The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 1907. LUXURY LOVING NEW ZEALANDERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 18 February 1907, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18th, 1907. LUXURY LOVING NEW ZEALANDERS.

In tli;> diiys of ancient Komi*, lx,.[< )r ,. the Umpire idttcrcdj Ihukiucjc>is ul tile Üblrs of til. uoaltl.y , IIL . „ s •I* lhu\ coul*l contain It, With good ton,| tu * J . rom ihc ?(' l '', ■ till "' "" "'»<■•"<■■■ Tl«™ „ 1 ll "' '"J! 11 '"'l'" Jioiiiiui could lii't'in <>v,.r ..jr.,;,, iUKI d.d ,o. j t ,v iH luxury tha. d.ilroyed tile virile uu.l----j lUcs of tin. lr _. ull( , l|l( , U| . |i( tliv jjivat iMiij), i'o. j t is j- u . , from n.K-k.nt to mode, x,C v /-.raluml, I,m, i„ a moilitiivl form a I T '"! ot tll( ' I"'"!'!'' »f tlie*. Ko,i mi•uu 1,1,s treat themselves a yoml ,|,. a |

after the stylo of the Ancient Unmans except lor tile emetic. The pioneer- | !»g co.ui,i s |, of .\e„- Z.ahuid aid not indulge luxurie,, localise there we.e no luxuries („ indulge in, and nnyon «lio takes a pi ;d-.- ia on,- pioneers' wiil iind that 'they lived l.vn.r al ,d vigorously even tirougi, it was impos.,ole to wear h.gh class clothes made of the ' linest imported cloth, or to cat hiel) oliiaSi food with a minimum of wiio.esomciK'ss ami maximum of easy mas- . ticiition. l'ruscut day rcsui'ts arc inferior teeth, superior appearand, Jiiucli conceit, the feeling tlmt one l section of colonist wjc.cLv i s a "da,shed side by. tor" .than ' other section, and I i,e "living from , hand t.o mouth" felt docs not reco"-iii-se any such »:lly old fashioned idui as "selling aside something for a rainy

Lie passion tor luxury j, a a , loui . l( I n n' 1 , • ls and re1, citable, and it has the effect of iiiiuL ng the children of the present geuer lo " '' !llller ashamed of their parents WHO, as a general tlimg, belonged to lie p,oncer class, wlm believed that to be c.othed was to be covered and to lie fed was ;o be sat.slied and not templed with luxuries. Tlie colonial jUsMon 1.-,,- sartorial splendour „ 115 Ui , . t '" ,, g noticed by Lady l>l uil j<et Alien she landed here, and it will be ivmvmbcred that Mu , Cover,ior' s wife called down tlie wrath of the 11 0 ;,le her er.t.cisni Hit so' hard, by saying that the colonial girl dressed very <•*- pensive.y. So suo u ,„, s . , whose latter is a trade.,,,an appears " l tl,e sU y L ' l "11 limes in collies thai, would be used for "cairiugo" w . ca.-ions by women of La.ly Pluiiket/s class. iirs «, of course, the express ion ot the said girl's belief that she is as good as anybody, aiid has the same rig,,t lo wear tiiu clothes of the mighty. Liut the point is here. The girt or the young w.fe-does not beoug to a family that has a rent roll bunging in ma „y thousands a year. I : ; lrt,c .u:ar male person who has to pay the piper may be in possession ef a^uT m l, tOUU, " S ;CJ ' 3U or -WOO or ■uotl. She may be in receip.. of a Jul " «eek herself, i„ which case sue leds ttoit she has every right to ,spend tb/o a week in iinery.

1 |» ot course a democratic virtue in the young people of a young country to jelieve themselves a very excellent ■ tide, and ire for one do not blame l lien, lor having a necessary pride hilt the pride that finds its most ade' ipiate exjiression in sijtianderiii" mo ie • m avenues where it will do lca>t ,r o e'd isn tto be encouraged. There is hale tiug.iliti in the colony, merely because ' 1,1 is not so apparent as it was to the forefathers of the present geneiatinn jhe person who !,a s been poo,, it suddenly made wealthy, is ofen a spendlarit'.t The of lucks diggers who have sliodj thcl*houes w.tli g0.,1, and have "shouted" champagne by the buckeful, are true stones, and go to prove that sudden accession of wealth., or. at least, of more cash than strugirlers have be..,, used to is an unbalancing circumstance, iu a deinoeratic community where it js absurdly he'd u:ut everyone is "'-is gvn.d" as everyone else, the' people a 1 the time Irymg to prove that it 'silt true by appearing to be a |itt c heller Jian anyone else. A .„ oi | a,.al ot the democracy shows itself in a deeper depth of crawling than would oe lo erable in a community that had never recognis.-d the supposed equality oi man.

u iiiij)o.',il,le to Jie u it t . ot tlic Jaljuuriiijj man I'nmi t.v wile (■l' tlie lu'ut'essiuuul iiui! j , \ ( , u - y,. ;L land and t m . njf,. yf ( |„. pi-'.-f.-ssi( man is iiiiilistiii.uuisliali',. r ro .,, wif( , of the: niilliuiwire. Jt mar , e Unit the wile of t lk; liiereliaut prinee will show her deiuoeiatie spirit, ,ire-r. :1] ..- as 'imply as jiossJjle. It lruc || l: ," ! u! ln ' sl ; -'tlv iu the lam! ilresses more sanjily than the ordinary carter'?, wife ami her (.hildien art! probably elotiied lor live pounds Ire bimeli aiid'there aie six of Itlieni. A'cw Zealand isn't old enough for its. people to have any lii.jli. flown notions about and elotiies and luxury but they emphatically have, lake a camp of Aew Zealand volun tucrs. Did you ever hear of one in which llic man didn't -row, aboil,, the food? It ,'s too simple. Jl would linvu been comparative luxury Lo their pilathers, Imt |„ li,-. p r , Si .„t it U mil at all the Ihiiig. fliis iMssiini lor luxury has an ell'eet 011 (he nia liners of the'pcop.u. There 1- liUle consideration shown for the -ma 1 cuurl esi;\. j„ H,,, uf jj |>u , Zealand, especially the J.uge centreThe man who lie j* „„ as you "and a dashed belicr" may lie so, of course. You wouMn v (loiiOt it lor a moment, but wnen he •allows it by excessive rudeness one is permitted tu have doubts after all. lie 1., better dressed than you. lie ), iUi a more l bril.ianll watclidiain. Tills give., bun permission t u tread on volt 111 a public conveyance, to smokj in tile faces of your lady friends, to talk HI a very loud voice on all public ocI.isioiin and to keep his hat 011 in your ollice.

The small -p:ease n " and 'Thank yous'' go out with the simple pioneers. Ihe many tiny acts of politeness that leaven •'"'■ l wnn'eli are generally entered !!'' u "! 1 " 1 ; all embracing title of bleeding haven't room lo breathe in an atmosphere of sartorial nia"iii,«»d "I'm as good as V o"„." I here is no special virtue in wearing ine |ioniids worth of osl rich feathei" am owing leu pounds to the u-roeer. .lit you see' ,\lrs Nomiso, the souattil s wite. Weal's three jiounil leu's va.rtl, of ostiiel, feajhers and Mr 3 Chips the carpenter's wife, is as good 01 bettei than Mrs S, so wii.y not let tlie grocer s bill slide? hj, i 5 „„ U ct of (tnionao 'iho average woman who piles all the availahhi capital she can raise on her liody would be content to \\<ai <i > Jn Kilt il >h<; only had "Women for an audience, | n SOIIIO remarkable »a\ in.iiii women hue got to believe 'at llie more clothes they wear of the most expensive kind, m, niueh inor ■ will men admire Ilieni. \\' e have our doubts \\e know well enough that m much of tile feminine over-dressiiK' in .New Zealand the men are to blame' not so ninch because men admire the '•hithes more 'than the woman who in- " 'bits them as that the colonial dem oeiat wan Is Ins woman folk to rust'c it with the best of other people's wo men folk. 1 1

Carlylo j„ his "Sartor Kesarlus" hand!»l >l>« subject Of dollies and limir les eli'ectively. but oil! has to remem her that Carlylo wrote from the liver and not Irom the heart. J| ( , Wils ~ chrome dyspeptic, aud a constant unhappiness 'to everybody around him. '■specially his unfortunate and almost imprisoned wife. li:s satires are not to be taken as a guide of ti:e eoloniiil man and woman. Ily some curious process of rea.-oning the latler'dav mail will often be called "prelly" be cail-e -lie IS gorgeously die'ssed.' |)j,| vim ever hear (lie owner of a race

»>!■-'; admiring || lL .. .-.jvri- Uf liis hor.se'' '■""". v Hinu-, too, ( !ult x . 11m . (1 (||i . I"" 1 " <»7»l all tIK. uul ? n ' K WitfiMiu tries („ ui) l'.V buying her beauty ;lt ,o llim .|, >■>>'■ l. -Man isn't tali iii'a lit i ful <■„ t" himself. 111. built right. Tin. ancient Knnia,, „f whom ive fijjokc wasn't quite tin. nia.-n (if conceit that many modern im , lie didn't wear padded shoulders anil H'•' work of the linker of mankind (his fcg*) were not nniKidcrcd imle (out. Woman's fcfjH arc iii.lcccnt in ail (rnod Urilish countries. but a \vu man publicly appearin;; may be as bare as a new born babe at the other end. it is ijuite a litct thai if a man tur-

Ned up in the dress circle of the theatre with his eiiest l»iiio the police would take a hand. Woman who are oi' course so modest are not "dressed" in a theatre it' they are clothed all over. All of which things arc very funny and very democratic. The, decollete dress, it may ho interesting to say, is a survival of an Eastern fashion. Slave traders forced female slaves to appear decollete ill order that the intending buyers might be attracted. The intending buyers were men. A Xew Zealand public man who kis lately visited the Old Laid and who has seen the British aristocrat in his ua live dei) 3 recently stated in the press that he attended a dinner which cost the giver sixty guineas per head of the people who were fed. The Crcalnr, when He built man, gave him an appetite that lie intended should be

easily and cheaply sati.-died. lie gave him teeth—for use and not for ornament only. None. uP those aristocrats needed teeth for that sixty guinea dinner, and none of them needed move than sixpenny worth of food in reality to satisfy all their needs. It is the prodigious and criminal waste , that is so deplorable and the dissatisfaction that 'striving after luxury engenders. Nature says t<> a man "You want a hard biscuit and a glass of water." Tu«a mail replies, 'Your'o a liar. You are out of date. What 1 want i,s soup and mashed up tisJi and a soft entree, and some macer.

ated beef, some fricasseed poultry, some mashed vegetables, and some nice soft jelly and a little triile and a cheese straw and a crushed banana. Then I'll have a big sleep and wake up with a mouth anything but pleasant. That man wonders why he hasn't got any natural teeth. The poor benighted heathen has nil his teeth all his life because he has lived on two pennyworth of "hardtack" a day. The man who lives the simple life is a crank, but the crank of this kind has a biiuple life that is a long life and he hasn't j a more pleasant taste in his mouth, tie is none the colder because his overcoat is a wheat-sack and he sleeps none the less souttdly because he "dabs down" on a bag bunk and i|uitc for i got to buy a spring- mattress. I The simple, ordinary, natural life will he lived again. The artificial nerve

, destroying, dyspepsia producing, ex- : pensive, peacock existence will become unfashionable. When aU drugs and medical treatment have failed nowa days, the doctors, if they are honest—and several are—will turn a patient over to nature. Nature knows. Nature doesn't supply lobster salad or fricasseed chicken or still' shirts and tight boots. Nature docs not laugh at Airs Jone3 for looking dawdrv. Nature made Mrs done*, not her clothes. Nature made Mrs Jones' food, too, but mail tortures it until it is not fit for anything except to go as lust assistant to the undertaker. And the reason why so many of the rising generation of colonials haven't two sixpences to rub together is that they are ashamed of nature. On the other hand nature U so ashamed of them that she gives the man a bad time, inside and out.