SOCIAL. AND PERSONAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 172, 14 April 1908, Page 3

SOCIAL. AND PERSONAL.

■ The membirs of tho first eleven of the Kiwi Hockey Cl,iib have issued for a dance to bo given in the Sydney Street Schoolroom oh May 12.

Mrs. Maddocks, who; since her arrival in Wellington, has been staying with; Mrs. Stewart in Hobson Street, is going to' Day's Bay after Erster. Mrs. Maadocks. will return to England in a few weeks' timo, via Sydney and Vancouver. Tho Girls' Practice Club has had its.annual. meeting, and will rcsumo its "monthly meetings immediately after Easter. ' • / In the results of the University examinations just published tho women students of Victoria College play a prominent part. Four men passed tho M.A.,examination with hon-t ours, and. tf roe women did the same, and two women took thoir M.A. degree. The' only Bachelor of Music was a man, the., only students examined in law or commerce -were men; but of tho two students who passed tho first section of the science degree one. was a woman, and it was a woman who took tho only science degreo won by Victoria College this year, In the first section of. the B.A. degree th°ro woro eleven women \to thirteen men; and an equal number of men ' and women took the final B.A. examination.

V A marriago . which created a, good deal of interest a largo-circle of friends took place at Tirohanga," Fox ton,, on Thursday last, when .Miss-Lily Austin was. married, 'to Mr.-Jv Park, of Onehunga. The ceremony was performed by. the Rev.- P. : J., Maip. Mr. William Bell .(nephew of the bridegroom) acted as groomsman. The bride, who was given-away by her brother, wore a charming gown of white crystalline, trimmed with lace and silk embroidered, net. A bridal veil, worn with a .coronet of orange blossoms and shower! bouquet, completed the tojlette. Miss Minnio Austin (sister of ' the bride)', who acted as bridesmaid, was'attired in a/prptty white embroidered -frock, and 'wore' a. gold pendant and chain (the gift of' the bridegroom). ..-".Mrs: Austin (mother of the -bride) wore /a'/black , broche gown triipmed.. with silk lace and chiffon. Mr. and Mrs. Park ;left fqr .Eotorua, via the 'Wanganui- river. They are going to live at Onehunga. .

■ Miss Dinah Gaskill, of Ramsbottom, Lancashire, was entertained by Sunday-school friends last .week..(says the "British, Aus---tralasian " of. March 5), on tho' eye .'of. her dop'artiire'for New Zealand, and presented, with a travelling trunk by the elder scholars. Miss"Gaskill yiir join in New Zealand, her' fiancee,', Mr." liarry Liiwton, and will ,b.e.married on her arrival in the Dominion. Sir. Lawtonv .went - out to . New Zealand; twelve months ago. ' *V. . ..' ;

, INFANTILE MORTALITY. NEW ZEALAND'S GOOD RECORD.: - •; A', leaflet 'issued by the Registrar-General' (Mr. E. 'J. Von Dadelszep) gives the proportions of deaths ■of infants ' under one year to every 1000 births in New ''Zealand, for; 15. consecutive. years, ending with • 1906,; :and-' for ' purposes >:of/- comparison, the rates for England iand Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Now South iWales, Victoria,,'and Queensland. - : ; 'i'ho 'return, shows that the highest rato- of infantile mortality for each year of . . the. period under review (1892-1806) was that- for England arid Wales. And while the rate for Scotland was lower than that for. England and Wales, it was , higher in every year than the'.-rates -for all the other countries mentioned, with three exceptions,' For New Zealand the rates ,were by far'the .lowest, pf all, boing .in .each'''of, the Hast, three- years about! one-half of those, of„ 'England - and Wales., -Iriiy.the"jye'ar, 1906,' ' ; te evory, -1000 birth's there'-wote'rio' less .than '1W death's of infants ui)4pr .one year in England arid, AYales, 116 in Scotland, 93 in | Ireland and Victoria, 75: in New Sojith Wales Queensland, but only. 62 in , New Zealand. ; Undoubtedly, the position for New Zealand is very,-much .the best. . ,' ,

.Comparing .next with sundry .'different countries;-, and using an _ average '.of", ten years'.results, further testimony is "afforded icf tlie better position of this Dominion. Figures .for .31 countries aiid colonies arc given,, the calculations being those made. by. the: RegistralrrGeneral' of. England. According to. this list Austria,; which has! a birthrate of 35'; to' ,38 per 1000 of. population, shows' an; infantile mortality of 224 per 1000 births sQwh'ile".Neyr Zealand, ' with : a birthr rate o£ 27 per 1000 .of population, loses only 79 infants per lOOOvbirths. -. So .'that,, whatever .may' be .'the faults,, of ignorance or wilfulness 'in' .'this .'country,from, a. statistical point of view, it would appear that far better conditions 'obtain than elsewhere. ''' .'' WHAT DOES THE.WELLINGTON WOMAN READ? ■ . It'was. a'man who-mad-e the statement that to women readers is due- the.detericratiph of the;modern novel, and he pressed'the matter : home by, declaring that it, is tho - wlwien. in ■Wellington who buy Elinor Glyn's novelettes. Now, a. woman will read a hundred books she does not care about, if they chance to como her way. - But to buy a, book —that is a~ strong: mark'of approval. Yet the two'or three -Wellington booksellers to whom : I applied -.agreed that, -speaking generally, it k tho women who buy Elinor Glyn. .They qualified this by saying: that they did .not stock. her very largely, and that her last book was bought, by as; many men as women. Charles Garvice, I -..was' told, is' the most popular .writer; - Both in the shops and at'tho'publio libraries ho he-ads tho list: . If there., are still any novel readers,who do not know' Charles Garvice, tbey should take airapfd gliince'at the 'titles-of , his-many books. -' That should eufßco. They, say, by. the way, it is.the titles 'that .attract. ...'".ln Cupid's' Chains.", js one, " Whero Love Leads " is, another. Such fat books', closely printed, 'and sprinkled "withlords and ladies and- lovely namps. .It was on "Linked by Fate" that I,,in my .desire to make the great master's acquaintance,, threw away a hard-earned sixpencei,; ."Th'ey are at' least nice'clean books," said'a reader standing, by, "arid-they are .about common everyday lifo and people in humble'; oircumstanccs." I had ovidently then made'an unlucky choice, for my story was.-''of 'an everyday' life, to'.which only the.-"-Daily Mail " could have dono justioe, and that siyith fine largo- sensational -headings. Shipwreck, an islan(l off the east coast . of' - Australia mainly composed of gold, sudden marriage, more sudden separation, despair .."... . ■ . : attempted murder; sensational suicide, - love at last, wild plot, impossible and lords and ladies enougli to brighten J up.-the pages—such, I was told, was Wellington's* favourite mental food. • , .V Perhaps next to Garvice comes . Mrs. Henry Wood, whoso popularity age. lias-not withered, judging by the women-.who. buy. her books. f'The mothers buy. her for'their daughters,said one bookseller. think she is ' nice and safe, and tho girls read her until they aro old enough to-choose for themselves:" •

At the Libr.yy they tell a different talo. Mrs.' Henry Wood's novels are very seldom asked for now, and hers is'the fate of other onco-popu]ar writers, Rhoda Broughton, s[is.? Braddon, Miss Warden; they havo all had their days, and' soon the dud; Will-gather, about their , boncis. They are in good conipariy. Dickens is only occasionally asked for, though in course of time a whole "set of his books lias been, worn out and had to be/replaced; Meredith is seldom read, George Eliot practically never, and there are only a fow of Thackeray's novels on tho' shelves, where they rest in peace., This is sad news. Marie Corolli's popularity decreased, and though sho is asked for fairly often, she maintains, with ' Crockett, a ' position well down in the scale. Next, to Garvice in' point of popularity among women readers' comb the Hcckings, with: their semi-religious tales, so easily read, so .quickly forgotten,, and great favorirites are Connor, Oppenheim, and the Williamsons. Women do not know much about what tho book reviewers, have said, though the men, who read moro magazines, often have a fair idea of what a book is- like. A woman, if sho likes an author, will fre..ouently read steadily threngh' nil bis books.

and,especially is this tho caso jyith girls and their Allen Raino and llosa Norichotte Carey. It is roinarked that women- perhaps read moro rubbishy novels than men, and that a man when he selects, somo particularly foolish-looking book will say loftily that 1 ho is taking it .out for his wife, a statement that is not always received with blind credulity. The voguo of tho American book is enormous. At tho Nowtown Library they have a sot of many shelves labolled American novels, and those shelves are usually empty. An Australian ing on tho popularity, of tho American novel among women, ascrib'es it to tho manliness, the virility of.tho hero. I should bo inclined to think that tho triumphant power of tho heroino had quito as much to do with it. Of course, tho freshness of tho scones and tho incidents have a charm of their own. Thoro liavo been • enough stories of London life or country lifo in England, and tho hero has often enough been an English gentleman living in 'a conventional way. Tho material was wearing threadbare. The old, old story in a new setting is the ideal of tho novel .reader, and tho American novel, with its varied types of character and its picturesque scenery, fulfils the condition. Then tho American girl! How she queens it in these books I No' Ambricair heroine, of one novel could by any possibility bo a minor character of another. Wherever she is. sho niust .be in the centre of tho stage, and to her must all men kneel. Her temper—she is. generally in a temper—are superb, her snubs aro regal, and the more sho domineers tho more the men crawl. Of course, tho average woman loves to read about her triumphs, but how can 'any. self-respecting man boar to read of the grovelling crowd? One thing that'is surprising about many library subscribers is the number of books they manago to read during tho courso of a woek. Two or three days to each book is tho average allowance, but many women, it is said, take a now novel out every day, and naturally theso women must content themselves with books that are not worth reading. iWhat matter, tboir brnins must quickly become like sieves, capable of _ rapidly forgot-' ting what has gono in, and incapable of retaining anything wprth remembering. It is for such .as theso that the silly novelist writes, and ono cannot blame him.:;