WOMAN'S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 196, 27 January 1915, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD.

ENGLISHWOMAN, DISGUISED, PENETRATES GERMAN LINKS. London, November 14. iA vivacious Englishwoman, the wife of a well-known ollicer bearing a famous name, just returned from Holland, but whose name for obvious reasons must not be mentioned, tells a remarkable story of an adventure day's tour she made behind the uerinan lines. "I made up mv mind,'' she said, "to see for myself what was going on. I »;>-• warned that if 1 went out on my adventure in my usual clothes, I should be seized as a spy. So I disguised myself as a Flemish peasant woman, with the assistance of the national costume, —earrings ami headdress complete down to my very shoes; stained my face brown with a concoction of strong coffe.', borrowed a pair of spectacles and a market basket —and Set oil' across country on foot.

"I leached Bruges safely enough, and with nothing untoward to mark my jbiirney. Bruges I know well enough at ordinary times, but as the fity was when I entered it, I should not have recognised it. It was a city of supreme' sadness —of gloom, desolation and pain. | There were wounded Germans every-1 where, wandering about the streets aim- i lessly and apparently uncared for. j "The town was placarded with notice.! forbidding any civil person the! ' possession of any kind of firearms aru> doors and all lights out by nine o'clock at night. The revelry that lias marked the conduct of the German soldiers in other towns in their occupation was here totallly absent. The soldiers moving i( and out, in constant procession, all looked anxious, tired and harassed, as though some dark fate which they could not understand was hanging over them. They were constantly looking behind them, furtively, suspiciously. I "The military commandant evident- i ly noticed this. It worried him, and ' he ordered a regimental band to form 1 in the Petit Place and play enlivening music. The band obeyed, and began ■playing dolorous jigs, with absolutely ' no jig in them. There was no music •in the brass melody; it was ridiculously | like that produced by those painful Ger. man bands which used to make us all so sad in London in the glad days when j there was no war. Finally the comman- ] ■dant stamped and ground his teeth, 1 and sent out the order that if the, band could not do better than that, they had better stop. They could not do better, so they stopped. "On the -way out of town, I met a German soldier with his (irm and head dreadfully shattered. His bandages had slipped, and he was tryinig vainly to replace them with his left hand. I took pity on him and helped him, redressed the nasty wounds and rebandaged them with pocket bandages I happened to have with me. The soldier fumbled in his pocket and at last found a crumpled live-franc note which he offered me. Of .course, I refused.

"'Why do you refuse good money for j a good action, madamc?' he said. I "'Because I am an Englishwoman,'] I replied, 'and Englishwomen do not ] take payment for good deeds, however | small or great they may be.' I "'I cannot believe you are English,' j he said, 'but you are an angel, and 1 angels have no nationality. May I kiss your hand?' "I held out my hand, and he bent low and kissed it. There were tears in his eyes. And—l rather wish now that I had accepted the flve-frane note to keep as a souvenir of Prussian gratitude." j CONTENTMENT MAY BE NARROW- j ING. Contentment has been said by the poet to be "the harvest song of inward peace," but the woman who is so well contented with her present work that she makes no attempt to better it will soon find herself narrowing in her outlook and turning out inferior work. i 3 possible for one to be so well contented with her lot that she will become useless as a worker. There are two kinds of contentment, one which leads to indolence; the other may be classed among the virtues, for it is connected with exertion and is the result of the highest endeavour. To overcome the first one should cultivate a discontent with ploddingi ( that will rouse one to greater activity, to the better work, and to the gaining of more knowledge that will result :n the expanding of her chosen wort.

The one who settles down into a position satisfied to do anything to expand her work will sometimes awaken to find that discontent has crept in, taking the place of the indolent contentment she has experienced. It will be the discontent which follows any mental or physical laziness, and that sits down and wrings its hands, bringing nothing but loss with it, for it will do nothing to help the situation. Contentment which brings with it the greatest happiness and satisfaction is the result of earnest endeavour and the opportunities one sees which may be taken advantage of for a broader outlook and better view of the heights which may be attained. It sees not so much present benefits, but opportunities for growth, and the only result of this sort of contentment is success. To be contented with what we have brings satisfaction and jov, and without it we can please neither others nor ourselves, but to be contented with what we are, with our knowledge, education, outlook and breadth of vision, leads to mental and moral bankruptcy. ART OP BETW AftREEARLH) To LIVE WITH,

To be agreeable to live with is an art within the reach of everyone. It Is a rare talent, but whatever abilities one may have in other directions, or however one may have been limited in the cultivation of other arts, this is on" which costs nothing in money, for it is free to all who will have it. The nnlv prico to be paid is that of self-control, •of unselfishness, consideration for others, and putting oneself in the ■other's place to get his viewpoint. There are who art; identified with the important movements of the age, in everything that stands for the advancement of women, thev may discuss with telling effect tiie great question of the day. There are others wb> are doing none of these things whi/i see great, but who are dealing with ,■ mighty factor in the onward movement of the world. They are the ones who bring harmony and happiness into the home, tile standard of which civilisation rests. They enable those who go out from those homes to be well fortified to meet the stress and responsibilities of the outside world. This is an art which mafces the com. monplaee beautiful, and can be used every day. Ther" is nothing about it which will wear out or diminish with use; on the contrary, the more it is used, the more perfect and abundant it becomes. T f, is one of thr wavs in which the woman in the home may keep pace with her sisters in the business world, in the realms of literature, and musie and with thosn who are advancing flip great movements for the uplift' re.' of mankind. Ev •••>• woman who is agreeable to j live with has a talent which is so he- | comi ig to womanhood that nothing else ' can excel it, and its far-reaching ettect ran::ct be estimated.