THE LADIES’ WORLD

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2410, 27 January 1909, Page 7

THE LADIES’ WORLD

IS THE CHAPERONE APPRECIATED?

,\vc chaperones appreciated by cirls? Yes, will answer many of their charges, who count them as safeguards against criticism, and who eniw themselves the more because they tool someone is inter rested in the good time they are enjoying. Many, girls also feel a lack of responsibility when a chaper-one is present, as it is her clutv to enforce the conventions, and the" voting people may then enjoy themselves to their, hearts’ content. V After all, society is-complex, and though city life demands that girls be chaperoned at balls and theatres and other public functions, yet, perhaps the girl in Hie country does not need to ask her mother to accompany her t 0 a village concert. For the town fdrl* will meet many men of whom her ir,other has no knowledge whereas in the country * nearly every individual is' already well-known. The best rule concerning the chaperone is “In R-omo do as the Romans do.” Follow the custom of the society’ in which you mix, hut when there is a question of chan erotic or no chaperone, take one with you. Whenever there is room for doubt, there is room for the chaperone. _ After all, it is always the wiser plan to keep on the safe side, for the world is like a. great gossip, and girls do not like to be talked about. So remember that though it may seem unnecessary to take a chaperone, vet this is always pardonable, whereas, to be without a chaperone when one is needed is quite unforgiveable. , Most men consider the onglit, goodtempered chaperone an addition to the party, and it may safely be said when the chaperone is a spoil-sport, there is something wrong with the sport and not with the chaperone herself. And there is no doubt that a girl’s readiness to appreciate her chaperone is a test of her own attitude to her men friends, for a nice end never alters her manners in the presence of her elders, but is the samo nico without them, and feels safe Ain following her impulses even when 'thrown upon her. own resources.

SARCASM. The habit of sarcasm appears to be (/rowing, especially among women; is it considered smart to be sarcastic, we wonder? Surely not, for tile sarcastic woman can never be popular, save with a few whom she dominates or uses for her own ends. However brilliant she may be, she sacrifices her power, destroys her influence by her want of womanliness land fine feeling. No one- is ever qi/ite comfortable m her presence. Strange to say, tne sarcastic woman is extremely sensitive concerning herself, and never forgives one who ventures to convince her that she is in error. No woman can be truly polite while she is guilty of an utterance which can possibly wound, or injure another. The womanly woman, dear to her own sex and respected bv men, is not sarcastic.

NEW GLOVE PURSE. Since there is no hope held out- by the dressmakers of pockets in now costumes, the glovers have come to v the rescue of their customers. ihe newest glove lias a little Pjj rS i e sorted in the palm of her left hand, of a size quite sufficient to -take Anionirii small change for a day's re--(/nirements. The purse is so nea y adjusted in its place that even when it is full of money it is not uncomfortable to the hand, but the money should ho small.

WHAT WOMEN ARE DOING. A NOTABLE ITALIAN. One of the moot interesting among the many intellectual Italian women of the present day is Maria Montessori, who holds an appointment a ° lecturer in the University ot home. Her rare gifts of personality and eloquence make her a fascinating speaker and lecturer. But she is no less trie lv known for her philanthropic tyoik among the poor of Home, especia y for her original method of teaching children to read and write by ingenious playthings, instead of by tn usual laborious methods. This system she has introduced in the Casa del '' Bambini (the Children’s House), the quarters especially set apart for tlio children in the model dwellings of the poor. Here the children have their home: they play and learn almos unconsciously at the same time 1 1 various rudiments of knowledge. Wonderful is the way in which the art or writing comes to them under oigno Montessori’s system, almost as art of walking comes. Milan, trie “intellectual capital” of Italy, has just started a Children’s House on a the same lines in the fine new workmen’s dwellings built under the auspices of the Tim unit aria. The ideas ot Signora Montessori have- been carried out here under her own genial supervision, and the Casa dei Bambini promises to be a li-appy place for the little ones.

BABY-SAVING IN; PARIS. Some Parisian ladies have started on their own a society really very similar to the New Zealand Babies Aid Society, which rejoices in such an unwieldy name. These Parisicn nesj*ent a room in one of the poorest quarters of Paris, and there every Saturday, "with the iaid of a doctor, who gives Ins advice for nothing, and other nelpers, they weigh and examine from fourteen to twenty babies, and supply their mothers with tickets to get necessary nourishing food. • The helpers say that they are Lilly repaid for their trouble by the pleasure they have in seeing their patients improve under their care, and the mothers fill them with admiration by their courage, . their self-respect, and their readiness to learn 4io\y to care for babies who come too fast for their pockets, if not for tlioir affection. Seven children often have to no kept on a wage of one pound' a'week, find that not regular. The society underbake to look .after the mother a month before the baby is born as far as it can. It pays for her to have her washing done, and so saves her from going to the public washhouse, which is a regular death-trap, and the same thing ,is done a month after the birth of the child, and every possible care is taken of botlr mother and child for the next eighteen- months. After this time they _ have the ; privilege of using the dispensary which has been founded use in another part of the district.

A FRENCH WOMAN MAGISTRATE

Like an, encroaching tide, women arq gradually pushing their way into places hitherto strictly barred to thorn. From Paris conics the news that a lady, Madame Jusselin,, lias been elected as commercial magistrate, or prud’homme, which means that sho will sit on the bench of a special tradesmen’s court which tries disputes bo tween employers and employees. Her contention that women ought to bo on the bench, as last year 793 cases in which women were concerned were tried in this Court, w r as made in a short electoral speech which won her the seat by a large majority; it is. said, owing to the brevity of her remarks.

THE LADY IN THE PULPIT. In Paris the. Courts, in England the Church ; for Miss L. R. G. Smith, sister of.the.curate of All Saints’, Southport. has received a “call” to an important Congregational Church in. the south, which, if she accepts—and from all accQunts she is well-fitted for the post—will make her the first lady minister in the Congregational Church.