WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 185, 4 February 1914, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

NOTES On; of tlio fiii-tory rci'onns for wbieli American women workers arc slruj!;;l!ii;f is the open door. In Unit dreadful ILn; in a shirt fiii-lory in .Now Vorl; some years' ago 147 jjirl-s lost their lives i>eciuise tin- door of I lit' room in which lliey worked was locked, and they were unable to escape. I'lifortuiiiitely, Liie owners ol' tin- lai-lory went free, ami tin; awful Wiirninii was disregarded by other factory proprietors. The National Women's Trade Union League and other -bodies liave tried to bring about safer conditions lor factory workers, but in .New York and other States where women have 110 vote there are thousands of girls whose lives might be snuil'ed out at any moment by locked factory doors.

There is in l.ondon a lledicnl Aid Society for necessitous gentlewomen, which provides medical attention, ami specialists' advice, when 'necessary, to gentlewomen who are unable to provide for a "rainy din." Annual subscribers of a guinea ami upwards are entitled to recommend one or 'inure, patients every year. A stall' -of three consultim; physicians and three consulting surgeons, a physician and a dental surgeon, give their services for a nominal fee.

The .Mary C'urzoii Hostel was opened recently by Queen Alexandra. Lord Curzon, in a touching speech, remarked that his wife during her short life, hud done 'her best to alleviate the Jot of women, and when she died he was anxif ous to erect some memorial which should commemorate that aspect of life and character —not marble or brass. Lord Clinton's two daughters were present, Ladies Cynthia and Alexandra. The eldest is very like her beautiful mother. One of the women members of the Fin- | nish Parliament, Dr. Thekla lliiltin, niu I been suspended from her Parliamentary duties for six ■months by the Russian Government, to punish her for attending | a -meeting of the Anglo-Kinnish Society while, in Kngland lately. The Society ! is not a revolutionary organisation, but literary and social, and the few words - that Dr. I hill in spoke at its meeting had nothing to do with polities. Her suspension is rightly regarded as an outrage.

Thq war medal of lOli-11111l lias been awarded to all who performed military duties on the frontier, and as in liosnia ami the postal and telegraph services are under military control, their employees are also eligible, so -that we have the somewhat rare event of several women workers who operated the telephone at Serajevo being decorated with war medals.

The death of Madame Marchesi last November, at the age of '.12, removes a powerful ligure from the world of modern music. She was brought up in -the most artistic circles of Oormany; she was a. delight lo the Early Victorian audiences of London, who crowded to bear her sing i«i 1 S-tll.' She was a most successful teacher, having trained Madame Calve, Madame .Melba and her own daughter, Blanche Marchesi.

The engagement of Vincent Astor, the young multi-millionaire, wlvose lather went down in the Titanic, ia the outcome of long acquaintance, since Miss Helen Dinsmore Huntingdon, the bride-to-be-, and young Astor were friends from early childhood, being near neighbors. She is a charming young American of twenty, who has been brought up in a wholesome open-air kind of way, and will grace her exalted position ill ■Sew l'ork society.

The "Princess from America" is the name by which Mrs. Francis 1!. Sayres, President Wilson's daughter, who was married a few weeks ago, lias be«omc known in the East Eml of London, where her honeymoon -has been spent in "slumming." Mrs. Sayres was an enthusiastic social worker in America before her marriage, and'she was able to study London's povartv as an expert. At a "women's lodging house" in one of the dralAicst quarters she and her her husband attended a party given to a large number of poor women, and afterwards, ai the Whitechapel Infirmary, they went round all the bulls, chatting ,wit'h tlio patients in turn and talking to the doctors and nurses. An hour <111(1 a-half was also spent at Dr. Barnardo's ironies, where the visitors were much impressed with what tlicy saw. Considering -how her title lias been earned, Americans will not suspect their "princess" of wishing to instil lnonarchial princiiiles in Washingtoii.