WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 244, 15 April 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen"). NOTES FROM LONDON A WOMAN ENGINEER. London, February 16. However enthusiastic a motorist a woman in England may be, she must gain all her knowledge of her car or machine by hard experience if she intends to do her own repairs—no English school of engineering will admit her as a student. There is no distinction, apparently, in the United States, and a girl of 18, a Miss Swen, lias recently entered the engineering department of Highland Park

College, in lowa. I THE NEWEST PROFESSION. The newest profession, if such it can be called, should come as a delight to the manv writers of fiction and weavers of plots who find it difficult to find a market for their wares. One would perhaps need to be in or around London to realise to what dimensions the. Picture Palace craze has grown. The smallest and poor- j est suburb is not too small or too poor to boast numbers of these brightly lit ] and elaborately alluring places whose' popularity is such that crowds are often to be seen waiting outside before each "session." For twopence a thorough evening's amusement may be purchased, and managers and patrons appear to be equally pleased with the arrangement. Now has arisen a tremendous demand for plots suitable for reproduction in films. The result itself is, of course, wordless, and a clever writer will soon master the art of making his or her » characters' actions tell their own story. If words are submitted to managers they should not, on any account, exceed 500 in number. British set plays are given a preference though there is not the reason to fear that New Zealand scenes would be rejected. Already th'e general public are beginning to get more than an inkling into the way in which the films are prepared, since often on a country road one may come upon a {strange group of people, possibly in dress totally unsuited to the hour, and gesticulating in an unusual fashion. The click of the film-maker is the key to the situation. Only a little while ago, after one surprise of this kind, a couple of policemen in 'the country calmly stood by and watched some burglars clumsily getting away with their 100t —being under the impression that the whole affair was "faked" for the benefit of a cinematograph audience later. For an acceptable plot anything between 5s and £lO may be paid, according to the value of the idea animating the story. A picture plot must be concise and must describe only the incidents of the story, and not how the characters look and feel. GIRLS' FIRE BRIGADE. A girls' fire brigade lias been formed in London by a firm who employ hundreds of workers. The girls, who wear helmets and thick coats, have been thoroughly trained in the work of escape, rescue and fire extinction by the captain of the Friem Barnet Brigade, and at their drill can be seen a/scending and descending ladders or letting themselves down by means of the "chair knot," etc. ADVICE BY MRS EDISON. "Flats are never homes," was a ver--1 diet—to which man}', with experience of both flats and houses, will heartily agree —given last month by Mrs. Thomas Edij son, wife of the great inventor. She j holds no uncertain views as to the mis- > takes of the age in which she lives, and j her advice to girls is, in a nutshell, that 1 ,| they should get all the education they J j can, make the most of themselves that they can, have an ideal, and live up to it ■ —and never consent to live in a flat! Both men and women should spend as much of their lives in the open as possible, and should eat more simply-pre-pared dishes. The whole scheme of modern life, Mrs. Edison thinks, is too complex. It is unwholesome, and therefore it isn't good. A NOVEL IDEA. A novel idea has been hit upon by despairing Tecruiting sengeant in Kings-ton-on-Thames, where there is a shortage of nearly 150 men in the ranks of the Territorials, a scheme that holds in it more than one temptation to amusement on the part of the fair pleaders. The colonel and officers of the sth Battalion East Surrey Regiment a few days ago issued the following invitation:—"ln order to encourage local interest in the recruiting movement during the special recruiting week, the officers of the 6th Battalion East Surrey Regiment invite all ladies of the neighborhood to wear recruiting favors during such period." And as an additional inducement a pair of gloves was promised to every lady J bringing in a recruit. The invitation I has been enthusiastically accepted, and since Saturday ladies with saucy tricolor ribbons have 'been hard at work all over Kingston, Surbiton, Tolworth and the surrounding district, beating up recruits. It is reported that many pairs of gloves have been earned. Entertainments are being held every 'evening in the hope of attracting volunteers, and it is significant that the lady recruiting officers were asked to be present at a smoke i concert on Wednesday. The same idea seems to have struck the commanding officer of the Essex Royal Horse Artillery, since he is also holding a special recruiting week at Colchester, and is appealing to the ladies to assist him. The week will conclude with an invitation smoke concert on Saturday night, when the Mayor of Colchester and others will ; speak, and .at whirii ladies are invited to be present. UNIQUE HONOR. A lady physkian at the Medical Institute in St. Petersburg, noted for her splendid work in research as well as in other branches of medicine—Dr. Kowialewskasa—has been appointed to a position never before offered to a woman by any Russian -university—viz., a private lectureship on medicine to the governing faculty of the University. SWEDISH SUFFRACISTS. The Swedish women have decided to publish a fortnightly newspaper to be called -Rostrall for Kvinnor"—"Votes for Women."

BAN OF SEX REMOVED. An extraordinary state of tilings is reported from the Washington College of' Law, a women's law school which enjoys, under the governorship of the Dean, Miss Ellen Mussey, a position of much distinction. Some little time since a number of men petitioner that the ban of sex be removed in order that they might enjoy the same privileges as the lady students. This has been consented to by the (faculty, and the college has been reorganised so that men and women mav study side 'by side.