WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 168, 3 December 1912, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eil««n.") PERMISSION TO MARRY . REGULATION- IN BANKS. Sydney, November 2i. Questions regarding the custom said to prevail in banking and other institutions of requiring clerks to obtain the permission of their employers before

marrying were asked in the Federal Parliament '■ yesterday. Replying to them. Mr. Fisher said that, the Eastern Extension Cable Company had admitted that nil employee had been dismissed for having married without the consent of a company. There was a rule that employees under the rank of clerk in charge must not marry without consent. .The Commercial Bank of Australia, the Bank of Australasia, and one or two others had replied that, they had no such rule in force. |( , (i .The "English, Scottish and Aus : ■ tralian Bank had a regulation which required that -an' officer receiving under £"200 a'year should apply for permission to marry. The London Bank of Australia expected that junior officers in receipt of a smaller salary than £2OO a year would acquaint the management of their intention to marry. The Bank of New South Wafes said that long experience had made it necessary for the bank to have such a rule. The Union Bank had such a rule, and said that it \yas. in the interests of the officers themselves. All the banks denied that any enquiry was made into the social position of the | bride-elect. He (Mr. Fisher) was. of I opinion that the condition of employment which restricted marriage of adults, except in rare cases, were generally not in the best interests of the State. A CHINESE HONEYMOON MR. AND MRS. AII KETT. . ' Mr. and MrsJ W. Ah Kett arrived at Sydney from Melbourne on November 20 (says the Sun) and left on the following day by the A.,and E. liner'St. Albans. Mr. Ah Kett is a Chinese, although a native .of .Wangaratta, Victoria. He is one of' the leading barristers in Melbourne, and iij the only one of his nationality in. that calling. He has appeared frequently'before the High Court, and drafted the Victorian Opium Suppression Act. Mr. Ah Kett is being sent by the Australian Chinese as a commercial delegate to .the convention of the Chamber of Commerce to be held in Pekin next month. Last Saturday Mr. Ah Kett was married to Miss Bullock, of Kew, Melbourne, which,.makes" his trip of 'honeymoon" importance as well as commercial. Miss Bullock; was for some years typist in a big Melbourne store. This girl, wh® has, h»d the courage to waive-aside race pj-ejjitjice,' is a good-looking,'smart' girl,'ancl keenly! intellectual. When asked. hqvp.siie liald come to make the acquaintance of Mr. All Kett, Mrs. Ah Kett replied:. "I have known him for years. I have always known a great number of Chinese;, a,nd been mixed up with them a lot.. I tii Uil* it Is really through my mother. She was always very -fond.-of the Chinese, : ajid lias associated with them ever since she -was a gir[. • . "I wafi engaged to Mr. Ah Kett for over three year's, and we were not to be l married..until.-December. . 17e received H cable-ten days ago calling him to China, po instead flf: house-hunting■ and'furnishing I , had to, turn my thoughts to a wedding and preparing clothes for two . aeasons-in another land." Mrs. 'Ah Kelt was asked if'she spoke Chinese. ■ "No, not a word. I don't know how I will get on in China. I suppose I will have to have an interpreter following me around. Oh, but I will: have Will always-with me." (Will means Mr. Ah ,Kett): "Pm just crazy: about going. I've never, been outside of Victoria. We iad. a glorious send j off from Melbourne; ;the statioh wa,s packed with people, and our carriage when we left was so full of .flowers that; we had not room left 'hardly to sit down." '■■■' Mr. Ah Kett is the only son in a fam■ily;,of seven girls.' .He is slightly above the average height, clean shaven, and speaks the langiiago. of a, cultured : Australian. Mrs. Ah Kett's family, of which tthere are six, including i the. young lady herself, combine; in "adoring" him. > " . QUEEN VICTORIA'S DIARIES. •' . Tin? diaries oif Quoen .Victoria's girl-J hoq4)„;which ;)ia!Ve ju'?t' Tboeh'.published,j ,g,ho,w that her-ltitp Majesty possessed a naturally hqi a-nd imperious, tenjper. She was ,fopd qf sketching alul music, and jn' literature enjoyed Sir Walter Scott. She -vajiantly ...championed. "Oliver' Twist" .against,; Lord, . Melbourne, - and' s truggied' through some of " Julius Caesar, Virgil and Horace,,'butito nq purpose. A gq'od 'deal ol seeding was done "while, my hair is a-doing." .'- The Royal diarist records elaborately and minutely Lord Melbourne's .opinions. One entry in 1830 , knows that no Minister,, ho ; fri'and, ever possessed 'the! confidence' of. the. Crown : so entirely as this truly "excellent: Melbourne; possesses- mine." ■' In : 1842 she added cannot forbear'remarking.what ah'artificilil sort ;<jf hbtppiheS 'ihiiie was then, and what a- blessing I have now in ihy beloved husband." ' ;' tlje Wheel of fashion JBjeitish cloth: riianufaeturers are full laJineHtjvti.Qusj, according to a London ~c orrespondent,' jThe inventiVe-'geniiis'-of the fashion experts lamentably failed to . find pew -modes! to supersede the hobble skirt in the'.latest wfifM'Mo'.desl jus# issued. Cloth 1 company directors at their summer meetings liad boen-rais-ing- , ..the -hopes' of- ajixious shareholders that ,- the hobble was doomed, but 1 the fair .beauties of- .Jlijyfair are inexorable in .-their devotion- to tight-fitting garments...West End costumiers, declare that the hobble is, as fashionable as ever. Ab -though the laler Paris models show greater fullness around the. kitees there -is no-tfiminutiqn in the demand for.: atight skirt arqund the- 'ariklei. This chiefly applies; to outdoor garments.', There is a greater breadth to the gowns for evening-wear, a fuller flowing skirt returning to,faVor. Not to be outdone, male members bf West' End society are showing daring (enterprise in their iatest garments. Savjlle Row tailors are preparing to meet a certain demand for dark blue evening dress, for the fact is. that blue will be the dominating color for winter suits. Blue suits, pale blue underwear, Saxe blue overcoats and pale blue hosiery arb displayed in profusion in the leading 'emporiums. Blue boots are not yet threatened, but that time may come. The latest craze in over- [ coats among ah eccentric minority resembles a cross; between a .taxi-driver's uniform and J:he old-style cabman's smock, made of colors varying between anaemic 'blue anjd a color similar to that which would bei produced if an effervescent soda watenj and blue ink were mixed in equal quantities., It positively sparkles, and is, usually the only bright feature of the wearer.