WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 162, 8 January 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen.") j

A TRIUMPH FOR WIFEHOOD f

What is known as the "Jackson case" came as a surprise to the public, and it may be said that a case just decided by Mr. Justice Warrington in London is 'almost equally remarkable. In the "Jackson case" it was decided by the Court of Appeal, after a very able argument for the husband by the late Lord Collins, who was then one of the leaders of the Bar, that a wife may leave her husband at the church door after the marriage as a free woman, and he cannot compel her to live with him, or recapture her, or keep her in his house agkinst her will. The latest case (says the English Law Journal) goes further in favor of the wife, as, put shortly, it amounts to this: that after years of married life and the birth of children, the wife may leave home for ever, and either take the children with her or obtain custody for a period of years, without proving, or even alleging, any matrimonial offence or misconduct against the husband. This is due to the operation of the Guardianship of Infants Act, "the Mother's Charter," of 1910, as it is called, and no separation deed is required. It may be added that the Court has the same power even where the wife lias been guilty of misconduct, if it should appear to the Judge to be contrary to the interests of children to take them out of the custody of their mother. The father may be devoted to his children, and being entirely blameless may make every effort to induce his wife to return, but his old rights are entirely gone, and if she refuses he must live alone without being free. But. after all, the interests of the children arc the main consideration, and such questions may safely be left to the discretion of the Judges.

REMEMBERS WATERLOO

, i Still in the full possession of her faculties, though she has attained the great age of 102, Mrs. Edinond, aunt of Mrs. I Griffiths, wife of the principal of the | South Wales University at Cardiff, is one of the most remarkable Scotswomen of to-day. Born in Aberdeen of distinguished parents, Mrs. Edmonds is a brilliant linguist, and she has read deeply and travelled widely. After completing her education in France, she returned to Aberdeen, and, says the Scotsman, became the wife of the celebrated Orientalist, Dr. Marcus Sachs, professor of Hebrew in the Free Church College. She and her husband travelled a good deal, particularly in Germany. Her second husband was an eminent advdeate of Aberdeen, Dr. Francis Edmonds, L.L.D., whose gifts to Aberdeen University and charities reached nearly £IOO,OOO. She was left a widow for the second time at the age of 83. Two years later she joined Principal and Mrs. Griffiths at Cambridge, and went with them to Cardiff in 1902. She had been in the city only a few months when, through an accident in the street, she had one of her legs broken, but she fully recovered in a few months, and now walks unaided. Mrs. Edmond goes occasionally to church, and takes her daily walk in the garden of the principal's residence. Mrs. Edmond remembers the arrival of the news of the battle of Waterloo, and also recalls that when Napoleon's name was uttered with bated breath she said it was all right, "father is in the house." She has gone to a ball in a Sedan chair, and was the only passenger on the smack that took her to London when she set out for her boardingschool at which she received her early education. The journey from Aberil ato the metropolis took a week, "and 1 i <'call the stormy passage we had." She ha. s many stories of the primitive methods of lighting the house—the cruse lamp being very popular. She has lived to see the day of electricity, the telephone, and the airship! Mrs. Edmond has been associated with many of the most eminent men and women of the nineteenth century. She •had a great admiration for the genius of Robertson Smith, pupil of her first husband, and, according to Professor James Bryee, the profpundest scholar of his time.

j POWER OF THE ENGLISH HOME.

SACREDNESS OF MARRTAGE THE CORNER-STONE IT RESTS ON. A powerful appeal to women to 'respect the sacredness of marriage and to realise that they were the queens of so many little kingdoms—their homes —was made by the Archbishop of York in the course of an address in the Sheffield Paris Church. The congregation was. entirely composed of women, and the meeting was held under the auspices of the Sheffield Mothers' Union. The Archbishop opened by paying « warm tribute to Queen Mary! There was no mother, said Dr. Lang, in the whole of the Empire who was trying more faithfully or more prayerfully to be a true wife, a true mother, and a true centre of a pure and happy home than our Queen Mary. "What have our women to do with queens ?" asked the Archbishop. "I will tell you. You have everything to do with queens, for if you are mothers you are queens. You have each got your kingdom. Where God has set you, you rule, and you are there by Divine right. No one can question your place or authority. Your kingdom is the kingdom of the home, and this kingdom opens the way to every other kingdom. "Oh, you Queens, you queens, if you understood how great is your power, if you only realised that something has been given you that is more powerful than public meetings, votes and discussions, how you would value the honor that is yours! "You would be astonished, no doubt, if I were to address you as you Majesties. But what, indeed, can be more majestic than the rule and control of human souls and English homes on behalf of the nation? They nil had great hopes of a better day coming for their country. They did not want always to see so much poverty, sickness and misery, want of work, toil, strain and hardship. "Whether that better day came or not depended upon their homes. If their homes were not pure rind true, filled with- the love and fear of God, nothing that could -be done by votes, new laws or new trades would last. Everything in the long run depended upon the homes of the people. "There are many forces about us," said the Archbishop, "which are attacking and undermining our homes, and I call upon you queens to rise and defend our kingdom. There is nothing, for instance, upon which the home more certainly rests than the strength and sacredness of marriage. That is the cornerstone upon which the home life of the people rests. If that corner-stone is dislodged or shaken, then we must expect to see much of our national life crumbling away.'

WOMEN THE WORLD OVER

For upwards of eighty years five maiden ladies named Crump have lived together in one of the principal houses., of Castle street, Farnham, Surrey, and one of them has just died, at the age of 'ri. The eldest of the four surviving sisters is SB years of age. . . ....,„.-..,

The death is announced at Newport, Rhode Island (U.S.A.), on October 24, \ of Ida Lewis, who was the American j Grace Darling. She was the only woman who was ever officially appointed to the charge of a lighthouse, and for over 50 years she was responsible for keeping the light on Lune Rock. _ During that long period she saved 18 lives—some of them at great personal risk. Her deeds of daring carried her fame over the world, and she was the recipient of many honors, including medals, a life pension, and the thanks of Congress. Miss Elizabeth Smith, of Birkdale, Lancashire, who died in September last, made adequate provision for the care of all her domestic pets. Among other bequests was £2OO and her horse Trilby to Henry Blumberg, on condition that the animal was "mercifully destroyed within a month of my decease"; and she gave her other horse Rosie to Henry Walbourne, with an injunction that "he shall use it for his own benefit, but if he i disposes of it he shall do so to a lady or gentleman, and not to a dealer, or hackney coach proprietor." There are 19 women 'practising the law in France. The first reputed feminist victory in Central America comes with the unanimous decision of the City Council of Belize, the capital of British Honduras, to extend the municipal suffrage to the women of that city. After several years of agitation the women teachers in the public schools of New York State have secured the recognition of the principle of equal pay for equal work. On October 20 last Mayor Gaynor signed the Bill passed by the State Legislature to make the salaries of male and female teachers equal. In giving his assent to the measure the Mayor said that, instead of lessening the number of male teachers, the ne\f law would cause an increase, because it would remove the economic reason for appointing I women teachers because they were less i paid. The change will increase the I school budget of the city of New York by no less than £750,000 a year. The passing of the last of the women who have been working in English coal pits recalls the times—only 300 years ago—when the workers in coal mines were all slaves. Mr. Thomson, in his "Weavers' Craft," thus summarises the old-time situation underground: "The coal pits were, in these days of 300 years ago,, worked and made profitable by men and women, and little children, too, who were the slaves of the mine owners. The slaves were branded as the Americans brand their cattle, with a hot iron, and collared with a necklet of iron carrying the name of the slave owner. The owner of the mine, when he sold or transferred his holding, sold his slaves with his other goods and chattels." The Chinese are likely to soon come into their own kingdom. Owners of riverj side premises in celestial towns used to put up the sign, "Female babies drowned here," but the revolutionary leaders are promising the adoption of female suffrage if the insurrection succeeds. A German university professor says that the American woman is doomed to lose the little toe of the foot unless she takes to wearing larger shoes. Queen Helene of Italy is remarkably original. She recently instituted a char, ity, which has added greatly to her popularity. Fifty of the most povertystricken and motherless babies in tht kingdom were collected and brought U a white house overlooking the sea, which her Majesty had purchased out of her private purse, and there they are to live and be educated under the immediate superintendence of their benefactress unI til they are able to earn their livings. IThe Queen visits this creche at frequent intervals, and, accompanied by her chijdren, she plays with the small inmates, I who call 'her "mother," and are known j as the "Queen's children."