CAPITANO'S LETTER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 236, 14 February 1880, Page 2

CAPITANO'S LETTER.

Iluni sort -fad rn-ij ’i / ■'p'nßf.4~jP',ov*rb

At last I have been “ drawn over the co i la” for a par. in uns of in v loiters. 11 a ppeara tlfat I h ave ' offended the wmsi-» tiye : ature oi; a, gentleinaa. residing in Geraldine,.so he. relieves his ‘ over-bur-, ilciied’’ mind by sending a letter.to Thb 4 Leader, headed “ School Committees’find Old Ladies,” and signs himself “Rusticus” hie sent the letter because I had the impudence (?) to write against' an old lady who has been elected a member of the Nelson School Gommitt ee. Now, in justice to ny readers and myself, I consider it my duty to answer.his interrogations and re but the insinuations in “ RusticUs’s ” letter, adhere goes :—First of all, Rusticus doubts whether, the female referred, to in ; my ietter is “ an old lady,” and, in following up the point, says : ‘‘ We have no evidence to show that the lady.in question • was old.” It is absolutely unnecessary for me to prove- whether-she is : young and blooming, or “ fat, fair and forty,” but to •satiS;fj:.Rußticu^^ , qjiscientionß scntnlesj I will tell him from where I got the piece of information : it was from a number of the lending- journals of .New -Zealand,, He continues “ That (allud ng. to old age) should,be no objeition, as we have it oh high authority that multitude of years should speak wisdom.”' i cannot, in some cases, deny this. ’- Surely Rusticus has not forgotten an old saw -which says, “ There are exceptions to every rule.” lie must remember, that well-worn proverb, and I would hot mind laying heavy odds that, if a census were taken, the champion of old ladies would discover that only about' fourfifths of the old dames could, in the proper sense of the word, be called “wise,” Ogilyie’s. Dicionary (I .presume .that authority is “high” enough for Rusticns) has it that “ wisdom ” means “ knowledge practically applied to the best ends, or to the true purposes of life. Now, I would ask him how many old, ladies (I will go further, and add, clergymen, merchants, and persons of all professions and classes of society) apply them wisdom to the tree purpo.ses of life? With more pleasure would four-fifths of .them do a felipw an injury, rather than apply their knowledge to the best cuds. To j rove this in a small way, let Rustictis invite to his residence, say, a dozen of the old ladies of Geraldine. When they have imbibed their brandy and watm (“ Just a leetle drop of water, a very beetle drop, now ”) or their cup of tea, as their tastes may dictate, he should start the old ladies talking by telling them just the smallest bit of scandal. By when that scrap has gone the rounds of Ida visitors Host Rusticns would find that the facts of the c t ase have been fearfully distorted and exaggerated. Rusticns may say I digress, but I- am simply instancing for his benefit what has often occurred, and what always will occur, while half u dozen old women can meet together and can get hold of some one to pull to pieces. “ Setting|a.sidu the question of age, however, can your contribdlor (continues the letter) urge any real good season why ladies should not serve on these committees ? ” Yes, of course 1 can ; I consider tint a fcma'e’a place is at home, looking after her chiU dren, and attending io tho want 1 ! and comforts of her lord and master, iutdc id of (as Rusticus would like to see them) a'tendsc!tool committee meetings, ami oth-r such places. Goodness knows women do quite enough talking as it is without giving them another subject to dis-usa by appointing some of them members of our committee*. Rusticus should see lialf-a-dozen women hanging over a gite, or s Ling in the hack kitchen, “ a discu sin’ o F the rnorriets of a cup o’ tea, or a discnsstV of souc-body’s a-doins.” Rusticus continues : —-We daily see them, both- old and young, ‘maids, wives and widows,’ engaged in business on their own account ; they are emp’oyed in railway refreshment rooms, in telegraph offices, and in public school.’ True, but excepting the latter case, how seldom docs one see a married lady employed in a railway refreshment room o*.telegraph offi o ? Rusticus "might have added to last-quoted paragraph—“ And in our hotels.” He is .looking at the bright side only He ought to know how many foolish young men are le I to their destruction by the dangerous, wicked fascinations of some of our Hehes, woo are simply employed as decoys to those who have money to spend, ora name to lose. ligh ! the uneducated woman (barmaids are, as a rule, illiterate) ought to-be kept, liko a Bengal tiger, under lock, and key, and thus knot away from the hotels and telegraph offices. Ido. not say schools, because I consider that is a very appropriate place for a well-behaved person. “ Ladies (says Rusticus) do not disdain to delight our ears with their dulcet voices at our public enter taiuments, and in each of our churches at Geraldine the instrumental part of the music is under the charge of. a lady.” That is also undeniable. But why mix up music with school committees ? The fwo are as different ns chalk is unlike eheese. Old ladies,are very well for schoolmistresses, bazaars, visiting the poor, and for scandalising. But I deny that they, should be admitted to assist in hotels and telegraph offices, because, when associated with the “ stronger sex,’ their morals are liable to be corrupted, and they, as a consequence, become the talk of the town In which they live. I will ask “ Rusticus ” one question ; —Except in very few cases, did you ever hear a barmaid (in, Christchurch for instance) spoken well of, or,, in fact, any lady who, working in .a large establishment, had to associate with gentlemen ? Do not'the latter (I will not mince matters) delight in making fools of the former, and scandalise them to their comrades. I shall now draw to a close, expressing a hope that I have thoroughly satisfied the gentleman. who has taken upon himself the office of “ old ladies’ champion.’.’

A friend of mine, previous to residing in Temuka, was “hanging; it out” in Timaru. Before leaving for Temuka his exchequer got rather low, so he had to leave as security for eighteen shillings ho owed his land-'lady* n pair of blankets and a paget coat. Now, after the coat and blankets are worn out, her huh ship (a, well-known lodging-house keeper) lieported about town that my friend owed her a “ large sum ” of money, and that she. could “not get” a penny of it. My friend had wrote for the account, but had received no ..answer, and now he wants to know what he can do, —■ whether, he can have her up for “ wrongful appropriation of goods,” or “defamation of karfikter.” ...I agk “ Bastions ”• df . that is not a woman all' over ? CApitano.