THE GIRL WITH THE BOOK.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 October 1918, Page 2

THE GIRL WITH THE BOOK.

A LONDON WAR TIME HABIT. EDUCATION OF THE GIRLS.. .. Tiie following skit written by Hugh Eraser, of New Plymouth, appeared in a recent issue of the Loudon Daily Mail: Because of the war thousands of girls of the middle class sflre going to be much better educated than they would otherwise have been. You will jaotice it in their improved speech. They will have a more intimate knowledge of the English language and will brighten their talk with fresh words and new phrases, and they will have new ideas to follow and novel thoughts to ponder. War work lias called these girls in their hundreds from their homes. That was the start of this scheme of things which is educating the London girl war worker. Her office assisted the plan by placing a tube or tramway ride of half an hour or more between itself and the girl's home.

The girl helped things along by finding the tube journey twice a day very wearisome.

Then some girl saw that some other girl always carried a book with her, which she read in the tube and in her luncheon hour. She saw that the gjjl with the book never had to worry about "passing the time." So she, too, bought a book, and now her troubles are over and shv' has no dull hours in the tubes.

Nowadays when I come in from Hampstead in the morning, nearly all those girls who work in the City are reading' books. "I never read so much in my life," one of them told me. "When I was at home I used to read a bit at night sometimes, but not much. Now I always have my book for the tube, and when the story gets interesting J. like to get home and finish it." Another girl told me that she never knew reading was "so nice" until she came to work in the City and "had to find something to read." She started reading "to pass the time"; now books are her real friends.

it is not all about improbable heroes and still more unlikely heroines that these girls read. One morning the girl ;eated next to me in the tube was reading Barrie's "The Little Minister." Another day it was E. V. Lucas who was entertaining another girl with "London Lavender."

Dickens has appeared in that Hampstead cube more than once, and only the other morning, I wondered about the girl opposite to me who was reading a translation of "Les iliserabks." And I have positive evidence against one girl that sue has read three of "R. L. S.'s" delightful tales in tite last ten days, because we have travelled together nearly every day lately.