WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 316, 4 July 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen.") SCENE IN A TEA SHOPLADY AND A PET DOG. 'London, May 15. A very peculiar appeal has been 'heard by Justices Ridley and Bray. "A ladv named Mrs. Clinton entered one of Messrs Lyons' tea shops, earryin« her pet dog. Suddenly she was attacked bv the shop cat, which inflicted persona*! injuries, for which the lady was awarded £IOO in the County Court. Messrs Lyons now appealed against this verdict.

Mr. Shakespeare, for the company, said that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton one day went into one of the defendants' teashops. Mrs. Clinton was carrying a small Pomeranian dog, which was on a lead. The dog was put down by the side of the chair, when suddenly a. cat which had recently given birth to kittens came out of a store cupboard and •'set about" the dog. Mrs. Clinton lifted the dog up with the cat on its back, and the eat either fell or was knocked off. Mrs. Clinton then handed the dog to her husband, and as they were leavini' the shop the cat sprang from the floor on to Mrs. Clinton's shoulder and bit her badly. One part of the claim was for injury, shock, et<-., to the dog, and the other for personal injuries to Mrs. Clinton. Counsel submitted that at the. hearing in the County Court there was no evidence of knowledge that the cat was vicious as regarded mankind, and the judge upheld 'that submission. The judge, he said, should have entered judgment for the defendants.

I 'Mr. Shakespeare said that there was a notice exhibited prohibiting dogs from i being on the premises. Mr. Justice Bray: The evidence was that Mr. Clinton saw the notice a month later. , Mr. Justice Ridley: It is a common notice—one can see at the stores and other places dogs chained up outside. It might be argued that, although there was a notice, people were allowed to go in with pet dogs —of course, one could not carry a mastiff into a shop. (Laughter). Mr. Justice Bray': It is not suggested that a cat with kittens is a vicious animal unless a dog is there? Mr. Shakespeare: No. Mr. McCall: One witness said that it was a vicious animal in such circumstances. Mr. Justice Ridley: There is no propensity of viciousness against mankind when a cat has kittens. I have never heard of it. 'Cat and dog" is an old proverb, but "cat and man" is not. Mr. Justice Bray: It might be said that the defendants were committing a I wrongful act in keeping a cat at all. ■ (Laughter). Mr. Shakespeare: It would be extraordinary to class a cat with a lion. Mr. Justice Bray. Are there any decided cases about cats ? Mr. Shakespeare, said he had been unable to find any. Mr, Justice TSray: Was there not a case about a blind dog and a cyclist? The dog was allowed to run about, and it was said that it was a dangerous thing for it to do when there were cyclists. It was held, I think, that the : cyclist who was injured could not recover. Mr. McCall argued that the verdict and judgment ought to stand. The findings of the jury could not be reviewed. A customer who went into the pre- • .raises of the defendants was entitled to I protection. The defendants might have Treasonably anticipated that the cat, in J the condition in which it was, might atj tack a customer who had a dog. J Mr. Justice Ridley expressed the view I that the cat, in the ordinary sense of j the term, was not a vicious animal. • After further argument, the Court re--1 served judgment.

RICH GIRL MARRIES A BLIND HERO. A wealthy girl of Basle, Mile. Felix, married a blind soldier in that town on May 11, the bride leading the bridegroom to the altar. Heir Haberthur served eight years in the French Foreign Legion in North Africa, and during the" battle of Moulaya, last year, greatly distinguished himself, fighting several hours with a wounded arm in the sun until another bullet struck him on the forehead and blinded him for life. After a long stay in hospital Haberthur was rewarded for his services by the French Government, receiving the Legion of Honor and a pension of £SO a year, while the French President personally thanked and "decorated" him. Mile. Felix, on reading the story in the papers, visited the brave Swiss soldier at Basle, and finding that he had nobody to look after him, offered Herself in marriage. The offer was accepted by the Swiss soldier, though he will never see, his wife.

'MARRIAGE DAY." The charming old town of Plougastel, Brittany, is thronged annually on "marriage day," which is always in the beginning of spring. On that day from 20 to 30 young couples are always married in the quaint old church of Plougastel. No Plougastel native marries anybody out of Piougastel. If they do they are practically excommunicated. Plougastel is the most exclusive, beautiful, simple town in the world. The Plougastel "marriage day" is one of the oldest customs of the "Bretons, In vain does a youth press a true Plougastel maiden for an "earlier wedding day." If she be staunch to the unwritten law of Plougastel—most of the girls are—she has only one answer: "When the others wed, then wed I." At the end of the day's celebration the husbands and wives, according to ancient custom, separate and go to their parents' homes. They do not celebrate their short honeymoon holiday until the day after they are married.

A HAT LOCK. Hats that aro locked upon the head may be seen in New Zealand shops before long. The idea is American, and is an outcome of the. campaign against the deadly hatpin that has been waged in the United States. The "lock," which has been devised by a Xew York inventor, consists of a bowed comb, which is pivoted within the frame of the hat. Once the hat is on straight the twisting of an ornamental knob rotates tincombs, which bury themselves in the hair. The invention has already been patented, and has the approval of many prominent women in American society.

FAILURE OF A FRENCH GIRLS' HOME The Matin publishes a statement to the effect that the Magdalen Home for Girls at Auxerre, built at a cost to the State of £OO.OOO, has proved a signal failure. About a year ago the institution opened with eight inmates only, in the care of fifteen officials who had been installed to work the institution. These latter still retain their posts, although no other inmates, now remain, the erstwhile penitents having one by