WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 30, 6 February 1931, Page 31

WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

By

ALISON

ESPITH the unkindly season, which has ‘caused. ‘heart-burnings among devoted gardeners. ‘the Dominion over, the first national. flower show staged last week in the Wellington. Town Hall was a brilliant success in its assembly of glorious bloom. . Than the gladioli there shown:in individual and mass variety I-have never seen finer. Some of the blooms: were six and seven ‘inches across: and. I know not how many were to be counted on the more impressive sterhs. The champion bloom was a sheer wonder and a credit to its growers-more especially as their location is one of Wellington’s windiest suburbs?’ -Profusely indeed must the fertiliser atid liquid manure been ap‘plied to. this’ gross-feeding bulb. But how, richly. did it repdy its liberal diet! sweet peas, dahlias and carnations, téo, the show was rich.in merit, while the selected begonias culled from many hothouses exhausted the vocabulary of all devotees. The show’ commanded popular atteridance by sheer merit and should be the forerunner of a wellestablished national exhibit for future years, : . * TN travelling through New Zealand’s countryside. I am often struck by the absence’ of kitchen gardens at the farmhouses; Flower gardens, too, are more ‘often than not conspicuous by their. ‘absence. That is regrettable, put ‘surely the lack of a kitchen garden must be felt most severely... Have our farmers been too well off ‘in the past to bother? If so, perhaps the present depression will go far to effect a cure! Bnglisii homes-and farmhouses, tooare in marked contrast. There the garden is indispensable-in fact, a ome is not a home without one. ‘His Majesty sets the-example. He grows all -his own vegetables! .Hvery day up from, ‘Windsor to Buckingham Palace come’ the: vans of vegetables and flowers required for use and display. And what the, King can do in the way of commonsense economy, surely we can! So, into the garden, my friend!

[E-. ig no easy matter for those of us ~ Who are not fortunate possessors of an electric refrigerator to keep buiter cool and firm during the hot summer days. But there is no need to endure oily butter, for the hardware. metchants and leading grocers in Auckland are displaying a butter cooler which requires no electricity, and, better still, no ice. It is made of pure mite plaster of paris composition, ed like-a deep.dish with a deep a few large perforations and fitted with a plate-glass detachable base... All that-is. necessary to keep butter, cream and: jellies cold and hard is to-soak the cooler in cold water for about 10 minutes every twenty-four hours. . The composition absorbs ‘a large quantity of moisture and stays cool, It is easily kept clean by scrubbing with boiling water and soap, afterward rinsing in blued water. ‘A larger kind for cooling meat, poultry, ete., has a glass door, and a glass shelf --in fact, is modelled like a small meat

safe. This, of course; can ‘also be used for butter, and has a hollow top and sides which should be kept filled with water. It is rather more expensive than the small. cooler, but as it can be put to so many more uses it is really an economy in the long run. e a = s . ° ANOTHER domestic, or rather toilet, novelty that attracted me was a toothbrush-holder made in the form of a wee house in a variety of brightlycoloured sponge. ‘Fhe house had a red roof, buff-coloured. walls,- green window fittings, and’ a green garden around it with brown paths. In the centre of the roof was a hole for the

insertion of the-handles of the toothbrushes, which: really looked rather like a queer-looking chimney rising above the steep'red roof. — . a m . s "ROMANCE," that play of many memories, has recently been produced in the Capital City on the sound film. Melodramatic as it may.be, and of a past age as it is, yet the hapless love story of Rita Cavallini is perennially attractive, and pulls, as ever, at the strings of our hearts. In the drama, as in life, the unexpected, the impossible, the least désirable event comes to pass, and Lorelei spreads her nets in a quarter where most unhappiness must eventuate. The lovely, temperamental artist, with bizarre and secret past, falls headlong into the morass of love, her quarry the zealous young cleric so. admirably played by Mr. Gavin Henderson, whose singing of "Annie Laurie’ to the sophisticated ebullient: Rita was of great appeal. Cornelitis van Tyl, polished denizen of society, generous, quixotic and lovable, was portrayed with convincing chivalry and artistic restraint by that sound and accomplished actor, Lewis Stone, who moves and looks like a gentleman, which is more than can be conceded to a great proportion of pictured protagonists to whom we have grown accustomed. A fascinating play, with its ‘reminiscence of Camille and other brilliant fireflies of the.drama ; in which Greta Garbo was vivid, beautiful and seductive, everything in fact but poignant. Remembering Kathleen McDonnell’s great performance in the stage play, and lovely Doris Keane oa

the silent film, it must be admitted that, in comparison, the Norwegian actress does not stir the emotions with such’ invincible pathos. Miss Garbo’s voice, with its foreign accent. and unusual inflections, is perhaps not ‘beguiiing; and it may be that her role in Eugene O’Neill’s sordid and powerfw play of "Anna Christie’. was betier suited to her genre. For the rest, it was impossible to ignore, in- the most dramatic moments, the Loud Laugh of ‘a certain section of.the audience; proving itself particularly objectionable in the final- seene of: renunciation and farewell, causing one to ponder on the

mentality of those who greet an appeal to the emotions with loud and lamentable giggles.-The Minstrel. ae Ses . (QQNCE more the long dress is -claim- , ing its victims. We of the older generation remember’ the trailing clouds of: dust raised by the ‘sweeping robes of. the past.. . Occasionally there’ were falls. and. stumbles due to those same lengthy. robes. Again history repeats itself. Miss Bllen Wilkinson, M.P., advanced thinker as she is, sways to the dictates of fashionand measures her length on the floor as .a result. Tripping over her unaccustomed robes at the dinner given by Lady Astor, she sprained her ankle severely and was incapacitated from her Parliamentary duties for some time. Ld ce yy ‘a recent Hnglish journal Lady Rhondda blithely discourses on woman and Mr. H. G.. Wells. Sir Roger Dover, a wise old Wellsian mouthpiece, thus sums up the sex: "Surely it’s better to exist than just transmit existence. And that’s a woman’s business, though we’ve fooled and petted most of ’em into forgetting it. Hunger they understand, and comfort and personal vanity and- desire, furs and chocolates and husbands.

and the extreme importance conferred upon them by having babies at infrequent intervals. But philosophy or beauty for. itS own sake, or dreams! Lord! No!. The Mahomets knew they haven’t souls and they say it. We know it and keep it up that they have!" An ‘interesting point of view and, coupled with the fact that the chief fault of Mr. Wells’s heroines, in the eyes of their creator, is the fact that they are over thirty, is quite reminiscent of Schopénhauer, who held that, once the child-bearing years were over, a woman might as well be dead. So that the age of chivalry is still dying .or dead.-Deirdre, wy = 2 HE headmaster of Eton' presumably understands a ‘great deal about the psychology of :the youthful -male of the species. Is he qualified, however, to make profound. comment: on ancient and’ modern maiden? -In a recent speech to a girls’ school he is credited with the statement that woman, though practical, is inartistie, that there have been no great women .poets (shades of Blizabeth, Browning, Christina Rossetti, Edith Sitwell and the rest!), no artists, (what about Rosa Bonheur. and Dame.. Laura Knight?), or musicians’. (did. he ever listen to Carreno at the piano?) ; and also the sapient suggestion is. recorded that, though women are braver than men, they. are also more eruel!: Re membering the sublime courage of the British soldier in. the Great War, it would be difficult for the most smug of. womankind to agree with Dr, Alington’s tribute ; and as.to cruelty, their malice is usually expressed in words, not deeds.-Ariadne. z= 4 s DESCRIPTION of an eightesuti century heroine: "Her whole form delicate and feminine to the utmost degree; complexion fair, enlivened with the bloom of youth, and diversified ‘with blushes more beautiful than those of the morning;.features regular; mouth and teeth very lovely; hair light brown, eves blue, full of softriess, and strongly expressive of the exquisite sensibility of her soul. Her countenance, beautiful abode of the Loves and the Smiles, has a mixture of sweetness and spirit, which gives life to her charms." Rather a chocolate-box beauty, one surmises, to the seasoned taste of modern Romeo. ‘ Bd "THE subject of divorce is, threshed out in some recently-published essays, initial appearance of which was in the form of a series appearing in the "Daily Express." The authors are of widely differing nationalities, but all of note in the literary world; and they agree in regarding divorce as one of the best methods extant of settling multifarious evils arising through frequent inability of humanity to adjust itself, with any degree of happiness, to the holy and difficult estate of matrimony. Bertrand Russell, Dreiser and: Fanny Hurst represent American viewpoint; Wells, Deeping and Rebecca West our own country; while the German Feuchtwanger and the French Maurois are also included, This book embodies singularly interest-

FMS sss seo -zThought for the Week — Why we want equality of the sexes is because we want man to be free. Man can only be freed by woman, and woman cannot free men until she herself is free.

Viscountess

Astor

ing and amicable statements of the pros and cons of the subject, Miss West, with characteristic penetration of judgment remarking: "People should have a sane and kindly outlook on sex: it should not be associated with squaior and cruelty." ‘The pity is that this _ sanity, kindliness and eommon sense aid not earlier dawn on the world. * *. _* ™ modern youth loses in reverence it gains in poise and aplomb, Recently, accompanied by a youthful member of the intelligentsia, whose years number half and whose experience of men and manners is the equal of my own, I went to. see.a-local.pic-ture show. My companion’s ingenuously frank criticisms were penetrating and interesting, for his brain is of the brightest. A scientific exposition of the evolution of certain feathered fowl from earliest stage till emergence of the fluffies alive and kicking, enthralled my companion; who followed with rapt attention the meticulous revelation of nature’s processes. On its ecouclusion, when nothing at all was left to the imagination, he turned to me in delight. "Wasn’t it topping?’ said he, "I wish they’d put it on again! If I’d seen that picture a year ago it would have saved me months of study." He continued to dilate on this supremely interesting spectacle until I remarked, in what was intended for a bantering tone: "I really believe, in your passiqn for exact knowledge, you’d have liked the film to have gone further and revealed the evolution of the human-embryo from start to finish!’ Without a trace of self-consciousness or mauvaise honte he turned young frank eyes to_. mine. "Wouldn’t that have been great?’ he said simply, enthusiasm of pursuit of knowledge for its own sake in his tones, and prepared to discuss the matter in extenso. Being but a_ timid spinster, however, and a Victorian one at that, at this juncture I switched the conversation to a discussion of Lord Tennyson’s poems and the culture of rambler roses.-Milo. * *« . *# ‘A NEW slimming treatment has been discovered by young society in Mayfair. Lessons are being taken at a popular studio, in the patter dancing, made famous by the Jackson Lads, a Lancashire speciality, on the musichalls of a bygone day. Buck dancing, which is another name for these intricate steps, has become the joy of the devotees of slimness. Although it appears contrary to the idea of quick movement, a slow Schottische is one of the favourite dances. In actual fact it is not at all slow, but has much toe and heel work, calculated to bring the

ei. dancer into the desired state of high temperature, which brings about the reduction craved for.