The Daily News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11. THE WAY OF OUR GIRLS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 69, 11 March 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11. THE WAY OF OUR GIRLS.

An ancient British legend, probably quite forgotten nowadays, tuld how a very clever young man chose his wile j through the humble uiediuiuship m' cheese. Mary, of an evidently eaivl"-> ( .mil extravagant tli-pnriit ion. sliced the j rind oil' wholesale; Lizzie, who was not fastidiously particular as to what dirt she ate. took the rind as it was; Imi •leanie, economical and cleanly, scraped the rind, anil was, in popular phraseology, "ihe girl lor his money." Thackeray, in a lirilliam page, volimleeisome advice to the voiing mail ahoui to choos,. a wile. " Above all tilings," lie says, 'have u woman for your wife who has a sense of humour in her." One who. if unable to make a joke her self, is always ready to laugh at otlit people's Juki's -lours, of course, for preference; who after tile labors uf the day goes to her rest with a cheerful heart and arises in the morning with a smile, lor humour is as sunshine in ihe I I ic, lightening and brightening evciything. I'robabiy in Thackeray's time the women in the different classes of life were all much of a muchness—" all of a piece." as the saying is—in regard to accomplishments, education, practical resourcefulness, and the sense of huino.hi' advised should be sought for as a jewel superadded.

There be querulous, cynical old fools in the world who assert that no man ever yet did choose a wife; that the man to put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands and carefully pass in mental review all his female friends ami acquaintances with a view of making a selection ol whom to address himself has yet to be burn; that the man who goes down the street wagging a figurative tail and flattering himself that he sought and won the partner ui his joys and sorrows almost certainly, fell a victim to las own conceit, it s lively woman who makes the selection, i aim'she throws her ipieenly handkerchief in a thousand perfectly illicit and unsuspected ways. Having chosen her prey she will laugh at ponderous, st.ipid, pointless jokes because he made them, and he laughs; hyperbolically siie will sit at his leet and drink in his wolds of wisdom; patiently she will listen to his tales of adventure by land and sea; she will ingeniously draw him out to talk ou his favourite themes, till the unfortunate youth imagines there never existed a woman like her, and in his desperate plight nought will satisfy but a ring and a parson. The nioi'i lovely and personally captivating may adopt a short and more direct method; a winning look, the gentle pressure of the hand, the magnetic touch of playJul lingers, and the victim is, to use a vulgar but expressive word, at once a " goner."

As has lieeil indicated, the holders of these views are men whose natures, by length of years and unfortunate experiences, have been soured into harshness and want of sympathy with the artless young. There are those, of course, to whom reflection at length comes and they realise that it would, be well for them to marry and "settle down,' 1 and although they' may not have been particularly good men they may make very good husbands—as husbands go. Hut, however the circumstances, given a man who is seeking lor a wife and searching for the woman who, according to his lights, possesses the necessary qualifications to make a home happy, it may be useful to examine the chances he has of finding her. In this regard a statement made last week by the director of th<' Technical School" Wellington, throws a Hood of light. It appears that of three hundred gills attending the various classes only forty are seeking to attain to a knowledge of cooking, dressmaking, hygiene, and oilier of the simple domestic arts which in the future would Ik- distinctly useful to them as mothers and wives; shorthand, typewriting, book-keeping, and high art'claim all the attention of 2fio! '• Here's a pretty state of things'. Ilere'a pretty how-do-you-do:" Hut, indeed, one has but to stand ou the streets of any of our towns ~r cities at eve or early morn and note the crowds of women and girls Hocking to or coming I rvoin factories, shops, and offices. |„ rcali-e thai the idea of becoming one

has never entered into the scheme of life of this mass of femininity. If ulti niately they do marry, then the unfor lunate spouse will have to put up with defective cooking, an absence of order, neglect of hygienic, precaution, a disregard of frugality, in short ignoraiue and incapacity in the performance of household work in every conceivable form. The wife, of course, will Until; herself badly used if the husband ventures to complain, and not improbably will he disposed lo listen with satisfaction to the words of appreciation nn.l consolation quite disinterestedly tendered by "the other fellow." Thus, the elements of future unbappiness ami misery, ending in large additions to the business of the divorce court, are simmering in our midst.

It is a regrettable fact that the policy ol the State is not in favour of domesticity. Very many years ago, when first the demand for Protection began, it was urged that what was euphemistically called "Protection to Native Industry" would give employment to our boys; they would be enab'ed to team trades. It was pointed out at the time that the proposed Protection would do more than that—it would give employment to our girls. Protection has been adopted in all the States of Australasii, with the result that half the population of each is crowded into prcteraaturally immense cities, the. truly native industries associated with the soil have been neglected, and those who should be regarded as the future mothers of the future nation—despising household duties —are found trooping to factories and shops, or as short hand writers, typewriters, book-keepers, clerks shoving our boys from off their stools ill offices. Our legislators profess to be. very anxious lo see our manhood settled upon the land, whilst by Ulicir Protection system-their weak pandering to trade agitators—they offer our manhood every inducement to remain in the cities.

When the hardiest and pluckiest of our manhood do go out upon Ihe land, what chance has any of them of picking up a helpmate in any way suited to the conditions of life into which he would propose to lead her'.' If he goes to the capital, by enquiry lie might learn the names of the folly sensible maidens who are endeavouring to qualify themselves for the discharge of the manifold duties associated with home management; otherwise, a- hi- been -ecu. the chances are more than -ix lo - ihci he wiil make the im.-t scib.u- mistake of his life. At pre-iit. for i 11,,,. Uiere seems I,lit one p.udcii: -e open. Lot him turn his searching and amorous eyes upon cooks and housemaids, mi his ship may escape the rocks of connubial perdition. Let him shun the foolish and uusexed maiden- who aie devoting their more or less ardent natures to solving the mysteries of typewriting and high art, so they may go onward to the sphere of barren old-maidishuess which is their proper fate. So, for wuuld-lie ISciicdicls. from that burning Ministerial sun, the Hun. the .Minister for Customs, a ray of hope descends if they will be but patient. Me says that in the motherland there are quite a number of very good girls - - who know how lo cook a chop, and arc not above doing it—very anxious to come to New Zealand, and he ],as some hazy thought of i assisting them. I r