BOTH SEXES AT THE BAR. (Saturday Review.)

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 134, 18 March 1873, Page 2

BOTH SEXES AT THE BAR. (Saturday Review.)

Tnn " bar" of which we have to speak is not that from which are poured forth streams of eloquence, but a bar >4b 'dispenses, according to some autlionfcicS) tliafc which ir^n ti*use of eloquence. Wo are happy to leana that the restaumnt M counter ia becoming " a matrimonial mai ket of oimott advaii- ™ tageous kind " According to our experience, it h not am advantageous market for anything else. The liquor sold is usually bad, and the food is detestable. There hat been some- little improvement, but in the main Dickeni's description of the refreshment at Mugby Junction is still correct. Hie sandwiches and pork pics are the same as they uiod to be, but increased care it now bestowed upon the ornamentation of the glass and crockery. This perhaps is a new application of the old saying, that life is short and art ii long. Food and drink are good to-day and spoiled to-morrow, but cups and plates, if not broken, may last for ever. Tho mnnagers therefore prefer to spend their money not upon tho transitory but the perennial. We do not know upon what principle, if any, thoy choose their barmaids, or whether they place them under any limitations or conditions ai regards dress. The outward splendour of those attendants is certainly increased, and we are told that many of them possess education nnd accomplishments. In fact, there is improvement in nil the accessories, but the refreshments supplied at these bars — which we bhould hate thought the essential ' matter — remain nearly where they were. Hut of course, if a man oan obtain ploasaut conversation, ho may endure a dry sandwich or a muddy cup of coffee. It is said that tho*o^| bars have often led to matrimonial introductions. And of course, if a young lady is intent upon her own happiness, it would be unreasonable to expect her to consider our comfort. We must bo content with buch fragmentary notice as she condescends to bestow on us. The managers perhaps would prefer voting ladies who were not cocking an advantageous settlement in life— that is, if they could get them, which they piobnbly could not. Their* have been strikes enough nlrt-udt, so it is better- to allow these joung ladies to do, as much as possible as thpj like. It may be our own obtuseness that has prevented" our recognising behind thrgAars tho^e young persons of " excellent social position" who aro said to havQ taken places at them, lho principle of stooping to conquer is recommended by experience, nnd it is probably true that the want of an intioduction prevents many marriages Of course a lady cannot allow a gentleman to> address her without this ceremony, and we believe that those who have dispensed with it me designated as " pick- • ups" in the society whose rule 3 they ha\c contravened. But tit the same time eterjbody is awaie that introductions depend very much on times and circumstances, and ladies whoremain ye.) r after year without au offer ivt home may perhaps obtain one, by changing the tonne, as lawyers say, to. Switzerland. The authority from whom we have before quoted tells us that in no other-occupation would this class of girls find equal, opportunities ns behind bars. We might add that a certain, olass of men isould nowhere find as good an opportunity as ♦ m front of bars Young Marlow, as we remember, was^ struck dumb- in ths pre«once of Mis 3 Ilardcastle, but he* ceald talk glibly 1o the supposed barmaid. If these bara really do afford" facilities for contracting marriages, a new light* is thrown upon the texed question as to the ea'e of what are opprobiously called' intoxicating liquors. It teems hard to impose restrictions upon almost the only matrimonial market that exists. Governesses, we are told, seldom marry, and doubtless for the reason that the least symptom of a disposition, towards flirtation is certain to be followed by notice to quit. If eter there should arise a strike of governesses against the tyrrany of the Indies who engage ijiicnii it will be difficult to porsuade men that the goteinesses arc rot justified in rebellion. Milliners and dressmakers nre watched during the hours of business with Argus etcs, and if rIW resort" to -plhces of amusement, they are exposed to solicitations which will not ond in marriage. After considering these things we almost foci in spite of tbe teaching of the Alliance, disposed to recommend that there should 1 be°more refreshment bar*, and that they bhould be open for longer hours, and particularly on Sunday. It is improper to go up to a respectable girl in the street and tell her it is &> wet day. But it is proper to gr> up to her at ft bar and a9k her fur a glai«s of beer and then to proceed to offer an original «j and interesting remark upon tho weather. The post-offices, wo are happy to observr.'are worked to a large extent bv women, some of whom are neither inattentive to their appearance nor insensible to the opportunities which their duties afford them for fascination. By the purchase oi 1 one postage-stamp daily, nn admirer might enable himself to see nnd hold' brief converse with his adored. Tho lady might 1 usually be trusted to penetrate his secret, and to s afford him some means of tevealhujit if she weie so disposed. There ia, of course, this diffeience between a post office and a refreshment bar, th.it a man cannot reasonably linger at the f owner after he has obtained wiiat he wants, hut on the other hand he can buy two postage stamps on sonar.ite visits for the price of a single glass of beer But all this points to the necessity for the establishment of a legitimate market for- marriages under proper £jJ regulations. It would be easy, for example, to open au lntro.lnotion-otfic? at a seaside resort. It may be arjued that, if a thing is meant to be done indiiectly, it may as well be done .lireetly. If " young person* of excellent social positions " go bchin.l bars for the fetke of getting married, neither they nor their parents need be ashamed of takinc other at least equally harmless means to the same end. There was a story a tew yeais ago of a gentleman who went to Scarborough, saw a lady and admned, saw a-»ain ami admired more, ami at last summoned.courage to. speak, and was not discouraged Within a month after the mtroluchoi* thus- effected the parties to it were married It is true that the family of the gentleman alleged 1 , rightly or wrongly, that he was mad ; but that circumstance, even if true, does not te our mind affect the value of the precedent. 'Che laUy at any rate got a husband,, and the worst that could be said of her by her own sex « was to call her a " pick-up." The ladies who go to the H bar as a moans of success m hfe have our best wishes, ami we-are quite ready to belief that they are better than their surroundings, which we, perhaps through prejudice, do not find attractive or satisfactory. A man who gets a good wife need not complain of a bad pork-pie.