bridegroom at a wedding. History has afforded more than one instance of a woman going through tho marriage ceremony with another woman. The most famous case was when a Spanish military nun named Catalina de Eranso gob married to a Spanish-American lady named Juana. Rut (hero the nun's motive for the fraud, was ample—viz., to save her-

self from an immediate and awful death. The bride never knew the truth, the nun making her escape immediately after the -wedding ceremony, and never been seen again by Jiana; sut there is no doubt she would have sanctioned the fraud to save the life of her whom she loved She lived and died a soldier, and ,the secret of her sex would probably never have been discovered had she not, after a deadly struggle, saved the life of a woman whom she barely knew, and in that struggle received a wound in the breast that immediately betrayed her sex. As is well known, it was no less a personage than the Tope who licensed the military nun henceforth to wear a cavalry officer’s dress. In heart, courage, strength and skill with the sword she equalled all and surpassed most men. Clean Sport The New Zealand Boxing -Council i« to be congratulated on the efforts it is making to purify the sport from all objectionable features. Many people object to boxing exhibitions because of the manner in which some of these exhibitions are. conducted, for few could be found to object to the exercise itself. Everybody knows that it is good for a youth to learn the art of self-defence. He learns courage and self-control, he can defend himself and others if occasion arises, he is compelled to be temperate in his habits. That the sport is becoming increasingly popular amongst us is no doubt due to the efforts of the Boxing Council to keep it free from any suspicion of unsportsmanlike practices. In the Boxing Council’s report there is a reference to this matter. The Council states that “the determination of local associations to keep the sport clean is shown by the fact that during the season four persons were punished by life disqualification for various offences. This promptness to deal severely with cases of misconduct in and out of the ring, has had a very great influence on the public mind, showing, as it does, that those who are primarily interested in the sport are keenly alive to their responslbilites, and to the necessity that exists for eliminating anything of a nature likely to arouse adverse public criticism. The past season, undoubtedly, was the most successful that has been recorded since the foundation of tho council. Thankc to the support given by the Press, the sympathy of the authorities, and the earnest and conscientious labours of those identified with the various local associations, the sport is now firmly established and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular in the Dominion.” Everybody will agree in wishing the Council all success in their laudable endeavour to raise to its proper place in public estimation the manly art of gal£defence. JX JX Our National Vices. Our two great national vices are said to be gambling and a craze for experimental legislation. The latter is probably the outcome of the former. It would seem that tho gambling instinct is taking a firm hold of the rising generation and that even the Maori children are following tho footsteps of their pakeha comrades. A correspondent, writing to the "Manawatu ■Standard,” gives an instance showing how quick

the native is to Imitate the white man. He says:—“Coming' up from Faxton tliis morning by train at the first stopping place a dozen young Maori boys got in on their way to school at Groua -Bridge. No sooner were they in than down went every window in the carriage and out went a dozen heads. Yet they were well behaved, and soon broke into song. I don’t think I ever heard ‘Hie Old Folks at Homs’ more sweetly rendered; nor do I think the same number of pakeha hoys taken haphazard could have come near them. But I was rather astonished when they alighted at the Bridge to see about half of them settle in the middle of the frosty road, and taking silver and copper coins from their pockets begin to gamble like any two-up school in the Dominion. I think it was ‘pitch and toss’ they played, but to see the cool way they pocketed one another's cash; their honoured parents could not have done it better. Whatever other bumps may be missing, the bump of imitation must predominate in the native race. How true it is. Train up a child in the way you want him to go and you may rely on it he wont be far off the mark in the end. And so sure as we sow dock seeds in our garden plots it is useless to expect a crop of Christmas lilies from it.” Jl -JS Technical Education. The- Napier Technical School Board has provided every facility for technical training, and has erected a healthy and handsome building in a suitable locality. Capable instructors are in attendance, and the only lack is a lack of pupils. In Palmerston North, where the school is not so modern or so commodious, there is a roll number of 550, while Napier, with its better facilities, can only boast of 170 pupils. A local paper says that the evening classes at the Napier school are suffering badly for the want of better support. A carpentry and joinery class has had to be discontinued for the lack of young tradesmen to take up the work. The class provided for instruction in skilled carpentry in all its branches, and only asked that a pupil should give up oue hour of his time a week. Tae following figures. show the support afforded to the other classes: — Building construction and drawing G, plumbing 10, bookkeeping 13, house-paint-ing and decorating 10, mechanical engineering 10, wood-carving G, art class 6, geometrical drawing 3, chemistry 4, dressmaking 6. Classes in the chemistry of agriculture and domestic science have had to be abolished owing to the fact that support was not forthcoming. Similar complaints have come from other parts of the Dominion. Parents should remember that technical training is one of the most important branches of education, and that unless these schools are properly supported the grant will in all probability be considerably reduced and the schools will be financially crippled. JX JX A Modern Oracle. The Wellington Trades and Labour Council has decided that in future reporters from the capitalistic Press are not to bo admitted to its discussions and <lelil*onitions. The decision is probably a wise one. judging from some of the reports published. The members of the Council do not desire that publicity should be given to what they term "little

unpleasant incidents,” nor are they anxious to see in print the "fusilade of silly interjections” with which dilferent members strive to enliven the proceedings. In ancient times the greatest reverence was paid the statues and images which were reported by the priests to have opened their mouths and uttered oracles. 'The oracular decision was alone made public. Similarly, members of the Council will be reported to >ave moved their lips, and their oracular pronouncements will be given to the world minus the little unpleasant incidents and fusilades of silly interjections that detract so much from the weight and dignity of the Delphic utterance. A reporter from a special Labour paper will be allowed to attend the meetings, and we presume his report will be rigorously censored before it is allowed to see the light of day. The Price of Bread. The Napier Master Bakers’ Association tried to estabish the coupon system, but after a short trial decided to abandon it. It was unfortunate for them that th'-y started the new system at a time when it was necessary to increase the price. Customers had been paying 3Jd a loaf, and the coupons were issued at 3s. Sd. a dozen. Naturally, people objected to paying more for a dozen coupons than they had been paying for the single loaf. The price of bread has now been reduced again to 3jd, and those who purchased the coupons at the higher rate are to be given a compensating allowance. The coupon system does not seem to have met with general acceptance. Many people had been dealing with the same tradesmen for years on monthly accounts, and they resented the idea that they must pay for their bread in advance. Some bakers abandoned the coupon system after the first couple of days, alleging that the time occupied in first selling and then getting back the coupons caused considerable delay, and involved overtime, for which the employers had to pay. It certainly seems that if customers are expected to pay in advance some substantial concession in price shou’d be made, but it is doubtful if the coupon system could ever be universally accepted owing to the dislike most people have to paying for a thing before they get it. dS J An Indira Problem. There are few questions that cause greater perplexity to our rulers and statesmen in India than the best way of dealing with barbarous native customs that arc woven in with the Hindu religion. Child-marriage and child-widows present problems that have hitherto baffled all efforts of legislators to solve. According to the code of Manu, eight years af age is the minimum and twelve years of age is the minimum and twelve years for a high-caste girl. The early marriages naturally lead to much widowhood, and it is calculated that there are 25 millions of widows in India. A widow is looked upon as an “inauspicious” thing, and her life is rendered intolerable in every possible way. It was with a view of doing something to minister to these child-widows that the Mukti Mission was started. Over 1800 widows are supported and cared for at the mission at a cost of nearly 1600 a month, and an association has been formed in New Zealand for the purpose of assisting in this humane work. Mrs George Mackenzie, of Queenstown, the general secretary of the New Zealand Auxiliary of the Mukti Mission, has recently returned from visiting India and England and the principal places en route, and she has secured a choice selection of Indian and Oriental goods. These arc to be sold for the benefit of the (Mission. The “Indian and Oriental Bazaar,” as it is called, attracted great attention in Dunedin, and a similar bazaar will be held in Auckland on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week. Not only is the object a thoroughly deserving one, but a unique opportunity is presented of acquiring rare and valuable Eastern curios.