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CARD STORIES

ROMANTIC INCIDENTS RECALLED. Tho fascination of poker and other card gnme3 is an interesting psychological study. In this country it Is well known that participants in a poker game linvo 6at down to play for 21 hours at a stretch without eating or Bleeping. The question of the winnings no doubt played ii great'part in such long sessions. Bret Harte, Mark Tnain and other American liavo' told curious stories , about the fascination of poker. But the mauia for cards has not always been caused by a, desire to win money. In tho back . rooms of saloons and cigar etores on tlio .east eido of the city pinochlo games nre played often ■until dawn when .there is no money at stake whatever. History tells of 6omo very curious incidents which have centred around tho card table. "When Louis XV of Franco was at tho card table the fascination of ■ the game rendered him absolutely, oblivious to, all hie surroundings, and even to decency and humanity. On ono occasion when one of his opponents, overcome by excitement, collapsed in his chair in a fit of apoplexy, His Majesty .affected to ignore the incident until someone exclaimed, "M. De Cliauvelin, is ill." "Ill?"• retorted, the King, casting a careless glance at the stricken mnn. "Hβ is dead. Take him away; spades aro trumps, gentlemen." Equally weird is a story Goldsmith relates. AVheri the clergyman arrived to prepare a lady parishioner, "who had a passion for gambling, for her approaching death she,, after listening, a short time to his exhortation, exclaimed, "That's enough; now let us liavo ft gamo of cards!" Tho preacher consented to play in order to humour her. The dying v;oman'won all his money and had just suggested playing for her funeral expenses when she fell dead. In the early years of the last century a whist club, composed largely of clergymen, used to meet in tho back room of a barber's shop in a Somersetshire town. On ono occasion, so tho story runs, when four of the club monitors were acting a3 pall-bearers at the funeral of a reverend brother, - some delay occurred, and the coffin was set down.in the chancel. Ono of them produced a pack of cards and suggested a rubber. The coffin served tho purpose of a table, and tho players'were.rteeply immersed in the gama when' tho sexton arrived to announce that everything was at last ready. Mawrin's passion for gambling wa« so strong, even when death was near, that he played 'cards to the very end, when ho was so weak that they had to bo held: for him, and the- "Merry Monarch" spent his last Sunday on earth playing at basset around a large tablo with his courtiers mid other dissolute pei sons and with a hank of at least ,£2OOO More him. Thi! curious fascination cards possess for their devotees is illustrated by the following story of Lord Granville, at the timo England's ambassador to France:— One afternoon, when ho was about to return to Paris, he repaired to Grahams to liavo a farjwell gamo of whist, ordering his carriage to be flt the door, at 1 o'clock. When it arrived ho was much too deep in the gamo to be disturbed. At 10 o'clock ho sent' out word tlrat ho was not ready, and that tho horses had better bo changed. Six hours later tho same message was sent out, and tivice moro tlio waiting horses were changed before he consented to leave tho table, after losing ■JiIO.OOO. , ~ . An equally remarkable story is told of George . Payne, tlio great turf plunger of 80 years ago. On one occasion ho sat down at Limmer's Hotel 1o play cards with Lord Albert Donison, later the firstLord Londosborough. Hour after hour passed, the game proceeded all through the night and long after di'.y dawned, and it was not until an urgent message came to tell Lord' Albert that his bride was waiting for him ;.t the altar of St. George's, Hanover fquare, that the cards were at last flung down. It was Lord Albert's wedding day, and he met his brido ,£30,000 poorer than when he left her the iirevious day. One. of the most romantic of gambling stories is told by Mr. Thiselton-Dyer of a plainly dressed stranger who once took liis seat at a faro tablo, and after an extraoi'dhiary run of luck succeeded in breaking the bank. "Heavens!" exclaimed an old, infirm Austrian officer, who had sat next to the. stranger, "the twentieth part of your gains would make me the happiest man in the world!" "Yon shall have it, then," answered tho stranger, as he left the room. A servant speedily returned »ml presented the officer with the twentieth part of the bank, adding, "My master, sir, requires no answer." The successful stranger was soon discovered to be no other Uinii the Ki'ig of Prussia in disguise.—Now York "Herald."

The first reference to it liingic lantern is generally believed to be that mado by ono Atlianasius Kirclier, in his boo lepublished in ICIO. In ICGS, a "learnwl Dane" exhibited such a lantern, which vas doubtless much like Uio modern one. The first magic liuitcrtis were iimde i" Ensland, by Philip CitrpesH in .1808, but it is much inoro recently Hum that the Inntorn lias been sulliciently impi'oved to bo such n. valuable lielp to teachers in the cliissroom.

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL , The inarviiige took pkao oh April li)l w f-David's -Pi-csbyteriiln Uhui-ch-, Woodnlle, ot Jhsa Elizabeth fciipltemirt, Gardner, (laughter of tho M\- iind -Mrs Gardner, of VTood.vilbe; to Mr. James ArmstVonj? Tunilmil, late of Mos'iel 1 he brido was given away by her brother' Mr. J Av Gardner (recently returned jrom.the front), and was attended bv Mr sister, Miss Jfnth Gardner, as bridesmaid. Mr. !5. Tiirnbull o.clril !Vs i;e4 man. The bride's MUv performed' the ceremony. English papers by the lost mail contain niglily favourable notices of a. performance at Brighton liy Miss Kathleen Levi daughter of Mrs. Blanche Lovj, Jttte of Diuiedin. . This .yoiin& ylaliiste is dV.■dared to be one of Hio most promising pupils o[ the famous Mattliay, and tlin unties expressed niuch pleasure at hor performances of the solo in Sniiit-Suens'A ' 'Fifth Concerto," admittedly <i verv difficult work. ■ The wedding of Mr. Arnold White Beanland, son of Mr. ,T. \V. Beanlnhdj St. Albaiis, Clmsteliui'elt, <tml Afta JTnaeideau- Alice. Fosler, youliqest daughter of ■Mr. Jnhii i ]' , («lpf, ■ A[eriv.ile. took .place inst ffeek in-Knox. Church, the Kev. W. Enviii officiflling. Mis? Dorolhy Jennings wns maid of honour, and two small flofrer-girls were also in attendance, ,'Mr-. K. Biijham was b?st. man. Both be and the bridegroom were''returned soldiers.. Miss Hue van Staveren is l&iviiig by tho Toinui on a visit (o .fiugltttidi .■ Miss B. Clement, M.A., dwiehror of the llev. G. (Jlement of (he Methodist Church,' Ellis Ifoad. Tnvercargill, has iieeil appointed acting-assistant to Dr. Gilroy, Professor of English at the Otago University. Miss Clement is a member of the-stall of Hie John M'C-ikishsm College, Duriedin. Tiie marriajio'lnok plane ih St. pelf's Church, Havelock, last week of Miss Annie Ovsmnn, second daughter of Ifr. W. H. find Mi's. Orsinan, to Mr. Stuart tiuckman, a returned joldier. who was wounded in the early <lay* of the wtir and invalided home somo lime ago. J'ias Mavis Orsinan was bridesmnid, and Mr. Thomson, of Blenheim, also a returned soldier, was best, mail , The marriage tonic place in Hin Biirhnm Street iMothodlst Church, fi'hristnhutch, last of ih. Walter' C } incctit- Sfrinw, elder son of ifr. and Mrs. T. A. v Stringer,- of St. Albans, to Miss Marione Rpster Tennpf-. only daughter of M'f. and M'rs. A. B. Te'iinet. of Usaly Aveniio, fl'imlchiivch. Jfiss Nora Geere-Waison (Wellington) was bridesinin'd, nn<l Mr. IT. Stvincer best man. Mr, .Leslie .Tolin- Earley, a returned Main Body soldier, was married in Christchurch last week (o Af'Vrc licsntla Jli'.dred Wells, seventh do Ugh let of Mr. If. C. Weils, of (liwlidille-. ■ One of tiie subjects whieh were dis"■'9sed ;it the eonfereiii'p of the National 'Inion of Societies for Eimal Citfzenshin, 'ield ih London .Inst month, was tho prin■iplo of equal pay for'cnual work..' After ■:ome discussion a repolnfion was passed iffirming that principle, and n succ;eding ■•rsolution called unon the Government to i?ive a lead to the country by establishing the principle in all branches of its. own service and securing similoi' aclion on the part of all local authorities.. State Endowment >of Motherhood, At the Women's Conference (N.U.W.S.b.), which was sitting iii London last month, u great deill of tiihS was given to. tllb iJilns'iileratiori of schemes lot' llnatitfitll Jlelp to mothere. It. was ilrfel;. of all agreed);on the propositi of ■ Miss 'Eleanor Kathbone, that ■ the council sho,nld, carry jOut a propagondii in favour of'tho State .endowment "of maternity and of cliildliood. ;, • Miss itiiiiibone pointed ..out' that this reform, w'hich will not coine till the .ground had been well prepared, will greatly change, the structure of society. . It will meet the greatest difficulty in the .ray of the woman wjige-t'i.rncr being re> '. gnrded as equal to the man, since nt pre* sent the chief argument for ,the man's ; higher wage is that his wife and falnily are entirely .depehdont on- his ciiniing3. It will solve the problem of the underfed child and relievo- tho wife from tho indignity of absolute economic dependence. ■ i A very long discussion on tho question of State maintonaiiM allowance,.for i widows and children resulted in tbe enrI rying of a resolution "thnt a maintenance allowance- for themselves and their children should bo paid by the State to I widows with dependent children; that' i the administration of theso allowances 1 should not- be in the hands of boards of • guardians or parish councils, and Hint : a campaign should be immediately under? taken to give effect to this resolution; that v any such scheme should provide thnt a widow draws her- pension as a right, and that she shall not forfeit it unless there is proof on a definite charge in a court of-law that she is unfit to have charge of tlin children, and thut sne should not be subjesr ion.v form of regular inspection unless then , is evi dence of the" misuse of the. pension." Trees of Remembrance, A memorial scheme for the planting of the whole of the old bottle lino from tho Belgian to the Swiss frontier with n belt of trees, has received the full support of the French deputies and the Government. These "trees of remembrance"—elms, willows, oaks, and firssaid the Abbo Lemire, member for Eazebrouck, will beautify ground hallowed by the fallen youth of France and her Allies, mid will show pilgrims from Great Britain' !;nd elsewhere flint France knows how to honour her' dead mid theirs. The Government will take the .responsibility: fof accidents from unexiiided sjielvs and bombs.' 15. Miss Sadie Isaacs, the onlv blind pum'l , nt the Central Foundation School. Spital Square, 8.1, has won the w i!liam Hosers Pri , /- , * of 17 volumes of Shakespeare and Thackeray winfed in Braille tvpe, Miss Isaacs,,who 1-s 17, lives at Bothnal Green, and is said to bo the onlv Wind girl who is educated with normal girls. All her school books are in Braille type. -and she does her lessons on a typewriter. .. Conditions of Nurses. "The treatment of nurses at the Ohristcluirch Hospital is the mod; fxandtiloiifl thing in our human civilisation," said Mr. J. J. Dougall in the course of his address nt Sydenham on Thursday (states the "Lyttelton Times"). They worn treated more like slaves than human beings, he said. They were young girls, and they could not live except that they _ were partly supported by relatives. Their.pay ranged from £\1 to ,C2O a vear, out of which Iliei" must buy uniforms and aprons. 'They had to scrub floors mid do nil kiwis of menial work; Ilipy had to study hard, and eventually psss an r.\iipiination urging -\ high standard of intelligence. Then they must work threa or four yeivrs to qualify as nurses, mid then they became entitled to a maximum salary of s XBO a year! It was not a credit to Ciiristdim-cli,' to tho, i)fo»le. <>.• to our civilisation. When he had brought up this matter,recently the nhnirninn nf the board hud retorted "that th» Christehurclr Hospital .was the test-paid hospital in New Zealand. Whnt, then, could they say of tho remainder? The nurse, was the handmaiden of the doctor, but whnt a disparity between the liurse's .£lO or .{BO and tiie doctor's .-GOOD or morn. Of cotirso the doctor was often- a bigger fllnve than the nurse, but Hie disproportion in. remuneration was far too grout. Tie hoped that the Ilosnital Board candidates would have something to say on (he question.

Professor's Advice t& Women,' I 3 rofessoi ; itfiemilliln BrtHvil giWfi an nil(l're& on the jiosition (if woint'n in the IMcific ilt u Incetiili! 111 , Die Cmilerlitii-y Women's Chill, ilt which LiUlJr Deilhis--ton presided, on 'J'liiirsday, states tiie "Lyttelton Times." Professor Brown, traced the evolution of women's position,' and gave many (iel.iils of Hin knowledge hit lias accumulated, in. hia visits In primitive 'people in i'nrilic islallds, "The first thing- thut should be Ic(# in mind by Die women of New /calami, the first of the Western women to secure a high political and social position," ho said in conclusion, "is to guard ajjninst centralisation of government. A hijflily wiifi'uljsml .I'ovi'iwniiiil: may have some .wisdom for the first few i:.(i!itl)s ,of its terni, but,in .time its wisdom oozdij away, and it becomes bound Land and: foot by either' departmental beanrocrats or electorates, or by both; and. then liberty disappears, the position of the family, is cmlnugcred; and women cannot net up to their .'position, Secondly, the homo nlways must be carefully guarded. It is .tilts sent nf tin , linblest virtues of inailkiild: Toil iyiil. Jhid Unit illerr; duty is placed above right. Seliishm'ss never cemented anythiiij;, never formed the foundation of any permanent institution,but always tended to destroy. : if you wish to retain your high social and political privileges you must guard tlin family life with the greatest- carp, nud keep it. from nil taint,. You may be euro that thut is the only way to remain free aml independent. 'One touch of nature mate the jvhole world kin, , Thnt touchot nature is love, afiVctlilil, <ind benevolence; and it is'in' the Jion'ifl tllrtt' you iind their perennial spring. A mother's-love is the only true example. It' you take 'that away you destroy.the home, all the liberty and independence you have won, mid all the great virtues tliat have distinguished ouv face.".From Bench to Kitchen, • ' it to stated -recently ,hy ,ih official of the Ministry of Labour' that' the. n'iihV her.of domestic servants who had ieturned to that occupation from muni--tio-i work was considerably higher than was anticipated. "The. pay of the domestic servant," lie said, "does not compare unfavourably with the average eamingfl lit tile Unskilled woman 'munition worker. The ftVernfep i'ate wf pay of .the latter class frns about ijfts, n tveelt, (ind. out of that.'dhi) had'to lieejj herself. A Rood scr. , vilnt Crtii. get i*si u week and her board and lodging, w1n.611, ffith presd/lt. prices, is certainly equivalent to another 2os. a week,' malcing a total of 375. n's.-rnm-pared with the munition worker's 355." Disabled Men as Orchardists. The Scottish Veterans' Garden City scheme tor disnblwl sailots and soldiers is developing rapidly (states an . English nowsjiauer). Its aim is to provide a country Cottage- with iin aero of fruit garden j'of.eacll mnil: lie 'lliis. the; 275. 6(1. > week allowance,from the Ministry of I'ensions,. Tho money' hns been raised by. public subscriptions, so that all the proceeds of the gardens will go to the men. Settlements have been formed in different'parts of Scotland,-the'most complete being at Lbngniddij, ' Jlnddiiißtonshire, where many cottages- linve been erected. I Thirty ncresiinve been devoted to fruitgardening and an old buildin? has been altered for a jam factory, while piggeries ail'l poultry-runs have also been put up.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190428.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 182, 28 April 1919, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,661

CARD STORIES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 182, 28 April 1919, Page 3

CARD STORIES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 182, 28 April 1919, Page 3

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