LEAVES FROM A NOTEBOOK.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 283, 11 April 1929, Page 2

LEAVES FROM A NOTEBOOK.

(By Marjorie) When the Duke and Duchess of York returned from their Australasian tour the duchess found among the correspondence awaiting her one from a little girl. This was read at a dinner recently by the duke’s private secretary. It ran as follows: My Dear Duchess, — I am only nine years old and I want to ask you a ques'.ion. I want to be a princess and marry a royal duke, like you did., Do tell me how it is done. I should love to be a princess, it must be such fun, and Mummy says a princess does a lot cf good. History does not relate whether the duchess confided the secret to her nine-year-old correspondent.

A determined British matron has just set a knotty problem for the railway authorities. Above the door of every carriage is a chain which stops the train when pulled, it is of course only meant for cases of rare emergency. Below the chain is the somewhat cryptic inscription : “To stop the train pull down the chain. Penalty for improper use £5.”, This is understood to mean that frivolous use of the chain costs the passenger £5. At Banbury a British matron bought a bun. She tendered sixpence but the train went on before the vendor passed over the change. She promptly pulled the chain. When the train came to a standstill and an excited guard rushed to the carriage to see what was the matter he was told placidly that she wanted her change. Now, the bun vendor plies his trade only by permission of the railway authorities, who might conceivably be held responsible for the change which did not materialise. The question thus arises, was the matron within her rights ?

The regulation which requires British voters to register under a penalty of £2O for failure to do so has not been allowed to become a dead letter. A picturesque test case has just come up at Kingston, near London, and has resulted in the imposition of a fine of £2 with £1 costs upon a woman who refused to give the particulars required. The woman bluntly admitted that the facts were as stated. The first form was burned because, as she stated, “ I didn’t understand what it meant, and could not bother myself about the vote, and preferred to leave it to men who know more about politics than I do.” The second time the

door was slammed in the face of the official who called with a duplicate, because at that moment “ the milk on the kitchen fire boiled over.”

) “ I think that every woman should ! have electric stoves and every modwives have to do ? New Zealanders pride themselves on their uptodateern convenience in her home,” stated a local gentleman to the writer recently. “ Men go in for all the latest conveniences at their offices and it’s up to them to see that they have them in their homes for their wives,” Ihe concluded. Why is it that most j men are so forgetful, to put it nicely, j when it comes to making such provision for the tedious work their 1 ness, yet when it cpmes to conveniI ences in the home they are far be- ! hind America and some Continental j countries in this respect. At little j extra cost much useless labour could i be abolished in most homes and life I made much more pleasant for those whose lot it is to spend the buik of their lives ministering to the wants of others. Let’s hope that the thoughtful remarks of the gentleman referred to will be read by the menj folk. Perhaps some of my readers will see to it that father cons this j paragraph.

Two good stories of answers given by children in school are going the rounds of Invercargill. One is that a teacher asked her class to write down the reasons why the Arctic regions were cold. A large majority gave as the reason that there was so much snow and ice there! Dealing with the same subject, the teacher asked a child to tell her the names of five animals living within the Arctic circle. The reply received was: “ Mr. Bear. Mrs. Bear, and three baby bears!”