CORRESPONDENCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1436, 14 August 1915, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

A WORD IN TIME. (To the Editor). Sir, —I hear that it is intended to give a public ball locally to the soldiers In the camp at Rangiotu. I think It Is nuite alright to give Innocent pleasure to the young men who are soon to leave us for the front, but the affair re quires very careful attention if unpleasantness is to be avoided. I know something of the Palmerston Ball, and I don’t think there will be any more balls held there again while the camp is in existence. The ladies —and perhaps they are right—are bent on giving the soldier boys a good time, and the civilian male section are expected to lake a back seat, in fact very much in the rear. This has led to some unpleasantness and disappointment. I don’t say the civilian males arc right In being disappointed, but if the ball is held they must be- prepared to make every sacrifice to give the soldiers a good time, and to take a back seat. We have not too many young ladies to entertain the visitors, and some mothers object to their daughters attending a public dance, so that they should know what to expect when the event happens, and not make a fuss about it after. Without saying too much, may I just hint, too, that certain young people are apt to lose their heads in the ma' er of entertaining, and extreme parental supervision is very neccessary. There is so ranch we can all do for the comfort of our soldier boys without, I think, losing our heads with too much fleeting pleasure of a nature which may leave a tinge of remorse. Thanking you in anticipation, —I am, etc., A Patriotic Parkxt.