For WOMEN

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23964, 3 June 1943, Page 2

For WOMEN

CURRENT NOTES “I have often been asked if the Chinese people are behind Chiang Kaishek,” said Miss A. R. Edmanson, speaking at the Travel Club yesterday. She knew only North China, she said; there she had spent 18 years as a nurse for the London Missionary Society, and she thought that 98 per cent, of the population were supporters of Chiang Kai-shek. She considered that he and his wife typified the union of old and new China. He had hardly been out of China; he represented old China; Madame Chiang Kai-shek, on the other hand, was born and educated in America, although her parents were Chinese, and she was a splendid example of a Christian. She typified new China, In China, Miss Edmanson said, education was greatly prized and the scholar ranked highest in the social scale. Then followed the farmer, the artisan or tradesman, the merchant, and the soldier, in that order. The sum of £l7 2s 6d, the proceeds of a bridge and mah-jongg party, held recently, was handed to the women’s branch of the Navy League by the league's spinning circle, which is directed by Mrs Gerrit van Asch. The prize-winners at the party were Mesdames E. G. McCullough and R. A. Bagshaw (contract bridge). Miss F. Lee and Mrs E. Gebbie (auction bridge), and Mrs Aileen Boon (mahjongg). The spinning circle; does the very useful work of spinning woo! from fleeces. The wool is used for making sea-boot stockings to be sent overseas for the use of men of the Navy. Dr. Mildred Hutchings, of Melbourne, first woman medical officer appointed to the Royal Australian Air Force, has been promoted to the temporary rank of squadron leader. She is the first woman to use this title. Squadron Leader Hutchings visits R.A.A.F. units throughout the Commonwealth where W.A.A.A.F.’s are working, and Investigates living and working conditions as they affect their health. Mrs Tui Gordon, formerly of Malaya, now of Port Chalmers, has received advice from the Colonial Office, through the Sydney agent of the Malayan company concerned, that her husband has been interned in Malaya. At the time of the Japanese advance, Mr Gordon was engaged on survey work, and later joined a battery as a lance-bombardier. A women’s war services’ club was opened in Dunedin on Monday. The Mayor, Mr A. H. Allen, who declared the club open, said it was not intended to draw on the voluntary helpers who staffed the men’s service club to help at the women’s club. Several organisa. tions and individuals had offered their services and the helpers would be in attendance from 2 p.m. till 9.45 p.m. and on Wednesdays and Fridays till 11 p.m. Mrs Templeton is the chairwoman of the committee, which works under the direction of Mrs Allen. At the June meeting of the women’s branch of the Navy League, it was reported that during May 336 pairs of socks had been sent to the Auckland branch to be forwarded overseas for distribution amongst New Zealand men serving in British ports, and two eases containing sea-boot stockings, pullovers, and other woollen comforts, as well as hussifs, had been sent to Wellington for distribution overseas. A letter was received from the Navy League in London, gratefully acknowledging the arrival of cases of children’s garments sent by the Christchurch branch, and a water colour of the Priory, on the banks of the Avon, in Christ Church, England, was received from an office:' who, after being shipwrecked, had received hospitality from the Christchurch branch last year. The gift, he said, was a token of his personal gratitude for the kindness shown him in Christchurch, New Zealand. Knitters to make pullovers, scarves, and mittens for men of the Navy are urgently needed by the women’s branch of the Navy League. Anyone willing to help may obtain supplies of wool at the branch office in the Chamber of Commerce building, corner of Oxford terrace and Worcester street, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on each week day. The lady editor of “The Press" gratefully acknowledges receipt of a parcel of games and magazines from "Anonymous” for men of the Merchant Navy, a packet of used stamps from an anonymous friend, a donation of 10s from “R." and another for £1 sent anonymously to Mrs R. V. White, 2 Latimer square, for Dr. Barnardo homes in England, and £3 from “Anonymous,” Darfield, for relief of distress in China, and other patriotic work. The following report of the comforts committee of the Canterbury Provincial Patriotic Council was presented at a meeting of the council yesterday by the Mayoress of Christchurch (Miss E. Couzins):—Sent to store: 163 dozen scarves, 281 dozen balaclavas, 209 dozen pair mittens; received from Timaru: 56 dozen pair mittens, 89 dozen balaclavas, 39 dozen scarves, six pair fbotless stockings: from Geraldine and Temuka; 191 scarves. 156 balaclavas, 139 pair mittens, 24 pair sox, eight caps, 62 dozen pair footless stockings; from Waimate: 89 scarves, 113 balaclavas, 83 pair mittens, five pullovers; Navy League, Timaru: 20 pair sea-boot stockings, seven pullovers; Navy League, Waimate: Six scarves, one pullover, five pair mittens, one pair home-spun sea-boot stockings, eight balaclavas, seven pair sox, three pair sea-boot stockings. Scarves and mittens asked for had been sent to military camps. Quarterly unaddressed parcels had been dispatched in April and requirements for the remainder of the year had been ordered. Stocktaking Bargains at Drages. ■Beautiful Ranzware. strong and useful. Frj Pans, 19s 6d; Casseroles, 22s 6d; Stew Pans, 36s 6d. The Three at 2s weekly, Drages Friendly Credit Terms Drages, “Home Planning Centre." cnr. Manchester and Tuam streets. —1 Have soft, velvety skin loveliness under all conditions—rub in a little Lemon Glisco—it neutralises skin waste, beautifies face, arms, and neck—sold everywhere. Cook and Ross, Ltd.. Colombo street, Christchurch. —3

LIFE IN NORTH CHINA

ADDRESS BY MISS A. R. EDMANSON “What the Japanese fear are educated persons of other countries, hence their persistent attack? on the universities and high schools of China,” said Miss A. R. Edmanson, the guest speaker at the Travel Club’s morning gathering, held at Ballantynes yesterday. Miss Edmanson is a nurse who left New Zealand 18 years ago to take up work with the London Missionary Society in North China. For many years, she said, the only organised groups in China to agitate for better conditions were the students—the masses were too deeply concerned with the business of living, and it was not an easy business—and the Japanese realised that in the universities were their strongest opponents. The result of the war had been the removal of the seats of learning, with their keenness and enthusiasm. to the western provinces, principally to Szechwan, in which province was Chungking, the preesnt capital of China. To the credit of the Japanese, Miss Edmanson said was the fact that when they invaded north China they did not bomb or attempt to destroy the beautiful city of Peiping, built by the old Manchu emperors. On the contrary, they encouraged the restoration of the art and beauty of the city. A vital part of the supply line to Japan, Miss Edmanson said, was the railway from Tientsin, through Manchuria and Korea, where it connected with a ferry to Tokyo. For six years, Miss Edmanson, who had been in charge of a hospital in Tientsin, lived in north China under Japanese domination. “We saw how ‘th; enlightened saviours of the Chinese,’ as the Japanese called themselves, treated the people; we saw posters bearing the words ‘Down with the British’; we ourselves werfe called pirates; in this way Japan tried to bolster up her own at the expense of Britain; it was not until the outbreak of war that the Japanese said much about the United States, with whom, we thought, they hoped to remain friendly.” - Miss Edmanson eventually was permitted to leave north China as nurse in charge of a sick child of a member of the diplomatic staff In Tientsin. She returned to New Zealand via Lourenco Marques and Australia. Mr C. G. McKellar presided at the meeting. Mrs A. C. Ledsham was encored for her singing of a Maori song by the local composer, Mr R. A. Horne. Mrs R. S. Storie was accompanist, and Mesdames Gordon Gunn and R. T. Tosswill were hostesses.