TOO BUSY TO MARRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 68, 29 June 1910, Page 7

TOO BUSY TO MARRY

ON THE WEST COAST. Bishop Grimes,,who has just returned to Christchurch from a long stay on the West Coast, mentioned an interesting point in the course of an interview. He was most favorably impressed with the fine quality of the people and the resources of the country. The pioneers ol the early days, who braved the perils of rapid, broad rivers, made their way across wide lagoons, and penetrated the virgin forest, must have been men and women of the finest type, and he was pleased to have found that the energy,) pluck and perseverance displayed by them was reflected in their descendants. Though he did not pretend to rank as a judge of beauty, he could nof be otherwise than favorably impressed with the women of the .province, and on several occasions when preaching he had re-. monstrated with the young men for their dilatoriness in marrying. The young women, as a class, possessed the qualities of industry, modesty, simplicity and personal charms. He was sure they would make excellent wives, yet for some unaccountable reasons there was little marrying and giving in marriage. The parents were to blame to some extent for this state of things, lor »hey 'kept their sons working on the homstead instead of encouraging and assisting them to build homes for themselves. Another obstacle to matrimony in the South was the close association throughout their lives of the settlers and their families, with the result that the young people grew up to regard one another as relatives, though there might be no natural affinity. The general sobriety of the young men, of whom few smoked, had also given him pleasure.